Help! No one has offered help for my issue
#345027 - 04/26/09 05:40 AM
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Leah11
Reged: 04/07/09
Posts: 6
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Hi- I posted back on 4/7 but no one has answered and I can really use some help. I am new to the board and may have missed a response but I don't think so. Still trying to navigate this board.
I have been through double tests at my gyno, and been through one gastro doctor and now on a new gastro doctor. I have gotten a basic diagnosis that I have mild-moderate IBS, and thank goodness, I seem to have a milder version than what I see many people writing in have. I consider myself lucky in that regard. I am prone to diarreah, not consitpation but my biggest and most debilitating problem is with excess gas. It is ruining my life! I can write a book on things I have tried and how hard I have been trying to get ready for an upcoming new chapter in my life. I'll be going back to school in a couple of weeks and I am DESPERATE to talk to someone who can just help me get through 5 hours in the morning without the pain of having to hold in excess gas until I can possibly get up from my seat to go to the bathroom. I have been getting up at 5:15 each morning to be able to get on a schedule for school. My first issue is, I take a thyroid medication that has to be taken on an empty stomach- so at about 5:30am, I take that. Then I have to wait at least one hour before taking any food. So at about 6:30am-7am, I take 1/2 tsp Acacia, mixed with some oatmeal or rice squares cereal and a very small amt of rice milk, just to mix the Acacia in. I get up so early because I want to try and have a bowel mvmt before I have to leave for school or I will try to run into a fast food place if I am on my way to school to try and poop. If I don't poop before school, I may have that buildup of feeling like having to go and then I will have to leave class and stink up only one of two small bathrooms in the entire facility. Not only that but almost every thing I eat, almost EVERYTHING, gives me gas to some extent or another and ranges from mild to VERY, VERY bad. I know my basic trigger foods and will totally stay away from anything like that. I just need to eat something or get a prescription med that helps with gas ( Beano . . . not always effective and I would have to take it constantly) Also carry Gas-X (xtra strength) with me at all times ( does this really work?)
I want to try and eat healthy so I can keep up my immune system while in school, which will run 5 days a week, 5 hrs a day for the next 4 months. I eat like a bird now and will have to eat like a bird for all breakfasts and dinners and maybe sneak in just a few veggies for lunch- and the reason is that what I eat for dinners often affects me (gas) the next morning. I could write in more detail but I know this is sooooo long already. If anyone else out there has trouble with excess gas with almost everything they eat, please write me back. I need to get through school without embarrasing myself as "the girl who farts all the time!"
Thanks and if Heather is reading this, I would welcome your help!!!!! 
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Check out some of Heathers Tummy Teas. I drink Peppermint Tea all the time, but it sounds like you may need the Fennel Tea.
I'm far from being an expert, so I hope that someone else has a better answer for you.
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Learning to Love who I am!
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I also have bad gas, only mine just builds up and sits there and doesn't pass. Are you taking a digestive enzyme with each meal? Preferably one containing HCL like this one.
Also, maybe try eating more frequent smaller meals and make dinner your smallest meal of the day. Smaller meals in general help reduce gas. Then take a walk in the evening so that some of it can pass then rather than the next morning.
If passing smelly, embarassing gas is the problem, you could also try those liners for your underwear that contain charcoal to absorb the smell. Like these. I don't if they work but worth a try!
Best of luck.....
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IBS-C, lots of spasm and trapped gas.
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You could also try and stay away from soy for a while and see if that helps.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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To Dragonfly - thanks for your input. I have to tell you that I bought soy products and was only on them for a few days and did stop them. I should have researched soy a bit more before stocking up like I did. I just wondered if you knew of any food(s) that would be totally the safest to eat before I go to class? I have been doing relatively well with oatmeal and dry rice square cereal, but that only lasts me a couple of hours as far as filling me up to last through a 5 hr class - halfway through the class I'm hungry again - not sure what I could possible nibble on in class to get me through the next half of class. Any suggestions? Also, is it safe to take Beano with every meal? I was not sure of which enzyme you were referring to ( a better one than Beano?) Can you give me the name of one that you have tried? Can you get it over the counter? I really appreciate any info! I'm pretty desperate for something to work.
Thanks!!! 
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Try taking anything you eat at home like the rice cereal and snack on that.I would also try pretzels.I munch on those and that helps control my tummy usually.Try keeping food in your stomach at all times that way you won't get hungry which can cause stomach upset .I also munch on whit bread and it helps calm my stomach usually.
I don't take beano or any enzymes,gas is the toughest thing for all of us to figure out how to get rid of.
But definitely keep food in your stomach it will help.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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Poor you, i do sympathise - i remember this being a problem for me at university, sometimes seminars could be hell. I remember leaving a class and going home on the pretext of feeling ill, when actually i was just so uncomfortable with gas. For me this actually became less of a problem over time - the pattern of my IBS changed and gas became a less troublesome symptom, mercifully - so don't rule out the possibility that this could happen for you. I know it's easier said than done but try not to stress about it and expect it to happen as i think this can make it worse. Have you tried the fennel tea that another poster suggested - if it worked for you, you could take a thermous with you into class. Brew it strong and drink alot - it's worth a try.
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Thanks, Charlotte M- Yes I thought about doing that with the peppermint tea, only because I'm sure I will get alot of people asking "what's that smell ( of the tea, I mean!) with the fennel and I just wanted to fly under the radar with the whole thing, ya know? People probably wouldn't ask me about a mint tea. I know I worry too much and that exacerbates my problem, but it is something that has been cause for embarrasement and almost embarrasement in the past. And it's really really hard to sit there when you have to pas gas and you are trying to hold it all in. It's really really hard. At that point I can't focus on anything else besides trying to hold it in- I'm not listening to my friends talk, or listening to an instructor, or watching the movie . . . I'm just trying to survive until I can get outside or to a bathroom to relieve that gas ( hopefully in a bathrm or private area). It's been really hard. Well, I thank you for your suggestion. Yes, for sure I'll bring in the peppermint tea - I know that helps soothe the digestive track- and I know they say fennel is best for gas - do you think the pepp will work for gas too? I wonder if I could mix the two? Does anyone know? Or else I will just have to take the fennel into class and I know people are going to say" fennel tea?- what's that???) Just trying to fly under the radar, as I said before.
