Sugar as a pain/flare trigger

Does anyone else find that added sugar is a serious trigger for their pain? Whenever I eat anything with refined sugars I end up in so much pain and bloat up like a balloon! I’m going to avoid this in future to see if I feel better

[NW248]

Have a look at my post on Candida, it talks more about carbs in general, but obviously sugar is part of that. healthunlocked.com/endometr...

[springonion]

Yes, I feel sugar makes me feel worse too. It's not related to candida for me.

[Mussya]

I haven’t *felt* it was making me worse, but in the last two months I’ve been in an anti-inflammatory diet without refined sugar and it’s my first period without painkillers in years. So yes - refined sugar and looks like dairy too, for me, make things much worse.

[Escarole in reply to Mussya]

Hi, could you explain a little bit more about your diet?

[Mussya in reply to Escarole]

Sure!

It's basically vegan, gluten-free and refined-sugar free. That means no Alcohol, too. Also fried foods aren't recommended, and things with too many preservatives - basically as natural as possible. Lastly, the really committed don't use plastic containers but glass. Oh, and no Caffeine, too (I never have it anyway so always forget that part).

I've found something about it in English here: endometriosisnews.com/2017/...

[Escarole in reply to Mussya]

Thank you! I am gluten and dairy free. What about carbs? Do you eat pasta, potatoes or rice?

[Mussya in reply to Escarole]

I do eat rice (loads of rice cakes!) and potatoes, and non-wheat pasta.

Guess it’s very personal - some things will affect some people more than others. I saw a real difference only after completely stopped dairy and wheat (was hard to give up my morning yogurt and granola).

I think the sugar also makes a big difference.

Good luck x

[Escarole in reply to Mussya]

Thank you again! Some people say carbs are bad for pain too, and I believe they might be, but for me is quite hard to stop eating them. I agree with you about the sugar..

Good luck to you too!

[635703 in reply to Mussya]

Same. Anti inflammatory diet for me means vegan and gluten free. The hormones in meat and dairy are believed to not help Endo- this is opinion and not medical fact. But it makes sense to me. Gluten bloated me and impacts my digestion and bowels so badly. I have that up in 2017 I think.

I still have pain as there’s nothing more for me to try but a hysterectomy. Waiting for that now.

Had Mirena out yesterday and bleeding heavily and feel awful and am in bed. But I would of been worse if I was bloated and had way less energy. I engaged a Coach to help with nutrition and it’s been hard but amazing!!

[Faybee87]

I'm currently reading the Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden, which explains that endometriosis is an immune condition and that you need to reduce inflammation to ease the symptoms. Sugar is inflammatory, so I guess that's why it might cause flare ups. It's a fascinating book, I've cut out A1 casein and started taking zinc and magnesium supplements based off what I've read so far and I'm already feeling better.

[Healthnut25]

Definitely! Along with alcohol, coffee and refined carbohydrates (e.g. bread) and a meal high in dairy. After a high sugar meal I feel a burning sensation and dull ache in my ovaries about 3 hours later. I already cut down on carbohydrate but I'm trying to cut down even more now because it is a fine balance for me - I feel better when I stick to a high protein diet, but going too far that way can make me very tired, so I'm trying to find out just how much carb/what sort of carb I can eat before giving me pain. I love red lentils and have replaced brown rice with them because even brown rice was causing me pain - but the lentils are high in protein as well as carbs.

[Devils_Advocate]

Yes, it makes my pain worse. I also have micro collitus and had a bowel resection. I am vegan and generally avoid anything processed or fried for this reason. Xx