Help me figure out what my digestion problem is!!

[Whippetmomma]

This might be long. Apologies if it boring but I am at the end of my tether with my digestion system right now.

Many years ago I was diagnosed with IBS probably in my mid 20's. It hasn't really been a big issue over the years, it usually only flared up when I was stressed.

I'm now late 40's and pretty likely in Perimenopause. For the last year or two I've had bouts of awful wind. But in the last year or so it's become a lot worse. I saw a consultant earlier this year about something I thought was a gallbladder issue and the consultant diagnosed IBS.

In the last few weeks my digestive system has gone wild. I've had urgency for the toilet, mainly in a morning going multiple times before I can leave the house. The odd day I'm constipated and the odd day I'll have a normal
BM. I'm constantly bloated too.

The wind has been horrendous and has now caused some kind of gurgling, weird sensation under my left rib. I can hear gas in my stomach and even feel it moving in my back passage 😳

I'm keeping a food diary but can't seem to find a specific trigger. I've bought some Fybro calm tablets for wind and bloating and they've been great when I have trapped gas getting it all out.

For instance today I ate porridge for breakfast no issues. I took a tablet before my lunch and since I ate lunch I've had bad wind that does not smell pleasant, I had urgency to use the toilet while driving home and only just got in the door in time. My stomach is churning and bubbling now.
For lunch I had a chicken katsu rice bowl, some pineapple and Greek yoghurt and a handful of crisps.

Sorry it's long and has too much information in it! But if anyone can relate and has any wonderful ideas I'd appreciate them.

Also forgot to add that these symptoms seem to be worse when I have spotting. Currently on the mini pill that's causing me near on constant spotting. This week I've been bleeding lightly.

Decrease/fluctuation of oestrogen and progesterone it slows down the process of digestion of food , process called peristalsis , this causes bloating . If you’re really worried about the change in your bowel habits ask for a endoscopy/colonoscopy .

Hormones have wreaked havoc on my bowels. Doesn't matter what I eat I can't poo naturally.

Sorry no help but solidarity

I have a GP appointment next week and I think I'm going to ask for some investigation.

Any change in bowel habits lasting more than a couple of weeks should be discussed with your GP. Assuming that rules out anything aside from IBS - I’ve radically reduced my Ultra processed foods recently. I’ve had IBS for years and it has definitely made a difference.

I hear you. It doesn't matter what I eat either it just gives me horrific wind and all I can feel is gas moving around my stomach.

Any changes pufgt to get checked out by GP.
I tell you what though, since I'm older I've started to have period shits, so maybe this is it x

I've always had period shits. This doesn't feel quite the same though. It's the wind that's the main issue and I can feel it living round my stomach. It almost feels like when you're pregnant and you can feel the movement in there.

If I press on my abdomen anywhere you can guarantee it's pushes some gas around and I fart within seconds!

I have the same symptoms with dairy 😫

I had this, worsened in pregnancy, I then got mastitis and was put on a long course of antibiotics. It's been better ever since so I can only assume an overgrowth of an unhelpful gut bacteria was the cause, exacerbated by pregnancy, slow gut etc. I now try hard to eat fermented foods and probiotics to 'keep' my gut bacteria a bit healthier.

Like you it didn't matter what I ate it just got worse and worse through the day and I could feel it bubbling around. our poor dog got the blame for the smell

I've started taking a probiotic. To see if that helps at all. But in all honesty I think I could just drink water and eat a dry cracker and still have horrendous wind and smell like a sewerage farm

I'm querying dairy because the last few times I've had a flare up I've either eaten eggs or yoghurt. I haven't had a yoghurt in weeks but today I did have a small amount of Greek yoghurt today. Yet yesterday I ate cheese and was fine??

I've not had a tea or coffee in about a month. I've just been drinking lots of water, green tea, peppermint tea and ginger cordial

Have you had any tests? I've had similar to this recently but not the same, and turns out I have a b9 vitamin deficiency and a type of anaemia from it!

I haven't had any bloods done since last year. At one point my dr queried coeliac as I often get mouth ulcers. That came back ok though and I've pinpointed my ulcers to an SLS allergy in toothpaste.

Eggs aren't dairy! Cheese else it depends on the cheese how much lactose is in them. Mature and blue cheese are better than soft cheese. Boots do lactase tablets cheaply which work well for me.

I've seen a GP today about my symptoms plus the fact since going on the mini pill I keep spotting and having irregular bleeding. He's booked me in for bloods next week to check for Ovarian cancer and coeliac. I'm a bit worried about the ovarian cancer as I haven't even considered that my symptoms are the same.