IBS and undigested food

[GKT1969]

hello everyone,

I have posted several times previously about my relentless IBS symptoms, tests, hospital admissions, and symptoms but my condition persists and appears t9 be getting worse. As many on this forum can attest to the doctors and specialists cannot find a specific diagnosis and all of them follow the exact same steps, procedures and testing protocols. It’s. It surprising when they then all reach the same conclusion of IBS. In another words…we have no idea what is wrong with you.

So this forum remains the best hope for many of us with shared experiences to find some type relief, comfort and hope. My symptoms are constant loose stool, constant feeling of constipation, pain, cramp, bloating and undigested food. In my mind the key to my issues are the undigested food I see in the stool from whatever I have recently eaten, This can be meat, salad, rice, fruit all of them appear in my mushy sticky stool. I believe the vast amount of bowel movements and pain are due to the fact food is not digesting which in turn triggers absorption of water or mucus into the colon causing the diarrhea. So my question is how can I improve my digestion and breakdown what I am eating. I’ve tried enzymes, HCL, verberzi, probiotics but nothing works. Would appreciate any suggestions or similar experiences that might help me find a tiny bit of relief from the constant pain and bathroom visits.

Thank you as always

[Hidden]

I can't imagine probiotics helping. They would do the opposite to what you need. You more likely need the enzymes which are yeast based. I would try digestives, a very good one which happens to be a prebiotic also is onion, if you can tolerate onion. From memory there are other natural ones as well.

[Boxroad]

Hi one of my biggest triggers is tap water, I have not been able to tolerate tap water for about 12 years now, first it was ok if I put it through a filter and kept it in fridge, then I had to filter it then boil it let it go cold before I could have a glass of cold. That moved onto to finding a bottled water that suited me, I ended up using shepley springs water found in a few supermarkets, it took a lot of reading the labels on bottles as some bottled water is just tap water in a bottle, I found there were a few spring waters that my stomach/colon could not tolerate, after 10 years of buying 10-15 bottles of spring water each time we went shopping the company that sorts our water softener suggested we have an in-line water filter fitted and an extra tap for it, the filter filters out all the chemicals that the water companies put in the water to kill off all the nasty bugs. I have had a couple of hospital stays in the past few years and talking to the medical staff a lot of the nurses could not tolerate the water at hospitals, I also asked my dietitian and she said oh yes it’s very common for ibs sufferers to not be able to tolerate tap water, the though is the chemicals affect their bacteria in their stomach but no real testing has ever been done as it don’t affect enough people, now if that part is true or it was just her opinion I am not sure but I have had a vast improvement since having the filter put in. I am in England I am not sure if it’s the same in USA tho

[BabsyWabsy in reply to Boxroad]

That's interesting. Although we have really good tap water where I live in Yorkshire, if I drink it, I get some gastric discomfort. Bottled water I am fine with, although I don't like buying it.

[Boxroad in reply to BabsyWabsy]

The problem is we use tap water to clean our teeth boil and steam veg so it’s very hard not to digest any unfiltered water

[BabsyWabsy in reply to Boxroad]

Yes, I do too, although I tend not to swallow it when brushing my teeth. For veg, it doesn't seem to affect me. Probably not as much volume. When I boil water, the calcium tends to come out of it, and then it doesn't bother me so much. Our water is extremely hard.

[Boofers in reply to Boxroad]

That's interesting - I've never heard this before. I drink a lot of tap water because I'm constantly dehydrated, and because of ibs d. I'll try sticking to bottled water, see if that makes a difference, I'll look up Shepley Springs, but what advice would you give if I can't find it? How can I tell if something is actual spring water rather from a tap (because I know that happens)? Thanks

[Boxroad in reply to Boofers]

Shepley springs supply a few supermarkets we used to get the basic 2lt bottles that changed to Hubbard I think from Sainsbury as they were the cheapest, Lidl Morrisons and Iceland’s all sell it, look up shepley springs and look at the post code as a lot of them just say bottles at HD8 if I remember correctly, but their water might not agree with your gut so it’s a trial of differen ones until you find one that suits you, when I first found out I phoned shepley springs and the lady was very helpful, she said she had a lot of calls from people like me but went on to say they have a sister factory about 10 miles away and people who could drink the shepley water could not tolerate from there other plant, it all depend on what the water has filtered through like rock, chalk,clay, sand example the water picks up the nutrients from whatever it is coming out of.

[Boxroad in reply to Boofers]

by law if it say spring water on the bottle it has to be from a spring, most of the time if it’s tap water it’s called table water or just water the key word is spring.there is highland springs, Harrogate springs, where as volvic water is a mineral water and I found it affected me terrible, it made my ibsD ten times worse, we are told if we have bad diarrhoea to drink plenty but I found it was what I was drinking that was making it worse, when you find the right one you will know instantly when you take the first mouthful, you will not feel anything, it’s strange but we become accustomed to drinking tap water that we just adapt to it but after years of the chemicals a little at a time it just eats away at us.

[M77L26 in reply to Boxroad]

Yes I think there may be somthing in wot your saying like you been every were had every test in the book had a pet scans wich save my life small cancer on left lung had thi taken away to to this month but still get ibs my Owen doctor told me that the reason thay say ibs I because thay don’t no wot it is so there you go

[Boxroad in reply to M77L26]

Yes I was diagnosed with ibs over 30 years ago when my company paid for me to go private, when the specialist said good news it’s not cancer but it’s IBS I asked what that was to be told it covers a vast amount of gut issues that they can’t explain. I have listed loads of days out with my wife a daughter, for my daughters wedding I starved myself for three day before and sat at the wedding dinner table not eating just in case the IBS started, I had an accident at work the week before my daughter was born, I was crushed Uber about a ton of timber, I was bruises from my breasts to my belly button for 3 months puncher my lung and dislocated my shoulder, the IBS started not long after, when it started it just worse and worse day after day, until one day I woke up with my 4 year old daughter mopping my brow with a wet flannel after I had passed out on the sofa from the pain. Not good times.

[Boofers]

Hi, I don't have anything constructive to offer, but I'm sending a lot of sympathy! Hope someone here can help

[GKT1969]

I have about 10 significant bowel movements this morning and about the same amount yesterday. They get mushier throughout the day and are like mud with lumps in them. I haven’t hardly eaten anything just some rice crackers and protein shakes and yet I have relentless movements. Even now after all these toilet trips I feel full of this stuff and in need of yet another movement. It just not stop and it’s more than I can cope with. Why do I have so many movements when I consume so little it makes no sense. Bring on the next life this one sucks

[Sparrow58]

Hi GKT1969 What you are going through sounds awful.

Have you kept a food, symptoms and emotions diary this may show something.

I cannot have anything like porridge or mash potatoes as they make my IBS bad and mushy. And a shake would not be good at all.

You must of tried everything, eating little and often, no big meals etc.

Go back to the Doc and write down what is happening and what you feel so you tell them everything.

All the best and remember you have this site