Acid a bad thing?

[fillard1]

Does citric acid cause flair up's? Or make things worse?

[tex]

It did for me. Most citric acid in this country is made from corn these days, but even the natural citric acid in citrus fruits caused me to react. Now that I've been in remission for years, citric acid from either source doesn't bother me.

Tex

[Zizzle]

Hmmm, I just posted about my new citrus intolerance. Tex, you may have answered my question. I guess it's the citric acid. This is depressing!!

[tex]

Well, I get the impression that many of us have problems with citrus until we finish healing. I don't believe that it's a true intolerance, it's more of an aggravation for the gut while it is already hypersensitive.

Tex

[Gloria]

Now that I've been in remission for years, citric acid from either source doesn't bother me.

I'm curious - if citric acid doesn't bother you, then why do you consider orange juice to be like poison (from my recollection of your hospital stay)?

Gloria

[tex]

then why do you consider orange juice to be like poison (from my recollection of your hospital stay)?

I hope I didn't say that in a way as to imply that it should be considered to be a general rule of some sort, because I was referring to my immediate condition, not my "normal" state. I had just had major abdominal surgery, including "mobilizing" almost the entire length of my small intestine, to remove the adhesions. Besides the resection in the terminal ileum, resulting in an ileostomy, (to say nothing of the colectomy), there were numerous cuts and tears in various locations, over almost the entire length of my small intestine, as a result of the difficulty they had separating it from the adhesions in the mesentary, (they spent several hours cutting it loose), and IMO, that level of trauma shocks the digestive system pretty severely. If it didn't stop functioning on it's own, I assume that they gave me drugs that stopped it, because a few hours after the surgery, they informed me that they had "stopped" my digestive system, and wouldn't restart it until a day or so had passed, so I wouldn't be eating anything for at least the first day.

I'm making assumptions here, but I'm pretty sure that in such a situation, enzyme production will be put on hold, while the system is "stopped", and when enzyme production is stopped, it usually takes a while for it to get back up to speed, once it's restarted. (That's certainly true when enzyme production is interrupted because of enteritis, for example). Without normal enzymes, digestion doesn't work very well, obviously. As violently as I usually reacted to orange juice back when I was flaring, (nausea, vomiting, followed by D), I'm pretty sure that would have been my reaction on the day that my digestive system was restarted, following the surgery, if I had ingested it. I was foolish enough to try a small container of skim milk, (against my better judgment, because it was the lesser of the evils that were offered, and I was expected to eat something), and it promptly upset my digestive system.

Trust me, hospital dietitians don't have a very good understanding of the effects that abdominal surgery has on one's digestive capabilities, and therefore, one's diet options, immediately following such surgery. In that setting, IMO, orange juice would have been "poison" to my digestive system. A week later, the situation would have been entirely different, and I wouldn't have been concerned about drinking it, but the day one's digestive system is restarted, following surgery, is not a good time to be drinking orange juice, IMO.

Anyway, that's why I made that statement, at that particular time. I apologize if it was confusing and/or misleading.

Tex

[Gloria]

Thank you for clarifying the situation. I understand now.

Gloria