# How to reduce flatulence caused by psyllium



## Cporosus1 (Jan 23, 2016)

Hello everyone,

Psyllium seems to be both annoying and vital for me. On one hand it is the only fiber supplement that has made my bowel movements clean and require little wiping. On the other hand, it gives me horrible flatulence. It doesn't cause bloating, just a constantly feeling of "knocking" on the backdoor. It's very uncomfortable to be walking around all day feeling like I'm literally constantly holding in a fart (it's even MORE uncomfortable since I have scar tissue along my anus and squeezing the anus to keep farts does not feel good and causes anxiety for me). Worse yet, the farts are not satisfying and large...they are little "squeaks" and they almost feel like there might be something behind them, but ultimately its just a fart (not a bowel movement). By constantly i mean literally I fart and two seconds later I have to fart again. It only subsides when I lie down or stop moving. Any suggestions? I have had literally every medical test under the sun and everything has come back normal. I have 2-4 normal looking bowel movements per day (depending on whether I'm bulking for weight lifting or not).


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## joeyr2 (Jul 14, 2013)

Cporosus1 said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> Psyllium seems to be both annoying and vital for me. On one hand it is the only fiber supplement that has made my bowel movements clean and require little wiping. On the other hand, it gives me horrible flatulence. It doesn't cause bloating, just a constantly feeling of "knocking" on the backdoor. It's very uncomfortable to be walking around all day feeling like I'm literally constantly holding in a fart (it's even MORE uncomfortable since I have scar tissue along my anus and squeezing the anus to keep farts does not feel good and causes anxiety for me). Worse yet, the farts are not satisfying and large...they are little "squeaks" and they almost feel like there might be something behind them, but ultimately its just a fart (not a bowel movement). By constantly i mean literally I fart and two seconds later I have to fart again. It only subsides when I lie down or stop moving. Any suggestions? I have had literally every medical test under the sun and everything has come back normal. I have 2-4 normal looking bowel movements per day (depending on whether I'm bulking for weight lifting or not).


I've had pretty similar issues with fiber supplements. I couldn't figure out a way to help with the gas despite trying and trying and trying. All of the OTC meds were completely worthless for me and my GI told me there were no scripts that could help with it. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.


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## Akn1965 (Jan 13, 2017)

Any OTC medicine I have taken causes me dizziness. Fibre supplement did me no good.

Thanks.


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## Helena (Apr 13, 2017)

Hi, is psyllium being taken for constipation? Are there other foods which can be taken to help instead of the psyllium? Just wondering if you can give more background about what foods you are eating?


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## Cporosus1 (Jan 23, 2016)

Hi Helena,

No it is not taken for constipation, I take it to make my bowel movements cleaner. Without psyllium my bowel movements often take dozens of wipes and usually leave "skid marks" in my boxers. Psyllium clears all of that up. I also occasionally will have hard bowel movements if I don't take psyllium, but these hard bowel movements will be twice per day...so I don't think that would be traditional constipation, correct? I typically have 2-4 bowel movements per day regardless, psyllium just makes them cleaner.


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## Helena (Apr 13, 2017)

Are you on any special diet? What do you eat?


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## Cporosus1 (Jan 23, 2016)

Lately I've had a diet that is moderate in fiber. I usually eat big meals only at breakfast and dinner and lighter food for lunch (mostly to keep a bowel movement from occurring). I stress a lot over my bowel movement frequency, so I try to control it to keep it to only 2 per day. For breakfast I typically have two hard boiled eggs and oatmeal and then for dinner typically plain grilled chicken with brown rice and green beans. For lunch it's typically two cups of sheeps milk yogurt (naturally low in sugar).

In addition to the flatulence, my issue is bowel movement frequency and quality. I only get explosive diarrhea maybe once or twice per year, but I do get slightly mushy bowel movements a couple of times per week (usually the morning after I eat a whole red delicious apple or kale). Soluble fibers seem to do fine with me...I will still poop 2-4 times but they will be normal looking. It's insoluble fibers like apple skins and kale that seem to cause me to get mushy poop.

What could cause this? I've had a colonoscopy with biopsies, a flex dog, two different IBD blood tests, and two different fecal matter exams. So they know it's not Crohn's or anything inflammatory related.


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## Cporosus1 (Jan 23, 2016)

Flex sig*


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