Hi Everyone,
I want to say I am glad to hear I'm not the only one with this horrendous issue, but then again I'm sorry that you are all suffering too. It is just awful, isn't it? It has gotten worse and worse for me -- from once or twice a month to DAILY -- and it is the main reason I've been diagnosed by my GI (further tests pending) with IBS.
I have been reading and researching like crazy, and I do believe I've found something that helps! It has cut my bloating (that painful feeling like a balloon is expanding inside you and there's nothing you can do about it) by 60 - 80 percent over the last few days.
What I've been doing is CHEWING. Really, really carefully. I mean, until the food is completely liquified and you can't find any more chewable bits with your tongue. They say digestion begins in the mouth, and your saliva has digestive enzymes. Maybe this makes it easier for your guts to break down the food.
This got me interested in enzymes, and I thought perhaps my body is not producing enough digestive enzymes. So, I looked into different enzymes, and purchased some. People on this site recommended Udo's brand of probiotics, so I decided to try his "Advanced Adult Enzyme Blend." I think this is a pretty good product, as it has a good diversity of enzymes, and included Alpha-galactosidase, which is indicated for gas (it's the ingredient in Beano). Different enzymes break down different foods, such as protease for protein, and lipease for fats. If you know what is difficult for you to digest, you could go for a specific enzyme, but I'm not sure, so I went for a multi-formula. It also appears to have helped, but chewing was the major breakthrough.
I still seem to get stomach aches, so it isn't a cure-all. I also still need to work on fighting the urge to lie down after meals (apparently this makes it hard for your body to digest). But my "phantom pregnancy" has definitely calmed down!
Good luck, and I hope you'll let me know if this helps at all!
Madeline
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