Question:
3 yrs post with extreme bloating and gas,HELP!

I am three yrs post did great the first yr. then all of a sudden I started getting bad bloating and gas,plus constipation. I had a catscan and all was fine. Been to a gastro and diagnosed with IBS, Nothing is working though! I was wondering,with lactose intolerance do you get gas everytime you eat milk or just sometimes? I can go for a few days with no problems then it hits me and Im in pain for 5 days straight,even if I'm going to the bathroom regularly. Could it be milk? Or am I just gonna have to live with this? Ive tried cutting carbs out and nothing is working. I feel Im stuck at home for the rest of my life!    — Vel K. (posted on May 17, 2004)

May 17, 2004
Some questions! (1) Are you eating things with nutrasweet. I developed a sensitivity to nutrasweet after surgery. As long as I stick to splenda, I do fine. (2) How's your fiber intake? (3) Are you drinking lots of milk or eating lots of dairy products? These can cause gas and bloating in IBS folks (4) Are you eating things with caffeine in them? (5) Are you eating nuts and cheeses? Both aggrevate IBS. (6) Are you eating things high in fruit sugars like raisins, watermelon or other high glycemic fruits? When my IBS flares up, I go for low glycemic foods, stay away from nuts and dairy products and double up on my fiber and it generally straightens out. Works for me.
   — Cathy S.

May 18, 2004
I have basically the same problem - anything with a significant amount of sugar alcohols will do it to me, or certain soy products - like Strive bars. I am now lactose intolerant too. <br> The result - severe pain for about 4 days, gas, bloating (I go from a size 8 or 10 to a 14 or 16 in a matter of hours, and it lasts for days too. But after 16 surgeries, I am not going in for this one, and hoping it is not a bowel obstruction aggrevated by gas... just doing what I can to avoid these trigger foods. <br><br> Good luck to you!
   — kultgirl

May 18, 2004
I don't use sweetners for this reason,I notice I get alot worse if I do. As far as cheese and nuts go,I eat little of both but I do eat alot of dairy. Doesnt dairy cause diahrea not constipation? I might go off dairy again and see what happens. Thanks,Vel
   — Vel K.

May 18, 2004
I had become lactose intolerant JUST before surgery (and then my doc forbids milk), but pre-op, it would hit within about 15 minutes, make me wish I was dead for an hour, then pass til the next time. If I am served milk now, and somehow miss it, I could miserable for hours & hours with the gas and bloat until it passes, but that's not immediate. FIRST, my evening is ruined. Other things to look at might be accumulated sugars (of which milk is one), natural or not, accumulated white carbs. I have often said a day without white carbs is a day without gas. That isn't true all the time, but on a high "bread" day, I will be more uncomfy. There is such a thing as candida overgrowth (sugars, certian carbs, fermented & gone wild)and you would maybe want to see a naturopathic doctor for the quickest route on this one. Since I am distal, it is easier for me to get this for "no reason", so there is a course of flagyl (rx antibiotic) that can knock the bacteria count down to normal again. But finding the reason is critical. For many years I carried a generic simethicone (what's in Gas X, Phazyme, Mylanta, by name brand) and chased anything potentially gassy with it. It doesn't prevent gas, but breaks up the bubbles so they can pass.
   — vitalady