Long time user with weird health issues arising

Nutrition
1

Been using Huel for around 3 years now and I’ve started to notice some health issues, but I’m unsure whether it’s caused by Huel or not.

Usage amount: everything from 1 to 5 shakes a day. Drank one shake every morning no matter what, then later during the day it would depend.

Been through multiple versions of Huel obviously, but my health issues started arising after october 2017. Not sure if anything major in the ingredients changed there. I’m suspecting it’s some kind of issue with iron overload and I’ve read the official Huel post regarding it.

Anyways to the issue, I started having weird pains in the right side of my stomach in the morning, kind of inbetween my ribs and the upper hip bones (I’m sorry, no clue what the hell it’s called… :smiley:) It started gradually and just went up in pain after 2-3 days. Started hurting more from walking and eventually went to a doctor. I was worried it was appendicitis at first but the doctor said there’s no chance because that hurts like hell and comes very suddenly. He thought it was probably just something I ate and sure enough the pain went away after a couple of days.

I kept using Huel like normal while peeing a lot like usual if I drink a lot of Huel, but now the flow was a lot slower and I also woke up with the urge to pee in the night sometimes. Never had that issue before. The soring pain came back but a lot more mildly, especially in the morning. Peeing also started becoming painful, not a lot of pain but just a bit uncomfortable, especially if I pushed hard.

I had no idea what the hell the issue was and started cutting out things in my diet one by one with no real success. I finally decided to pause my Huel diet and the symptoms went away completely. I’ve now started using Huel a bit again just because I have a stash and want to use the rest, and also see if it really was the Huel, and sure enough the weird soring pain, now in the bottom part of the stomach (not really painful, just uncomfortable pain, can easily live with it) came back, along with the urine issues.

I’m planning to go visit my doctor and do a bunch of tests to check my health, it’s been a long time since I did that. I’ll also check what he/she thinks causes this.

I’d like to know if anyone else have had issues with both amount of urination, decreasing flow as well as a sore stomach. And also if the ingredients or ingredients amount changed after september/october of last year. Could it be caused by iron overload?

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Could possibly be kidney stones. Not saying it is - but some of those symptoms tie in with kidney stones. I think there has been some discussion on the forum around Huel possibly making this issue worse in some individuals - i will try to find the reference.

3

Okay i found the thread here:

It was to do with oxalate levels, and high oxalate diets causing a more frequent recurrence of stones. But James Collier confirmed that Huel does not have high oxalate levels (see towards the bottom of the linked thread) - so its probably not that.

Sorry - I have been no help at all !

I hope you find the cause

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I wouldn’t have thought it would be connected to Huel if it’s only just started, but good idea to go in for a health check and blood profile as you plan on doing.

5

Keep us posted. Huel is a new food tech…so if there have been possible issues it is best to hear about them.

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That sounds very much like kidney stones. Although the pain is usually more towards your back/side.

I’ve had kidney stones in a major way twice. Been in hospital with them twice (just overnight). Now though, I know the signs, and they’re pretty much what you described - as soon as they start I drink load and loads and loads of water and it usually goes within a day or two.

Last time I had kidney stones proper, the doctor told me that any fizzy drink that isn’t clear (as in see-through) is a major cause. With Coke and Pepsi being the worst possible things to drink. I cut them out almost completely and haven’t had a major problem since. Occasionally when I’m not drinking enough water I’ll get the signs - but that’s dealt with as above.

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Your doctor sounds useless. Kidney problem of some sort was my first thought, along with everyone else who has responded. Easy to test for by the medics too. Good luck.

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The usual test for kidney stones is an ultra-sound scan which needs to be organised at the hospital. A doctor will rarely send you straight for tests at hospital the very first time you present with pain, as otherwise they would be sending everyone for expensive tests and the waiting lists would be huge.
He did say he’s going to go back to the GP so I’m sure he will be sent for scans this time around

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BTW if it wasn’t for the urinary symptoms, suggesting renal problems, I was first of all thinking grumbling appendix. Your doctor was only focusing on acute.

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10

Calculi passing down the ureter can cause pains like those you describe.

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11

I lost faith in the unassailable wisdom of doctors after (i) being wrongly diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy which turned out to be appendicitis once they opened me up, despite my insistence at 14 that there was no way I could be pregnant (ii) my nan died with her heart surrounded by fluid build-up, weeks after being told by a doctor and his stethoscope that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her heart (iii) my mum was informed by her gp that she had definitely had her appendix removed because it’s on her medical records, despite her knowledge to the contrary and a complete absence of a scar anywhere on her body. So excuse me if I throw out comments like doctors are rubbish. In my experience, they can be.

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More often than not, too.

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As others have said, could be kidney stones. If they are, a blood urine test (the doctor can do this very easily) may be a pointer that something is amiss. Otherwise an x-ray/ct scan is usually the definitive diagnosis.

Depending on where they are in the system the pain will vary. As the travel down the ureter from the kidney that can cause tremendous pain that comes in waves. When I had my first one, I genuinely thought I was dying. The pain level went from a feeling of discomfort, to wanting to go home from work, to wanting an ambulance to being driven to the hospital by a colleague in the space of 30 minutes.

One of the major symptoms of excess iron is the inability to get an erection - but a simple blood test can show whether iron is the cause of your problems.

14

My dad nearly died 3 months ago because his GP said that prolonged high sugar readings of over 30 were probably a virus…he ended up going into resus and then ICU following a diabetic coma.

Having said that he would have died several decades earlier if another GP hadn’t used him to hospital with acute pancreatitis. Apparently he only got there with less than a few hours to live.

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15

How awful. My doctor couldn’t even diagnose appendicitis in my 3 year old despite me saying the symptoms suggested otherwise! Ended up taking my kid to A&E for emergency surgery, surgeon said he would have died if I left it any longer as infection had started spreading. Since then I take what doctors say with a pinch of salt…always go with your gut feeling and persist if you don’t agree with doctor.

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Yes I’ve had similar issues regarding urine, and I have a strange sensation in my right side (not painful). I have had health issues from Huel too and have had to stop completely.