# Eating disorder, anxiety, and UNCONTROLABLE gas



## tzaros (Aug 20, 2017)

Here I go:

When I was 12 and a half I lost a lot of weight and then gained it when my doctor told me I was underweight. Then a few months later when I was 13 I started having IBS symptoms. I had major abdominal pain, constipation, bloating, and tons of smelly, loud gas. Then I was put on the FODMAP diet and I was on it for two years. The FODMAP diet helped relieve IBS symptoms, but was very limiting so made it hard for me (physically and emotionally) to gain weight and so I remained underweight. I am seventeen right now and since I was 12 and half untill I was about 15 I have been fluctuating majorly in weight. My pediatrician was not sure why I kept losing weight and so we conjectured together that it was probably IBS that made it hard for me to maintain weight. So then I just tried to push myself to eat a lot even while on the FODMAP diet but I kept on losing the weight I gained. Finally, I was actually diagnosed with an eating when I was 15 and a half and that was when I slowly went off the FODMAP diet due to my dietician's advice. All the IBS symptoms left when I became weight restored except for the bloating and horrible gas (yay!) The reason the other IBS symptoms left is because I had gained weight. When I was underweight my digestive system slowed down a lot and caused me a lot of physical pain. Anyways, now I live with this horrible, smelly, loud gas that causes me tremendous social anxiety. I am on an antidepressant/medication for anxiety called imipramine and my pediatrician thinks this could be contributing the gas problem. However, my therapist thinks that 70% of my gas problem is caused by my anxiety. I try to do activities that relieve anxiety like meditation, progressive muscular relaxation, and breathing, ect, but I still pass gas a lot. Also, I eliminated lactose and soy because I feel gassy whenever I eat them. I also eliminated all raw fruits and veggies because my dietician said they could make me gassy from their fiber. Anyways, this is pretty limiting and doesn't make life recovering from an eating disorder easy at all. And despite the foods I eliminated I still pass gas a TON. I start school on Wednesday and I'm freaking out about having to pass gas a ton in school. I usually hold it in in school and therefore I am in tremendous pain when I am around people. PLEASE help me. This gas is messing up my life and causing me endless distress.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

have you been tested for SIBO--small intestine bacterial overgrowth. one of the symptoms of symptoms of sibo is lots of gas.

http://www.siboinfo.com/


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## minimalizer (Jun 8, 2014)

Hi, Are you taking probiotics? Bifidobacterium("B") as in "B." Bifidus and others beginning with the initialled "B," are especially important in the colon, built up slowly as can handle. How often are you having bowel movements for sure, and how much water are you drinking, at most 10C/day? A non-gassy fiber supplement is methylcellulose and is soluble (easily taken in generic "caplet" form, 2 with at least a cup of water before meals). Osmotic laxatives like Miralax weaken the colon;Many Doctors don't tell people that fiber is good for building muscular strength to push food through;Fiber (and in food) gives the colon something to push against. Best to you.


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## tzaros (Aug 20, 2017)

thank you so much for replying to my post. I truly appreciate your support.

annie7, how would you treat sibo?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

this link explains the different treatments for sibo. put your cursor on "treatment". a drop down box will appear and then click on the different treatments listed in the box.

http://www.siboinfo.com/treatment.html

in my case, my gastro doc prescribed rifaximin but my insurance company refused to cover it and i could not afford to pay out of pocket for it so he then prescribed augmentin. that knocked it out.


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## Barney71 (Aug 1, 2017)

Yeah, you cannot rule the SIBO out, it's actually very likely. Did you try getting on a "balanced" diet though? Did you try which products suit you more and which don't? I found it actually a key to my problems after various consultations with doctors about my eating disorder. I found that I have to avoid dairy and focus on meat, eggs and low IG carbohydrates to make it better. Of course some junk food from time to time or an yoghurt won't be a big deal, but paying attention to your diet seems to be crucial in most cases. Also drinking a lot of water, avoiding stress caffeine, not smoking or drinking alcohol makes a huge difference as well. Good luck, I wish you well.


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