Noisy Abdomen (Page 30)

jen, I'm glad you know what I mean, I know sometimes we all have different symptoms, but considering how wierd this is, I'm glad I'm not crazy. Haha. The chest pain, yeah I haven't had it in a while. It feels somewhat like a bloated state, just completely all around. Like a dull ache, I don't know how to describe it. But, I'm so glad you were able to enjoy yourself for once! You're so right that we take some times like those for granted...

Coast, I get EXACTLY those same kinds of noises as well. Described perfectly. And I CAN tell a difference, HP, between digestive noises and these noises. Certainly.. that doctor that I went to had tried to tell me it was "normal" digestion noises. Ah.. I think not. Not at all. The popping sound is what I got in class the first week back.. but at least it was ONLY one class... I've been okay so far, but finding it so hard to stick to the diet. I know how you can feel with your g/f, I had a friend once who was like "oh my goooosh" when I was sitting by them in class one day.. it just.. it doesn't help. I am sad to hear you speak like you do. I know I've felt the same way.. but I have some sick sort of optimism behind this, I don't know why. It just doesn't seem like it should hold us all back so much (maybe that's denial?). But, keep trying, maybe it just takes longer than we'd like to get better.

HP - Fish ... that's the only thing I can repeatedly eat on this diet without getting bored. I'd love to get a recipe project together to get together for everyone on here. BUT, there's a lot of people with side ailments as well as whatever we have.. that can't tolerate some of the food, so it's hard to find INTERESTING food and recipes to share. Also, I get that strange hollow feeling too sometimes when I lie down.

Lesnoisy, do you have an idea why the immodium may be working better for you? I'm curious about it.

hello everyone,

sorry for not posting much in these past few days.

I am done with Paragone and I can say that I do feel a little better than before, but still not fully cured.

Also I try to exercise but going to the gym is so intimidating for me. I am a skinny person and no matter how hard I try, I dont put on weight, which eliminates my purpose of working out and trying to gain muscle.

Even though my GI did not advise me with anything about this problem, he did say a very interesting thing. He asked me if I had a thyroid problem. That is very strange to me because about 2 years ago when I lost a lot of weight and became skinny, I had a blood test performed and on the first try my regular doctor told me that my thyroid levels were high in the test and so I ended up going for a second blood test. Needless to say that everything became normal and my doctor was convinced that it was a mistake the first time and we all forgot about it.

I get fatigue, nervousness, have trouble sleeping at night and experience muscle weakness, so I think it is something serious. I think I have hyperthyroidism, where my thyroid is working overtime. This could account for the symptoms such as my drastic weight loss of 15 pounds and how I never seem to gain any weight. People think skinny is good, but try living through my life. A guy being skinny, not being able to gain any muscle regardless of working out since last summer and eating a lot of food is a stressful thing.

I have heard that hormone levels could impact the intestines as well, so maybe its an overactive thyroid gland that is causing the problem.

I feel so depressed at times, I have no social life left and I feel so sick at times, sick of everything around me.

I just wanted to also say that reading your posts everyone has encouraged me to stay positive, especially people like coheed, jen, growl gurl and others.

Right now I am off and have graduated from school so I have a semester off and I am just working part time. In August I will be going to Dental School and I have been trying all this time to find a cure but I have no overall cure for this troubling problem. I want to get rid of this thing before the onset of Dental School.

My family thinks its all in my head and my sister and her husband(who is not friendly at all) seem to laugh and get irritated when I mention I have a problem.

Its sad isn't it.

You all make me feel so much more comfortable than any other people in my horrid life. THANK YOU ALL.

sympathy...
its interesting you metioned the hormone thing, i know that i have some sort of hormone problem, and im convinced its wuite bad... someone suggested to me it could be thyroid... and ive ehard others mention a connection between hormone imbalance and digestive problems...
has anyone else heard of this or do any of you have symptoms of hormone imbalance?

