feeling of incomplete bowel movement and exercise?
#368093 - 08/24/12 04:27 PM
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Hello there!
My name is Alexander, I'm a 22 year old guy from Sweden who have recently undergone several tests, both in personal clinical interests and scientific interests, to see whether or not I have IBS. Sadly, it turns out I do. My experience with IBS is quite modest in comparission to some of the horror stories I read about here. You people truly have all of my support and sympathy!
I do have irregular bowel movements, and alternating constipation and diarréa. I do have swollen belly due to all the gas I'm producing, I do have occasional stomach pains and I do have this constant feeling of incomplete evacuation. The latter is, by far, the most annoying aspect of IBS which I have to deal with.
If you wish to, you don't absolutely need to read the text below. You can just skip to the bolded text to see what I want to ask.
And now let's go a little more on the topic:
Due to the fact that I could no longer eat the way I did before I experienced the horrors of IBS, I also lost the interest to exercise. You see, I find heavy weightlifting to be of interest to me, and I had been lifting weights in the gym seriously for about a year before I realized that something was wrong with my gut and butt. When I coudln't eat the way I was used to in order to put on muscles and pounds, I simpy didn't think it was fun anymore. I also stopped jogging, which was something I used to do to in order to make up for the fat I accumulated when weight lifting.
In short, I went doing weight training in the gym on mondays, wednesdays and fridays, and from doing approximitely 30-40 min jogging on tusedays and thursdays, to not exercising at all. Except for the hour I bicycle to and from work, and not counting the amount of walking and lifting I do in my job (I work at a warehouse), I didn't do anything in regards of exercise. This was until 3 weeks ago, when I started exercising according to the schedule I used to follow. The only thing I've changed is that I now follow Heathers diet plan a little more, and that I don't eat as much as before.
And I suddendly feel that the feeling of incomplete evacuation is worse now. So bad in fact, that I'm extremely annoyed by it constantly, and like many others with IBS it have a huge impact on my quality of life.
Bottomline, my question to you all is this: is it even possible that exercise could worsen the feeling of incomplete evacuation, or is it all in my head?
Thanks in advance!
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Weight training is the best form of exercise if done properly, so you really shouldn't stop and IBS by no means prevents you from it. I am by default a skinny girl, on birth control, not the type that will naturally build muscle, I have IBS and lactose intolerance meaning that I can't even have whey isolate, yet I am building muscle/getting stronger just fine.
You do not need as much protein as all weight building sites tout and you definitely do not need to eat 30mins after weight lifting and there is no need for protein shakes or supplements. Most important is that you need enough kcal within 24 hours, plus it's unlikely for your diet to be lacking in protein as you only need a v maximum of 0.5-0.8g of protein per bodyweight in lbs for serious body building and probably even half of that suffices.
There are plenty of quality proteins that are IBS friendly, think lean (white) meat, fish and egg whites. Tofu and oatmeal should also be fine.
As for getting your symptoms under control, scour this website, but here is my generic summary. Hope it helps.
'The diet solution is twofold:
A. follow the four EFI rules:
1. no alcohol
2. no caffeine
3. less insoluble fibre than soluble fibre per meals (peel, deseed and cook until soft) (use a soluble fibre supplement)
4. limited fat per meals - one meal calories coming from fat:25% maximum. (1g fat has 9kcal, 1g carb has 4kcal, 1g protein has 4kcal)
-rough guide fibre content of foods (actual fibre proportions and content depends on variety and ripeness):
http://huhs.harvard.edu/assets/File/OurServices/Service_Nutrition_Fiber.pdf
-fat content of oil - 1 tablespoonful of oil has 120kcal coming from fat!! (e.g. 100g raw chicken breast has 110kcal from other, 1 medium potato has 150kcal: so you can safely cook 200g of raw chicken breasts with that one tbpsoonful of oil and one boiled medium potato)
B. follow the FODMAP guidelines simultaneously:
http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml
Safest foods to eat would be (eat them for a week or two at least): porridge (cooked in water), boiled/baked potatoes, cooled white rice, grilled chicken breast, shrimp, white fish, boiled carrots, peeled baked peppers, peeled cooked courgette (ie zucchini), tomato paste, orange juice, no-pulp-berry juice and a bit of fat with each meal (salmon/olive oil to mention two of the healthiest options, but do count the kcals here, see above).
Incredibly restricted I know but I think you are extremely unlikely to have trouble from these foods and once your gut has calmed down after a week or so, you may experiment with adding different foods back into your diet one by one to see whether you can tolerate them. A food you can't tolerate may bother you within a couple of hours up to three days.
Normal bowel movements are always easy to pass and they number maximum 3 bowel movements per day & minimum 3 bowel movements per week.
Spasmodic pain and bloating may never be completely eliminated, but will probably be greatly reduced through adherence to this diet. '
The incomplete evacuation problem may well be due to fat intake per meal, at least it is for me. Many (based on Heather's suggestions) are OK with eating a lot of fat per meal as long as overall daily fat intake is around 25% of kcal. I am not OK with that at all, I have to limit fat within every single meal and I suspect you might have to too.
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now: stable through EFI+FODMAP dieting (no lactose/no fructose/some fructans and some polyols)
before: IBS-D(pseudo-diarrhoea), bloating, often unbearable pain esp from too much fat: Apr 2007- Dec 2010
FODMAPs: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml
[I've tried VSL#3 -> I could tolerate v good amounts of IF (even with less SF), it worked great (but overall I find it too expensive)]
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As you know the feeling of incomplete evacuation is a well-known IBS symptoms. It is a sensation rather than a reality due to a miscommunication between the brain and the brain-gut dysfunction .
