trapped wind

1. Walk! Walk! Walk! Especially, going up a full flight of stairs and down again. Repeat if you're not too tired or dizzy. Rest and do it all again.

2. Massage your stomach, starting on the lower right, go up, over to your left side and down. This helps move the gas along (a nurse gave me this tip).

3. Sipping a hot cup of tea helps me. The caffeine gets the stool going, which gets the gas moving and hopefully, out!

These are the specific tips/suggestions/tricks that have helped me. Suppressing the gas usually makes the situation worse, I feel better when I can speed along the process, helping expell the gas (not absorbing it with meds).

Hope you feel better!

Mary/Marsky

Would you believe that the cattle industry is the number two consumer of Pepto Bismol? That's because industrial production of beef involves feeding them pretty much nothing but corn when their digestive tracts are only designed to tolerate a small amount of grain--the rest is supposed to be grass. So cows get upset stomach and farmers give them Pepto! It's something you can try (it comes in pills). Also you can try things like Gas-X. I used to get a chewable kind that were very good at getting trapped gas out of my stomach and upper guts; I bet it works for lower guts as well.

Also, farmers will load their gassiest cows up in a trailer (mind you, these have no shocks) and drive them around. Apparently this works like putting a colicy baby on top of the dryer; the vibrations shake the gas out or get it to settle down. You might could find you an old belt vibtrator! They used to be popular for exercise. They're starting to come back in now because they have been found to help build bone strength in old people. Or you could sit on top of your dryer and turn it on!

Old belt vibtrator,hmmmmmmmmmm

I have been suffering with IBS for a number of years with having abdominal pain in my left side around lower back and left rib cage mainly. I have tried many herbal remedies and been to the doctors so many times I just forget how many it is now! I was loosing hope and thought there was no cure for IBS sufferers. I really find it hard to also stick to a particular diet aswell. I seem to also have very bad gas which is extremly embarrassing, especially when I am in a meeting at work or I have to visit the dentist or something.
I have been doing alot of research into anything that could help to ease this problem. I have tried things like charcoal and papya but they do not seem to work.

This may help you with the flatulence side of your IBS as they have done me. This is the worst problem of my IBS I seemed to have kind of controlled the abdominal pains for now.

I hope this helps you

Post Edited By Moderator (7Lil) : 8/14/2008 8:46:47 PM (GMT-6)

gutsy - your post reminded me of a colon article I read years ago. There is one specific exercise you can do with a nautilis (sp?) machine at a gym, that will move things along in the GI tract. My surgeon had said I should never do nautilis because of my two incisions (one is vertical, from my naval down, 6 inches long), the other is several inches long where my temp ostomy was located. He said I could do damage because of my incisions and get a hernia. I should just stick to other exercises (Pilates, walking, jogging, etc.). about that time I read up on why I shouldn't risk the nautilis equipment but for IBS patients here that have not had incisions and major surgery, I would think it would be safe to try. Whatever this specific exercise was, it sounds like what a nurse told you in the hospital. At the time I was going even more than now and I thought, I wouldn't even dream of trying an exercise that induced colon contractions! Yikes......but for many of IBS friends here not in the colon resection boat, this could be something to try. I just wish I knew which exercise it was....since I couldn't do it, I forgot which one.

Mary/Marsky