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I know I already posted once but I have another question.....Gas!

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 10/25/2012 4:28 AM (GMT 0)
Have any of you found anything to be particularly helpful with the tremendous amounts of gas and bloating that come along with this disease. Does it seem to settle down as you begin to achieve remission'm? I'm just curious.....
Posted 10/25/2012 4:37 AM (GMT 0)
I haven't tried it personally but U hear GasX can help. Have you tried peppermint tea?

I don't think I am flaring at the moment but I still have lots of gas sometimes.
Posted 10/25/2012 4:44 AM (GMT 0)
I have tried many anti gas products including Gasx with no success.=(

I haven't tried peppermint tea but do use peppermint a lot for nausea.

Posted 10/25/2012 4:50 AM (GMT 0)
Do you get the gas throughout the day or is there a specific time when you get the gas?
Posted 10/25/2012 4:57 AM (GMT 0)
Throughout the day but it seems to be worse in the evening
Posted 10/25/2012 5:01 AM (GMT 0)
Could be that once your flare improves, the gas will as well.

What are you eating during the day?

When are you taking the VSL?

What exactly are your bms like?

q
Posted 10/25/2012 6:07 AM (GMT 0)
I've had some success with fennel tablets but nothing helps much while flaring until I get it under control.
Posted 10/25/2012 11:43 AM (GMT 0)
I get days like that too, usually after eating a no no but that's not always the case. In the summer after getting dehydrated and drinking lots of water in a short time frame I would also get lots of gas. I really haven't found anything that helps but do take lactaid at meals whenever I eat cheesy stuff.
Posted 10/25/2012 11:46 AM (GMT 0)
Whenever i mis-combine foods I get terrible gas.

What are your eating?

Posted 10/25/2012 4:10 PM (GMT 0)
Thats the kicker. I'm really not eating anything. My diet primarily consists of 24/7 tube feeding through a J tube. I use Promote which is a high protein supplement made by Abbott. The only things I take in by mouth during the day are a daily prune (I know strange but supposed to keep you regular), a couple of mini pretzels, and sometimes a bite or two of rice. I've had trouble and am supposed to be working my way back to eating again but then this bad flare up happened and I am afraid to change too much of anything. My bms fluctuate. I don't ever see formed stools. Usually have several in the am, then quieter during the day, then around 4 or 5 it starts gurgling again and I might have another one or two. Depending on the evening, I may get up several times during the night.

Oh, I take the VSL #3 in the am and then before bed

Posted 10/25/2012 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
tmc,

I understand.

But are you having the pretzels and rice at the same time or within a few hours of the prunes?

The reason I ask is because they don't combine well (any fruit + carb is a no-no).

And actually sometimes the VSl can also cause some gas...

Posted 10/26/2012 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
how long have you been on the j feeds ?

do you have a separate g tube ?

do you have any means to vent (not verbally:-))

my first thought is to lay off any foods till you get the flare under control -

Posted 10/26/2012 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
InSoFla: I eat them separately. I do the pretzels with my predinsone in the am and might do some later in the afternoon. The prune comes at lunchtime. If I do rice its in the evening.

soystud: I have been on the J tube feeds on and off for almost a year but full time for about 4 months. I did have a g tube for awhile but they had to remove it because the balloon was eroding my intestinal wall. Lost my vent when I lost the g tube (I'm good at venting verbally lol)

Posted 10/26/2012 3:12 AM (GMT 0)
it's interesting - we just came back from childrens hospital in seattle with my son - his roomate was another kid with cp and tube fed part of the time - he was being dx with chrohns/uc - he wound up on tpn i think -

have you been to this site :

Oley Foundation Support Community
Posted 10/26/2012 10:45 AM (GMT 0)
I've always attributed my gassy-ness to the 5ASA meds. I was never gassy pre- UC and even the 1st year I was flaring (blood daily for a year) and they couldn't diagnose me - I had no gas at all.

It was only once diagnosed and put on Asacol (later switched to Mezavant) that gas became an issue. Gurggly tummy, passing LOTS of noisy wind... especially at night for me. (very embarrassing when starting new relationships!!!).

The Mezavant is even worse for gas than the Asacol in my case. And when I'm flaring it is all much much worse and includes the bloating and cramping from gas.

