Does anyone else have a crap digestive system?

[Thewholeshackshimmy]

Because mine just seems to hate me.
I am 48 and was diagnosed with IBS 23 years ago. I’ve had some good and bad years in all of that time but 4-5 years ago everything ramped up and my digestive system just has not behaved itself since.
I have about 3-4 days per month feeling ok (ish!), the rest of the time I have symptoms from throat to bum!
I will suffer indigestion, excessive burping, a very gurgling stomach (which sometimes wakes me in the night), a burning and acid feeling, fullness and no appetite, feel very nauseous (these symptoms are all 100% worse mid cycle and will last about 10 days)
I get lower gut issues too, lots of gurgling and bubbling, very bloated especially in the evenings (can look 7 months pregnant) and farting loads (the pain from this gas is immense at times and it’s a bloody good job I’ve been with dh for a very long time!). I get the feeling of needed the loo at times. Sometimes I am constipated and struggle to go, other times much looser.
I am sure I am in perimenopause and that my cycle has some kind of influence.
In 2019, I had a full colonoscopy and a gastroscope with biopsies, I had an ultrasound scan and a CT scan, nothing found.
I also have gynae issues with uterine polyps and ovarian cysts at times (not sure if there is any influence there?)
I saw a gastroenterologist again last week and he insists it’s just IBS and didn’t offer any help and with symptoms virtually every day it’s so hard to believe it’s not something else.
I follow the low fodmap diet, I have no dairy as that causes me diarrhoea, I’ve had times with no gluten but that doesn’t really help much, I have no alcohol, caffeine, artifical sweetners or any gas producing foods, I walk every day, I listen to gut directed hypnotherapy. Most IBS meds don’t help either.
I do all of these things yet still have these tiresome symptoms almost every day. They are unpredictable and can happen anytime of the day.
Frankly, I just wish they would piss off as they are ruining my life, I live a half life because of these symptoms.
Is there anyone else out there who understands? My husband doesn’t, my friends don’t and the doctors don’t understand just how bloody draining it is having an unfriendly gut living within your body!

And like @thefarmerhasawife, I skip breakfast every day, so don’t eat between supper and lunch the next day.

I have a gut health cookery book and one of the things it recommends is fermented foods, supposed to be excellent for gut health. Kefir is often mentioned. Also intermittent fasting to give your gut more time to relax and reset

I’ve found yoga helps :

Mine. Had all the tests ove the years and nothing conclusive came up. Although a consultant thought I was possible coeliac but couldn't get a positive result.
I went GF years ago which helped. And this year after a stomach bug, I simply started eating less. No pain for weeks. I do eat really nutritious food though, just less of it. It's fascinating not being in pain all.the time.
I do know I have a very tight corner in my bowel and I wonder if it's just that getting irritated when I eat a bit too much.

A tight corner - I have one of those, lower right quadrant and a source of pain. Never any explanation for it

@Copperas

A tight corner - I have one of those, lower right quadrant and a source of pain. Never any explanation for it

Ooh that describes what I have. Always painful to press. Far far better at the moment I'm trying to lose weight, intermittent fasting and very low carb. Have had no tummy issues for 2 months plus no bloating. Last week I had some sauerkraut and ate a much bigger meal than normal. The reaction was almost instant and lasted 24 hours. Huge bloating, griping pains. Horrible

great post @ByeByeMissAmericanPie

The consultant mentioned my bowel corner being especially tricky when he did the colonoscopy. And that bit hurt enough for me to remember it after sedation.
I suspect menopause makes it worse too.

Yeah me too. IBS diagnosed years ago. I go back to the doc for a sense check if anything changes but it always comes back to the same.

I have mid-back issues too (mechanical, also checked out and diagnosed) so sometimes my whole torso feels like it’s been pummelled by gorillas.

Oh — I do tend to find that my symptoms worsen if I put weight on, and lessen off if I lose it. I gained a few kilos over lockdown so everything’s a bit worse at the moment.

