Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Wrensong]

Sparkle - the gastritis & IBS-C combo takes some juggling doesn't it?!  I do find sugar is the very worst thing, but it took an age to work this out.  Cocoa also doesn't help mine & during a flare obviously anything acidic like fruit juice or wine is a no-no & coffee doesn't help.  The worst I've been is when in Greece eating delicious food cooked/served with lots of olive oil & tomatoes day after day!  I love Greek food, but by the end of a holiday, was actually longing to get back to bland boiled veg to calm my tummy down. 
When I was first diagnosed after endoscopy, I worried about it terribly and tried really hard to work out what I needed to avoid to relieve symptoms.  Ranitidine helped me but not Omeprazole - it was years ago, but from what I remember, Ranitidine is a histamine blocker so this seemed to show that food intolerance was involved rather than over-production of acid (which I think Omeprazole reduces).  This could be rubbish btw, as my memory is also!  I haven't taken meds for gastritis for years now & mostly manage well without.  I think the HRT has somehow helped the gastritis (perhaps because I'm less stressed on it) but it may also be that the particular probiotics I take now help to keep inflammation down.

Babyjane - I sympathise - the IBS-C is the bane of my life - bloating from it puts pressure on a painful back problem that disrupts my sleep.   Unlike you, I can't tolerate Lactulose - the sugar in it seems to give me so much pain!  All bulking agents like Fybogel & osmotic laxatives like Movicol I find too bloating, but the thing that has worked best for me is Linaclotide - a prescription drug that increases peristalsis & draws fluid into the gut, but is somehow not as bloating as Movicol.  This might be worth a go if your GP will let you have a trial.

[Mbrown001]

Bl***dy nightmare trying to manage digestive issues.

We should all have a degree in stomach management. 

CLKD, Motillium is no longer available unfortunately.

The thing I lack is will power. I start off really well but I get sidetracked. I'm on Zantac just now. It seems to just keep it under control. On really bad days I take Lansoprazole. I think my IBS was triggered by over use of PPIs so I try not to use them more than I absolutely need to.
I've tried all sorts over the years.
At one point Hubby confiscated all my pills and threw most of them in the bin. In my attempt to sort things out I was taking loads of pills every day...most of them herbal. I was in a right mess to be honest. I've cut everything back and the only supplement I take is my pro biotic. I find them very helpful and notice a difference when I run out.

Onwards and upwards ladies.

Mrs Brown

[Wrensong]

Oh Sparkle, that is so much for you to deal with.  How horrible for you.  I agree that being bunged up lower down seems to aggravate heartburn/ gastritis, so anything we can do to improve this should help symptoms throughout the digestive tract (& the rest of the body for that matter).  I really hope the probiotics will help you, but wonder if you find that different types have different effects, as they seem to with me - some actually seem more bunging  which we really don't need! 

I find the subject of probiotics fascinating (saddoe that I am), especially with regard to mental health & think the field may have huge potential, with different probiotics & combinations of them possibly bringing all manner of targeted health improvements in the future.  Because of their supposed links to mental health & purported ability to alter immune reactions, I'm also cautious & vigilant with them, as it seems possible that there is also potential for harm, though I've not read many a bad word about them, except in relation to users who've had recent surgery, are severely immunocompromised or have pancreatitis.  As with all supplements, I think it's sensible to approach them with respect & cautious vigilance.

I also take GOS powder (galacto-oligo-saccharides) - which is supposed to promote growth of probiotics, but find that FOS (fructo . . .) is bad for gastritis, gut cramping & wind!  I had been taking the GOS for years before it was recently credited on a Michael Mosely programme as being helpful for sleep.  I really struggle with sleep so knew it wasn't helping mine, but swapped from taking it with breakfast to bedtime, as detailed on the programme & after a week or so thought there was a real improvement in my sleep.  Then last week, sleep went more or less back to how it was before, so I'm not sure now what to think!  Predictably, couldn't get the stuff for love nor money for a few weeks, as sleep-deprived, menopausal women everywhere were probably beating down shop doors to get at it   Breathed a sigh of relief when Boots had it back in today, so I won't run out now & can carry on with the bedtime experiment!

[Maryjane]

The best way to get prep and probiotics is theough food , bought ones are transient so in/ out don't last .....however things like fermented foods / garlic / leeks etc etc properly work on getting the good bacteria into guts and have FAR more bacteria in them , when we have trillions and trillions of bacteria , a few billion are a drop in the ocean ......food food food all the way , for a lasting effect.

[Wrensong]

Sparkle - sorry, my post was misleading!  I didn't run out of the GOS - was still taking it at bedtime during the week my sleep went back to poor  , but had been trying to buy more as was afraid it would be out of stock for months after the TV programme.  I want to carry on taking it at night it to give myself more time to decide whether it is effective for sleep as well as helping my gut.  I hope the Optibac Extra Strength help you.  I currently take their Every Day brand with a teaspoon of their BB12 "With Fibre" (though the fibre is FOS, which I'm iffy about) & their "For Women" now & again.   Have had several other brands over the years, some rather expensive!

