Acacia and Gas?
#206067 - 08/17/05 03:43 AM
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Bel
Reged: 08/17/05
Posts: 2
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Has anyone had any experience with acacia causing them gas and bloating?
I am predominantly D, and started taking Acacia fiber when my doctor suggested that it might help reduce the frequency of my bm's. It seems to have worked and I now only have one bm a morning instead of three or four.
However, I am getting very bad bloating and gas which can be a bit embarrasing!  I seem to get it after eating and it's really bad at night 
Could it be the acacia? I'm thinking maybe it's that or it could be something different like too much fructose...
Naturally I'm relucantant to go off the acacia fiber as it has really helped with my bm's.
Any suggestions, similar experiences or advice?
Thanks 
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Yes....
#206092 - 08/17/05 07:15 AM
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epa_ginger
Reged: 02/23/05
Posts: 1158
Loc: Chicago, IL
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I had a similar experience. I'm not 100% sure, but 95% sure that it was the acacia doing the same to me. I stopped taking it and started taking Benefiber and have felt much better ever since. Although I am C, not D. Haven't had C, gas (other than normal), or bloating since. Might want to try a different fiber for a few weeks just to see. Otherwise, it might be something else in your diet.
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I have just been reading through all the information on Acacia and I think that Heather says it should help the gas and certainly not cause anymore - unless I have misread it!
Could you tell me how much Acacia you take in total, how many doses and what time of the day you take it. That would be very helpful for me as I am in the process of readjusting my supplements. Thankyou.
Judith
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Hi Bel, Welcome to the boards. Whatever the source of the gas
is, you might try fennel tea to relieve it. I find you usually
fart alot within 15 to 30 minutes of drinking it, but it stops
after that. -Bob
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<img src="http://www.math.mtu.edu/~rwkolkka/BritPicA.jpg">
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Although I am C and not D, I think the same principle applies...how fast did you increase dosage? If you increase fiber too quickly, you will have gas and bloating...same if you are taking too much. I always had some gas and bloating when I increased dosages, but it went away in a few days time. If it doesn't go away, try lowering your dose a bit.
Also, as wonderful as Acacia is to me and many others, sometimes folks find that they have to try another fiber all together to get rid of side effects. For me, Acacia is a godsend! I hope you don't get discouraged and can find a dose that is comfortable to your body!
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God is Faithful!
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I tried to hang on but after 3 or 4 weeks I gave up. I started slow (1/4) tsp and it never got better. So, now I'm looking for another. I was so disappointed. 
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Acacia didn't work for me either, unfortunately. You may have to experiment to find out which SFS is best for you. 
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"Anyone can exercise, but this kind of lethargy takes real discipline." -Garfield
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Hey Rosie. I was taking metamucil pills - 2 or 3 at lunch, dinner and sometimes breakfast (which isn't much. About 1.5 grams, I think) when I started acacia. I'm D. I started taking 1/4 teaspoon in the morning and before dinner (with metamucil at lunch) and worked up to about 1 teaspoon. Not sure how much that is, but I went very gradually and it seemed to work
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Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the advice.  I was taking acacia only once in the morning at breakfast and gradually increased my dosage but realistically I think I might have been having too much at once (was having 3 heaped teaspoons!) I've backed off to one level teaspoon and a bit of a morning and will try taking some at night before I go to bed and see how that goes.
I tried Metamucil about a year back - never again!
I still think that there are some foods that are causing problems (other than the obvious ones like milk, eggs and onion etc). Maybe I'm getting too much fructose or something? Anybody had any experience with this?
Thanks!
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Unless you've been taking Acacia for months and months you must have increased your dose too fast - you were taking about 15g SF in one dose!  I take that through the day. Try splitting your intake evenly between three doses a day
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Acacia is a member of the legume family, so that could be the problem. Are you sensitive to "gums?" Personally I cannot tolerate "gums." (Except xanthan) Every sf supplement has caused me obscenely painful explosive GAS and I refuse to waste more $$$ on them.