There is clinical evidence to support the notion that exercise is good for IBS.
You might find the abstract to this study of interest.
Johannesson, E., Simren, M., Strid, H., Bajor, A., & Sadik, R. (2011). Physical Activity Improves Symptoms in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial . Am J Gastroenterol, 106(5), 915-922.
The following study concludes "This trial by Johannesson et al [The one give above] does leave us with the question of whether exercise impacts IBS itself or whether it affects overall well-being that leads to the perception of improved symptom severity. However, if the end result is overall improvement as perceived by the patient, then increased physical activity should be added to the list of recommended primary interventions for IBS patients."
Chey, W. D., & Rai, J. (2011). Exercise and IBS: No Pain, No Gain. Gastroenterology, 141(5), 1941-1943.
Generally speaking most clinical studies show IBS symptoms are improved by physical exercise.
This article may be of interest Does Exercise Really Help IBS?
However, you might gain more insight into managing your IBS symptoms by reading the first two links in my signature. They discuss a clinically tested dietary approach for managing IBS symptoms called the FODMAP approach. Many of us on the board use this approach in conjunction with Heather's diet with good success.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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I am 28, and weight train, and know the problems with dieting for IBS and putting on bulk.
Are you feeling better with the diet on your IBS symptoms?
Can you handle protein power or not (I can't)?
Can you handle oats, peanut butter, and other weight training foods (forget any diary)?
Your tolerance may allow to bulk with the obvious EFI adjustments. Whatever you do...STILL EXERCISE and LIFT man!
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interesting what you mentioned there about brain-gut misfunction there, Syl. I have only recently realised that my IBS is not as straight-forward as I thought. Different symptoms are caused by different triggers: too much IF causes me pseudo-D (and spasms if it's really too much), too much fibre (whether SF or IF) causes me bloating, too much fat causes me painful spasms and incomplete evacuation.
Probiotics never helped with the last, but did almost completely with the first. so maybe the fat is brain-gut related for me, while the other stuff is rooted in the problem of negative change in intestinal flora?!
maybe hypnosis would help for the fat-induced symptoms.
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now: stable through EFI+FODMAP dieting (no lactose/no fructose/some fructans and some polyols)
before: IBS-D(pseudo-diarrhoea), bloating, often unbearable pain esp from too much fat: Apr 2007- Dec 2010
FODMAPs: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml
[I've tried VSL#3 -> I could tolerate v good amounts of IF (even with less SF), it worked great (but overall I find it too expensive)]
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Who knows maybe hypnosis might help. However, fat is a well-known GI trigger. It speeds up peristalsis.
--------------------
STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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I would recommend from my own experience, to give hypnosis a try. What it does do, is make those triggers so often spoken of on this board, not a trigger anymore, a non-issue. I still avoid food that is unhealthy for me, but I eat most items that I could not eat before hypnosis. Salads, berries, fruits, POPCORN, raw anything and everything, IF, IF, and more IF. I can't say it will work for everyone, but it did for me. I think it is worth a try, especially if you have been on this board for 10 years with no improvement. Nothing to lose but a few bucks.
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well I do have the hypnosis Cds and I did try it in the past. and didn't provide long term relief. however when I am in a lot of pain I always self hypnotise myself and it really works then, almost simultanously. so I must be susceptable to hypnosis and I must have a problem with brain-gut disfunction, not just a change in digestive bacteria.
if fat speeds up peristalsis, I'd have thought that it'd cause D. I certainly know many people who have that from too much fat. for me though, it feels as if it's the complete opposite, ie that it slows things down to the point that everything grinds to a halt and stops moving. I have BMs which on the Bristol scale rank as C, even if I don't have C based on frequency of BM. this, I mean the mechanism I find confusing. it's v difficult to pass, am often compelled to strain although I do try to stop myself, but it's exactly that incomplete evacuation feeling and the pain, it's frustrating and puzzling at the same time, as I too would think that too much fat oils things up and gives you D, yet for me it seems to cause a different set of problems, which I simply can't identify. I find it difficult to imagine the mechanism therefore can't devise proper hypnosis and Michael's generic CDs don't seem to help. for IF, I'd hypnotise along the lines of slowing things down, for pain I hypnotise along the lines of calming things down. for too much fat I simply don't know what to subconsciously tell myself as I am not sure what exactly fat does to me. I also don't understand how a meal containing 20% of fat is completely fine, but one containing 30% is not. sometimes the difference is like 3 or 5 grams more fat, which doesn't seem a lot by any means.
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now: stable through EFI+FODMAP dieting (no lactose/no fructose/some fructans and some polyols)
before: IBS-D(pseudo-diarrhoea), bloating, often unbearable pain esp from too much fat: Apr 2007- Dec 2010
FODMAPs: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml
[I've tried VSL#3 -> I could tolerate v good amounts of IF (even with less SF), it worked great (but overall I find it too expensive)]
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Increasing peristalsis can speeds things up for some and in others produce spasms slowing things down.
--------------------
STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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ok, thank you. I reckon what I want is basically things flowing along smoothly, not too fast, not too slow and with no jerks. ie gentle flowing river instead of waterfall or drought-y trickle - hypnosis analogywise 
--------------------
now: stable through EFI+FODMAP dieting (no lactose/no fructose/some fructans and some polyols)
before: IBS-D(pseudo-diarrhoea), bloating, often unbearable pain esp from too much fat: Apr 2007- Dec 2010
FODMAPs: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml
[I've tried VSL#3 -> I could tolerate v good amounts of IF (even with less SF), it worked great (but overall I find it too expensive)]
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