Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: robotwars on February 20, 2016, 04:14:34 PM
-
Hi! Here we go again, yet another attack with my stomach, seems to be happening a couple of times a month!!! Woke up this morning at 4am, feeling very hot and my stomach was rumbling and feeling awful, an hour later a few episodes of diarrhoea , now have a pain in top of the stomach just below the ribs, in the middle, its like a dull ache but feels more painful when you press on it... at first I thought it was because we went out to eat last night, I had the ham egg and chips, thought it might have been too greasy but now im not sure, wondering if its something else as it keeps happening, I also thought it could be connected to the patches or IBS, just not sure..... I have an appointment at the doctors in 2 weeks, couldn't get in any earlier! Just not sure what to take for it.............. if its not peri symptoms its something else.... Aaghhhh!!!
-
Have you thought about keeping a food diary. That could help you find out if any particular food is the trigger. Also stress is often a factor. Are you worried about anything at the moment?
-
good idea about the food diary, not stressed though, as everything has settled down now that my mother has moved into the care home, so lifes been a lot better! LOL
-
Hiatus hernis is apparently 'common' in ladies of a certain age. I get that pain about 'there' sometimes but it does pass.
-
I have to 'pay for it' if I ever have chips - and battered fish is right off the menu now.
-
Fish and chips makes me really ill
-
One thing about IBS is that it doesn't wake you at night for a bowel movement. It's more likely to be something disagreeing with you I reckon. Horrible feeling. I hate it - especially if you're staying in someone elses house and you're sure you are waking the whole household!
Taz x
-
That's very interesting Taz2, I didn't know that!
We are going away in a caravan for Easter so hope I can get this sorted for then......as im dreading it!
-
What about any medication or supplements your taking.
I also find too much fruit does it for me.
-
That's very interesting Taz2, I didn't know that!
We are going away in a caravan for Easter so hope I can get this sorted for then......as im dreading it!
It is mentioned on the American website http://www.aboutibs.org/site/signs-symptoms/overview. I would keep a food diary to see what could be upsetting your system. Also there is advice re IBS on the IBS Network http://www.theibsnetwork.org/ although you do have to join as a member to get the full "package".
Taz x :)
-
For me IBS is: slow transit in that my bowel feels like it needs to 'go' but won't; or I have to get up earlier than usual to 'go', when it can be runny/small rabbit-type stools: once a day or several times. Fortunately I don't have pain as some people get. In 1998 I did have acute nausea which sent me to the GP who prescribed Colpermin for upper gut wind as well as Motillium.
Some people find various OTC products helpful. If I feel the need to 'go' in the early hours I hang on because I fear it's a bug …….. so lay awake for hours resisting the urge ::)
-
Hi there
I think we are able to less tolerate greasy and heavy food as we get older or for me that could have been the start of the gallbladder problems. I started being sick after eating a bit too much or rich food over the last year or so.
I get the pain in the middle and it is very tender but one doc I saw thought this could be a stomach problem as well, maybe a small ulcer. Anyway, he gave me a months course of PPI's which if anything was there it would clear it up as they reduce stomach acid allowing anything to heal.
The thing is I used to get a fair bit of heartburn every now and again but since I got the gallstone attacks and have been eating much fat and eating lighter I've not had any.
Keep a food diary and if it is possible that fat that is setting it off then cut back as much as possible for a few weeks and see if that helps. Try and start before the doctor visit so you can give them more info to work with.
Hope it eases soon, that's horrible to have in the middle of the night, I know!
-
Mines playing up this morning. Busy yesterday and I'm never good on a Monday until after Mum has phoned :-\
-
Bugga ……… she wasn't on the 'phone long because a parcel arrived ::)
Still queasy ……...
-
Oh so sorry CLKD, hope you feel better soon! im feeling rubbish today, im trying some Galveston to see if it helps and having probiotic yoghurts and keeping a food diary,........... fingers crossed something helps!......
-
Galveston ………… now I've an ear-worm ;D
Better now. Himself is making a substantial pasta meal so that will help.
-
[Glen Campbell] ;)
-
That was a meander ;D - still got the ear-worm ::)
-
Hi! Just thought I would give you an update! I went to my GP who said that she thought the pains in my stomach etc is down to acid! I said I had been taking Galveston, and she said that was ok and to continue with it ! She did say if I did a sample she would do a dip test to test for any infection! She said she would contact me today if there was any! I haven't heard anything so im guessing their wasn't! She said if it doesn't get any better in the next few weeks to go back! which is a bit of a joke as it took 3 weeks to get that appointment!
