nausea, churning and fed up

[binks]

I just need to offload. This flare up has been going on for 3 weeks and is affecting my sleep. I feel constantly like I need to go and the nausea along with it is awful. As soon as I lie down at night my guts churn with wind and when eventually I get to sleep it wakes me up a couple of hours later. I’ve tried all the usual - fodmap, Buscopan, exercise, water. Nothing is working. I’m quite worried about something (more than usual lol) at the moment so not sure whether that’s triggering it. The symptoms are adding to my worry as usual

[Linley]

Sorry to hear this Binks, certainly if you are particularly worried about something it can make symptoms worse. Everyone is different but when my tum is in turmoil I find too much water makes my bowels worse. Wish you well🤞

[binks in reply to Linley]

I have obstructive defecation apparently! There is no reason for my difficulties in going - just my pelvic muscles aren't working in sync. This is manageable with Movicol but every so often I am poleaxed by this awful bloating, gurgling, trapped wind and generally horrible feeling in my abdomen, just above and below my navel. It makes me feel sick and exhausted. This is a good site to offload - no one who doesn't suffer from IBS can understand how life wrecking it can be, xx

[Luisa22]

No fun, Binks. You definitely have my sympathy. Like Linley said, I find too much water doesn't help my gut, but I have IBS -d, so that would be different if you had C. and water might help. Any worries or stress make things worse. Depending on what you mean by "more than the usual" your stress levels could be high. Is there anything you can do to chill? Nowadays I have to have time to myself to calm down. I listen to soothing music, go for walks in nature alone, try to re-direct my thoughts....etc

Hope this flare passes for you very soon. I find they do pass and things change, as they usually do with IBS. But it's a real bummer when they come back ! lol

[binks in reply to Luisa22]

Thanks Luisa22, I'm 63 and keep myself otherwise fit - healthy diet, exercise (wine). I think anxiety has been at the heart of most of my problems nearly all of my adult life, and IBS is the perfect trigger for yet more! The state of things right now is probably adding to all of our anxiety. I know it does pass - my sensible head tells me so, but with every bad flare up my mind worries it's something else. There never seems to be an obvious cause for my flares - I've excluded so many things in the last month it's ridiculous. xx

[Haptonvalley in reply to binks]

This is me I'm 62 had problems since I was 39 .But every flare up scares me and effects my health anxiety wondering if something else is going on .

[Mebbe]

stress and anxiety really do a number on your insides. It will pass. I often use a hot water bottle on my tummy and find peppermint tea soothing to sip. I watch movies to try to occupy my mind. X

[Macca1utd]

Hi there binks, Sounds like you are having a terrible time at the moment and I can sympathise with you. I have pretty much the exact same symptoms as you. I get gurgling stomach sounds when I'm relaxing at night, the feeling of constantly needing to the toilet, cramps, bloating, nausea, back pain, chest pain, reflux. You are not on your own. All of these symptoms have been going on now for over 2 month's, I've had numerous tests and the Dr's still havnt found the root cause. I've done a stool sample which came back with borderline inflammation, so I've had to do a repeat test and still awaiting the outcome of that... hopefully that comes back clear but I must say its a very confusing and worrying time at the moment. I suffer with quite bad health anxiety and bouts of depression so I don't know if that's playing a major part in all of this? Have you had any tests? I hope you start to feel better soon.

[binks in reply to Macca1utd]

Thank you. I had a CT colon scan a few years ago which was normal except for a bit of diverticular. I had an anal manometry and endo anal scan (don't ask!) 2 months ago which is when I was diagnosed with pelvic floor issues. The struggle I have with ibs is the changing symptoms which for me, create more anxiety when my brain thinks "this can't be ibs, it's different". My health anxiety is constant - and it's not because I've nothing to do! My brain is probably my own worst enemy. Good luck with the test.

[Hidden]

Lets start from a new beginning, everything along the “pipe” from top to bottom, is a food breakdown machine, when it works right you never have “symptoms”, no gas , no gurgling, no cramps, no excess mucus because the good bacteria keeps things on an even keel.

Inflammation is often due to poor choices of eating ...especially foods or oils rich in omega 6....often hidden in cakes and biscuits and various cheap cooking oils.......omega 3 will reduce most flare ups..best sources...good quality olive oil, flaxseed or fish oil.Supplements that reduce inflammation, tumeric, oliveleaf extract, andrographis, ashwaganda or even a really good cold pressed olive oil. ...one teaspoon each morning.