Kefir, meditation and exercise help me otherwise. A bit. No pills have ever made a lasting difference (to me, anyway).

Sometimes I just want to curl up and die. Except the foetal position hurts like billy-o so I just keep buggering on. 😢

Rubbish digestion here too.

Processed foods definitely worsen symptoms.

thefarmerhasawife I have the digestive enzymes but have never used their live bacteria, I will have a look on her website, thanks.
QuercusRose thank you, I definitely don’t want any explosive events!
justasking111 I’ve not heard of Maalox, I will look into that and the H&B probiotics. I was the same after the prep, although wouldn’t want to go through that again!!
Bootdilemma I really need to cut my carbs right down but struggle so much when I try as I don’t eat dairy or much meat and don’t need to lose weight. Can I ask what sort of things you eat? I just end up eating salads and struggle with breakfast as eggs play me up too 🙄
MountainDweller I do often wonder about endo as I have had gynae issues for many years. My sister has endo and it was only discovered a couple of years ago at the age of 43 when they thought she had ovarian cancer as the endo had caused a huge mass on her ovary. She had been told for years it was IBS although I think she still does have IBS or awful constipation caused by the endo? I have heard it can run in families but I don’t get the pain she does.
HummingBeeBox thank you, I will look at that
SpindleWhorl I am exactly the same. For several years now all of my appointments at the hospital have been between gynae and gastro yet no one, even my useless gp can see there may be a connection.
ByeByeMissAmericanPie thank you very much for those suggestions, I will definitely take them on board as I believe you are right, our digestive systems don’t improve with age, I only have to look at my parents who always have funny tummies these days. I have kept a food and symptoms diary for 5 years and the only connection I see is rich food, dairy and my cycle. I have wanted to get that book for some time so will order that.

I also have disco for/pain/bloating in the lower right area, I have been told it’s the ileocecal valve area?

BloodyStupidJohnson I find the foetal position makes things worse too but sometimes that’s all you wants to do isn’t it? Curl up and pull the duvet over!
PricklesTheHedgehog it’s always the foods I love too 🙁

Low carb is hard if you can't tolerate eggs or dairy

A normal day might be
No breakfast
Tea with almond milk

Lunch tuna salad with mayo
Dinner sausages, fried egg, broccoli and spinach
Greek yog no sugar

Bryonyshcmyony this is my issue with low carb, I think it would be extremely restrictive for me. I think I will need to rethink my diet and somehow reduce the carbs but not excessively.

@Thewholeshackshimmy

Bryonyshcmyony this is my issue with low carb, I think it would be extremely restrictive for me. I think I will need to rethink my diet and somehow reduce the carbs but not excessively.

Could you drop sugar?

The clever guts diet book was useful I thought (well it helped me find out about my dairy intolerance!). I do love kefir and make my own water kefir now!

I am also struggling at the moment. So far I've eliminated dairy and it definitely helps. I seem to react so badly to eggs, and I love eggs! Even fresh egg pasta had me running to the loo and with awful cramps.

Bryonyshcmyony I am already very low sugar but I’ll look where I can drop it more.
ElaineMarieBenes yes, that is a very good book
TheVolturi isn’t it so annoying, I used to be ok with eggs, sadly it’s no longer the case

I've had years of gut issues, it's miserable.

I had a gastroscopy which showed a hiatus hernia so I'm now on long term omeprazole which seems to have helped with some of the IBS symptoms as well. I also had my gall bladder out 15 years ago which I don't think helps.

I find 'healthy' foods make things worse so stick to low fibre foods. Too much fruit and veg just leads to awful pain and cramping.

@Thewholeshackshimmy and others, I don't want to be a scaremonger but if you're experiencing consistent bloating/appetite/gut problems, you should always demand testing for ovarian cancer, starting with a CA125 test.

Think B-E-A-T:
Bloating - persistent and frequent
Eating - difficulty eating, feeling full quickly, loss of appetite
Abdominal - stomach/pelvic pain felt often
Toileting - changes in toilet habits.

