Terrible IBS during TOTM (tmi warning)

[flibbertigibbert]

I suffer with IBS occasionally during times of stress, but for the last few months I've had absolutely horrible IBS during my period.

I get really bad gas which smells terrible and I suffer with diarrhoea and a generally very unsettled stomach. If I take Imodium it does stop the diarrhoea but then just makes me gassy and constipated for the next few days.

It's making me really miserable. Does anyone else get this, or can anyone recommend anything? Sorry for such an unpleasant thread.

I've had this for years, really not very nice, you have my sympathies. The only suggestion I have is to see if reducing carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice etc not veggies) and fat in the week or so before your period and increasing your protein might make a difference. This might be counter intuitive as I often crave carbs around this time.

I recently started the Dukan diet and found one of the side effects to be a less painful and bloated period.

I now have virtually no carbs from about 10 days before my period except porridge in the mornings and eat lots of veggies and protein instead. I limit legumes and fruit too and find the IBS I used to experience for the two weeks around my periods virtually gone.

I'm not fanatical about this but find that if I stray and eat bread during this time, I can really feel the difference with my IBS.

Although I reduce the fat in my diet, my one exception is chocolate, I get through lots of green&blacks or cadburys as I suspect WW3 would start if I didn't get my choccie fix.

oh and don't be sorry, tis really horrible and isn't something you really talk about in real life, is it? So you just end up coping in silence.

I wouldn't encourage you to take immodium because being constipated will just make you feel worse and ultimately cause more pain. If you are having issues with diarrhoea, my mum swears by ginger or fennel tea, apples (particularly granny smiths) and natural yoghurt to help settle your stomach.

There are so many things that you can try to minimise the effect on you, so chin up you'll find a solution.

oh god, ne too. Only just made the link this month
I have it at other times but it is SO much worse during my period.

I'm the opposite of OmNomNom (nice name ) and find that if I eat too much protein and not enough carbs it makes it worse.

OmNomNom - thanks for the advice. I could probably do with reducing carbs anyway since I need to lose weight, so I will definitely try that between now and next AF.

I'll give the ginger and fennel teas a try too. I'm not a fan of apples but I might give them a go - I remember my brother being given stewed apple when he was in hospital with a nasty case of food poisoning on holiday.

I try to avoid Imodium but it's so hard to go out to work or in public without it sometimes .

I'm glad to know that other people have the same problem.

I think you can buy a ginger and lemon tea from Twinnings which is quite good or if not I tend to grate about and inch square of root ginger into boiling water let it infuse as it cools for a while and then seive and drink, if it tastes a bit yucky add some lemon juice for taste. It is sometimes nicer cool than warm.

Also re apples, just one apple to keep your strength up not millions.

I think the trick is to have the right amount of fibre without having such a high quantity of carbs that your tummy will bloat.

I'm not one who thinks you should cut out any major food group to lose weight, but reducing carbs did get rid of all the bloating around my stomach, put a stop to water retention. And to help that I've become more aware of how much salt I use and try to use as little as possible without food being bland. Trying to cook from scratch has made a big difference as I don't think it necessarily carbs per se, but perhaps some additives that come with bread etc.

ooh TNT and you think I have a groovy name

anyhow big essay again, but experiment there is bound to be something that will help and if none of this works, do see your GP, you can't live like this.

My IBS is much worse before and during my period too. I use immodium when I need to but I only take one capsule, I have not found anything that helps but you have my sympathies!

try getting some bacteria from the health food shop

I have severe IBS and find that its even worse during run up and first 2 days of my periods. I end up looking about 5 mth pg just before it starts and then have never ending soft stools that are very odourful (is that a word!) for first 2 days.

It took me ages to make the link too.

But my friend gets the same bowel problems and she doesn't have IBS and her period only lasts a day .