Maryjane - I agree about probiotic rich fermented foods & PREbiotic containing foods such as onions, leeks, bananas.  I eat all of these in abundance, but as I need all the help I can get & was introduced to taking the capsules more than 3 decades ago by a microbiologist working in the field, I'm a sucker for marketing & need the hope of improvement from trying to do all I can to get better!

[CLKD]

There's a lot of how to get 'biotics' from foods in Dr Moseley's recent publication, sadly I can't eat onions - we do use lots of ginger and garlic and I occasionally eat leeks raw ......

I haven't done as well with my 'new' diet (started yesterday  ) ........

[CLKD]

I was out and about so fruit was at home and there were fatty foods for sale at the Event, we had taken something from our freezer but it didn't de-frost 

[CLKD]

I love a long walk with my DH who is carrying the packed lunch  - shall we meet; where and when?

[CLKD]

....... muttering away then  - often my School Reports stated "Must Try Harder" 

[Yorkshire Girl]

Sparkle I'm the same eating out always causes me to bloat, I do think it's down to portion size they seem to have got bigger over the years, I've been known to have just a starter, as I really hate to waste food!
CKLD I always got 'must try harder' on school report!
But a long walk with a packed lunch is also a favourite of mine

[Billie Blaster]

I'm with you, Stellajane -- can't abide poor quality fruit. Lots of talk about fruit consumption in the replies, but really, it's vegetables and leafy greens that should form the majority of our fresh foods. They are really the superstars, so I don't worry at all if I only have one piece of fruit a day, but I do if I'm not getting my greens. I had a week or two recently of eating pretty stodgy stuff in the main, and my complexion was not best pleased -- I got some huring great spots. Yikes. I also wonder if legumes count as vegetables. In my book they do.

And totally with those who talked about gut health. I have been brewing kombucha for about a year and a half now and drinking it daily. Wait a great health tonic that drink is, and homemade is so cheap.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I have been following a plant based diet for a while however it was difficult to feel satisfied on fruit and veg alone. I came across the work of Dr. John McDougall who says we should include starch based foods like potatoes and rice in our daily diet. I have been doing this for a few weeks and I am convinced it's helping me feel less hungry and better generally ( though that could be due to hormonal changes of course). There is plenty of information about Dr. McDougall on the internet should any of you be interested in what he has to say.

Wishing you all well.

K.

[Hurdity]

Well all very interesting!

We have come a very long way from the diet we have evolved to live on and there is so much processed food, fat and sugar around that it's no wonder that guts protest!!

I would be interested to have a look at the book mentioned - but I wonder how many digestive problems would be eliminated or minimised with a gradual return to a more natural and varied diet and without the need for medication and supplements? Has there been any work done on this?

I totally agree that eating out always upsets my guts - I usually end up waking in the night and downing a few indigestion tablets - ditto when I go on holiday and eat out a lot - this is because almost all restaurant meals seem to swim in fat or cream - even the vegetables (in my experience) unless you stick to salads. Alcohol has the same effect - but it (gut!) always settles down when I am back to my normal diet ( which sounds very much like yours Wrensong as I just skim read it - except for fewer carbs!). I am sure that excess of one foodstuff ( as a general term!) could also add to the problem. Those of you for example who say they can't eat baked beans, or peas etc - they are both "wind" inducing foods due to the compounds they contain - but I am sure we are better off eating a variety of veg for example every day. The meat and two veg idea has a lot to answer for. Most of our meals have lots of different types of veg but not a lot of one type.

Kathleen - I'll look him up when I have the time - because I had cut out most pure starchy carbs (when I'm at home) but then felt I should eat more grains so make sure I have muesli a few times a week as well as my fruit, yogurt and boiled eggs!!!

Hurdity x

[CLKD]

Hurdity - if you read Dr Moseley's most recent book about the gut you will see that there are indeed, people talking about and trying out various 'natural' diets with follow up research, in particular with fermented food stuffs.  I have yet to reach for the saukeraut [sp] .... we used to make our own fruit vinegars with excess raspberries or blackcurrants.  Poured over steam puddings instead of treacle tha understands 

Struggling today.

[Hurdity]

Yes I saw a TV programme when he was looking into this and he carried out an interesting (but not very scientific!) experiment about people trying different foods and I think their gut content ( brain really isn't working at the moment - or rather, memory!)? I don't have trouble with my gut (well of course it varies like everyone else's and I bloat or not and get cramps or not, am "regular" or not depending how often what and when I eat - or drink!) but am still interested.

Hurdity x