[t4z]

Hi,For a few years now I have been experiencing uncontrollable smelly flatulence, floating stools and possibly IBS (according to the specialist I have seen) but I can't seem to resolve the problem.I also have high cholesterol but normal levels of the good cholesterol and triglycerides. My bad cholesterol isn't that great but my ratio is fine.I am lactose intolerant and avoid lactose as much as possible. I eat healthy and avoid as much fatty foods as possible.The latest specialist I have been seeing suggested that I try Normafibe to 'add bulk' to my stools and make them sink, absorb the cholesterol and reduce the flatulence. I have been trying it for a few weeks now and my stools are still floating. I still seem to be having the flatulence too. I rang up Normafibe and they seem to be under the impression that it is meant for Constipation. I do not suffer from this and go to the toilet too regularly to pass floating stools.Can someone please help me out here? What am I doing wrong?Thanks in advance.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Stools tend to float from trapped gas, so farting more than usual (average is 14 releases a day) and floating stools tend to go together.It isn't unhealthy for them to float.Have you tried a low flatus diet?http://www.endowsec.com/pated/edtgs12.htmOr tried adding probiotics to reduce the amount of gas made from your food?Pepto Bismol can absorb some of the odor so some people use that. The study that tested it used up to 8 tablets a day, but I'd see if you can start lower. If you tend to diarrhea that may also help firm that up a bit. It is not a strong anti-diarrheal, but it can be a bit constipating for some folks.

 

[searching4answers]

It could be the beginning signs of bacterial overgrowth. (SIBO) small intestine bacterial overgrowth. maybe this is too personal but what do your stools look like?

 

[t4z]

I had a colonoscopy and the other one... nothing showed up.. would they have noticed SIBO in those procedures?

 

[searching4answers]

I had a colonoscopy and the other one... nothing showed up.. would they have noticed SIBO in those procedures?

No. not unless they took a sample from the small intestine? But really there's a non-invasive way to find out if it's SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). A hydrogen breath test. All you do is breathe into a bag every 15 min for 2 hours. You do this at a lab. Usually they have your own personal tv in there to watch & magazines. The symptoms u were describing sound like what i first had many months b4 i was tested and found out I had bacterial overgrowth. There is treatment, no cure yet, but a treatment. I've only heard of 2 or 3 ppl who've successfully been able to keep their symptoms away for over a year.BTW did u ever take alot of antibiotics, were on birth control, or have the stomach flu?

 

[t4z]

No. not unless they took a sample from the small intestine? But really there's a non-invasive way to find out if it's SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). A hydrogen breath test. All you do is breathe into a bag every 15 min for 2 hours. You do this at a lab. Usually they have your own personal tv in there to watch & magazines. The symptoms u were describing sound like what i first had many months b4 i was tested and found out I had bacterial overgrowth. There is treatment, no cure yet, but a treatment. I've only heard of 2 or 3 ppl who've successfully been able to keep their symptoms away for over a year.BTW did u ever take alot of antibiotics, were on birth control, or have the stomach flu?

Yeah I've had the breath tests to test for Lactose, Fructose and the other one.. I don't know if they tested for SIBO...? Is that a usual breath test?No.. hardly ever antibiotics nor birth control tablets. I don't think I have a stomach flu. I take a multi-vitamin (Tresos-B-maybe that gives me IBS???), vitamin C, vit D and Calcium tablets. I was reading something about the way you eat food can irritate you.. like the way you eat soluble and insoluble fibre. Do you pay attention to the way you eat those types of food?

 

[searching4answers]

Yeah I've had the breath tests to test for Lactose, Fructose and the other one.. I don't know if they tested for SIBO...? Is that a usual breath test?No.. hardly ever antibiotics nor birth control tablets. I don't think I have a stomach flu. I take a multi-vitamin (Tresos-B-maybe that gives me IBS???), vitamin C, vit D and Calcium tablets. I was reading something about the way you eat food can irritate you.. like the way you eat soluble and insoluble fibre. Do you pay attention to the way you eat those types of food?

So you didnt have any type of virus or infection going on right b4 your problems started? And tht's odd that they didnt just tell you that the hydrogen breath test also shows if your have bacterial overgrowth or not. I went in for one to see if i had lactose intolerance which i could've swore i had since birth. They said it was negative for tht but positive for SIBO. Guess i was just sensitive to milk products. Anyways along with the test you are there for they should also tell you if it showed for bacterial overgrowth. You should ask about that. And no i dont pay attention to fiber, it's not important in my case. I do pay attention however to the amount of starches/carbs, & sugars i eat. Carbs & sugar feed the bacteria. So i usually do just 1 of my meals with a carb, like lunch a sandwich (bread) so i don't have pasta for dinner. Oh and i try to eat vegetables with every meal, extra @ lunch.

