Monday, April 17, 2006
Gut Reaction
It has long been known for sure that the sight of tasty food makes a hungry man's mouth water; also lack of appetite has always been regarded as an undesirable phenomenon, from which one might conclude that appetite is essentially linked with the process of digestion.
--Ivan PavlovSaturday was, well...painful. I have no idea what was going on with my innards, but something was sorely (and do I mean SORE-ly) wrong. I can't think of anything I ate that was out of the ordinary. I took my usual amount of enzymes with my customary Saturday morning breakfast of Eggos and Instant Breakfast, but by 10:00 things were badly out of whack.
In the past I have had stomach issues associated with certain antibiotics or even steroids. About 2 years ago I underwent a series of abdominal exams, x-rays and various other sundry imaging tests to see why on earth I was bloating almost instantly upon eating even the smallest morsel of food. The gastoenterologist's conclusion was that I had something called "slow stomach". In other words, it takes me almost 3 times longer than normal to digest something. For someone who eats such large quantities as often as I do, this is unfortunate. Because of malabsorption, I won't feel full, and because of the slow stomach thing, I am full before I should be.
What I can't figure out is why I don't have the bloating problem all the time. In fact, it has been quite awhile since I've had a full-on "tummy ache" like I did when I was a kid (before we knew what foods I could eat).
Anywho, back to Saturday. After my usual breakfast, I was uncomfortably bloated. So much in fact that it took me an extraordinarily long time to find a shirt that would fit and not make me look like an expectant mother. Two hours later I was writhin uncomfortably in my seat, trying not to embarrass myself (i.e., break wind) in front of my favorite author. (More about him later.)
I had to excuse myself from the event early to go get groceries in anticipation of my in-laws coming over for dinner. Although I only need 4 items from the store, I used a cart just so I could have something to lean on. I was semi-hunched over, struggling against the pain as I pushed the cart up each aisle. I had broken out into a cold sweat and considered calling my husband to come pick me up because I was afraid I was going to pass out from the pain. Fortunatlely, I made it home (we're just a blocks from the store), but threw up in the bushes on the way into the house.
My gut was still wrenching. It was as though my digestive system couldn't decide which direction it needed to pass things. To be blunt--it passed things both ways. I vomitted for the better (or was it the worse) part of 2 hours. I had to cancel our dinner plans because I couldn't even stand. I took some ibuprofen hoping that the anti-inflamatory part of it would calm my gut. I also took some Simply Sleep to get my body to relax so I could rest.
Sunday I was still afraid to eat for awhile, which was unfortunate because we were invited to Easter Brunch to celebrate my grandma's birthday. I hate to pass up an all-you-can-eat event. We went, but my tummy was still quite crabby.
It's been 48 hours now and I'm still having issues of discomfort. Any of you CFers out there have similar experiences? I'd love to hear some possible remedies...at the very least, misery loves company.
In the past I have had stomach issues associated with certain antibiotics or even steroids. About 2 years ago I underwent a series of abdominal exams, x-rays and various other sundry imaging tests to see why on earth I was bloating almost instantly upon eating even the smallest morsel of food. The gastoenterologist's conclusion was that I had something called "slow stomach". In other words, it takes me almost 3 times longer than normal to digest something. For someone who eats such large quantities as often as I do, this is unfortunate. Because of malabsorption, I won't feel full, and because of the slow stomach thing, I am full before I should be.
What I can't figure out is why I don't have the bloating problem all the time. In fact, it has been quite awhile since I've had a full-on "tummy ache" like I did when I was a kid (before we knew what foods I could eat).
Anywho, back to Saturday. After my usual breakfast, I was uncomfortably bloated. So much in fact that it took me an extraordinarily long time to find a shirt that would fit and not make me look like an expectant mother. Two hours later I was writhin uncomfortably in my seat, trying not to embarrass myself (i.e., break wind) in front of my favorite author. (More about him later.)
I had to excuse myself from the event early to go get groceries in anticipation of my in-laws coming over for dinner. Although I only need 4 items from the store, I used a cart just so I could have something to lean on. I was semi-hunched over, struggling against the pain as I pushed the cart up each aisle. I had broken out into a cold sweat and considered calling my husband to come pick me up because I was afraid I was going to pass out from the pain. Fortunatlely, I made it home (we're just a blocks from the store), but threw up in the bushes on the way into the house.
My gut was still wrenching. It was as though my digestive system couldn't decide which direction it needed to pass things. To be blunt--it passed things both ways. I vomitted for the better (or was it the worse) part of 2 hours. I had to cancel our dinner plans because I couldn't even stand. I took some ibuprofen hoping that the anti-inflamatory part of it would calm my gut. I also took some Simply Sleep to get my body to relax so I could rest.
Sunday I was still afraid to eat for awhile, which was unfortunate because we were invited to Easter Brunch to celebrate my grandma's birthday. I hate to pass up an all-you-can-eat event. We went, but my tummy was still quite crabby.
It's been 48 hours now and I'm still having issues of discomfort. Any of you CFers out there have similar experiences? I'd love to hear some possible remedies...at the very least, misery loves company.
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Hey Lauren... I am in the same boat as you. I nevr bloated until after having Levi. I used to have a flat tummy now it gets bloated soooo easy! It's always in and out (mostly out.) I asked my nutritionist and she just told me to take my enzymes (of course.) So I have absolutely no tips for you cause I am trying to figure it out also.
I don't think this is an answer to your question, but because of all of the meds I'm on I have to take the prescription version of prilosec. Apparently the six or seven different meds I'm on cause a bad situation in my stomach when they get together. When I first started taking these I had heartburn and real bad stomach aches. Strangely enough the answer to these maladies was another pill -- the prilosec. Maybe something to ask the doc about...?
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