One other thing I haven't mentioned is that I currently share a room at my university with a roommate. At night when I sleep, I get the popping sounds. This forces me to also stay up really late, as I have to make sure he goes to sleep first because I dread the thought of him being awake in the room with me while I'm sleeping and making weird noises.

Anyway, I talked about this a few posts ago, but during class I have seen good results from Tums Smoothies. They are over the counter acid indigestion tablets that are supposed to smooth out your digestion. I would highly recommend them, as I have had good success with them for the past couple of years.

Coheed, I know I sound quite depressing, but the truth is that, after a rough couple of high school years, my life was finally starting to get better, but then all of a sudden I start to get these sounds a few years ago. I still do retain some hope though...it's pretty obvious that there is something PHYSICALLY wrong with all of us, and it's not just some psychological issue. The fact that there is a physical ailment means that there is potentially a cure out there. I guess we can all just hope to find it sooner than later.

P.S. Coheed is one of my favorite bands of all time.

I used to and sometimes still do have annoying noises from my stomach and abdomen. I tried to cure it by eating more food between classes, although sometimes, my abdomen still made weird internal farts, which are long and embarrassing. At the moment though I am having my period, which makes the whole stomach noise thing waaay worse. Especially in dead silences with a group of people. When I'm alone I'm fine, or at least I don't worry about it so much. But I have a 1 1/2 hour long test tomorrow and am dreading it. My abdomen sometimes produces gas (making a noise) and I can't control it or even tell when it's going to happen. How do I avoid these noises!? It's very very embarrassing

Sympathy, I'm glad you found our forum. I can't imagine how I would have handled this without support, it's like a group of friends that understand the ONE thing in my life that I reall need to be understood. So, it's nice.. and amazing how much it helps I think, knowing we're not alone. The hormone thing IS interesting... I know that I have noticed on my own that I have been increasingly tired these past two years, needing much more sleep, not being able to keep up my energy as well ( I can feel it in my eyes ), and I'm not super skinny, but I used to eat McDonalds and just sugar sugar sugar.. but I don't gain weight. I've actually lost two pounds last month. And it is not anywhere near as drastic as you, but it's always been on the back of my mind, because skinny doesn't typically run in my family... worth looking into!

I can say though, I didn't get any noises last night in my class.. but I FELT like I might... and it felt terrible. I had that shallow breathing, and that feeling that my heart might hyperbeat itself to death.. ah.. I HATE that paranoid panicky feeling, I don't know why I had it but it was horrendous.

Coast - I live alone for that purpose haha. And when friends come over, I pull out the couch for them. I think these noises are my biggest deterrent to a relationship as well, that worry of not being able to be alone or in any kind of quiet situation (even movies, hanging out, anything), so I think it's still so great that you guys can get through that, you in relationships. I've felt the same way on family vacations and stuff (because like Sympathy, my family thinks it's all in my head, and one sister actually laughed at me over break.. I was so upset I walked out... it's not funny?) But - I did take some Maalox the other day.. I think Tums do work well, I just forget to take them! I'm glad you're feeling better, It's unfortunate that we all know how you feel.. I really wish this forum didn't have to exist .. BUT... with optimistic people like Jen, I think we can manage this until we find a solution.

Clearly we're not going to find much help outside of ourselves.

Haha, and your taste in music is fabulous. haha!

Oh, and Townie - what is your diet like? We don't have a quick fix, or we wouldn't be on here I hope your exam goes well though....

Im so glad im helping some of you a little bit. I think you're all amazing people and finding this site and all of you guys has been great for me. I was thinking about what you said coheed about the spine alignment thing-i looked it up quickley and there is a connection between spine malalignment and stomach complaints-maybe something to look into.

SS-i think you should definatley start harrasing your doctor until s/he listens. It sound like you could have a hormone problem or some other underlying complaint. There has to be a reason as to why yuo've lost so much weight.