Of course, it's far more likely to be a much less serious cause, but since my lovely Mum died at 61 this year I always remind other women of the symptoms as they're so often confused for abdo problems. My mum was misdiagnosed with IBS, diverticulitis and a multitude of other things before they bothered to consider OC. She could've lived, so I spread the word.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies

I've had years of gut issues, it's miserable.

I had a gastroscopy which showed a hiatus hernia so I'm now on long term omeprazole which seems to have helped with some of the IBS symptoms as well. I also had my gall bladder out 15 years ago which I don't think helps.

I find 'healthy' foods make things worse so stick to low fibre foods. Too much fruit and veg just leads to awful pain and cramping.

I am the same with very healthy foods they just go through me, I have to be so careful with my fibre intake, too much and I’m on the loo, not enough and I’m the other way.

blackstripe I totally agree with you, OC is a silent killer and GP’s are very quick to diagnose every gut issue as IBS, my own MIL’s GP insisted for a whole year that her gut issues were down to IBS even though she had never had digestive problems in all of her 74 years), it turned out to be a Neuroendocrine small bowel tumour ffs! She passed away a year ago on Friday.
I have regular ultra sound scans as I have uterine polyps and regular ovarian cysts my last scan was in July, the cyst hasn’t changed.
So sorry you lost your mum to OC

The weirdest thing settles my tummy out a Chinese takeaway. I will pig out on sweet and sour Hong Kong style, fried rice, BBQ ribs be stuffed as a hog and lo and behold my stomach is right as rain for a while.

I do wonder if my constant semi hunger due to avoiding so much doesn't exacerbate the problem

@Thewholeshackshimmy

Because mine just seems to hate me. I am 48 and was diagnosed with IBS 23 years ago. I’ve had some good and bad years in all of that time but 4-5 years ago everything ramped up and my digestive system just has not behaved itself since. I have about 3-4 days per month feeling ok (ish!), the rest of the time I have symptoms from throat to bum! I will suffer indigestion, excessive burping, a very gurgling stomach (which sometimes wakes me in the night), a burning and acid feeling, fullness and no appetite, feel very nauseous (these symptoms are all 100% worse mid cycle and will last about 10 days) I get lower gut issues too, lots of gurgling and bubbling, very bloated especially in the evenings (can look 7 months pregnant) and farting loads (the pain from this gas is immense at times and it’s a bloody good job I’ve been with dh for a very long time!). I get the feeling of needed the loo at times. Sometimes I am constipated and struggle to go, other times much looser. I am sure I am in perimenopause and that my cycle has some kind of influence. In 2019, I had a full colonoscopy and a gastroscope with biopsies, I had an ultrasound scan and a CT scan, nothing found. I also have gynae issues with uterine polyps and ovarian cysts at times (not sure if there is any influence there?) I saw a gastroenterologist again last week and he insists it’s just IBS and didn’t offer any help and with symptoms virtually every day it’s so hard to believe it’s not something else. I follow the low fodmap diet, I have no dairy as that causes me diarrhoea, I’ve had times with no gluten but that doesn’t really help much, I have no alcohol, caffeine, artifical sweetners or any gas producing foods, I walk every day, I listen to gut directed hypnotherapy. Most IBS meds don’t help either. I do all of these things yet still have these tiresome symptoms almost every day. They are unpredictable and can happen anytime of the day. Frankly, I just wish they would piss off as they are ruining my life, I live a half life because of these symptoms. Is there anyone else out there who understands? My husband doesn’t, my friends don’t and the doctors don’t understand just how bloody draining it is having an unfriendly gut living within your body!

Just wanted to post in solidarity OP, I have so many digestive issues, going for tests soon but not sure they'll get me anywhere. I am extremely careful with what I eat so I manage it well, take supplements and work out and it all keeps my digestion great (the silver lining is that it's kept me eating so healthily throughout my life!). But if I deviate from a bunch of rules it's a disaster It's hard to get to the bottom of it, isn't it...currently I'm dairy and wheat free, low sugar, avoid certain other grains, helps massively.