Ever since a stressful event 10 years ago, during which I went on a 3-week binge and put on a stone, my digestive system completely changed. I went from being completely normal and being able to eat whatever I wanted, to being really gassy and bloated constantly. I was a student and I’d have to hold in farts in the library all day - by 4pm I looked 7 months pregnant and had to go home in pain to let out all the wind.
Over the years I’ve cut out a lot of food (dairy, most fruit, FODMAP type foods like chickpeas, nuts, breakfast) which has improved it, but I still do way too many horrible farts. If I’m going out for dinner or clubbing, I basically have to starve or eat sushi during the day. The doctors just said “IBS” and I’ve had blood/stool tests to check for coeliac, cancer, H Pylori and IBD/UC/Crohns. However I don’t get the other IBS symptoms like pain/cramps/running to the toilet - I get diarrhoea if I’m nervous or eaten dairy the night before, but otherwise poos are fairly normal. I’ve tried all sorts of medicines and the only thing which seemed to have any effect was digestive enzymes and oil of oregano? Mebeverine did nothing as I don’t have cramps, windeze doesn’t do anything as it’s not trapped wind, it’s constantly trying to get out lol! Stress definitely affects it, and the only thing that virtually got rid of it for 3 months was Covid - which makes me feel like it’s a bacterial thing and the high temp killed it off temporarily…
Has anyone had anything similar? It’s like I broke my stomach. I’m convinced it’s SIBO or a physical problem, and I don’t want to be on super restrictive diets. However GPs are useless and have never heard of SIBO, and even the hospital consultant just prodded my stomach a bit and said it couldn’t be that and was just IBS. Should I go private to get endoscopy/colonoscopy/SIBO test or try something else (Chinese medicine? Acupuncture?) Any help appreciated!