[Guest]

I go through periods of time where I have many attacks and then I could go a month without one. Recently I have been having attacks every day. This is causing EXTREME bloating (I look pregnant but I'm not). What do all of you do for this problem without making the problem worse???

 

[moldie]

Hi Holly. I stay away from white sugars (or too many in general, including too many fruits), white flour, fermented or aged foods, (alcohol, cheeses, cider, pickled foods), citric acid (coffee, vinegar, tomato and potato packaged foods, citrus fruits, fruity flavored beverages or packaged goods- read labels), and benzoic acid (in sodas).Doing this has made a world of difference for me. You might try taking some enteric coated refrigerated acidophilis too.

 

[Guest]

Hi Holly,I am new to this board and I don't have a lot of answers but I did want to let you know that I completely understand what you are talking about. I have bloating every day so much that I can't wear normal clothes (nothing that puts pressure on my stomach i.e. jeans, nylons, even drawstring pants). Do you get this too? The bloating not only hurts but affects my self esteem b/c I feel and look way heavier than I am b/c of the baggy clothes and HUGE stomach. I am going to an acupuncturist on Saturday so maybe that will help.Oh yeah, Fibersmart has helped a lot. I found it worked better than Fibercon--my GI told me that if one doesn't drink enough water, Fibercon can actually make you bloat more.

 

[kaj]

Hi ya'll. For me the bloating has been the worst part of IBS. Anything around my waist really bothers me, even my bra. I have basically changed my whole wardrobe because of the IBS. About the only thing I am comfortable in is stretch pants and even these I have to roll the waist band down so it doesn't touch my waist. However, I have been on a low carb diet for about 3 weeks and it pretty much cut out the bloating for me, which was amazing. So you might trying cutting out the sugar and other carbs for a couple of days to see if that helps. The other thing that has helped me is if I don't drink and eat at the same time, I usually wait a couple of hours after dinner before I drink anything, I haven't quite figured this one out yet, but it did seem to help. kaj

 

[Guest]

OK--I just realized I was a little redundant by starting my own post on clothes/bloating

Kaj--what you described with your clothes is the *exact* same thing I go through--I thought I was crazy for having my bra feel like it was choking me by the end of the day. Everyone I know (particularily my family) gets on my case for wearing huge baggy clothes and they think that it is all in my head. I am clueless when it comes to carbs...What is a low-carb diet? Is there someplace on the web that would explain this to me?

 

[Guest]

The bloating for me is bad too. I haven't had it so bad that I have had to change my wardrobe, with me it's off and on. One day I'll be so unbelievably bloated, the next I'll be nice and flat. I guess it just depends on what I eat. Like I had pizza last night, one of my trigger foods, so I'm really bloated today. But I can definately sympathize! I think we all can!

 

[kaj]

I have been using Dr. Atkins diet as a guideline for low carbs, and the diet has been a controversial (sp) issue. Carbohydrates for example would be any sugar, pasta, bread, grain, even vegetables, but some vegetables are allowed on the diet. What you can eat is protein & fat. Which doesn't sound to healthy. But I realize now, my diet had pretty much consisted of carbohydrates. I ate sugar, chips, crackers, lots of pasta. So just eliminating alot of carbs from my diet has helped me. Actually, on my 3rd day on this diet, I was so impressed that my bloating was nil, that I ran a thread asking if anyone else was on it. I don't quite understand why the uncomfortableness with the tight clothing either. Unless, that area of our body has just developed an extreme sensitivity to touch. I think to someone who hasn't experienced it, it is very hard to explain. Its beyond just being uncomfortable with a tight waist band, I really can't stand anything touching my stomach. However, now that I have somewhat control over the bloating, I am getting a little more comfortable with the clothing. I was watching 20/20 or some other news program a couple of months ago on distorted body images. One of the men was really in very good shape, the poor guy really worked out. However, he had such a distored body image, he was buying his clothes a couple of sizes to big and one of his reasons was that he was very uncomfortable with anything touching his stomach. Part of his therapy was actually wearing things that touched his stomach. Although not relative to IBS, I thought it was kind of interesting. I wonder if hypnosis would work? kaj

 

[Guest]

Thanks Kaj,I am going to go and buy Dr. Atkins book.

 

[Guest]

What I'm noticing lately with pressure from clothes and bloating is that it's not so much added pressure, but a change in pressure that is really bothersome. For example, I'm in my houscoat and IBS start to act up and bloat, now it will be difficult for me to wear my normal pants. Now if I've been in my normal pants, and IBS acts up..then I'm uncomfortable once they are undone.. pending that the bloating activity and spasms aren't to the extremem.. then I[m uncomfortable no matter what!

 

[Guest]

Thank you all so much for responding to my topic. I'm not happy that you all are having the same problem as me, but I'm glad I'm not alone. I know what you mean about buying bigger clothes. I have actually gone so far as to buy husky boys jeans (I'm 4'11" and usually a size 6 or 8) because they make me feel more comfortable. My family always gives me a hard time because the waist is always to big. But it works and I'm not in pain. As for the Atkins diet. I actually went on that diet to lose weight a year and a half ago for my wedding and it worked, but the bloating still came and went and then came back. I just prayed that it wouldn't COME on the day of my wedding. (I feared for months about having to go have an attack while wearing my wedding dress) I was lucky and I was having a good day that day. My point is that the Atkins isn't bad, but it isn't my entire solution. I read above that I should stay away from cheeses, but that is hard on the Atkins Diet. Maybe that's my problem.Maybe between all of us with this bloating problem and different approaches we'll figure something out. Thank you all for your support.

 

[babydoc_au]

For me, bloating has always been my most distressing symptom. I find it's caused by built up gas. If I can reduce the gas I can usually reduce the bloating. My personal tried & tested solutions are: 1.dietary modifications-you have to identify your own personal trigger foods but carbohydrates are often a problem. Personally, I can eat white flour but no pasta, rice, corn(small amounts of potato OK). Which is weird because everyone tells you rice should be OK & flour bad (that proves just how different the triggers can be from person to person). 2. simethicone tablets (I'm in Australia -are they available in the US?). 3. Peppermint tea after meals is good - anti-spasmodic, and chamomile tea reduces wind. 4. Fibre supplements made of psylium or isphagula will increase bloating. If you can find methyl cellulose, this is a far superior fibre supplement. It does not cause bloating, and actually absorbs smelly wind. It also regulates c & d nicely. Although I still get symptoms, these measures have brought about big improvements in my IBS. Good luck.