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Gas, gas, and more gas

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/20/2012 12:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hello.
I'm writing again but this time in regards to gas. I've been so bloated lately but can't figure out what it's from. I do have BM urgency and go to the bathroom but all that comes out is gas and some weird white spots (clots?). It's not a whole lot at all - maybe about 4 or 5 of them. This happened today but since yesterday, I've been having D. No blood at all. My stomach just keeps grumbling and making all sorts of loud noises, especially when I lay down. I'm still feeling bloated but don't know what to do...does drinking water help at all? Does anybody else experience this?
Posted 8/20/2012 12:10 PM (GMT 0)
Drinking water is always good I'd say.

What did you eat? Do you anything fibrous? Like Oatmeal or something.

Do you have a food journal? It helps a lot.

I love to put a hot water bag on my belly or those electric pillows which warm up. Especially over night <3 May be too hot for this right now though.
Posted 8/20/2012 12:28 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like the beginning of a flare. The white stuff is mucous. You don't have to have blood to be flaring.
Posted 8/20/2012 12:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Andrina
Thanks for your feedback :) My diet has pretty much been consistent, like I always stick to the same kinds of foods except that I had a small bowl of bananas, kiwi, and peach but it was a very small amount. Tiny pieces anyway. And no, I don't keep a food journal, although I have been thinking about it. I always jot down what happens daily with regard to UC, though. Thanks for the advice :) And yes, keeping the tummy watm definitely makes things a lot better, especially during a flare.
Posted 8/20/2012 12:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hi sherbear
Thanks for responding. I was thinking it could be mucous but they're like small tiny white clots (kind of like blood clots but only it's white and in tiny pieces) and I only see like 4-5 of those tiny things each time I use the restroom. I've never had that happen before. It's so weird - like I'll have BM urgency but all that comes out is gas and those white things. No poop or D or anything. Has that happened to you or anyone else?
Posted 8/20/2012 12:49 PM (GMT 0)
Yep I've had it before its mucous. When I start getting real gassy and then see that I up my rectal meds from twice a week to nightly and up my Lialda too. After a week or two it goes away.
Posted 8/20/2012 12:50 PM (GMT 0)
Same thing happens to me although I usually don't have the D anymore. The white stuff is either mucus or puss, or a combination of the two. I have found that eating certain foods, even in small quantities, especially items high in fiber (like some fruits), have done this to me. Once I had a high fiber brownie and oh my God, gas like you wouldn't believe - for hours. I still get too much gas everyday and I don't really know how to cut it down, I've tried both Beano and Gas-X, along with diet changes, with no real effect. Interestlingly, I have found water to make things worse, particularly when I drink too much at a time and it overwhelms my system. In the hot days of summer when I work outside and consume high amounts of water, due to extreme thirst, I have found myself to suffer from a lot of gas. MY gastro tries to tell me it's my diet but I actually don't agree with him because it happens when I eat food, any food. I have to eat something, and just drinking large amounts of water does me in. Certainly he doesn't expect me to quit drinking water? The fact is that everyone (and I mean normal people) has gas, it is just more of a problem in UC'rs. I have been thinking about trying digestive enzymes.

Post Edited (garylouisville) : 8/20/2012 6:54:54 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/20/2012 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
Now I'm curious: What's the difference between mucus and puss?

Are you eating any dairy, Penny? It causes problems to me.
Posted 8/20/2012 1:37 PM (GMT 0)
Penny, your 100 ml Pentasa enema seems insufficient to me as a treatment. I thought the typical retention enema was 4g (which would be 4000 mg). Are your units correct? Maybe you need a larger dose. I found that my problems with gas got a lot better when I had my proctitis under good control.
Posted 8/20/2012 9:39 PM (GMT 0)
Andrina:

OK, I'm not a doctor but I am going to give it a shot anyway. Many membranes in your body, including your intestinal tract, normally secrete mucus. The inflammation in your colon causes excess mucus. Since this is generally thought to be an autoimmune disease where your white blood cells help attack foreign invaders, the attack process leaves behind puss, which is like stuff from an infection. I can't tell the difference between mucus and puss when I go.

Also, I noticed you say eating dairy causes problems in you. This is quite common in UC patients as the intestines can't do as good as a job as they used to and certain things such as lactose can cause problems. Having said that I want to give you some food for thought. My Gastro put me on a lactose free diet in the beginning and I didn't really see much real difference in my condition. I had some bouts of extreme messy diarrhea shortly after eating cheddar cheese in particular but I was also amazed to realize that about 7 or 8 times out of 10 I actually had no problems after eating the very same cheddar cheese. After much investigating with myself I finally came to the conclusion that most dairy products really didn't effect me to much degree, with the exception of may 20% of the time. I came to the conclusion that it would be wrong to eliminate dairy products completely from my diet when most of them didn't effect me at all and the others only effected me maybe that 20% of the time. I think many UC'rs may be eliminating a bunch of things from their diets that they really don't have to. Of course everyone is different and is at different stages of the disease. I just hate seeing things elminated from the diet just because someone had a onetime bad experience.
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