Some people luck out with sfs--others have to rely on nature.
Kate.
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..since it's part of the legume family? I get horrible gas from lentils (only bean I've tried), so now I'm scared to take the Acacia I have.
Please, any advice????
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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I cannot take the Acacia fiber, either. I got HORRIBLE gas pains from it. I gave it about 3 months and never subsided. Citrucel (clear), works for me because it doesn't have the citric acid that the orange kind as. Hope this helps.
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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Beth
#214236 - 09/19/05 04:35 AM
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Linz
Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 8242
Loc: England
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I don't get any gas from Acacia and beans are my enemies!  I could NOT eat lentils and can only infrequently have beans at all. Even houmous makes me gassy.
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Hi Beth, I don't think acacia is a legume. From what I recall,
it's an African tree that grows in the Savannahs and Giraffe's
eat the leaves off it. I guess they get lots of SF then. -Bob
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<img src="http://www.math.mtu.edu/~rwkolkka/BritPicA.jpg">
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After reading Wind's post, I did a quick search on the web. Here's one link Acacia This really surprised me, and worried me.
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Thanks for the bit of reassurance. Still scary to start new SFS...especially when I'm running out of choices to try!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Beth, I checked leguminosae, according to what I found on
Google, leguminosae is a family of plants to which legumes
belong, but not all leguminosae are legumes. I don't think
any species of acacias produce beans. Heather should know
what kind of acacia she gets her powder from and which part
of the acacia it comes from. -Bob
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<img src="http://www.math.mtu.edu/~rwkolkka/BritPicA.jpg">
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is that you have to take so much of it to get a good amount of fiber. And each dose of 2 grams fiber has 40 calories. To get to 14 grams of fiber or so, you would need to take this 7 times a day and it equals 280 calories.
How much Citrucel do you take in a day?
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Maybe that is my problem!! I only take 1 scoop three times a day.......hmmmmm......it's not controlling the diarrhea. Do you think I should give the acacia fiber another try??? There's no way I could take this stuff 7 times a day, is there????
Thanks for your help!!
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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It's so hard.....I'm so confused....sometimes the citrucel does control the diarrhea but it's not consistent. So, I don't know where to go from here. I am kind of scared to try the acacia again, since it did not work for me the first time, two years ago when I first got sick. Of course, I don't think anything would have helped me then.......
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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After going back to my book that I kept two years ago when I was on the Acacia Fiber, I don't think I gave it a fair chance. I don't think I did it right.....I just bought some more....I'm going to do it right this time and see if it works. I have to do something........
Nothing else is working and I'm pretty sure it is because of the fiber....I don't think I'm getting enough.
Thanks for all your help!!
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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I do have to take a lot of it -- and I take the caplets -- not the fiber. Here is the info about the calories and all that on the caplets:
Each 2-caplet dose of CITRUCEL® Caplets contains 0 grams of carbohydrates and 0.5 calories. Additionally, CITRUCEL® Caplets do not contain any cholesterol or fat.
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How many caplets do you take??
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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Acacia as a soluble fiber comes from the gum of Acacia seyal or Acacia senegal trees. It's not a legume at all. It actively reduces bloating and gas because it slowly ferments in the gut - there's info about that in a past newsletter.
ANY sudden dramatic increase in fiber intake, whether soluble fiber or insoluble fiber, can overwhelm the gut and cause bloating and gas. But of all the fiber supplements, Acacia should be the least likely to cause gas when it's used properly.
Best,
Heather
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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I take gobs of them -- 8 caplets - 3 times a day.... (I take it before each meal) so 24 total. So that equals out to 12 grams of fiber supplement -- and keeps me stable.
I had problems with other fibers I tried.
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Wow! That IS lot!! I only take 1tbs three times a day so that would equal, what, 6 grams. That cannot be enough to stabilize me......Did 6 grams stabilize you???
