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[Afternoontea]

I’ve had IBS since I was 26 and over the years I had good and bad weeks with it but it was never daily.
However, since hitting my mid 40’s (I am now 48) my digestive systems gives me grief virtually every day. I have regular bloating, a very noisy gut with gurgling and growling, I get acid, I suffer awful, awful nausea, burping non stop sometimes (today I burped on/off from 8am-2pm), alternative between constipation and looser and lots of farting in the evenings. I feel,like a huge bag of grumbling gas.
In 2019 I had a gastroscope, a colonoscopy, an ultra sound and ct scan, nothing found other than uterine polyps which I have had for 5 years and a small ovarian cyst which I have scanned every 3-4 months.
I have tried everything I can think of to tackle it, lots of meds which haven’t helped, I am on the low fodmap diet, dairy free, gluten free, no fizzy drinks, no alcohol, no tea or coffee, very little fatty food (basically no life atm!). I listen to gut directed hypnotherapy.
The doctors and gastroenterologists are no help at all. Say it’s ‘just’ IBS and leave me to it.
It’s the absolute worst of all the symptoms I have. If my digestive symptom was calm I could put up with the excessive anxiety, the restless nights, the low libido (although my husband may disagree lol), the achy muscles and joints, the tinnitus, the tiredness and general craziness but I can’t tolerate these daily digestive woes.
Anyone else out there suffering too? Is it a peri thing? No medical person has said it is but I don’t know what else other than my up and down hormones could be causing this?

[Michelle7474]

Hi AfternoonTea

I suffered bad with my stomach , but they said it was my aniexty that I was suffering that caused it.

I would be bloated , gas ,burping , acid and felt like was rising , loose stools , normal stools , diarrhoea
Burning ribs .. nausea
I lost weight because of no appetite because of the pain and nausea
But all was ok and they put it down to my aniexty
I take omperzole 20mg daily which helps somewhat but also my aniexty as not been so intense either.

It’s deffo to do with hormones as I had never suffered aniexty until my hormones decided they would like too & on top of that was aches pains , palpitations, dry skin , no sleep , hot flashes

I would however take the pain from Tummy  rather than the aniexty lol was so bad tht was for me.

Are you on HRT ??

[CLKD]

Yep.  I've been to the loo twice 2day and prior and after this evening opening, I have felt windy and queasy  .  I HATE it.  I've always had a 'weak' digestive system 

Some ladies can't tolerate alcohol as well as some food stuffs what were enjoyed.  MayB keep a mood/food/symptom diary  ?   which may be useful.

Milk of Magnesia or 'Rennies' might help?

Do make a note of your overall diet for 3 days/nights as well as what you drink.  Some drinks may cause windiness!  There is no 'just' or 'only' issues in this world.  I try not to use either ........... (my Mum told others that "She is only a secretary, you'd think she was a surgeon the way she talks".  She never bothered to find out the position that I actually held!)

How are your bowels?  I have slow transit - most days the bowels open mid-morning ; other days they feel as though they want to open but nothing happens 'cos as soon as I sit, everything is relaxed.  Worse if I am going somewhere !!! 

You may not be eating enough  !!!!!!  which will leave a gap in the digestive system = wind.

[CLKD]

Also - if I get wind/hold up feelings below my belly button I start to feel very sick.  What's that about     

[Afternoontea]

I’m not on HRT atm.
I have kept a food dairy for 5 years and just can not see a connection. I follow the low fodmap diet but it’s not helping at all. I can only put it down to hormones as I just don’t know what could be causing these daily issues.

[Michelle7474]

Hi again

It would more than likely be hormone related as I’ve read a few suffering with this

I was on HRT when I experienced it , but again the GP always put it down to aniexty which was very bad at this point.

Some women on here said drink hot lemon water .. she said she used tablets & didn’t help and then before each meal she would have lemon water and it helped
Not sure if that’s worth a try.

Sorry I can’t help much.. but I would put money on it that’s it’s all to do with hormones

I didn’t know half the stuff peri menopause was gonna cause .. I was expecting few hot flushes and no period

Shock to system all these added extras

Xxx

[Afternoontea]

Thank you. I must admit that I have awful anxiety and have had for about 4 years, which is a bit of a vicious cycle, I think that’s another peri symptoms for me but it probably exacerbates my tummy issues. I must admit, stupidly, I too had no idea just how much perimenopause affects us. It’s not a fun journey x

[Michelle7474]

Hi afternoon

I agree it’s a awful journey

Aniexty could be making your symptoms worse .. do you take anything for it ??
Mine only started this year and , I don’t take anything for it but I’m trying to deal with it better & hoping it stays not so intense and daily

Do you still have regular periods ?
Strange how our bodies change & make us feel like this .. when it should just be a natural thing as it’s part of us
Some people are lucky and feel nothing , others like me just seem to get things Willy Nilly
I’m trying CBT to help with aniexty & also being off the HRT now I’m hoping my hormones become more levelled off

Hope you find something for the relief .. the nausea and dry heaving was worse for me , I still wake up somethings and dry heave ..

