Has anyone felt their health decline after becoming a vegetarian?

I've been a lacto-ovo-vegetarian for a couple of years, and despite my best efforts, I have become quite overweight since, with stomach upsets regularly & am constantly hungry. Any advice? I became a veg for ethical reasons, but wasn't expecting to feel so unwell.

Gaining weight and pains you describe sound like lactose intolerance to me. You get also hunger attacks through LI, this is quite usual, even if not often described. It has something to do with the disturbed balance of gas and water in your body, maybe somebody else can explain this better.

I am completely lactose intolerant due to my disease (Lupus), but it is fairly common among millions of people, because you do not need much to become lactose intolerant (even babies can, and they get diarrhea from their own mother's milk): a disease / antibiotics / psychotropics / drugs / several glasses of whiskey will destroy the enzyme lactase (which is very sensitive) necessary to digest lactose (milk sugar) from the milk and you will get all the symptoms.

There is also genetically based LI and such starting when you are getting older.

Try to test it. It is fairly easy, drinking 3-4 glasses of milk in the morning. If you feel fine during the next 48 hours you have no LI, but if you get strange symptoms, especially in the intestinal tract and nausea, you can be pretty sure it is LI.

Dairy is not as healthy as they say. There are approximately 3000-4500 millions of people affected by LI worldwide.

My health declines from meat AND from dairy AND from eggs. Going back to meat will not be an improvement, especially if you choose to be vegetarian because you feel sorry for the animals.

You could be lacking sufficient quantities of protein. Try to get more into your system.

No. A friend of mine did for about a month afterwards because it was a shock to her after eating so much meat because of her culture but 2 years down the line? I don't think this is vegetarianism itself. Are you eating lots of junkfood? Or perhaps not (often) enough? Not getting enough exercise? Are you making sure to get enough vitamins? Have thyroid problems?

This was a problem for me too. I've had a hard time diversifying my diet well enough during my attemps at veganism and vegetariansm. I don't know why, because I no longer eat fast food and I eat much healthier, but I too gained weight and have felt really hungry and haven't felt well. I ended up adding seafood and poultry back into my diet, but of course I would prefer not to eat any meat at all. Maybe you need protein, calcium, or other nutrients. I believe firmly that these nutrients can be added to a vegetarians diet without resorting to eating meat, but for some reason I wasn't able to do it. You might measure your protien and see if you are getting enough and also get a book on what vegetarians need to know to be healthy. Good luck!

why don't you try boiled food for some Weeks and that to cooked at home

I know you said vegetarian, but a friend of mine tried going vegan and ended up sick due to a soy allergy (plus, he went about it all the wrong way anyway...) My point is maybe it's an allergy to something?
To be honest, I always had upset stomach as a vegetarian - I became vegan, and it all went away (but I went from underweight to normal)
Do you have blood tests regularly? They should be able to tell you if anything is wrong, if you're missing something, et cetera...

I'm sorry you're having that experience. What kinds of foods are you eating? Do you eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and grains? Or do you fill up on lots of simple carbs and get hungry again soon after?

The American Dietetic Association (one of the nation's leading nutrition experts) states: "Appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases." I would meet with a nutritionist to figure out how you can change your diet so that you can start enjoying the health benefits of a vegetarian diet.

Also check out these:

Veg sources of protein, iron, and calcium:
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sourc...

Veg food groups:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f...

Good luck.

Are you subsisting on a diet of processed low-quality cabohydrates and cheese and eggs? I did that in my teens when I became vegetarian becasue I didn't know any better, and while I didn't have the problems you're describing I was overweight (though I already was before I became vegetarian) and not terribly healthy. Over the past couple years I've slowly swithced over to a completely vegan, moslty whole foods diet. I eat a variety of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes every day. I've lost a lot of wieght and have never felt or looked better, and I really enjoy all the food I eat. :)

for a while i lost weight and was constantly losing weight, when i was already tiny. and the worst was when my hair started to fall out. but once i got better control of my veggie diet it's done nothing but get better. and i feel better then ever.

Me too and a lot of people I know, we need meat!! I dont eat red meat now but i make sure to incorporate fish into my diet and sometimes turkey etc...