Support/tips to cope with this 'trauma' (lots of TMI, haha)

milkyskinn

I think I've posted somewhere on the forums here before about this problem. Which still, has not been solved. (Can we get a yay for modern medical care? yeah)

I'm coping with constipation. A LOT. It comes and goes, but every time it comes back it seems like it's worse. I have weeks where I'll be fine-ish, but I can barely eat like a normal person. One slip up and boom! Terrible, terrible bloating, full-feeling, waste building up, air building up, nausea... My body has gotten so 'full' at one point that when I ate it'd just come back up.

My doctor keeps blaming it on gluten. Did gluten free for a few months, got worse. When I started consuming them again, I found some relief and less pains. Right now I seem to have most problems with high sugar foods, yeast, mushrooms/potatoes/legumes, etc. Most of the things point to candida which my GI doc did not want to hear about, so I'm looking for a homeopathic doctor to see right now.

Anyway, I could use some support or tips from people who have dealt/are dealing with this!
Because feeling full alarms me I'm getting backed up again and that any minute my stomach is going to explode in its un-charming pot-belly fat looking self, I am getting SCARED of eating. Well, eating too much. The fact that one starts to enjoy the feeling of hunger and emptiness over satiety is not a good thing and I don't want to go back to my old 1200-calorie self, especially since the new me is hooked on doing Insanity and weightlifting and I am going to need my fuel for weightlifting!

Anyone maybe know of supplements that can help prevent buildup of air/gas? I'm looking into good probiotics as the one I used didn't do much (looking at garden of life's primal defense, but it's expensive!)
Other than that I've tried about anything right now. Water with lemon, dried prunes, fresh prunes, apple cider vinegar, psyllium husk, flaxseed, coconut oil, increasing fat, decreasing protein, drinking only herbal and no black tea, coffee in the morning...

Usually lemon water, a cup of coffee, dried prunes throughout the day and tea with senna in it before bed help, until noon, and by the time evening hits I feel the same as 24 hours before.. :c

MuddyEquestrian

Hey there!
I'm glad I found your post and I really hope my story can help you! I have had that issue ever since puberty. I had several GI docs, was hospitalized many times and had countless tests and scopes. I was misdiagnosed with Celiac as well, and I too found that taking out the gluten gave me no relief. Finally, twoyears ago I started having lower abdominal pain, it turned out to be severe endometriosis. It had actually spread to my appendix and caused lesions. I had to have some of my intestine removed as well as endometrial cells and my appendix which was stuck to my intestine. After that my symptoms somewhat subsided. Have you talked with your doctor about IBS? It turns out those foods you mentioned that are triggering are very much associated with IBS. While IBS is embarassing as the best of times you will find more people have it than you think! I personally chose to cut out gluten again to get rid of inflammation, and i stay away from plain lettuce, fried foods, and dairy although I do indulge occasionally. I know how terribly frustrating this can be, and please feel free to add me. I havebeen through hell and back with GI issues and If I can help someone else than it will make the struggle worth it! Good luck girl .

milkyskinn

Hey there!
I'm glad I found your post and I really hope my story can help you! I have had that issue ever since puberty. I had several GI docs, was hospitalized many times and had countless tests and scopes. I was misdiagnosed with Celiac as well, and I too found that taking out the gluten gave me no relief. Finally, twoyears ago I started having lower abdominal pain, it turned out to be severe endometriosis. It had actually spread to my appendix and caused lesions. I had to have some of my intestine removed as well as endometrial cells and my appendix which was stuck to my intestine. After that my symptoms somewhat subsided. Have you talked with your doctor about IBS? It turns out those foods you mentioned that are triggering are very much associated with IBS. While IBS is embarassing as the best of times you will find more people have it than you think! I personally chose to cut out gluten again to get rid of inflammation, and i stay away from plain lettuce, fried foods, and dairy although I do indulge occasionally. I know how terribly frustrating this can be, and please feel free to add me. I havebeen through hell and back with GI issues and If I can help someone else than it will make the struggle worth it! Good luck girl .

Thanks for your reply !

I am glad to read being misdiagnosed as a Celiac *can* actually happen (to other people). Not that it's a good thing, but just because it's allll doctor wants to look at/discuss/think about, you almost come to a point doubting yourself. Nobody in my family has food allergies/IBS, and I myself had never digestive trouble, intolerances or anything really, and this has been going on for a year and a half now, progressively getting worse. It just started in a span of 2-3 weeks and from there symptoms just added itself...

I'm so sorry you had to go through that all! How did they discover the endometriosis?
I've been having a lot of pain on the lower right (which in the beginning led docs to think it was appendicitis) but there was nothing wrong with my appendix. On a scan about 5 months back it had narrowed there, which was 'presumably' the cause of the constipation, but on the MRI done 2 months later it was gone. I don't get it!!
Admittedly the pain there was gone/less for a while, but now as more as it 'builds up', the more painful it seems again. Now I'm really wondering if it actually is in my colon/intestine or there isn't something outside of it causing trouble... but then again the bloating starts from the stomach onwards, and everything feels swollen, almost like a cushion is pressing against the back of my stomach and it progresses down into my intestines.

The foods I gave are just plain examples and just the things I notice that give the most air/bubbles/rumbling and sometimes even vibrating and a tickling sensation in my intestine, but these days it almost doesn't matter what I eat anymore. A few weeks ago I had plain (no seasonings) cooked chicken, raw bell pepper and some cherry tomatoes and I was in a fetus position on my bed for the next two hours. It was horrible!

I'll be adding you then! It'd be great to have someone on my list who understands what it's like. Sometimes I feel like such a nuisance to everyone around me having these problems, but then again nobody that I know in real life has dealt with anything like this.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with me