If eating less cures it.... is it IBS? - Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Message Board

gippydog · 11-10-2003, 03:10 PM

Hi,

I am a 21 year old female. I am slightly overweight, but very active. I lift weights and run/bike about 3-4 times a week. From exercising and eating better I have lost 20 pounds since May. For the past 2 years I have been having abdominal cramping and loud lower abdominal noise. It's not noise from passing gas, it's just from the food moving around in my stomach. It's so loud you can hear it from across the room sometimes. I can't always pass it as gas either. I tried every kind of diet, high fiber, low fiber, high carbs, low carbs.. etc. The only thing that somewhat helped was getting rid of dairy. That helped a lot with the irregularity, but the noise is still there. When I got off of dairy I also suffered from severe nausia in the morning and a little dizzyness. My doctor thought I might have an ulcer so he put me on Zantac for 2 weeks. The nausea went away, but I got D and had more problems in the lower abs than it was worth. I decided to switch to Tums and that has helped.

Through the course of this all I have discovered that eating smaller meals helps a lot with the noise. Unfortunately, the smaller meals (like half of a 6-inch at Subway for dinner) have made me feel weak all the time. I can't do as much weight at the gym anymore. I have heard that alcohol upsets IBS, but it seems to have the opposite effect on me. I went drinking this weekend, and the days following my stomach was quieter than it has been in a long time. Now it is back to being grumbly. So what does this mean? Does an all liquid diet solve IBS problems? (not just alcohol of course) And does what I have even sound like IBS?

Amy P.

suzyshop1 · 11-10-2003, 10:53 PM

Besides the gas and noisy stomach,are you having any bowel problems?

riceneuroni · 11-11-2003, 03:00 AM

You may be eating foods you are allergic to. If stopping dairy helped even a little then that is likely a factor. Maybe when you eliminated it before, as the irritation calmed down it allowed other irritants to get through and cause the "new" symptoms. You may get better only by eliminating all the foods you're allergic to.

Food allergy testing doesn't help too much in this type of allergy. Trial and error is it. Do lots of research - doctors don't make money telling you to change your diet. You've already ruled out carbs as a source, so that's good. The next major factor is that many who are lactose intolerant find they are also gluten intolerant. This takes longer to determine and cure AND it is a much harder diet. There is no single really good test for it. Good luck in your research.

docrum · 11-11-2003, 04:00 AM

how long after eating did you get your crampy pains? were the crampy pains centred around the umbilicus or in the lower abdomen?

butterflytrans · 11-11-2003, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gippydog

Hi,

I am a 21 year old female. I am slightly overweight, but very active. I lift weights and run/bike about 3-4 times a week. From exercising and eating better I have lost 20 pounds since May. For the past 2 years I have been having abdominal cramping and loud lower abdominal noise. It's not noise from passing gas, it's just from the food moving around in my stomach. It's so loud you can hear it from across the room sometimes. I can't always pass it as gas either. I tried every kind of diet, high fiber, low fiber, high carbs, low carbs.. etc. The only thing that somewhat helped was getting rid of dairy. That helped a lot with the irregularity, but the noise is still there. When I got off of dairy I also suffered from severe nausia in the morning and a little dizzyness. My doctor thought I might have an ulcer so he put me on Zantac for 2 weeks. The nausea went away, but I got D and had more problems in the lower abs than it was worth. I decided to switch to Tums and that has helped.

Through the course of this all I have discovered that eating smaller meals helps a lot with the noise. Unfortunately, the smaller meals (like half of a 6-inch at Subway for dinner) have made me feel weak all the time. I can't do as much weight at the gym anymore. I have heard that alcohol upsets IBS, but it seems to have the opposite effect on me. I went drinking this weekend, and the days following my stomach was quieter than it has been in a long time. Now it is back to being grumbly. So what does this mean? Does an all liquid diet solve IBS problems? (not just alcohol of course) And does what I have even sound like IBS?

Amy P.

What you have can sound like IBS, but I'm wondering why removing the dairy has helped you.

I'm also suprised that your doctor wondered about you having an ulcer right off the bat. Ulcers are pretty uncommon in your age group, and the other thing is, you didn't really mention any symptoms of burning abdominal pain, heartburn, nausea, vomiting or a cough. One of the main things you want to rule out before you call something IBS is IBD...i.e. inflammatory bowel disease which consists of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis.

Have you ever had bloody diarrhea? (if you have had this, it's not IBS...you shouldn't have bloody diarrhea with IBS).
Crampy, lower abdominal pain?
Fevers, chills or sweats?
Joint pain?
Unexplained weight loss?
Eye problems?
Unexplained rash on your shins?
Fatigue?

Another thing you want to rule out is celiac. Do you have a problem when you eat foods containing wheat, for example? (It's not the wheat, but the gluten, actually, that causes all the problems).