The basic operating system needs good bacteria along with the right amount of fibre, stomach acid and enzymes to break down fats proteins and carbohydrates...

.things can begin to spiral out of control after a short course of antibiotics, or a stomach bug , low stomach acid, (sibo), or overuse of carbohydrates, sugar, yeast, and of course...alcohol.

Yes fermentation “inside” the body produces excess gas and bloating, yet eating fermented foods do not.

The main players in fermentation are sugar and yeast....so even cheap alcohol (wine)will mess up the inner workings.

Answer is to increase your intake of foods that have already burnt off sugar and yeast activity,, (kimchi, sauerkraut)restore stomach acid levels (spinach,B12, Apple cider vinegar, and use natural killers of bad bacteria garlic extract allicin and introduce ginger into drinks or chew raw ...green tea.(supplements like andrographis, olive leaf extract are natural antibiotics that the gut love.,) restore mucosal lining with slippery elm bark and or white cabbage, Dgl liquorice, close loose junctions which are deeper folds of the intestines with pomegranate or cranberry supplements which work mainly by making bacteria lose their hold on the mucosal layers...this is the cause of long term problems...the deeper folds cause leaky gut.

Feed this good bacteria with good fibre...porridge or green bananas...along with probiotics.

Garlic or raw ginger everytime. ...use digestive enzymes with aloe vera (aloe pura) rebuilding good gut is not difficult once you cut out sugar and yeast...then you can have the occasional binge...

I hope you do begin to use some of the above suggestions with success, I went through everything you describe it took three months of trial and error...i hope you find relief real soon.

I have to add a word about long term anxiety , it really does deplete your levels of circulating magnesium...the clue in this will be twitching muscles and cramps, the ability to relax is often created by increasing magnesium intake...glycinate or taurate up to 400 mg a day...people on ppi lose their ability to glean magnesium from food....because stomach acid is required to do this.

[binks in reply to Hidden]

Thank you - I have tried various pre and probiotics and they don't work for me.

I lecture in human nutrition at university and whilst my diet can cause me gut problems if I eat onions, chickpeas etc - my ibs does not respond positively to changes in my diet.

I do believe there are several causes of ibs and I think mine is predominantly stress and dwelling on minor symptoms which then become huge. I'm quite realistic when it comes to my own role in this - but it doesn't make it any less physical.

Unless bananas are very green, they cause cramping for me - and porridge is like the devil!

I take 10mg of omeprazole every day (lowest dose possible and so I still produce some acid) and I will give the magnesium a go. Olive oil is also something I haven't tried - not sure how I'll swallow that down but I'll try!

[Hidden in reply to binks]

okay...heres a thought or two...

Omeprazole depletes magnesium...plenty of info on the net about this...

The main cause of reflux is not acid....try a simple test...a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar before you eat...will force the LES to shut...this is something you need to do before the main meal each day....5 mins before food...

The other miracle cure is melatonin...its released by the gut when natural light turns dark for a reason....it closes the stomach valve by design...as we agewe produce less melatonin which is why older people often get reflux...you can get enough from a handful of walnuts each day...or stare into the blue sky at least 30 mins a day...very hard to any in the UK..in winter.

Ppi is only a stopgap while you rebuild the sphincter control back...

Btw way carmitives like tea onions peppermint will relax the LES...hence burping often...lastly massage the next sphincter the pyloric because this often tightens during stress and slows down stomach emptying...look at youtube dr eric berg who shows you how to do the massage and explain ACV.

calcium chloride...or any supplement with chloride rebuilds the correct levels of acid from the stomach cells..this usually restores the reflux issues and used after any meal closes the LES best used as a last resort.

[Pajarorose]

I use Meclizine. Over the counter. Calms the guy and releases gas.

[binks]

That's interesting. I had to google that! I take fexofenadine which is also an antihistamine, for allergic rhinitis. I don't think we do Meclizine in the UK.

[Hidden1Figures]

I have the same when I have a diverticula disease flare up. Then when my alarm goes off, I’m exhausted so have to have a day off work.

I’ve found that greatly reducing the amount of processed food I eat has helped enormously. I can still eat it occasionally without problems.