For some reason, previous doctors I have consulted all responded with a quizzical look when I told them about my reaction to certain fruits and vegetables. When I used to live in Canada, I found many of the doctors I consulted there to be completely unsympathetic to my woes. They put me through a barrage of tests, and when those tests turned out "normal," they suggested those problems may have been imagined. This is the same medical system which refused to give me painkillers for my severe cramping each time I'm admitted to the hospital emergency room. (The nurses told me they could not give me any narcotics because, who knows, I could be a drug addict walking in off the street, and this, despite my horribly distended abdomen, right below a scar that practically splits my body in two.) Only after an x-ray reveals a clump of matter in my intestine do they reluctantly inject me with Demerol.
A year ago, I went to see a nutritionist in Hong Kong, where I now live. I told her about my problem, and she just gave me a blank stare. I don't think she had come across anyone in her career who was unable to eat fruits and vegetables. At the end of my explanation, she simply said, "well, don't eat fruits and vegetables." I felt like crying then, because that was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted her to tell me WHAT kind of fruits and vegetables were allowed, and in what quantities.. not to avoid them all together. And when I asked her what I should eat to supplement my diet, since I was avoiding an essential food group, she said, "just eat more from the other groups." And I had waited four months for that appointment.
So, you can imagine how comforted I felt when I read your responses. Here's a list of some of the fruits and veg I can and cannot eat - perhaps you may have the same reaction to them.
What I can eat: small portions of very well-cooked broccoli florests, asparagus tips, tomatoes, small portions of very well-cooked potatoes, canned beets, canned peaches, small amounts of cooked pumpkin/squash, watermelon, small portions of canteloupe, papaya, orange juice, salads, raw lettuce, raw spinach, small amounts of grapes (I find when I eat them with the skin on, I have problems,)and cooked fruits, except pineapple.
What I cannot tolerate: ALL RAW vegetables, oranges - unless ALL the pith has been removed, most raw fruit, especially unripe bananas, COOKED spinach - even minute amounts of it, cooked cabbage, cold french fries, (but curiously, NOT hot french fries,)large portions of pop corn and cooked corn, large portions of nuts....
Like many of you, there are some things things I can tolerate and some I cannot. And trying to figure out what's good and what's not has been a most painful exercise. (I do not want to avoid fruits and vegetables all together because in Hong Kong, I do not have access to appropriate supplements as substitutes.)
Anyway, sorry for the long ramble. I just wanted to be able to talk about this to people whom I know would understand. There is no one else I know who remotely comprehends just I what go through. Thank you all for your much-needed support!
Jennifer