Heather and friends, can bloating trigger "D"?
#4586 - 03/31/03 06:53 AM
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susaloh
Reged: 02/02/03
Posts: 96
Loc: Kiel, Germany
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or is it just another nasty, seperate, symptom of IBS??
This question is really important to me. I've lived virtually bloating and gas free for many many months while on a very minimal diet (rice, chicken, rice cakes, stewed apple/carrot...). I could live on like that forever if need be but Heather's book has raised my hopes that I should be able to eat other foods. I haven't had a D attack for 6 weeks and there have not been any spasms either, so I thought I'll have a go. Two weeks ago I've started putting two teaspoons of oatmeal into my morning rice - some bloating, but okay. Last week I tried cooked potato a few times, just a small one, more bloating but okay. Now I've started adding half a glass of soy milk to my breakfast since Saturday. Incredible bloating and explosive gas! The gas is 'travelling' through which is a good sign but sometimes it hurts so badly, it feels exactly like I'm going to have a terrible D attack within minutes. But it moves through and I'm 100% fine just minutes later. This is inspite of the 6 "beanos" I'm taking per day!
I don't think 'avoiding anything that causes bloating' should be an option for me but I'm scared to death of getting worse again. At the worse point (in October) I was bed ridden and weak and deeply depressed. Am I rocking the boat too much or do you think I should stick through the bloating until I adjust????
My BM's are slightly more loose and a bit more rushed than on the minimal diet but they don't feel 'bad'. Is that normal?
Thanks for any advice and explanation!!!
Susaloh
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Susaloh,
I personally feel that bloating triggers d-attacks, because that's the time that I get them. I've decided I'm ibs-a, which I never really thought before, but I worked out that I wouldn't go for up to a week, eat something bad then get instantly bloated. This then leads to a d-attack, and the first couple of times I can't actually go, but I can feel the pressure building up until it's got no choice but to come out!!!  . Incidentally, I have found since being on a routine of peppermint oil capsules and soluble fibre sachets, if I do get an occasional attack, there's no bloating pain and it will be over quite quickly.
Sarah
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Sarah
Looking for inspiration...
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I think it's no necessarily a trigger for D, but more likely a precursor. I think that the gas simply gets produced and trapped before the food moves down for "D", but I'm just guessing. I'm quite puzzled about the potato. If you ate only the inside (no skins) and nothing on it, you should have been fine. Oatmeal gives me problems so I avoid it and have it only occasionally.
Bloating is one of those nasty things that a lof of us deal with. I know how it feels to have trapped gas - it is SO painful sometimes I am doubling over and can only lie down and hope to "pass the gas". Have you tried fennel tea? A fiber supplement? These can also be helpful. I would also read the website The First Year IBS - it will give you step by step suggestions on how to add foods to your diet. Mashed carrots, squash and sweet potatoes are all great starting points. Hope you feel better soon. Post any more questions you have.
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Formerly HanSolo. IBS, OCD, Bipolar, PTSD times 3.
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Dear HanSolo,
Thanks for your reply!!
The thing is, this is not TRAPPED gas! With all the trapped gas I used to have and all the nausea and D and cramping I cut out one food after the other until I ended up on the rice and chicken diet and got stuck on it for five months (preceeded by 3 months of eating rice and crackers and not much more). So, it's a total of 8 months that I haven't touched any other foods. So my theory is that perhaps with any 'new' foods my body gets a bit out of its - unnatural - balance and needs time to adjust. I tried two teaspoons of mashed sweet potatoe in my rice the other day and got bad bloating, too! I'm an expert on fibre supplements and I live Heather's rules by the book, but for a long time I did not get better.
Maybe I should explain,even though I don't really want to spill the beans until I'm sure it will last, that I had an'underlying' problem, that's why Heather's diet didn't work for me any faster. Apparently I had a hormone problem (excess estrogen) which was responsible for my IBS getting worse and worse while I could tolerate fewer and fewer foods. Estrogen heightens pain sensitivity!! The link only became obvious once other, gynecological, symptoms got bad enough for me to see a gyn. I started taking phyto-estrogens (out of soy) 7 weeks ago in a very low dosis and my IBS (and my PMS) got better IMMEDIATELY! even though I can still feel the influence of the hormones during some parts of the cycle. I will write a proper post about this in a while but fact is, I haven't had a D attack and my colon seems to work kind of normally motility wise, no cramped up bits, I'm even passing gas (I welcomed that as a sign of normality, all these months it would only come out when I woke up in the morning!!). Anyway, the good thing is, this now is not TRAPPED gas. And I don't get any cramping! But my colon is still oversensitive and seems just to perceive the larger amounts of gas as extremely painful.
I think I will just be brave and stick to the new foods unless I get a D attack. That wouldn't be the end of the world, would it (though very disappointing).
Thanks for letting me spill it all out! All these worries are kind of bottled up in there....
Susaloh
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because Beano is an enzyme and I'm taking Dimeticon. Maybe that's why it doesn't help!
Susaloh
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I had one other thought after I replied to your first post. It may be that your body will adjust to these new foods eventually. I, for example once I got my IBS symptoms under control, and managed adding foods in, the bloating decreased over time, and I only noticed big bloating with certain foods. It will get better. Hang on. Keep trying to add foods like you are - small amounts carefully. Perhaps your body will adjust and get used to them. Mine did.
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Formerly HanSolo. IBS, OCD, Bipolar, PTSD times 3.
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It kind of sounds to me like your body was having minor adjustment problems to oatmeal and potatoes but a major problem with soymilk. Many people (me included) can't tolerate soy products. I find they give me bad cramps and gas. Perhaps you could go back to adding the generally safer foods in small quantities but stay away from more frequent trigger foods, which I think soy can be. You might find that taking Beano just before eating vegetable based foods might help. There is also Mega-Zyme by Enzymatic Therapy that helps break down carbohydrates (and fats), which might alleviate some gassiness for you. They help me, I think. I can tolerate a few more things than you mentioned you've been eating and I know how bored I get - I hope you can add a few things in to jazz up your food repertoire!
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Funny how sleeping over things can sometimes sort out your head. I went to bed confused and woke up with the same conclusion as in your post! No soy milk today just the potato and I'll try to get hold of a 'Beano' equivalent (I'm in Germany) because I mistook it for Dimeticone (the stuff that separates the gas bubbles). I had also increased the amount of oatmeal at the same time, so I'm not even 100% sure about what caused the bloating! Patience is not my strong side, but one really has to go so slowly. Two step forwards, one step back. And it's such an intellectual challenge, too, isn't it? Phew!! But I must be happy and grateful how well I am now compared to four months ago.
Thanks so much for responding!
Susaloh
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