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terrible cramps after eating vegetables

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 12/10/2017 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
for me I've noticed after eating vegetables/salad that the next day I have the WORST cramps; almost feels like I'm flaring again, but it goes away and I'm fine. In fact when I lay off the vegetables, I mostly have nice normal bm's.

I was under the impression that my intestines have some scaring/thickening that causes it painful when vegetables are passing through. But yet when I have a bm, there is no blood and the shape is normal.

Please help, thanks.
Posted 12/10/2017 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
You're probably right that the scarring and narrowing are responsible for the cramps when you eat vegetables. It won't necessarily cause bleeding if the area is healed and the normal formation of stool can still happen if the narrowing is higher up in the tract, especially if it's in the small intestine. Only the latter end of the colon is responsible for the final "shape".

The fiber in vegetables, especially when raw, can cause cramping and gas even in healthy individuals. If I eat a salad, I will be in the bathroom. My gut does not like iceberg lettuce, especially. But not all vegetables cause the same problems and it does help to experiment by adding a vegetable to your diet one period at a time to see what your gut can and cannot tolerate, and maybe avoid really high fiber vegetables or at least limit the amount you eat at one sitting.
Posted 12/10/2017 7:11 PM (GMT 0)
I had cramps of death for about 20 minutes last night. I'm not sure if it was down to the two pieces of broccoli I ate with my salmon, or too many Reese's pieces later on. But it's very, very common for fibre to cause problems in narrowed/strictured intestines.
Posted 12/10/2017 11:29 PM (GMT 0)
I really miss big salads (romaine lettuce/broccoli/cauliflower etc)... When I was healthy, I could eat those every day, ahh memories
Posted 12/10/2017 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
Totally typical for Crohn's, even in complete remission. Think of it like sandpaper rubbing against a grain of wood with a knot in it. It shaves it down. So rough fiber going over a "bump" of scar tissue pushes, pulls, and wears it down. But scar tissue is still tissue, so you feel it (if that makes sense). It gets caught on it, too, so your stomachs cramp even more to try to push it and pull it through.
Posted 12/11/2017 12:10 AM (GMT 0)
I noticed when I have cramping, drinking alot of water helps soothes. If I was to drink alot of water before and after the salad, would the cramping not be as bad?
Posted 12/11/2017 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
I can only have a few bites of salad...never a big salad for lunch or dinner, water or not! Those days are over
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