Last night was awful! went to bed at 11pm, awake at 12.15 with a very bad rumbling stomach, feeling nauseous! just felt like I was going to have diarrhoea again! so after a couple of hours I did try taking some Imodium to see if it would help, finally got to sleep at 4.30 then I was up at 6pm!!!! getting so fed up with this.... just had our evening meal and my stomach is rumbling again, only had a couple of pieces of chicken and a few carrots, how does one stop it from rumbling...... really hoped the GP would of helped but got nowhere!!!! Aaghhhhhhh - her exact words were, " just need to find a way of managing it" ..
-
Hi Sparkle, mines is at the top just in the middle between the bottom of your ribs if you know what I mean! That is where it always feels uncomfortable,and then it goes down to the bottom of my stomach...which is always rumbling after I eat with bouts of diarrhoea and pains that come and go...... just hope it settles down before Easter as we are away for a week in a caravan, not looking forward to it at all................................
-
Was just searching the forum on IBS and found this thread which is me to a tee!
I have been suffering with IBS type issues for two years (probably start of peri). It does come and go but I get the pains, the rumbling, diarrhoea, trapped wind. Last year I had about six months of needing to empty my bowlels upto 3 times on a morning but after keeping a diary, I noted it was the days I work and started to think it was a nervous thing. Things improved at the start of this year but lately I've noticed I'm now a bit constipated as well whereas previously it was the diarrhoea.
I had never really noticed the pain at the top and in the middle until the last few days when it has flared up again. If I press on the bit in the middle it hurts but then if I pass wind, it stops hurting. The last few days I have had really bad wind. I had read ages ago about massaging the stomach so I do that, pressing down from the top to the bottom and this does help the wind come out!
Sparkle - I have had the gallbladdder type pains (in middle of back and under shoulder) going on two years now but it does come and go and I wouldn't say it was horrific pain, just uncomfortable but I do know quite a few people who suffered badly and had their gallbladder removed.
I think I know what started it this time...fish and chips on Good Friday!
It's been interesting to learn from this forum that peri can trigger IBS as I'm now convinced that's when mine started but I do suffer with anxiety and anxiety is also linked to IBS but I've found that sometimes certain foods trigger it then other times if I eat those foods I'm fine so I think with me, it's a stress thing and when I'm stressed I'm worse.
-
Hi.
I can relate to all of this too, I had a bad day yesterday and had fish and chips the night before ( not had fish and chips in ages), tummy cramps and loose bowels yesterday and it always causes high anxiety as I have health anxiety too.
I am never eating fish and chips again! my symptoms seem to improve when I do the slimming world diet? so sticking to that and see how I get on, need to loose the weight.
Its horrible to suffer tummy troubles and my sympathy goes out to all fellow sufferers xx
-
Hi crazydaisy,
Actually 'loose bowels' is the right term as I wouldn't call it diarrhoea, it's just loose!
I find that when I have a flare up, it does seem to last quite a few days (this bout has been ongoing since Fri evening). I don't eat fish and chips often but I do find that everytime I eat out in a restaurant I get an IBS flare up and I'm sure it's the oils they use or salt. Salt has a big effect on me as I never use it myself, not even in cooking (don't even use salted boiling water).
I'm sat here in the quiet and I can hear my stomach rumbling away!
I too have health anxiety and interestingly, like you say, it has made my anxiety worse the last few days. I was having a ridiculous anxiety attack yesterday over tingling in the tip of my finger!
-
I sympathise! It's usually the fat content in Fish and Chips. I have problems since my hysterectomy with vegetables. Peas are the worst culprits! I've had three days without any veg due to just not being hungry but also eating not-so-good for you stuff and my tummy has been fantastic. Fruit also upsets me - apples are not something I can have if I'm going out anywhere the next day - and melon. This is due to the high fibre I think having read up about it all. It worries me that fruit and veg is now not a big part of my diet. Is anyone a member of the IBS Network? http://www.theibsnetwork.org/what-is-ibs/
Taz x
-
Hi Taz2,
I too have a problem with apples but if I peel them it's ok.
Trouble is all the good for you bits are in the skin ::)
-
Funny as I had peas the other day with rice and chicken but that meal effected me as well.
I can't tolerate Apple's.
The only fruit I eat is banana.
Just got my period so wondering if there's a connection?
-
I would think so Halfpint - mine was always worse just before a period and it worse when I'm on HRT so I think that there has to be a connection if your "wired" that way.
Taz x
-
This is an American site but does talk about the link between IBS and menstrual cycles http://www.aboutibs.org/site/signs-symptoms/gynecological-aspects
Taz x
-
Thanks for the links Taz. My IBS has only started in the last two years although I have always been a sufferer of wind (bottom end..I very rarely burp!).
I'm going to start keeping a note now to see if it is around my period because as i said, sometimes I can eat the foods that have bothered me since Fri and I'm fine and then othertimes it irritates me.
