Do any of you have trouble tolerating bran?

[Jack51]

Before I had ulcers of the small intestine, I could eat a bowl of bran (insoluble fiber), without any trouble. My ulcers have been gone for 4 years, and now when I eat bran, it will not pass without giving me extreme gas, bloating, and diarrhea. It seems now to be a potent bowel irritant for me. I just wondered if anyone else may have the same problem.

While speaking of fiber, I just found out that soluble fiber (psyllium, or metamucil), is recommended by doctors to lower triglycerides. Mine were just tested and are 1039. I cannot tolerate the meds (fenofibrates and gemfibrozil) to lower my TGs. They have simular adverse affects that statins cause me. Thanks in advance for any input

[actudan]

I read your post and had to reply because of our link. I started out with acute gastritis and ulcerations of the small intestine. Ever since the dx, I have not been able to digest anything "normally" like I did before and one thing is fiber. I have always been a (what I thought) good eater of fiber until I knew what a good fiber diet meant. I try to eat at least 25g+ fiber a day now with at least 10 of it being soluble fiber due to my high cholesterol and not wanting to take statins. I lowered my carb intake which greatly reduced my triglycerides but my ldl was still high. I then took guugulipids with policosanol and my ldl dropped considerably. Now I take beta siterol (I think), it's a plant phytosterol that is supposed to stop cholesterol absorbtion from the foods that you eat and I have not had my cholest checked in awhile so i don't know if it's working. Anyway, I will conclude with saying that my gas is high due to damage done in my digestive system or high fiber intake. Or I have other issues that the ulcers were masking (I hope you understand what I mean by that comment). If not, i will go in to it more. Take care!