I'm not super skinny, UK size 10 but my weight has been the same for years. It doesn't matter ow much i eat, i never gain weight and i also get really tired-i could sleep for Britain, honestly, if i didn't have to get up for work, i would naturally sleep for about 13 hours!!!

jen... i too dont ever seem to change weight.. i suffer from sever fatigue but im anemic so i out it down to that, although it could be from the digestive problems aswell... maybe we arnt absorbing enought nutrients?

Does anyone have inconsistent bowel movemtns? most of the time i am constipated and if i go to the loo its usually diahreah consistency ( very sorry to be so graphic)... and i never feel like ican empty my bowel fully
i just feel like my digestive system is shot and none of its working as it should

Hepwanted - All of that. An uneasy feeling overall that I just don't feel settled and sound. I will have a consistent diet, but nothing else will be consistent.

It seem fatigue is a common symptom that we all have.

And this could be off the wall, but I've read recently that (and this is just one angle) there could also be similar reactions to too LITTLE stomach acid. Which would result in incorrect digestion of the food, larger particles attempting to go through your system, a lack of nutrient absorption, and less defense against parasites and yeast.... It's opposite of what some of us have been finding .. but it's just a different angle we could also consider. I'm going to keep reading this book this weekend if I have some time, maybe I can get a bit more information on that.

....to throw a little more fuel into the "lumbar" fire...

I have scoliosis (although very moderate), a history of bad posture, AND a history of a herniated disc in the lower left section of my back.

Hi all, I've been reading this forum for a couple of weeks now and have read all the posts, I know its been said before but im delighted im not the only one with this mortifying problem! i'm a 23 year old girl in Ireland, in final year of college now so have to go to interviews which are made twice as bad by the noises! Lectures of course are awful as well.

I first started getting pains, bloating, troubles with digestion basically, when I was 19 and had just started college. I was living away from home and so was eating badly and drinking alcohol so this may be why the problem began, I don't know. But the noises didn't start until about two years ago. I find the noises a hundred times worse than bloating and cramps! I have since found ways to avoid bloating etc, most of the time at least. I try not to eat too much bread, never white bread, try not to eat late, don't drink very often, avoid spicy foods and eat small portions. Lots of water is good too. But I have found nothing which banishes the noises I'm afraid. The worst noise I think is the loud rumbling one which some of you have described, the one which seems to come from the lower colon. Also the popping air from the stomach is v bad.

I try to take the natural approach to tackling this as I don't want to rely on drugs.
Anyway, some tips that I think seem to work for me are the following:
When I have lectures in the morning or early afternoon I just eat fruit beforehand (esp bananas) and bring something small like a cereal bar into the lecture in case I get noises from hunger. If I have lectures later in the day I just eat soup or salad and fruit before it. And then I have a big meal in the evening but not too late as I said. I drink hot water with lemon and ginger in the morning before eating anything, its meant to prepare the stomach or something. I also drink peppermint tea and take peppermint capsules with meals. I take a multivitamin with probiotics-multibionta it's called. I also take tablets at night, they are called aloe vera colon cleanse ( I got this in holland and barrett) and they help regulate bowel movements. Oh and I take acidopholis and have just started the candida tablets after reading about it here (although I am not sticking to the candida diet at all at all cos I love sweet things too much!).

This problem really does affect my life, its so crazy that there is no cure for it or even recognition for it! I avoid going to friends and relations houses as much as possible unless I know its going to be noisy, the only person I feel properly comfortable around is my boyfriend cos he knows all about it! I did mention it to the nurse when I was at the doctor's recently but she didn't seem to understand, she asked me was I sure I wasn't just hungry?!