As of yet I haven't found anything to changes this or decreases it for me, so I can't help you there, but know that you are not alone in this - I think it is a very common effect of this disease.
Posted 10/26/2012 4:03 PM (GMT 0)
Soystud: I haven't been there but will visit. Thanks for the heads up. They had me on TPN for awhile until it started to shut my liver down. I spent about a good 2 months trying to get my liver levels and bilirubin (sp?) back even on the charts and another two months to get them back into the upper end of normal.  Thats why I have some uncertainty about even being on the ASAs.

canadagal: Thanks for the encouragement. I can say I had trouble with gas before the meds but I think it has definitely increased. My doctors keep telling me I just swallow an unusual amount of air. I don't necessarily buy that one. =)

Posted 10/26/2012 4:23 PM (GMT 0)
so tmc, what makes you think the gas is not from your feeding - most people with j's benefit from venting - can they place a non-balloon type g for feeding/venting ?
Posted 10/26/2012 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
It very well could be. With all that I have read about things in your diet that can contribute, the feeding mixture would probably be keen on setting it off. High in carbs, sugars, etc. I just don't have too many options right now considering I am already pretty underweight. I wish they could find a way to do that with a g tube. When I had my g tube before , they left it open to vent continuously (connected it to a foley bag basically) and I would fill up one with gas by the end of the day. We just have such problems keeping tubes in my body and keeping them from falling out. Just like anything else, you fight one battle at a time right? =)
Posted 10/26/2012 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
yup, seems like it's climbing mount everest everyday !

because i'm not a very smart guy, when i'm trying to find the answer to a problem, i eliminate as many of the variables that i can - your situation is pretty challenging in that respect - just like my son - he needs to eat - but it gives him lots of misery - so we stop feeding him and he's a happy guy - sweet ! but wait, oh ya, HE NEEDS TO EAT !

so that's why i was asking if you could go without any food other than the j feeds - eliminate the rice and pretzels (which both give me problems) and whatever else you are tring to eat - at least for a few days to see if it makes any difference - probably not, but you never know -

the venting issue is obviously more complicated -

so which came first, the j tube or the uc ? and have you always been on the promote, or was that new with the j ?
Posted 10/27/2012 1:35 AM (GMT 0)
The uc came after the j tube. I originally had a g/j tube inserted in July .2011 and was placed on Jevity with Fiber. I then had that tube and three others get clogged/balloon deflated and fall out. At that point, my gi doctor walked away and gave up on me and the general surgeon came in and inserted a J tube (since the gi guy let the original hole close). Shortly after that came my first bowel obstruction (I've had two this year) so they decided Jevity with Fiber might not be the best chroice. So they started me on Promote (also because my pre albumin was so low and I needed the added protein). I've been on Promote mostly for the last year, but Osmolite and Vital were also tried. I don't tolerate any well but it seems like Promote does ok for the most part.
Posted 10/27/2012 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
so have you heard of anyone else on j tube feeds developing uc ? in all my reading over the last ten years with my uc and my sons tube feeding, i don't recall ever seeing the 2 connected -

sounds like you've had a heck of a time - so did your g site close up ? boy, i would really ask about getting another g tube for venting -
Posted 10/27/2012 12:04 PM (GMT 0)
For me gas is a good thing. it tells me food is traveling through like it should.  When i'm at my worst, I have no gas.
Posted 10/27/2012 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
soystud- I haven't seen a connection between the two necessarily, but I am beginning to think the tube feeding may aggravate it. Since it runs 24/7 my poor system never has a rest so I sometimes wonder if it keeps the flare going. My doctor is beginning to get concerned that with this flare that I may not be absorbing things though even with the tube feeding. Just out of curiosity, why is your son having to use tube feeding? I assume not due to UC.

I need help- I wish I could say the same thing. I have really bad gas in the middle of my flare. Oh well, this too shall pass right? LOL

Posted 10/29/2012 8:31 PM (GMT 0)
Gas means that foods are not properly digested. I think that most people having UC have a problem with digestion. I used to have a lot of gas, and used to rush so many times. I thought it was a part of UC symptom.

But now after taking digestive enzyme, I don't have any problem with gas. I can now focus on UC only. No rush for gas, just rush for real poo.

My theory is that, foods are not digested properly, it may hurt lower bowel. The problem in lower bowel could have been caused by the problem in the upper side, for example, digestion problem in stomach or pancreas.
Posted 10/29/2012 9:04 PM (GMT 0)
UC'rs do have gas problems from foods which are not properly digested but I hate it when people say this because normal people have gas all the time. I recently read that normal people have gas 14 times per day on the average. It is a normal process for everyone so it seems like we get picked on. When I tried talking to my doctor about the gas he wanted to just flat out blame my diet but some of my worst gas at the time was coming from drinking large amounts of water in the summer after I became dehydrated. Did he want me to quit drinking water?
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