My stomach is constantly digesting

[Waves]

It's been going on for a while now. I remember one night, in March, in which I couldn't fall asleep. I was tossing and turning in my bed, feeling an intense anger and a sense of stuckness in my stomach. The following days I even developed a cough, and I'm pretty sure it was related to the digestive blockage. From then on, it's been going on and off in intensity, but always there in the background. 

It's clearly associated to emotional stress, but even now that sources of eternal stress are minimal, I can't seem to restore my digestive capacity. Every morning I wake up feeling that my stomach is a bit heavy and has stuff in it. Also I feel something in my throat that I can't swallow.

My dietary & lifestyle habits:

• I eat mostly whole-food, plant-based with some eggs here and there
• First meal is a smoothie around 12pm, last meal between 8-9pm
• I try to eat mindfully and chew more than I feel normal, although it doesn't always happen
• Good appetite
• I exercise regularly (weight-lifting, yoga, cycling)
• Stopped drinking coffee in April or so, now only decaf
• In general I'm on a journey to explore my body and emotional world and working to feel more, letting go of tension, etc. 

What do you think I could do? I was thinking of doing a 36h water fast to give the whole system a break, but other than that and drinking ginger tea I currently don't have many ideas. I'd prefer not to resort to medications and stick to more natural methods at this stage. 

I appreciate any inputs

 

[Average Investor]

4 hours ago, Waves said:

First meal is a smoothie around 12pm, last meal between 8-9pm

What time are you going to bed?

How big are the meals you are eating? How do you feel at the end of them?

I like doing a water fast sometimes to help reset. Then you can observe as the problem might come back to help find the culprit. 

[Razard86]

4 hours ago, Waves said:

It's been going on for a while now. I remember one night, in March, in which I couldn't fall asleep. I was tossing and turning in my bed, feeling an intense anger and a sense of stuckness in my stomach. The following days I even developed a cough, and I'm pretty sure it was related to the digestive blockage. From then on, it's been going on and off in intensity, but always there in the background. 

It's clearly associated to emotional stress, but even now that sources of eternal stress are minimal, I can't seem to restore my digestive capacity. Every morning I wake up feeling that my stomach is a bit heavy and has stuff in it. Also I feel something in my throat that I can't swallow.

My dietary & lifestyle habits:

• I eat mostly whole-food, plant-based with some eggs here and there
• First meal is a smoothie around 12pm, last meal between 8-9pm
• I try to eat mindfully and chew more than I feel normal, although it doesn't always happen
• Good appetite
• I exercise regularly (weight-lifting, yoga, cycling)
• Stopped drinking coffee in April or so, now only decaf
• In general I'm on a journey to explore my body and emotional world and working to feel more, letting go of tension, etc. 

What do you think I could do? I was thinking of doing a 36h water fast to give the whole system a break, but other than that and drinking ginger tea I currently don't have many ideas. I'd prefer not to resort to medications and stick to more natural methods at this stage. 

I appreciate any inputs

 

Trauma, this is all trauma. If your habits are as good as you say its trauma. You need to find a way to release all that pent up anger. I don't know if you meditate or use pschedelics, yoga etc. But whatever you feel resonates best with you, you need to find a way to heal it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAsJvKsd2Xk&t=2s

[Realms of Wonder]

How much do you poop per day?

 

In March I experienced something similar. However, it was related more specifically to not drinking enough water plus stress.

 

Basically, though food was being digested, I could not poop! It got to a point beyond constipation, where I would sit there, straining for half an hour and nothing, lol. so I scheduled a colonic, hydrotherapy session, and it did wonders! It was about an hour and a half, and I was blown away at how much unpassed stool was in my colon. Afterwards, I added in a bunch of probiotics to help with digestion, haven't had that problem since, bowel movements pretty regular as well.

[Waves]

@Average Investor I'm going to bed between 11pm and midnight. In terms of meal size it depends. Lately I'm having a big lunch in the afternoon and a lighter dinner, but it's not consistent. And now that I think about it I'm always full at the end of the meal, I don't leave much space. Probably not the best habit, especially for dinner. But at the same time I feel like I need to eat substantially to fuel myself properly. I'll try out the water fast soon and see how I feel.

@Razard86 Yes I'm on a healing journey, which of course is a long-term process. Anger has always been there but "awakened" by a relationship and by other yogic methods of transmutation and sublimation. Right now I'm at a point where I'm getting familiar with it, but still struggle to play with it in a way that releases it. 

@Realms of Wonder Interesting, there might be some traffic in the whole digestive system haha, which makes sense, since it's all linked. I heard juices protocols can also help, but I'm not psychologically ready to only drink juice for 5 days straight. Currently things are still flowing through, although less freely than before. Might have to do with the fact that I stopped drinking coffee, which is laxative, and now I'm confronted with the reality that it's not as harmonious as I thought it was.

[Jannes]

I am a bit late to the discussion but when I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit I also often feel pretty bloated. Real food takes up more space, fibers and minerals take time to digest (instead of white sugar or wheat flower for example). Maybe eat some Whole Foods that are easier on your digestion (potatoes, tofu, rice, bananas, instant oats) and go for steamed vegetables. You also want some raw vegetables but you don’t have to go crazy on them. If it’s really bad you could go for some wheat flower bread with avocado or nut butter for example. Eat that with some fruit and the glycemic load won’t go out of control. 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Jannes