Let us know how you get on and remember to rant on here anytime you want someone is always reading and some ladies have more knowledge than GPs

Xxx

[Lyncola]

Never had stomach problems until menopause, that I have IBS. I burp about 100 times day. And had loose bowels all this year 
The low fod diet did help me, but I know it only helps about 70% of people. I’ve heard the Amitriptyline is very good for IBS, maybe  something you can talk to your doctor about?

[JoannFran]

Hi there

I've always had tummy problems.  IBS symptoms since my teens and indigestion, acid reflux, burning, burping, farting, stabbing pains in stomach and back, pain around my belly button, nausea etc etc.  I've had a camera down and been diagnosed with a small hernia.  My symptoms got MUCH MUCH worse over the past 18 months so definitely due to hormones I believe.

Do you take a probiotic?  Or Kefir?  Or something like that?  I take a probiotic everyday and also try to include lots of gut friendly food into my diet.  I've also just started taking a digestive enzime, too early to tell if it's made a difference but I'm hopeful.  The probiotics definitely help.  Gaviscon also helps if I'm really acidy.

I also think that the anxiety contributes to it massively.  Mine is sometimes a catch 22 situation, I'll start being anxious because of the pains and then this exacerbates it. 

Sorry no real help, just wanted you to know that I'm the same.  I'm trying to learn to live with it 

xxxxx

[JoannFran]

Also meant to add that when my blood sugar is low, I get shaky and feel very sick and get that horrible gnawing empty feeling.  I try to eat little and often and not to have too much sugar so that it doesn't spike and drop.

xxx

[Otter15]

I was the same as you. Started at 47 and ended up on 80mg of esomeprazole and 300 ranitidine a day (which didn’t actually help much) just so I could function. I had a cough, lots of mucus and horrible nausea plus ibs symptoms but that was inconclusive. Mine turned out to be an allergy to milk I’d suddenly developed, discovered by keeping a food diary. I think it was hormone related because that was my peri time too. I was post menopausal by 55 and by 57 had stopped taking any medication after gradually reducing it.
I’m now 61 and fine. I can even eat chocolate occasionally. It did settle down so don’t lose hope.
I don’t know if you’ve tried it but I have flaxseed every day. I started using it for the oestrogen angle as I have bad v a. It didn’t actually help with that but I did notice a change in my stomach. Later I read an article that said it’s used to heal stomach ulcers and inflammation. The ‘journey’ through all this is horrible but at least we can find support on here now. I always wonder what my poor Nan’s generation did. 😫

[Dorothy Gale]

I’ve had IBS since I was 26 and over the years I had good and bad weeks with it but it was never daily.
However, since hitting my mid 40’s (I am now 48) my digestive systems gives me grief virtually every day. I have regular bloating, a very noisy gut with gurgling and growling, I get acid, I suffer awful, awful nausea, burping non stop sometimes (today I burped on/off from 8am-2pm), alternative between constipation and looser and lots of farting in the evenings. I feel,like a huge bag of grumbling gas.
In 2019 I had a gastroscope, a colonoscopy, an ultra sound and ct scan, nothing found other than uterine polyps which I have had for 5 years and a small ovarian cyst which I have scanned every 3-4 months.
I have tried everything I can think of to tackle it, lots of meds which haven’t helped, I am on the low fodmap diet, dairy free, gluten free, no fizzy drinks, no alcohol, no tea or coffee, very little fatty food (basically no life atm!). I listen to gut directed hypnotherapy.
The doctors and gastroenterologists are no help at all. Say it’s ‘just’ IBS and leave me to it.
It’s the absolute worst of all the symptoms I have. If my digestive symptom was calm I could put up with the excessive anxiety, the restless nights, the low libido (although my husband may disagree lol), the achy muscles and joints, the tinnitus, the tiredness and general craziness but I can’t tolerate these daily digestive woes.
Anyone else out there suffering too? Is it a peri thing? No medical person has said it is but I don’t know what else other than my up and down hormones could be causing this?

Hi

I've just joined this forum. Hello! I suffer from M.E and I'm 48 and definitely in the perimenopause of which I have at least 40 new symptoms. My main issue though is digestive problems that have got so bad now I'm barely eating. I feel sure it's hormonal as all tests done are normal and from what I've been reading/researching, so many women suffer from digestive issues where before never had a problem or only had mild IBS.

