GAS and pain

Belle · Post by **Belle** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:22 am

I'm realizing that the excruciating pain i am having seems to be from gas. before i had this disease i used to get gas sometimes and it did not bother me too much. Now the gas causes excruciating pain. last night all i had for dinner was well cooked chicken and carrots blended together like baby food and i was up with terrible gas pains the whole night. i did not go to work today i was in too much pain. Any ideas what to do about it? should i just try to take beano b4 meals? the only problem is they say it can also absorb your meds. i also wonder if i have a mast cell issue. i don't really understand that and no dr. seems to address it. what can i do about it meanwhile. Should i take an antihistamine. can they be combined with my other meds. i'm on prednisone and donatol now. I would really appreciate someones help. I am quite lost and floundering.
thank you

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:28 am

Belle, something in that meal did unfortunately not agree too well with you. Did you use and spices when preparing the food?? Some spices have gluten in them to keep them in a nicd powdery form. What about drinks or any side dishes? It is like detective work at times, you have to think back and go over the details. A lot of times it's the small stuff we missed. Once about 2 years ago I even bought some chicken that had 'natural flavorings' added to the chicken, it was othe label in small print. After a phone call I found out they used soy as a 'natural flavor'...that's all it took.

One lesson that I have learned all to well is that I read each and every label and certian phrases like 'natural flavors' make me highly suspicious.

As far as the gas pain, I think I would just start with GasX which is a simple natural surfactant agent that helps the gas to not build up in any one place causing the pain. Beyond that make note of the ingredients that caused this reaction and start by changing one at a time.

Belle · Post by **Belle** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:41 am

thanks for your reply. i only put salt and thats it. everything just seems to hurt no matter what

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:48 am

You most likely are still in the highly reactive 'phase'. As an observation, it seems that many of us once the symptoms are bad enough to get to a doctor to have a Dx and we go through the colonoscopy, that process coupled with the already very upset system makes for a rough few months.

I can't recall, do you have entocort available as an option? I think its important to keep in mind that while diet is very important, we can't forget that meds that can help us settle things down in a timely fashion. The meds do need to be used in conjunction with a diet avoiding the trouble foods though to achieve the best results.

As you also have the Accutane issue in the background you as we talked about earlier have an additional risk factor as well.

Sue777 · Post by **Sue777** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:06 am

I feel your pain - literally. I too am experiencing a lot of gas pains and in addition to it being painful and very uncomfortable, it's also scary because even if it does start to find a way out, you try not to let it unless you are in your bathroom. Sometimes I think I should just take my laptop in there and work from home so I can get something done instead of constantly having to stop what I'm doing and running for the facilities.

You may be like me in that when I'm flaring there is nothing I can eat that won't bother me. I can drink water and have pain and diarrhea. There is hardly anything "safe" for me when I'm in the midst of a flare-up. When I first started flaring I prepared myself a huge amount of chicken and white rice so that I'd be able to get some nourishment but found that even that caused me problems so the dogs got most of it.

Are you taking any imodium? They have an "Imodium Multi-Symptom" version out now that I tried the other day and it helped a lot. I think it's basically a combination of regular imodium and a Gas-X type of product rolled into one.

Good luck, and hang in there. This DOES get better (at least that's what I've been chanting to myself for the past month).
Sue

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:19 am

There is also the possibility that the blending incorporated air in the mixture, which would cause gas. Most people would just burp and be fine, but then we are not most people...

Belle · Post by **Belle** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:32 am

thanks for your help. I am on prednisone now and was on entecort for about 3 -4 months b4 prednisone. i still had tons of pain on entecort and 3-4 bm a day. new dr. switched me to prednisone for short term and then will put me on entecort again. the prednisone helped in that i was finally going only 1-2 times a day but now that i am lowering the dose it is back to 5. my kids all have stomach virus's though so i am wondering if i caught something from them on top of evrything else. i hope not. i have been changing my sons very loose watery diapers the past few days.

Belle · Post by **Belle** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:33 am

sue- when do you take the immodium? b4 meals? is it ok to take along with other meds. do you think i should take a anti-histamine. i am totally confused

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:15 am

It sounds like you may have a touch of what your family does Belle :( If that's not the case, is it possible that you are one of the few that can't eat chicken? There seems to be many people on this forum who can't. Ty a different protein and see what happens.

Leah

Deanna in CO · Post by **Deanna in CO** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:50 am

Belle,

I was thinking the same as Leah. Maybe try beef and potato instead - still cooked very simply (boiled or roasted). Be sure you peel the potato. Not sure if you need to blend it; chew it well and eat it slowly. Or try getting some soup bones, boiling them down for several hours, and then just drinking the broth and maybe some boiled potato or white rice. (You could try making soup for your family - I did that last night and it makes me feel so much better when I can cook for them and for me at the same time, and can share in what they eat even a little.)

Or lamb is another protein that's supposed to be easy on your stomach, and most of us eat it less, so we are less likely to develop antibodies to it (thus less likely to react to it).

Best wishes,

Deanna

Sue777 · Post by **Sue777** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:01 pm

Belle wrote:sue- when do you take the immodium? b4 meals? is it ok to take along with other meds. do you think i should take a anti-histamine. i am totally confused

Hi Belle.
If my morning bouts of diarrhea are especially bad I take two immodium to calm things down a little. If I'm having a particuarly bad afternoon with my stomach then I take them then to help get me through the rest of the day. Or if I'm having a bad night and am afraid I won't get any sleep, I take some before bed. So I guess basically my answer is: whenever I feel it's needed.

When I called my doc a month ago to tell him that my colitis was flaring and I was no longer in remission he told me to get back on the Asacol, take imodium four times a day, and then get in there to see him. He had me taking it proactively throughout the day so I think it's pretty safe stuff.

The only thing that confuses me and I still haven't been able to find an answer is why the directions on the "multi-system" imodium tells you to take it on any empty stomach while the directions on regular imodium let you take it any time?

Sue

Belle · Post by **Belle** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:11 pm

I have tried beef and had the worst gas and bloating from it. I even tried the broth plain and same result. I am trying to stick with the scd for at least 3 months so i cannot have potato and when i tried rice i also got terrible pain. I just don't know what to do anymore. any other suggestions for a baseline diet that is in sync with scd?

Post by **tex** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:00 pm

Sue wrote:The only thing that confuses me and I still haven't been able to find an answer is why the directions on the "multi-system" imodium tells you to take it on any empty stomach while the directions on regular imodium let you take it any time?

Once a label is approved by the FDA, it cannot be changed without FDA approval (and that can require the expenditure of a lot of money). Therefore, if new information appears on the labels of the the latest drugs to receive FDA approval, that information won't be added to earlier approved labels, unless the FDA demands it.

Some drugs are absorbed better or faster if they're taken on an empty stomach, while for others, the reverse is true. That discovery may have been made while testing the later med combination. I would think that a gas reduction product might do best if taken before a meal, because if it's taken too late, after the gas is already being generated, it may not be as effective. That's just a guess, though, and I could be all wet.

Tex

Post by **tex** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:04 pm

Belle wrote:any other suggestions for a baseline diet that is in sync with scd?

I mostly lived on pork and potatoes while I was recovering.

Tex

Sue777 · Post by **Sue777** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:06 pm

Would have never thought of that (the older label versus the newer label) which very well could be, but I think your second "guess" is that they suggest taking the pill with the "gas reliever" on an empty stomach for improved effectiveness.

Somehow I tend to doubt you've ever been all wet with your "guesses".

Sue