Job Discussion Forums

[Count_Fathom]

Getting right to the point: my upper and lower intestine are severely irritated. I was Initially prepared to accept some difficulty adjusting to the diet. I'm well past a reasonable time frame. My medical history would assume complications - gastro-reflux-esophegitus, two ulcers, a smoker (started again to be polite in China, idiot), back, ankles, numerous broken bones... but this is new..

Within 30min of waking each morn, I'm struck with a wave of nausea, flushed face, stomach cramps, and irregular stool. Rarely solid, undigested food matter is frequent, and a long time over the squatter. Like clockwork.

I've adjusted the variables in my diet, eliminated particular foods as the cause - chilis are not the problem, increased my fibre intake, all to no effect... I'm down to the unavoidables: oil and MSG. I've toyed with a series of natural medicines, to some degree of success, but I'd prefer to live without the crutch.

My question: does anyone else suffer similar symptomes? Have you found an acceptable remedy?

[MyTurnNow]

Count,
my experiences here were very similar but much quieter.

The distress lasted me QUITE some time...most of a year. It finally went away.

My main suspect was oil...Chinese food is usually swimming in it and I think it's hard for many of us to get used to even if we chomped a lot of hamburgers back home. Unless you cook all your food yourself it's very hard to avoid here. An MSG reaction would likely be a lot more acute.

A Chinese doctor have told me that between the oils and other factors our livers can take quite a jolt here, and this can lead to symptoms like those you have so eloquently described. At her recommendation I got some relief from over-the-counter liver extract pills ("Liver-Aid") when taken over several weeks.

Sometimes in the short run your best friend is the Western diarrhea medicine Imodium (loperamide hydrochloride). It doesn't cure the problem but it relieves the worst of the symptoms. You'll have to have it sent to you or buy it in HK; if you're coming here bring a LOT of it. A LOT of it. It's much too quick and effective to ever be sold in a Chinese drug store. Beijing's Lufthansa Center had a foreign-oriented drug store selling it, at a price more appropriate for tiny gold bars.

Otherwise, time is probably your best healer.

NOTE: chronic symptoms like those you describe can indicate a more serious illness. If they persist I strongly recommend that you, God help you, go see a local doctor. Shop around for a decent one; a university degree and workplace sobriety are good places to start.

MT

[Seth]

I had some liver problems, as well, but only when I got to Hangzhou. My whole time in Luoyang it never hit me, but in Hangzhou it did. The food in the canteen in Hangzhou was generally bad and EXTREMELY oily. I have no idea why they felt the need to add so much oil. I also had a strange liking of 'you rou'...those cuts of meat with an inch of fat connected. For a while in Hangzhou and after I got back to the US I got the waves of nausea and cold sweat on physical exertion and I could feel my liver (or something) bulging out of my abdomen. I thought I had some kind of hernia or something. Thankfully it's gone away, now that I'm back on my regular diet of Cap'n Crunch and turkey sandwiches.

Now that I think of it, the organ that is involved with breaking down oil in your diet is your gall bladder, which is attached to the liver. That could be it. My aunt had gall bladder problems, and she'd get these symptoms after eating anything greasy. The gall bladder produces certain digestive enzymes, which could also explain the undigested food. It also involves occasionally sharp pains around the upper abdomen, do you have those?

If your urine is dark it could be hepatitis.

So take MT's advice, cut down on oil and fat!

[Bertrand]

[scot47]

If I had symptoms like yours I would do two things :
1. worry
2. consult a doctor

[SallyMander]

I had symptoms like that last summer. I left China and it stopped completely. In the meantime you could try "detoxing"...if you can just have 2 1/2 liters of water per day and fresh fruit, raw veg and rice for a week and see how you feel.

[Anne-Marie Gregory]

haha well I've just had dinner with the local big cheeses (prob the reason why I can't buy the stuff in the supermarket) who have a habit of stuffing my healthy eating drive by forcing me to gambei the local pijui....2 bottles is not enough, even when I have a lesson to plan and essay to mark for tomorrow

PS do not buy a dodgy juicer

Seriously...tell a local food vendor your preferences mei you weijing.....etc and then get him/her to cook all your favourite Chinese dishes. It takes a while to get used to less cr*p in the food (and it's not as tasty) but you insides will thank you for it. If that doesn't solve the probs, see a decent doctor.

[chinasyndrome]

[quote="MyTurnNow"]

[MyTurnNow]

Seth brought up a good point: Make sure your Hepatitis 'A' shots are up to date! Hep A is more common than chopsticks here.

CS, I confess: I wrote all those medicine box disclaimers back in my MBA days and retain full rights to the wording. When I wrote the words "Void Where Prohibited" I never envisioned myself living in a country where people actually DO it.

MyThrobbingNuts

[woza17]

Last year when I was teaching in Hubei I had similar problems. I lost my appetite completely. I went to the local hospital and they but me on a drip actually I had about 6 drips, saw 6 doctors had a " colourful X-ray" and was diagnosed as having" meatballs" in my gall bladder, that were benign. We finally translated that to polyps. A few of the other foreigners that I met had gall bladder problems while teaching in that province. One had hers remove when she went back home. I finally looked it up on the interenet and told the doctor I have a germ and to hit it with everything you have got and it worked.
I hope you can find out what it is and you fell better in the future.
Regards Carol