Mine started last September when I had a bout of vomiting and dioreah. Thought maybe gastroenteritis but I think possibly the start of a perimenopausal. Having a very sensitive intolerant stomach it always takes weeks for my stomach to settle barely eating until tummy is OK.....then it happened again! Back to square one, barely eating due to bloating and feeling sick.......then at Christmas I needed antibiotics which was the last straw for my tummy....I've gone downhill since.

Since then I've tried to resume eating gradually but it's like my stomach absolutely hates everything I eat. I'm only eating bland, then feel I can manage a bit more....then stomach gets really bad and noisy at the point I'm existing on fruit and gluten free toast.

Meals and normal eating are a thing of the past. I feel nauseous 24/7, cant even think of food or even smell it without feeling sick, stomach upset and bloated all the time which gets lots worse if I eat. I feel full after only a few mouthfuls and feel absolutely awful. Loose stools or constipation, violent dioreah at times....

But I'm so distressed. I love food. I love cooking. My lovely man and I love going out for meals and my parter loves cooking too and eating together...now he eats and cooks alone  I just have a bit of toast then have cramps and bloating and horrific gurgling and churning and discomfort all night. Burping, wind, like a feeling of food stuck in chest, awake all night feeling awful with my stomach then the next day comes and I'm at my wits end what to eat today with misery all day.

Partner has to go food shopping now as I'm so upset I can no longer ear normally. Its all consuming. I literally don't know what the hell to eat because I have zero appetite and ANYTHING makes my stomach worse 

I'm so upset with it. My tummy is sooo sensitive and always has been. I suffer from crippling anxiety which has got much worse in my late 40s and despite all my miserable perimenopause symptoms, I always thought 'at least I can enjoy food'......but since September even that joy has gone.

Please someone say this will improve? How can you have a good life when you cannot eat. Life is about food, going out for lunch, meals, picnics, 3 meals a day.....I'm so worried and losing weight.

I've got some probiotics to take but I'm so intolerant to meds and supplements due to my M.E. and sensitivities, I'm scared they will make it worse.

My partner is really concerned and it's so upsetting that I'm not eating properly or barely at all and keeps saying ' you can't go on like this'. But I've done everything I can. Spoke to gp 6 times, had all the tests....

I'm scared.

I've been through times before when I've had a bad stomach from food poisoning or a bad medicine reaction and it's taken ages and ages to eat again....but this time it's 10 x worse. Never had the burping and all the other digestive stuff...I'm literally scared to eat.

Sorry for the long post. Thank you for reading. Xx

[CLKD]

Upset gut is awful.  Has your GP referred U to a gastro-bod at your Hospital?  What tests has your GP asked for?

Yep peri-menopause can cause gut problems.  As oestrogen levels drop then muscles may become lax = hiatus hernia, aches and pains in the all the joints.  Oh the Joys.  Not 

I have a fear of food so when my stomach 'turns' I stop eating immediately.  I rely on safe foods: little and often.  I have to eat B4 my body requires an energy boost to avoid that nausea.  Dried fruits and nuts; toast; rice pudding from a can; Dextrose tablets; honey can sooth the gut lining but OH when queasy, no way  .  Years++ ago I tried complan  . 

When I was taking 'taxmoxifen' my sense of smell heightened.  This is true of some people with long-covid, have you been infected?  4 me the drug caused problems with any food stuffs - DH had baked a Dundee cake: it was in a sealed tin, in a cupboard with the door shut.  When I walked by the cupboard I could smell each ingredient individually, down to the 2 spoonfuls of water that he had added to the mix.  If he bought raw meat, I couldn't be downstairs even B4 he cooked it.  I don't need to go on, you get the picture: I don't want to make you feel worse!

[CLKD]

Bland is fine!  What ever you can tolerate, little and often as well as keeping hydrated.  It's about lining the gut from top to bottom.  DH used to tell me that the queasiness was due to the stomach being hungry ...... which is probably true  .

Make a list of what you eat and when.  Also what you drink.  Has your GP referred you to a dietician?

Creak crackers - predictive text 
Ginger is a very good soother for the stomach - DH puts a lot in our evening meal.  I have eaten biscuits and some shred fresh ginger into hot water to drink.  A step too far?
Sip bottled water often or boil and cool water.  Nothing acidic. 


I used to make a very watery 'porridge' can't remember the name of the product but it made us glow.  Apparently  .  I can't bear anything thick if that makes sense  (readyBrek)

Which probiotics?  I found 'actimel' useful for years.  It helped my bowels if nowt else  . 

I think that your GP should refer you to a gastroenterologist.  Food poisoning can alter the character of the digestive tract and appropriate treatment should make a difference.  You could also contact BEAT which is an eating disorders group, based I think in Norwich for advice.  Disorders cover a multitude of problems.  ;-).