Was my multivitamin causing IBS-C??!!!
#344027 - 04/04/09 06:37 AM
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jatdc
Reged: 04/17/07
Posts: 7
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I've been suffering from IBS-C for most of my adult life (I'm 34) and have tried EVERYTHING and spent MASSIVE amounts of money trying to find relief. I tried dietary changes, various supplements, Michael Mahoney's hypnotherapy, drugs when I got desperate, even acupuncture. NOTHING worked. The only time I found true relief (i.e., I wasn't bloated with gas and had strong, healthy peristalsis and completely normal bowel movements) was right after major surgery. I actually posted on this message board a while back about how I thought that the anesthesia had "reset" my brain-gut connection so that I had normal bowel function again. But my IBS-C returned about a week or so after surgery. I never made the connection that the surgeon had required me to stop taking my multivitamin until a week after my surgery (it would interfere with blood clotting)! Just a couple days ago it hit me that that's probably the connection--but I was skeptical because in all the online literature, weak peristalsis is blamed on vitamin deficiency, but not on vitamin presence. But since nothing else had worked for me, and the connection seemed pretty strong, I decided not to take my multivitamin that day. By that evening, I felt something I hadn't felt in a LONG time: the presence of gas in my transverse colon, and a flat lower abdomen. I know those things sound uncomfortable, but with my version of IBS-C, I would always have that "pregnant" look of huge distension in the lower abdomen and I never felt gas traveling in big bubbles in my transverse colon. This morning, as I write this, is my second day without a multivitamin and I feel wonderful!!!! I actually passed gas when I peed, which NEVER happens with my IBS-C. And the gas wasn't extremely stinky as it used to be--in fact it barely had a smell. I haven't pooped yet but my intestines definitely feel like they're "working" now, with the healthy gurglings that I missed. It might be premature to claim this is my cure, but the changes so far have been so amazingly dramatic that I thought I'd share with everyone. Anyone have an idea why the multivitamin would be the culprit??
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I stopped my daily multi/B vits a month ago and have had a similar experience with an easier time going (no more C) and less pain. For a rude experiment I have tried twice taking them again (even resorting to spending extra to buy a liquid vitamin) and I was in complete AGONY ! I can't imagine that I will ever be able to take a vitamin again (although I do take magnesium for C and it doesn't cause an upset). Like you, I hear major gurgling after eating and I never had that before.
Like my earlier post - I am all about being pain free. Taking a daily vitamin isn't an option for me anymore! Janice
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Your experience is a common one. Checkout Heather's discussion on multi-vitamins and multi-mineral supplements in this newsletter.
-------------------- 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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Interesting, What multivitamin were you taking?
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Scratch that...two days into my experiment without vitamins and I'm back to the same old IBS-C symptoms. This is beyond frustrating.
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