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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 11/16/2005 6:06 PM (GMT -6)
   Im back again guys with yet another new problem. My intestines just dont wanna stay the same or be normal.

   So the problem now (has been going on for about two weeks now) is that every night after dinner, I would get horrible cramps and rumbling, and then have a somewhat normal bowel movement, and then about 30 minutes later have horrible diarrhea that has a very foul odor and disgusting green color.  The diarrhea sometimes continues and gets worse and worse and is accompanied by nausea, or I'll take Immodium AD and that ends it.  Right before and for a while after the bowel movements, I am blown up like a balloon. I seriously look 4 months pregnant it is so bad.  I wondered why it was always after dinner, and the only thing I consistantly consumed every night was milk!! So I stopped drinking milk, and it helped. So I thought maybe I was lactose intolerant...so I took a Lactaid and it didnt help at all. I had the same diarrhea problem. I cant eat cheese, ice cream, or pizza either. They dont give me the horrible diarrhea but they give me bad cramps and rumbling. This is weird to me because usually I am horribly constipated but now I dont even know if I have IBS anymore!! Could this be a food allergy or some sort of funky intolerance? 

Another consideration- two sets of grandparents could not drink cows milk straight, but could drink buttermilk or have buttermilk in their food. I can handle buttermilk but not any other milk product except yogurt.  Help me...I feel like im too young for all this...and im up to my limits. :(

 

 

Posted 11/16/2005 8:16 PM (GMT -6)

Hey Blondie,

There are other substances found in milk products - other than lactose - that could be contributing to the problem, so you might want to try a completely dairy-free diet for about two weeks to see if that improves anything.  It's difficult, because dairy is in a LOT of things and you have to closely read the ingredients' label to make sure you're not ingesting any of it.  Sometimes taking Lactaid pills just ain't enough!

You also might want to consider getting a stool test for giardia, which can cause really foul-smelling flatulence and stools, bad stomach cramps, and diarrhea.  It's a pretty common parasite and can be a real pain in the you-know-what but is easy to treat!  You'd need to do three separate stool samples in order for the test to be fairly reliable.  Ask your doc about it!  Good luck, and keep us updated.

Posted 11/17/2005 9:06 AM (GMT -6)
Caesin (I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly) is a milk by-product. It is in a lot of foods (and in glue). I think lechtin is also another milk by-product. Do a search online for milk allergies and get a listing of everything that comes from milk. I think you will be surprised at how many foods contain milk products.

You might want to consult an allergist to get tested for milk and other food products. That ought to figure things out for you fairly quickly one way or the other.

I don't know about buttermilk, but I was reading that yogurt doesn't bother most lactose intolerant people because the bacteria cultures alter the make-up of the milk. I think they destroy the lactose. I don't know chemically how butter is made, but maybe it works the same and that's why buttermilk doesn't bother you.

Have you tried Lactaid milk? I drank it some in college when I thought my problems might be lactose-related, and it tastes just like regular milk. Costs 2-3 times more, but can be worth it if you're addicted to milk.
Posted 11/17/2005 2:08 PM (GMT -6)
true...I checked my bread labels on my packaged bread and it had lactose in it!! Go figure. Yeah we bought some Lactose free milk...but I still had the same problem...today I had it at school (really embarrassing..)after eating lunch. A peanut butter jelly sandwich with an apple and a bottle of water. But, I had scrambeled eggs this morning and my mom accidentally put a dash of milk in the eggs so maybe that was it. My parents are really reluctant to take me to a doctor...I guess its a money thing...I just want this to all stop..Im for sure not eating any more dairy for a while!
Another thing we considered was a yeast overgrowth in my intestines? Im also very allergic to preservatives in packaged foods, candies, etc. Give me the same problem plus horrible nausea. Im just all messed up! I'll keep you guys updated...and if you have any other suggestions please let me know! :)
Posted 11/17/2005 2:17 PM (GMT -6)
Hi Blondie,
You may want to try taking probiotics. If you have a yeast overgrowth then the probiotics should clear it in 2-3 months with continual use. Please remember that if you do get some probiotics look for one with at least 1 billion live cultures (cells/bacteria/etc.). Also, the kind that needs to be refrigerated is the best.
You may also think about cutting apples from your diet. That includes apple juice too. I think apples are supposed to be one of the healthiest fruits out there (filled with antioxidants) but they do a number on those of us with digestive troubles.
I hope you start feeling better soon!
Keep posting...
Posted 11/17/2005 2:31 PM (GMT -6)
Never, ever eat anything sugar free--including chewing gum and breath mints. If it's sugar free, it has a sugar alcohol in it (although I have seen jams and jelly that just use fruit juice to sweeten, not sugar alcohols) and sugar alcohols are evil. A lot of IBSers are overly sensitive to them, but me, I can't tolerate so much as 1 gram without being horribly sick and bed ridden for two days.
Posted 11/17/2005 7:20 PM (GMT -6)
Ohh man. Well I do take pro-biotics, (the kind you have to refrigerate..they seem to be working..id be alot worse without them) but I DO eat an apple every day at lunch, and drink apple juice alot. AND on top of that I drink alot of Diet Pepsi and Im addicted to gum..the sugar-free kind...I chew 4-5 pieces a day...wow ok I'll definatly try that!!! Thank you so much guys!! I'll be sure to keep you posted!
Posted 11/18/2005 9:06 AM (GMT -6)
Diet cokes don't contain sugar alcohols, but caffeine and/or carbonation aggrevates some of us, so better drop the colas as well. I think if you drop those, the apples and the gum (of course you can have regular, sugary gum), I think you should see some relief in a couple of days, at least from the gas. Any of those things alone can give you gas, but much less in combination. And they can be delayed, so the apples you eat at lunch may start bothering you at supper. If I were you, after I cut all of those things out--and provided that pretty much clears you up--I would try some milk again and see if that causes you a problem. You may very well be lactose intolerant as well, but then again these other things may have been causing your problems all along and you actually don't have a problem with milk.

Mind you, don't switch up fat content on milk. If you have always drank 1%, don't start drinking 2% or whole milk. Switching fat levels in milk will bother anyone. If you want to up your fat level in milk, then do it slowly; try mixing 1% with 2% and drinking that for a few weeks before going on up to 2%. Then mix that in with whole milk for a few weeks before going on up to whole. As far as I know, though, downgrading fat content doesn't cause a problem to anything but your tastebuds, so you can go from whole to skim if you want.

I hope you get better.
Posted 11/19/2005 2:15 PM (GMT -6)
I have read (in many of my IBS books) that we shouldn't chew gum, period. Chewing gum, and eating fast or talking a lot during a meal, can cause ingestion of excess air. The excess air will cause gas and bloating.
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