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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the second time around. I am interested in seeing if you can handle it this time.
When you say you weren't taking it the right way, what did you mean? How were you taking it that you don't think it was the right way? How are you going to take it differently this time?
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Hey Beth! I was going back through my log, and Heather says that sometimes you need to wait a week or sometimes even longer in between increasing the dosage.......I went from taking a 1/2 tablespoon twice a day to 1 tablespoon three times a day a day within a week!!! I think that was WAAAAAY to fast of a jump for my system and that may be why it didn't work for me......I noticed that when I was complaining of diarrhea attacks, when I started taking the 1/2 tablespoon twice a day......I was only having 1 BM a morning instead of 6-10 like I usually was. But, when I was at 3 tablespoons a day within that same week, I was having really bad gas pains and alot more BM every morning again. It was probably a shock to my system. So, I think I will wait At least a week in between increasing dosage.....so I can monitor my symptoms more closely. I will let ya know how it goes!! I'm on here every day now that I had to quit my job. I need to get better, sooon!!! I have been out of work since Aug 2nd.
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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Nope. You may just need more -- not a different kind. I had to have more fiber to stop my D. It made it better -- but I still had it off and on -- which is what you are describing - right? I didn't really feel the difference until I got around...10 grams -- and then I felt stable... no more "attacks" unless I did something to "deserve" it at 12 - so I stopped there. I mean -- I still have to control my diet... no dairy and watch the fat, etc. but I feel so much better.
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Yea, I have it on and off. Depending on what I eat.....I just figured out thanks to all of the people on the forum that oatmeal is one of my triggers!! See, I was wondering if my body could be prone to the dose of Citrucel that I'm at right now......I stabilized last year on 1 tbs of Citrucel clear three times a day (which is only 6 grams).......now, it's not working anymore. So, could this mean that I just need more??? Like my body became prone to the 6 grams I'm at right now??? I guess it's not impossible........
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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Well -- it could also be your diet -- like the oatmeal.... you could be eating things like that -- that are triggering attacks for you. I couldn't get stable at that low of a dose -- but we are all different. Just like the fibers all do different things for us. Some work for one better than another.
BTW -- oatmeal bothers me too. I don't actually get D attacks from it anymore --- just gas and bloating. It's funny how those things that are supposed to be good for us -- aren't.
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I know!! I didn't eat yesterday, I ate brown rice cereal and had a major attack!! This morning, I ate plain chicken and rice and ......no attack, yet!!! Maybe it was the oatmeal that was triggering my attacks. I wish there was one fiber that would work for ALL OF US, so we wouldn't have to continue to experiment with different ones at different doses.....It's a pain!! But, when we finally find what works it's amazing how it aleviates most of our pain!!!!
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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...or going to try the Acacia? Or combine them?
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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I don't know what to do now!!!! I'm soo confused!! I am having a pretty good day so far. I actually had a pretty normal BM after eating my chicken and rice and I don't feel like I have to keep going like I did yesterday morning......I guess I should wait a little bit and see how it goes, huh???? I am also taking imodium every day, though. So, that may be why I don't have diarrhea today. I do have a BM though, everyday, so I don't think I'm constipated. What should I do???? If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it, right???? I seem to be doing alot better, today. I drank 4 cups of fennel tea, yesterday, too which helped alot with my gas and bloating problem.
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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I have been safe with the Malt-O-Meal version of Cream of Wheat -- it doesn't have the wheat germ in it -- they have some flavors even -- (maple & brown sugar) that aren't bad. I saw chocolate - but haven't tried it.
Those triggers can really get you -- but once you figure them out -- it really is lovely.
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Malt-o-Meal, huh??? Do you have IBS-D??
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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I do quinoa flakes instead of oatmeal as I am GF due to an allergy.
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IBS-C with major bloat!
Gluten Free Vegan
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