[AllyKat]

Hi Guys,I'm new to this site as like many others I'm at the end of my tither! I've had IBS since my teens previously alternating between ibs c &d then in more recent yrs IBSc (I'm now 30). I've been a vegetarian since the age of about 10 so no obvious relationship (don't eat fish). My main problem now is my constipation, daily excessive bloating/ trapped wind and horrid gas! It is really affecting my quality of life and making me feel quite miserable. I have my symptoms pretty much every day, some worse than others but I can't put my finger on any 'triggering' factors, although it never really seems to be a major issue in the mornings, just after lunch and every evening.I can easily go over a week without a proper BM which leads to excessive build up of fowl smelling gas/bloating etc. I take regular laxatives, previously senna but due to the concerns of using this long term (and now it's ineffectiveness in me) I switched to lactulose but this contributed even more to my bloating/ flatulence. I'm now taking regular movicol (osmotic laxative) 2 a day but this isn't helping (if I up the dose I end up having accidents but no real evacuation! Just little and often (sorry to be so crude)). With 2 movicols a day I generally remain somewhat constipated but having to go the the toilet several times a day to pass tiny amounts of stool/mucus (that's if I make it to the bath room in time)and passing horrid gas. When it gets too unbearable (about once a week) with such bad pains and embarrassing gas I resort to taking several movicols and bisacodyl and if it's a week day having to take a day off work just so I can clear my bowels and 'function' again! And it seems to be getting worse!I eat a healthy diet, very very little processed food, mainly fresh fruit and veg, whole meal breads etc, plenty of water, decaffinated tea, take regular mebeverine (antispasmotic), buscopan for cramps, pre and pro biotics, multivitamins and recently b12 supplements as I've been diagnosed with low b12 secondary to my vegetarian diet. I exercise regularly, only really drink alcohol at weekends. I've seen a gastroenterologist who basically told me I obviously have a slow transit through my colon and the gas/ bloating is secondary to my fermenting food in my colon and there is nothing he could do/recommend just continue with the movicol (i left the consultation in tears!)Any help/advice GRATEFULLY received,AllyKat

 

[AllyKat]

thanks, tried all kinds of fruits - figs, prunes, dried apricots etc also take regular linseeds but no benefit seen :-(

 

[Kathleen M.]

Some people with slow transit actually need less fiber rather than more. The main treatment is osmotic laxatives to keep the stool wet enough to move and you are doing that. If the stool is still really dry you may need to up the amount and make sure you drink enough water.Prebiotics sometimes cause people to be more gassy so you may want to see if that is causing more problems than it helps.One of the problems with a vegetarian diet is it tends to be high in all the gassy foods. You might see if lowering the amount of starch helps, but you don't have a lot of options that aren't high in starch, or contains legumes/beans of some kind and a lot of fruits have high fructoes and high sorbitol which both can cause gas and a fair number of veggies have either fructose or the same sugars as beans (the cabbage family veggies).Try replacing any wheat you eat with rice as it is less gassy and that may help.Is it possible (or are you willing and/or your doctor willing) to try amitza to help move things along or zoloft (and antidepressant that tends to increase diarrhea and may help with the pain/discomfort)?

 

[WonkyColon]

Even figs don't do it for you? They really get me moving. O_OKathleen always gives excellent advice. I'm happy that she's part of these forums.

 

[AllyKat]

Thanks for the tips. The gastro Dr recommended I try Amitza but due to it being unlicensed in the UK it's not easily available as for the sertraline it might be something worth considering I just wanted to try other routes first. Will try cutting down on my wheat as you suggested, anythings worth a go! And the prebiotics I've only started about a week ago so I'll give them a month or so to see if I see any improvement.Thanks again

 

[AllyKat]

wales, uk

 

[IBS4ever]

Alley Cat, I was having EXACTLY the same symptoms as you since last December. My stomach would start bloating and rolling with gas around 2 or 3 in the afternoon and by the evening, I was so doubled over with pain, I actually sometimes could not even sit up! I tried everything...food diaries, elimination diets, blah, blah, blah but nothing worked. Nothing that is, until I met a friend of a friend with IBS and the same sort of problems. She said sugar was the culprit for her and lo-and-behold, that was the one thing I never thought about! I stopped all added sugar(and believe me, thats harder than it sounds) including and especially, high fructose corn syrup and any sugar substitutes. Gradually things began to get better, but there were still occassional problems. I finally relented and also gave up fruit, which for me was incredibly difficult as I am a vegetarian, too. It makes sense though...you even said you were having a lot of mucus in your stool as I was. That ususally means you have a lot of yeast in your body...what happens when sugar hits yeast? It bubbles!! I have continued to improve and when I read that while you are having a flare-up, you should give up any fiber supplements, I did that as well. That turned out to be the key! For years I have taken fiber to make it easier to have a BM, but it is much better without it! I am having fairly regular BM's, still a minor amout of gas, but the pain has all but disappeared!! I don't doubt that someday things will likely change and I will have to start taking the fiber again(and when I do, it will be one without sugar)but for now, I am enjoying being pain free. I realize the same things don't work for everyone, but if sugar isn't something you have thought about giving up, just try it for a few weeks. Hopefully, it will help you too! Good luck

 

[nowandthen]

Have you tried the magnesium tablets? So many people have success with that.They caused a lot of bloating for me. Lactulose is the worse for bloating and gas.I never was able to tolerate that.Don't forget that multivitamins have iron in them and iron can cause problems. I hadto quit eating anything that contained iron in it and just get iron from my foods.I've had luck with cutting out wheat from my diet, cutting out cereal, and the papayasomeone else mentioned has been helping me lately.

 

[Zilpah 5]

I too have had similar symptoms. Recently my GP sent me for a fructose intolerence breath test and I found out that I had a moderate fructose intolerence. I have been on a low fructose, wheat free diet (called the 'fodmap' diet) since. Things seem to be slowly improving though unfortunately I regress on the sugars occasionally and need to drink a lot more water. The bloating and wind are much reduced but I still need to beat the constipation and pain after achieving a bm.

 

[JackReynolds]

Have your B12 levels been tested? Vegetarian diets often contain little or no B12 (Unless you eat ten eggs a day or something), and one of the symptoms of B12 deficiency is constipation.