Gas problem- help needed

Hi

I immediately started having IBS symptoms after taking in some herbal medicine about 4 yrs ago. I am still stuck with this Gas problem. I am a student and need some help; i can't concentrate in class; don't get into public places.......please help me...i'm a young man of 26....

Edited because of content... please read forum rules... thank you, dbab

Post Edited By Moderator (dbab) : 8/22/2007 3:04:38 PM (GMT-6)

Des,

You say bacteria produce the gas. Is this the good bacteria that you have in your gut or the bad bacteria that live there that produce the gas. If its the bad bacteria that produce the gas is it a matter of killing these off?

D

Bad bacteria is what produces excess gas (all bacteria produce gas, but when you are in balance, they produce normal amounts which don't strain your system). The simpliest thing to do is to usually to put more good bacteria in your guts to drive the bad out.

BUT you are already taking a lot of probiotics, so driving out bad bacteria should, hopefully, have already been done (unless you just started them). That means that either your problem isn't from a bacteria or it's from the probiotics themselves. Yes, they can give you gas. And while it's usual for your body to adjust and quit producing extra gas after about a week, sometimes people don't adjust. I can't remember who it is on this board that always gets gas when taking acidophilus. I, on the other hand, have never gotten over the gas problems caused by Culturelle.

If you've been on the probiotic supplements, yogurt and acidophillus milk a while now (long enough that you should have adjusted), stop them all and see what happens.

You're also taking some other stuff there that might also be causing excess gas. Maybe the fish oil, maybe the anti-fungal stuff, maybe the digestive enzymes, maybe the Nexium, maybe even the aloe vera. If going off the probitoics doesn't help, try rotating off one of the other things (one thing at a time) for a week or two and see if that helps (ask your doctor what you can substitute for the Nexium while you go off it to see if it's causing your gas). Just because the gas problem started long before you started taking a med doesn't mean that that med's not causing it (maybe it would have went away on its own otherwise), or that it's not making your existing situation worse.

If none of that helps, ask your GI for a breathalyzer test to check to see if you have a bad bacteria problem. Sometimes certain ones are nearly impossible to dislodge with probiotics alone, and they will require treatment with antibiotics. But I'd look to your medicine list first, as the chances are higher that it's something there causing it; gas and altered bowel movements are VERY common side effects for meds and supplements (and I think Nexium is especially heavy on those).

And, may I surmise from your taking aloe vera and suppositories that you have a constipation problem? If so, then you need to stop the calcium immediately, unless you've been ordered to take it by a doctor for some reason. Calcium naturally constipates. If you have to take it (like for bone loss), then try getting a brand with a high manesium content, as magnesium is a natural laxative they put in the calcium to keep it from constipating people (it's also necessary to help you absorb it). Caltrate 600 w/vitamin D is the absolute worst thing a constipated person can take; it's what we all recommend for people with D because it has very little magnesium and so is very constipating (what you need if you have D). And, I don't know if you eat them, but bananas are also quite constipating. And a dehydrated banana chip... nothing will dry you up faster!