 

[t4z]

So you didnt have any type of virus or infection going on right b4 your problems started? And tht's odd that they didnt just tell you that the hydrogen breath test also shows if your have bacterial overgrowth or not. I went in for one to see if i had lactose intolerance which i could've swore i had since birth. They said it was negative for tht but positive for SIBO. Guess i was just sensitive to milk products. Anyways along with the test you are there for they should also tell you if it showed for bacterial overgrowth. You should ask about that. And no i dont pay attention to fiber, it's not important in my case. I do pay attention however to the amount of starches/carbs, & sugars i eat. Carbs & sugar feed the bacteria. So i usually do just 1 of my meals with a carb, like lunch a sandwich (bread) so i don't have pasta for dinner. Oh and i try to eat vegetables with every meal, extra @ lunch.

No infection that I can think of.. just a stuffed up liver which is slowly repairing itself.The GI specialist that I initially went to was a shocker and just laughed at me when I said I have odorous flatulence, upset stomach and floating stools after I eat breakfast and lunch. He said that is normal and told me to leave his room as my time was up.I wish I could find a good GI/IBS specialist but I can't seem to find one.. I've been to a few.As for my hydro tests.. I only have results for Lactose, Fructose and lactulose.These are my results:Lactulose 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180Hydrogen 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 8 59Methane 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 13Fructose 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180Hydrogen 0 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Methane 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Lactose 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180Hydrogen 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 25 124 - Methane 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 28 -REading off the sheet it says:evidence of lactose malabsorption but no evidence of fructose malabsorption.Are they correct? Can you tell from my results if I have bacterial overgrowth or rapid transit please or is there a separate test for this please?Thanks.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Lactulose IS the SIBO test for bacterial overgrowth. Some places use glucose overload (more glucose than anyone can absorb) rather than lactulose, but that is the most commonly used sugar for bacterial overgrowht.All people should get some gas made by the end with the lactulose test. I don't see what looks like you have two peaks of gas production for any of them. All look to be you get gas at the end when the stuff should be at the colon. Doesn't look like you are getting gas much before the end so I wouldn't think getting gas right at the end when you should is some sort of indication of rapid transit??? Not sure why you think you must have that.Floating stools are normal. Just depends how much gas is in the stool.Flatus odor is also normal. Just depends on how many methane producers you have vs sulfur reducing bacteria. If you really can't stand flatus odor try taking some pepto bismol on a regular basis (lowest dose that works and that doesn't constipate you). Chlorophyll also has a reputation of absorbing odors, but the pepto bismol has some clinical data. Those people took 8 a day every day, but some people get away with less.Having a BM in the morning and then after meals is normal. It is called the gastrocolic reflex for after meals. Everyone's colon gets more active after meals and the morning tends to be even more active as the colon "wakes up" when you do. You don't want to turn off the gastrocolic reflex, unless you want to be constipated all the time.Since you get gas from lactose and very little from fructose looks like lactose intolerance but not fructose intolerance is correct. Every human is lactulose intolerant. No one digests it.

 

[searching4answers]

No. I got the Lactose Intol. test NOT lactulose. Lactulose is more common to give false positives. Excessive gas and floating stools ARE a symptom of SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). And so what even if the test comes back negative. At least it's one more thing you can cross off your list. I got a negative for lactoes intolerance but a positive for bacterial overgrowth. What can getting a test hurt? if it might help you figure out whats the stem of the problem

 

[Kathleen M.]

t4z Has Lactulose results, why can't I discuss them? Is it a bad thing???? Or was that not directed at me???Lactulose is most commonly used for SIBO, they don't use lactose or fructose for that, the only other sugar is glucose for SIBO.If anythin t4z would worry about a false negative, not a false positive based on the results I looked at.The only reason t4z would have been given lactulose was for SIBO, I don't think they use it for anything else, so why redo the test just to redo it???

Usually if a lab uses lactulose they always use lactulose for SIBO, it seems only a few places will even do the glucose test.Excessive gas and floating stools do not need a small number of bacteria (relatively) in the small intestine to happen. The much vaster number of bacteria in the colon are capable. You can get those with colon bacteria ONLY. Trust me, I have no change in symptoms with antibiotics (never had the test, but I got the flatulence under control by pretending it was all from the colon BEFORE they started testing IBSers for SIBO and never once in my entire life--I've always been a bit too farty--never once did any antibiotic ever change my fart frequency in any way, and the stools always floated every day of my life even when I didn't have IBS...well not until I found probiotics that like to live in me and eat enough of the carbs to keep the other bacteria in my colon in line).Pumping people full of repeated doses of antibioitcs when there is no reason to think it may help doesn't seem like a good choice, either. That is why I think they *should* test people not just throw expensive drugs that your insurance may not cover just in case it might work. But your mileage may vary.