Thanks for writing and offering some help. I really appreciate it!!!
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Ok, will try what you have suggested. I have eaten plain pretzels before though as a snack and they give me gas too. I take Beano even before snacks sometimes and sometimes it works and other times it does not. Do you know if rice milk ( which I picked up as an alternative to soy milk) in small amounts makes people gassy?
Anyway, thanks and I'm just going to have to get through it. I think I will up my water intake too and perhaps just flush myself out more and hope that that helps. I do exercise regularly and always have. Long walks are a favorite type of exercise and they say this is good to get rid or gas or help my system just regulate better.
Thank you sooo much for your help. I do appreciate it!!!
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In terms of eating something that keeps you full, I LOVE a scoop of hemp protein powder in my oatmeal. I buy a vanilla flavoured one from Living Harvest, or I buy the original favoured one, but cook my oatmeal in vanilla almond milk to sweeten it a bit. Oatmeal + hemp protein + berries + ground flaxseed = keeps me full for a while.
Hemp is also high in magnesium which helps with C.
A digestive enzyme is key. I get mine through my naturopath but health food store brands like Genestra, NewChapter and Udo's are also good.
And yes, soy is a major stinky-gas producer for me!
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IBS-C, lots of spasm and trapped gas.
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Renee- those enzymes you mentioned, do you think they work better than Beano? did you ever use Beano? Also, are the enzymes you mentioned safe to be taken in several doses per day, every day? ( like before each main meal?) I am too afraid to put lots of added things in my oatmeal- afraid most foods will not agree with me. I have to be soooo cautious. If I could live in a cave, I would be the healthiest person on the planet!!! Thanks for all your help!
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Every naturopath I've ever seen (a lot of them) have recommended taking a digestive enzyme with every meal. I'm not sure what Heather's view is but think it's pretty standard, non-controversial advice for IBS. So yes, I take one 3 times a day (or at least 2, with lunch and dinner which are the more gas-causing meals for me). Most good-quality brands are gluten,soy,dairy free etc. They contain enzymes that your body may not be producing enough of itself, to help break down all the parts of your food - like fats and protein - whereas Beano only helps break down a certain type of carbohydrate found in beans etc. I take a Beano as well as my digestive enzyme with my dinner, just because nighttime gas is a big issue for me and dinner is when I eat the most veggies.
I am not "stable", so I am not going to say that these are a solution, but I just feel mentally better when I take them - like I'm giving my body some extra help to break down food.
I understand your caution about adding things to your oatmeal. Do you eat instant or steel-cut oats. Steel cut take longer to cook (it helps if you soak them the night before), but they'll keep you fuller for longer than the instant.
Best of luck!
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IBS-C, lots of spasm and trapped gas.
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Lots of us have that issue and hate it! Here's what I do. I drink lots of fennel tea - I didn't like the taste at first, but mix 50/50 with peppermint tea and it tastes a lot better (make it strong - I use a couple of tablespoons of each for about 12 oz of water). After you've had it a few times you really start to like it! It will not cause bad side effects - and it really, really helps. But start drinking it first thing when you get up to help prevent the gas from forming in the first place! This is key! Then take a thermal coffee mug of it with you to class. Drink it all through the day if you can. Also, have you tried the peppermint caps? It has a little fennel in it also. My doctor says that a lot of the gas is caused by stress - your intestines are spasming, you're swallowing too much air, etc. So try and do deep breathing and relaxing things throughout the day too. If none of that helps at all, you can talk with your doctor about Levsin - it's one of the anti-spasmotic drugs that Heather talks about on her website. I have it around for times that I just don't want to be embarrassed - like dinner at a friends! If you take the Levsin a couple of hours before you eat (or at least 1 hour) it really cuts down on the smelly gas a lot! When my doctor gave it to me for the intestinal cramps I get with IBS, he said it will also help with the gas because it relaxes the intestines.
Hope that helps, and take good care! Oh, and don't waste your money on those charcoal filters for your underwear - they totally don't work! The smell just goes around it! 
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No problem! As I say, I do totally sympathise with that needing-to-pass-gas scenario  soo uncomfortable! Further to Loriann's post above about relaxation techniques, you may even want to think about the IBS audio 100 progamme as it can be really good for relaxation. I'm not sure if it would help with gas, it doesn't deal with the issue specifically, you could ask Marilyn's advice on the Hypnotherapy Board. Hang in there, you are going to find something that works for you! 
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Something else here..my girlfriend is a major gas producer 
and she tried activia yogurt everyday for two weeks and she really noticed that she was less bloated and less gassy.It took two full weeks for her.and she had to keep eating it.
She also is prone to c and she was helped along with that too.
Now when I say gassy and bloated I mean BLOATED! She looks 4 months pregnant some days and she will peal the wallpaper from the wall!
She laughs about it but the yogurt did help.
Something else you really should do is explain to your friends that you have this problem.If they are really your friends they will listen and understand.All my friends know about my IBS and they are careful to ask me if such and such a thing is OK for me to eat or not.They also understand if I suddenly disappear for half an hour.
It would certainly relieve a lot of stress if you explained to your friends or at least one, what was going on.You may be surprised to find some of them have the same issues.
Good luck.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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