to not know what IBS is?

[PyongyangKipperbang]

Before I get slaughtered......yes I could google, see the doc etc which I have done but there are reasons why I still dont really know. Doctor said to keep notes and go back but I didnt go back for reasons you will see.

My symptoms....

Basically I am a MASSIVE bag of wind, mainly from the unsociable end. Horrible pain if I eat certain things, example I cannot eat raw onion and it turns out onion that is even a little bit undercooked. I made homemade cheese and onion pasties, which I love and have made before but cannot trust premade, and the onion looked cooked but still a wee bit greenish white. Spent a day in agony and two days being able to "clear the savannah after every meal". Even I was disgusted by how bad I stank.

If I eat the wrong things I look pregnant. Like 7 months pregnant. I am size 8 and 50. I get some funny looks, and then the farting starts so no one is close enough to look at all.

Could this be IBS?

The reasons I dont know?

My mother is the only person who has it. Ever. She is also the only person who suffers migraines, except that as someone who really does have a diagnosis, I dont think she does, her symptoms dont fit any migraine symptoms and her self prescibed migralieve seems to actually knock her out worse but she wont stop taking them. My mother is the only person who had gynae issues to the point where my sister was poohpoohed so bad that she didnt get her issues checked out until it was so bad she is now childless but not by choice. She hasnt lost her uterus, but that is more because it would be more dangerous to her health to have the op as her insides are such a mess. Mum said for years she needed one and when she was offered the op privately, she couldnt say no fast enough.

So if I am feeling bad, I am not as bad as her because I can still go to work (no choice, single mother no one else will make up the financial loss if I am on the sick). Not as bad as her as I am not in bed, again...no choice. And so on. She is absolutely CERTAIN that I do not have IBS.

But could I have? Yes, she is a hypochrondriac.

It sounds like it to me. Although some stuff makes me a bag of wind (I've not worked out what yet) I definitely don't have any of your other symptoms. Ignore your mum.

I have severe IBS and thats how i started. Definitely go to see your dr and get referred for tests (they will check for crohns, IBS, celiac) i had cameras up and down to check and now even though im on medication i still need to watch what i eat and could blow the roof of the house when extra windy. Then stuck on toilet with an exploding backside!! Not pleasant at all. Onions, garlic, tomatoes are the worst for me. Buscopan from chemist helps ease pains until you get a diagnosis and then the better medication. Good luck

Do you eat cucumber?

The skin is a KILLER for me, but skinless cucumber....no problem! Took me years to work that one out!

I met someone a few years ago who has a chlorophyll allergy, so basically she is allergic to anything that is green in nature. Since then I have noticed that green things are an issue for me too so I have noted that one. Its not an allergy but seems to be something that sets me off.

There are lots of things it could be - Sibo, intolerances, poor microbiome, lots of things to rule out. I think the term IBS is the term they use when they have investigated and can’t find an underlying cause for the symptons.
an exclusion diet it a good idea to rest your gut and then when you add things back in you’ll know exactly what you can’t eat

Sounds like IBS to me OP. Yes do read up on it but also see your doctor and describe exactly what your symptoms are when you eat/drink certain foods and any adverse results.

You might want to do a bit of reading about FODMAP

[[https://zoe.com/learn/what-are-fodmaps-and-the-fodmap-diet?utm_source=google_pmax&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=20382344316&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsp6pBhCfARIsAD3GZubE7sXr6GO94caNRvLjWRNNCrgLEB8dvW0FjPtwsj8Td8vFvHYE7mcaAt1SEALw_wcB]

and/or look at the Zoe Health Study (free App).

Good luck 🌹

I have to be very careful about food exclusion. I am a very recent recovering anorexic, size 8 is very good for me. My triggers dont seem to have changed over the last 6 years or so though, so thats a positive.

Sorry, meant to add, I have had these symptoms for.....cant remember....donkeys years.

A lot of older women become less tolerant of onion and onion extracts (as in powdered gravy or stock) as they reach peri/menopause for some reason. Leeks and garlic can also create digestion problems. If you take those totally out of your diet i wonder if you will feel a lot better (I felt 70% better).

her symptoms dont fit any migraine symptoms and her self prescibed migralieve seems to actually knock her out worse but she wont stop taking them.
There are many different types of migraines. My main symptoms are ocular. They can also cause exhaustion so it's possible it's the migraine knocking her out as opposed to the medication. She does need to see her GP if she's getting them regularly as there are some preventer medicines now that might help.

My migraines are occular weirdly! She has seen the doctor, and he told her to leave the migralieve alone and see how she goes but she wont. The doctor is always right when he says she might have something wrong, but if he says that she is fine then he is wrong.....I hope you get what I am saying. Her medications are probably half and half doctor prescribed and self prescribed.

Garlic I am OK with, onion has always been a problem and I dont like leeks. Onions I now use granules and they seem to be ok in things like stews etc for the flavour.

Meant to say, thanks all. I will go back to the doctors.

2 things happening here

1 your relationship with your mother. Deal with that how you will but my suggestion would be to stop talking about your health issues with her

2 your gut.
Start keeping a very detailed food and gut diary
Basically everything you eat and drink and the resulting effects. E.g. ate a sausage roll that had onion in and spent the next 6 hrs with wind pain and on the toilet.

I respect your awareness about the risk of an elimination diet with your eating disorder. It would be worth talking with a psychological support about how to do it safely. There is likely some supplements you could take like ensure to keep your calories up. Do you have a dietician? I know an ED dietitian would not be across this as much as an IBD dietitian and may worry you are trying to medicalise your ED. (That is the GI nurse in me coming out)

As someone who has done an elimination diet and found my triggers it is life changing.

Mine was for crhons with severe oesophagitis (to the point my dentist thought I was bulimic as I had constant acid on my teeth) but I can eat and enjoy food (most) again.

My lower crhons was triggered by onions, apples and a few other things which fermented in my gut, like bread (the yeast was fermenting like beer) The FODMAP elimination diet has been life changing. It is boring and hard but worth it.

I slip and eat things I shouldn't and pay for it with a weekend close to the toilet and chewing renies.

The irony of me spending my clinical nursing career in GI is not lost on me as I now live with GI conditions. Just glad I didn't go into cardiac or stroke nursing 😅

Sounds like intolerances. Maybe do FODMAP as likely any specialist is just going to start with that anyway. Go from there. Basically if intolerant to something you eliminate it in your diet.

I agree, sounds like you could benefit from the FODMAPS diet, restrictive to start but you can test foods after 4 weeks or so, just one at a time though. My hubby can't tolerate any soy and limited lactose. After 10 years he can have 1 sandwich slice of white bread without pain. I make my own GF pastry, cakes etc as soy is in a lot of GF products.
Good luck. 👍