 

[t4z]

Ok, so was I tested for SIBO and rapid transit then considering I had the lactulose one? From my results, does it seem like I do not have either of those problems?All I know is the amount of uncontrollable odorous gas and floating stools is not normal. It makes work very difficult being around people all the time, especially when I have to constantly crouch down and bench which seems to make it even worse.

t4z Has Lactulose results, why can't I discuss them? Is it a bad thing???? Or was that not directed at me???Lactulose is most commonly used for SIBO, they don't use lactose or fructose for that, the only other sugar is glucose for SIBO.If anythin t4z would worry about a false negative, not a false positive based on the results I looked at.The only reason t4z would have been given lactulose was for SIBO, I don't think they use it for anything else, so why redo the test just to redo it???

Usually if a lab uses lactulose they always use lactulose for SIBO, it seems only a few places will even do the glucose test.Excessive gas and floating stools do not need a small number of bacteria (relatively) in the small intestine to happen. The much vaster number of bacteria in the colon are capable. You can get those with colon bacteria ONLY. Trust me, I have no change in symptoms with antibiotics (never had the test, but I got the flatulence under control by pretending it was all from the colon BEFORE they started testing IBSers for SIBO and never once in my entire life--I've always been a bit too farty--never once did any antibiotic ever change my fart frequency in any way, and the stools always floated every day of my life even when I didn't have IBS...well not until I found probiotics that like to live in me and eat enough of the carbs to keep the other bacteria in my colon in line).Pumping people full of repeated doses of antibioitcs when there is no reason to think it may help doesn't seem like a good choice, either. That is why I think they *should* test people not just throw expensive drugs that your insurance may not cover just in case it might work. But your mileage may vary.

 

[Kathleen M.]

There really isn't anything abnormal (that is it is outside the normal range of what happens to healthy people) to have floating stools or smelly gas.Both happen in healthy people depending on which particular subset of normal colon bacteria you have and what you feed them.You want less gas volume, take probiotics (do not make gas from carbs) assuming you find one that works well in your system (both you and the rest of the ecosystem in there) and/or eat less carbs that feed the bacteria (resistant starch, some sugars that no one absorbs like the ones in beans or sugar alcohols in some raw fruits).You want less odor either eat less sulfur (the odor is because some bacteria in the gut turn sulfur in the food to smelly gases, so limit protein foods to 3 ounces per meal, watch garlic and onions and some other sulfur containing plants) or use pepto bismol as the bismuth will absorb the smelly gases and bind them into the stool.

 

[searching4answers]

okay glucose is not the only other sugar to test for bacterial overgrowth because i got the Lactose intolerance test, i have it in writing. negative for that but positive for SIBO. And antibiotics did help me the first time, the leaky gas and sharp pains went away for 10 days after finishing the meds. Of course it all came back though. That's why this time I WILL be following the antibiotics with a Probiotic, because that was the advise from my doctor and i've heard 3 other ppl say that is exactly what they did and have been able to keep away their symptoms for a year. So we can agree or disagree, i'm just telling you what I've experienced. I'm just 1 person, but i'm telling you it helped me the 1st time. Only take them if your doctor says that's the right course of treatment for YOU. but really any method that will find you relief from these embarrassing symptoms i say go for it. I'm not saying every IBSer has SIBO, we all dont have the same thing, just giving any info out that might help. wish you best of luck.

 

[Kathleen M.]

I really don't want to argue with you over what I say to someone else so much but all the published studies for SIBO use lactulose or glucose. There may be a few labs that try to use data from other tests for the few individuals who happen to be getting another intolerance test but the original poster got lactulose so why can't I talk about it when addressing that person which isn't your test results? The only way you could possibly use lactose or fructose for an SIBO tests is only if you happen to be intolerant because the point of the test is the people who tolerate those absorb them readily so there isn't any left for the bacteria to be gassy with.Following antibiotics with probiotics is something some people say works, I'm not sure if all the SIBO research is on board, but I think it seems to be a good idea (some just want to keep all bacteria out of there as much as possible even the friendly ones)The problem I was addressing is all the SIBO symptoms overlap so much with normal colon bacteria activity or with IBS (or other GI problems) that you can't assume that even if you share a symptom with someone who is tested with SIBO that you should also assume that is it. Even the experts at the clinic I go to that has been used to diagnose SIBO in all the classic SIBO ways (not just since the IBS-SIBO theory came up) is that sometimes the people they would make a big bet have SIBO end up not having it (and I'm not certain which symptoms they use when they initially are pretty sure the test will be positive).I don't think we are that far away from each other in thinking testing is a good idea before just throwing drugs at it "just in case". Although some people don't seem to be able to get tested in their area so end up just having to try antibiotics blindly.