Anyway sorry for writing such a long post, again I'm really glad to have found this forum, it's been very helpful and I look forward to contributing in the future.

hey all.. the back thing is interesting.. and admitedly my posture isnt great...
but how would that explain the changes in diet and medication affecting our noises... surely only treating the back problem would help the noises? and some nights when i lay down the noises are a lot worse than others... surely if this was caused by a spinal problem it would always be the same? it is interesting though...

but im starting to lose hope.

coheed, i know how you feel... having to think about your stomach 24 hours a day is just not what life should be about. ive heard too little stomach acid mentioned before but i dont knowmuch about it.
i think this condition is so frustrating becasue we just dont know what it is. witgh other ilnesses you go to the doctor, get diagnosed and you can start treating it. but for us there is no answer, there are so many possiblitlies and we just have no way of knowing what we are suffering from... is there even a way to test stomach acid? or a realiable test for candida?
and becasue we dont have an official condition other people dont understand, if we had a diagnosis to tell our friends and family im sure they'd take it a lot more seriously than most peoples relatives seem to do.
weve got this thing, this horrible thing, that affects our lives just as much as many serious ilnesses do, yet we cant do anything about it and we cant get recognition for it. there must be so many people suffering from this same thing and no one had pinpointed it exaclty.

sorry to be cynical and everything, just feeling really fed up and like giving up after a bad night with 'the stomach'

HP, I agree that the research is disheartening... it just seems that all these symptoms fit into so many other illnesses. But.. i just FEEL like we should be able to figure this out.. and by 'we', I mean professionals. There are so many symptoms.. so many OBVIOUS physical feelings that aren't just a pain, but actual movements you can feel through your skin .. how is that so hard to figure out? For how many people are affected by this.. you'd think we'd have better solutions.. I know. My friends semi get it sometimes.. but a lot of them think its in my head.. so again, glad I found the forum. I feel like we should all commit ourselves to a research facility. Get paid for it.. haha. Get paid for our problem and promote a solution. But... I'm glad you're on here, it means you're doing something for yourself and trying. And really that's the best we can do, and that makes all difference in your character, HP.

This may be my naive mindset, but I find it so interesting that we have people in here from England, Ireland, etc. I just automatically had assumed this would be an American related problem because that's just where I am and we are KNOWN for unhealthy eating and being an Anitbiotic nation. Kat, I know several of us on here are all recently beginning, doing, or recently ending our college careers. I know for myself, I also cut down on my alcohol intake after this problem really started to kick off. Have you considered Paragone? I know we mention it a lot, but parasites are relatively expected even in normal people. But if we have an acid imbalance, that can promote parasites and yeast as well. So, both are good to clean out. Although I mentioned once before, one website recommended doing a systematic bowel cleanser BEFORE parasite or candida cleansers or else the refuse will just die and build up rather than actually leave your body. Just throwing that out there.. I actually was only able to keep up with it for about 3 weeks before I got bored. Ha.

2Cool, and Coast, I don't have a history of back problems, and my dad was always anal about our posture, so that's generally fine with me. But, I still do get nerve cramps in my lower left back, and I tend to stand with my back bent at the bottom, which when I lay down a lot straight on my back I can get a really extremely uncomfortable pressure, which is why I tend to lay on my side or stomach. My stomach noises were really bad this morning as I was waking up..

I don't understand this. I wonder if it would be useful to get all of our testaments over the life of this forum and categorize and chart it all and take it to an institute or a doctor who is interested in research and study? With all of us, with all of our problems, they HAVE to find something in here. It just doesn't make sense.

And one last question.. I know how much we all love our probiotics, (except for a few of you), does anybody have any idea if we can OVER DO them? I wonder if you can actually get a negative effect? I'm not certain, I just want to make sure I don't go overboard on the pros. Considering I'm still hoping to clean out my system of those antibiotics, I just don't want to be moving in reverse anymore....

coheed, i think compiling everything and taking it to someone is a really good idea.
Also ive never heard of too many probiotics, theyre good bacteria so i cant imagin you could possibly take to many of them... but i dont know, im just guessing...

The causes im still considering are canidida, hormone/thyroid problems or acid problems

and where are you guys getting your information about back/digestive problems? i couldnt find anything..