I knew I was getting my period as I had a cleaning frenzy! Does anyone else have/had those?
-
I recently had a bout of what the doctor thought could be ibs never suffered before and I was advised to look at and try the FODMAP diet. It's surprising the number of healthy things that are on the bad list. I found that for me caffeine at the wrong time of day, too much gluten and icecreams effects me. Interestingly both peas and apples are on the list to avoid
-
Jinja, yes I have looked at the bad list and it is interesting. In the last two years I have found there is only a certain type of bread I can eat and if I try to eat healthy brown bread, it really irritates me. Eating out nowadays always has an effect no matter what I eat from a restaurant or takeaway irritates me. There is only one takeaway near me that I'm OK with but it's a 20 minute drive and they don't deliver so it's a once a month treat.
I don't eat ice cream as I also suffer with my sinuses and catarrh and ice cream really effects it as does wheat and most dairy.
-
I had IBS for years (had two sigmoidoscopies over 10 years) & put it down to stress & anxiety (as I have always had periods of anxiety). The anxiety definitely gives me an upset stomach! However, in 2014, I found out I had food intolerances to dairy, yeast (which explained why bread gave me problems), eggs & Brazil nuts (which always made my throat sore & gave me tummy cramps). After cutting those foods out of my diet & gradually reintroducing them, I found I can tolerate foods containing eggs but all the others are no-no's as they still cause problems (bloating, wind, cramps, skin reactions). I did have a glass of fizzy apple juice the other week & that triggered off the muscle spasms in my gut as well (don't know why!). On the who!e, the IBS has calmed down since I cut those foods out of my diet (miss eating bread & cheese though!) X
-
Sparkle - I rarely eat out anymore for same reason. Every single time I am left with bloated stomach and trapped wind.
MadBloss - my friend spent years trying to get to the bottom of his GERD problems and in the end found out it was intolerances to alcohol, coffee, gluten and dairy.
Food intolerances are becoming more common. Of course when I had my children, new health guidelines came out about not weaning babies too soon and definitely not giving them wheat/gluten before six months old as they had found that IBS/Crohns etc were thought to have been caused by people having being weaned too early and given wheat too early or something (my memory is not what it was!).
-
10 mins. B4 a bleed I would have to dash to the loo with 'the runs' so obviously for me it was hormone related. I couldn't travel around that 'time of the month' >:( we had to plan our holidays appropriately.
Stress makes mine worse. So does waiting for Mum to phone on a Monday. (she's 89 and well). As does travelling on a Motorway. I immediately have to clench the buttocks :-\
-
Sparkle, I wear mostly jeggings that have an elasticated waist. My stomach has been bloated for days plus I've got my period today but I just got undressed and have a red mark from where my waistband was. I've put my comfy pj's on and now the wind is letting loose!
-
I just looked up something else on the forum and came across you again Sparkle where you were querying pink blood mixed with mucus at the start of your period I think it was last year? This is what mine is like today. I've also noticed the last two months I'm getting very bloated before and during my period. For a while now I have been getting very painful boobs (mainly the left one) around ovulation although didn't get it this month which was a relief.
-
I feel for you sparkle, must be very frustrating. Although I have awful period pain (which I rarely suffered from before peri), I certainly felt my PMT and anxiety lift when I came on today.
I have always had bad PMT but nowadays it feels like I have it all month!
How long have you been in peri? X
-
I HATED that bloating :sigh: but in hindsight, it was the start of IBS :-\.
-
This is an American site but does talk about the link between IBS and menstrual cycles http://www.aboutibs.org/site/signs-symptoms/gynecological-aspects
Taz x
Thanks for that Taz, sums me up to a tee! My IBS symptoms leapt into overdrive at puberty and my periods started just before my 11th birthday. I've had gynae and gastro issues since then so about 44 years. You'd think I'd be used to it all by now!
S x
That sounds similar to me Sparkle. Started periods at 10 and the tummy problem was already beginning. I'm 62 now.... but still not used to all of the bowel stuff!!
Taz x
-
There is always hope - it's just that it sometimes gets a little buried under everything else! ;D I think that anxiety and IBS go hand in hand but it's difficult to see which drives which. It's normal to feel anxious if your bowels are unpredictable but, then again, bowels get unpredictable when you are anxious. Chicken and egg!
Taz x
-
Hi Sparkle, I think it started late 2013 but started feeling odd Spring 2014 and went to Dr and he suggested menopause.
-
I wouldn't go as far as to call him understanding! He was very offhand. He also said I had arthritis and just told me to take ibupofren, and exercise. I have recently changed GP Surgery and now have a lovely female GP, so I'm hoping she is more understanding if I ever go to her with menopause problems.
-
Go before you have problems?