TIRED AND FED UP

[Houseofpain]

Feeling quite desperate with everything. BAD/BAM disorder is destroying me. My enjoyment of food is always short lived. Am thinking I may have another undiagnosed issue- there is no indication as such re gallstones, but I keep thinking that. My stomach is bloating out hurting. Still dont know if I have ibs aswell as BAD.Nobody knows about the latter and after a few weeks of mostly being indoors, I am drained in all senses of the word. Been up all night worrying which doesn't help. Any thoughts re other tests I should take ? I am on pills for BAD and take loperamide as an when.

[FRreedman]

What tests were done to determine BAM/BAD? Whenever we are upset or worried our stomach is, usually, the first to react (just think - when you get butterflies, where are they? in your belly). So if you worry you get stress related symptoms, (in your belly), that is why we get diarrhoea or loose stools when we are nervous, and when we are highly stressed we become constipated or have painful - to - pass stools. Therefore, although it is not easy, the first thing you have to try to do is not worry. You have already received numerous tests to determine you have BAM, and these same tests would have ruled out numerous other diseases and illnesses.

In order to reduce the bloating in your stomach you should reduce the amount of alcohol you drink, and also stop drinking fizzy drinks. You should also, stop eating peanuts, sweetcorn, Brussel sprouts and baked beans. Whatever you do eat should be taken with small mouthfuls and chewed reall, really wel before swallowing.

[Houseofpain in reply to FRreedman]

Thank you for the kind words and advice. I rarely drink. I do drink fizzy drinks here and there but have tried to limit them. Foodwise the only two that stood out, but again I eat little of are beans and sweetcorn. As regards tests, I took the radioactive pill to test for BAD.

Regarding stress, it is difficult to stop that when you have a debilitating condition continually 'attacking' you, but I appreciate it is a difficult situation a the condition makes things stressful and equally ANY stress feeds the condition.

[jbrking in reply to FRreedman]

Hi I have bam. Diagnosed with sehcat scan (radio active pill like you) and now on questran. I do have my gallbladder. Do you take binder meds? It is possible to have bam and IBS. It is difficult to find your triggers of what makes it worse. Have you looked at low FODMAP? Common triggers are caffeine (so coffee, cola drinks), wheat, dairy, eggs, usual things like onions, beans, in fact sometimes any veg or salad! It’s a horrible condition as sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter what you eat. I can’t eat anything remotely fatty - even a ‘good’ fat like salmon. Fizzy drinks are a no no for me, I can eat boiled eggs but not scrambled or fried. No cheese. The bad-uk.org website is really good. Have you had your vitamin levels checked? I was severely deficient in Vitamin B12, D, iron and potassium. Now on supplements and feeling better. Sorry I’ve rambled but it is a horrible condition, the pain, the urgency, the accidents - it can all get you down. Pl look after yourself. There are a couple of groups on Facebook also- we laugh we cry we support each other. You don’t need to feel alone x

[Houseofpain in reply to jbrking]

Thank you for your message. Will read again properly later as I've yet again been up all night. Totally relate to a lot of what you wrote regarding the fact that at times it doesnt matter what you eat, it still affects you badly. I seem to not be able to drink coffee without problems, but i can at times get away with fizzy drinks containing caffeine. Yes re having both ibs and BAD has always been in my head, but I was told to leave the low fodmap diet some time ago as it was effectively doing my nut in! Are there any other groups aside from facebk to join? I imagine that they would be 'closed' groups on fb, but people may be abke to read I'd joined them. Will think about vitamins too. Thank you.

[Houseofpain in reply to Houseofpain]

Ps I take colesevelam (wrong spelling)

I would like to know more about groups as the empathy and understanding must be very helpful for you as mentioned. Sharing the laughter and tears must be a good thing. I feel very isolated, am a private person and whenever mentioned, nobody seems to know what this condition is.

[jbrking in reply to Houseofpain]

They are closed groups so anyone on your Facebook won’t see if you’ve written anything. You can join and just read things, don’t need to write anything. Only reason I saw your message was I was up at 5.30 on the toilet and my alarm doesn’t go off until 7 to get up! Have just got to work extremely early!

[Carlettejaque]

Having read other replies to your dilemma, I would add cut out all lactose/dairy. If you feel you need vitamin the eat Farleys rusks. They contain lots of added vitamins and calcium. You might be yeast intolerant rather than wheat. Some IBS medications make things worse because they relax the bowel keeping the irritating food culprit held in the bowel longer. I have multiple food and drink intolerances and can't eat meat except chicken. I can only eat chicken, baby carrots, basmati rice (not plain white rice), tinned plum tomatoes and farleys rusks. That's all! I have swapped eating nice food for stomach ache free days.

[Houseofpain in reply to Carlettejaque]

Thank you for your message. Wow -that is incredibly limited. I eat lactose/dairy free cream cheese and drink almond milk, but aside from that I eat lurpak unsalted lighter butter ..

[Houseofpain in reply to Houseofpain]

Do you eat what you like on other days? Up until last year I only had what I thought was Ibs. This has hit me hard.

[Carlettejaque in reply to Houseofpain]

You shouldn't really be eating anything with dairy in it, particularly butter as its also a fat. The slightest bit would be enough to give you a pain and bloating.

[IBSNetwork Partner IBS Network]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear you're struggling. We recommend speaking to your GP about your concerns. We are here to help and support people with IBS so it's important to get an accurate diagnosis.