Topical Allergy With Digestive Symptoms?

[raisin]

When I touch anything containing coconut oil or that has coconut oil residue on it, I seem to develop digestive symptoms shortly afterward. Often, very significant ones..! Periods of combined shaking, nausea, and belching, bad enough to keep/wake me up, for which lettuce seems to be the only cure. (and yes I get awful eczema with it. My tonsils swell, mouth and nose seem to dry out.)

How can a topical allergy lead to digestive symptoms..?

[raisin]

I finally found the name of the said symptom : dyspepsia or indigestion.

" * upper abdominal pain (above the navel),

* belching,

* nausea (with or without vomiting),

* abdominal bloating (the sensation of abdominal fullness without objective distention),

* early satiety (the sensation of fullness after a very small amount of food), and,

* possibly, abdominal distention (swelling as opposed to bloating). "

--

All of my symptoms in full (no vomiting, but I've felt like I was going to).

Based on further reading, I have decided I am unsure as to whether coconut's are causing this problem.. I think they simply make my body more susceptible by screwing up my entire system, especially sleep patterns which effect meal patters. Here are the answers to SO many complaints I have made on this forum (and now believe gluten is why I have lingering indigestion) :

* When my sleep pattern is effected and I forget to eat super-late-dinner : " not eating regular meals, as acid levels can build up if meals are missed "

* Right after eating an apple on an empty stomach : "Another dietary factor, fructose and fructose-related sugars, has been suggested as a cause of dyspepsia since many people do not fully digest and absorb them before they reach the distal intestine "

* Wakes me up, by getting progressively worse, when I try to sleep : " Symptoms that awaken patients from sleep also are more likely to be due to non-functional than functional disease. "

* Sitting up from my bed when woken helps : " sleeping in a more upright position, propped up on a pillow (the action of gravity reduces reflux) "

* During my period I often think I'm glutened (dyspepsia is a gluten symptom for me) : "Another aggravating factor is the menstrual cycle. During their periods, women often note that their functional symptoms are worse. "

* After eating almond-butter before bed : " One of the food substances most commonly associated with the symptoms of dyspepsia is fat. "

* Sometimes happens when I drink strong coffee, esp. without food, but still crave small amounts of coffee like the dehydrated crave water : Coffee & decaff are very acidic and known to aggravate the stomach, but also speed/force digestion which is exactly the opposite of indigestion.

The one thing I did not find is why lettuce makes my stomach return to normal, and quickly, but found that many people get indigestion from salad. Still, I suspect it is a combo of vitamins, water + food combo, and the extremely mild mint properties lettuce carries (organic peppermint tea also calms my stomach, even faster)

[AliB]

In people who are intolerant, gluten (and often dairy) mucks up the digestion something awful. Nothing works properly and many of us are plagued by problems with other - seemingly innocuous foods as well.

I mean, we really don't have a clue what is being done to the food out there and what effect it is having on us. It is possible you are having issues with coconut. Is that in its natural form or in its processed form or both?

Coconut contains caprylic acid which is used to combat Candida and contact with it could, I suppose in your case, potentially trigger the Candida into pushing out certain toxins in response which could be affecting you.

Many with Celiac/gluten intolerance do seem to be plagued by Candida.

Because virtually everything we come in contact with, either internally or externally is processed in some way by the gut then it is possible for you to get digestive reactions. Bloating and gas is usually from some kind of microbial activity - yeasts produce carbon dioxide as part of their fermentation process and all sorts of things could trigger that - but undigested carbohydrates are the worst culprit. Do you normally have the coconut with anything?

The lettuce could help because raw food contains enzymes and nutrients not supplied by cooked food and there may well be a mineral or enzyme in it that helps to calm things down. I cope better with raw food than cooked. People who can't cope very well with raw food may lack cellulase to digest the fiber.

I used to not be able to cope with raw food very well but since I have been on the SCD and my gut has been healing I have gradually been able to cope with more foods, and am glad to be able to include raw in that selection. I also get a lot less gas and bloating than I used to.