# Apple Cider Vinegar Causes Tickling Feeling in Colon?



## NeonScribe (Apr 25, 2011)

Hi there. I’m hoping somebody out there can help me. For the past month, I’ve been having the worst IBS symptoms of my life. Mainly, I’ve been having this severe tickling in the pit of my stomach that keeps me awake at night. It’s not painful, but it’s extremely irritating, and when it happens my body feels hyperactive, like I have Restless Leg Syndrome and I can’t sit still. Sometimes I can relieve the tickling with a bowel movement, but most often there’s nothing I can do but lie awake all night in misery. A little background: I’m a 28-year-old male who’s had IBS my whole life. I’ve usually suffered from constipation and chronic bloating that left me tired and unable to take a full breath. I had a colonoscopy, endoscopy and an upper GI, and all came out normal.About a month ago, someone suggested I take apple cider vinegar to help with my bloating and constipation. I did, taking about a teaspoon or two a day in an 8-ounce glass of water. Through the course of a week, I started having more thorough bowel movements, and my bloating virtually disappeared. My bowel movements used to be hard and sticky, but now they're always the consistency of soft ice cream, no matter what I eat. But now I have a new set of symptoms that are even more debilitating. For one, I rarely sleep because of this constant tickling in my stomach. When the tickling is at its worst, it feels like nervous butterflies. I also feel hyperactive and nervous, even though I don’t have anxiety. Very rarely does my stomach completely settle down, and when it does, I feel normal again … and I sleep like a baby.I haven’t had GERD symptoms or acid reflux. Sometimes, though, I have severe belching, which seems to come from the pit of my stomach.I wonder if the apple cider vinegar irritated my colon, or if it flushed out toxins that I’ve had for years? Ironically, in some ways I feel better than I have for the past five years. My stomach is flat, and I have no more bloating. I can eat more without feeling winded and in pain.Has anyone experienced symptoms like these? I’m seeing a GI doctor later this week, but I’m afraid they’ll just write it off as anxiety or nerves, because my symptoms are all over the map. Whatever this is is real, and to be honest, I’d give anything to be bloated and in pain again, as long as I didn’t feel like this.


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## tjo (Apr 27, 2011)

NeonScribe said:


> Hi there. I'm hoping somebody out there can help me. For the past month, I've been having the worst IBS symptoms of my life. Mainly, I've been having this severe tickling in the pit of my stomach that keeps me awake at night. It's not painful, but it's extremely irritating, and when it happens my body feels hyperactive, like I have Restless Leg Syndrome and I can't sit still. Sometimes I can relieve the tickling with a bowel movement, but most often there's nothing I can do but lie awake all night in misery. A little background: I'm a 28-year-old male who's had IBS my whole life. I've usually suffered from constipation and chronic bloating that left me tired and unable to take a full breath. I had a colonoscopy, endoscopy and an upper GI, and all came out normal.About a month ago, someone suggested I take apple cider vinegar to help with my bloating and constipation. I did, taking about a teaspoon or two a day in an 8-ounce glass of water. Through the course of a week, I started having more thorough bowel movements, and my bloating virtually disappeared. My bowel movements used to be hard and sticky, but now they're always the consistency of soft ice cream, no matter what I eat. But now I have a new set of symptoms that are even more debilitating. For one, I rarely sleep because of this constant tickling in my stomach. When the tickling is at its worst, it feels like nervous butterflies. I also feel hyperactive and nervous, even though I don't have anxiety. Very rarely does my stomach completely settle down, and when it does, I feel normal again &#8230; and I sleep like a baby.I haven't had GERD symptoms or acid reflux. Sometimes, though, I have severe belching, which seems to come from the pit of my stomach.I wonder if the apple cider vinegar irritated my colon, or if it flushed out toxins that I've had for years? Ironically, in some ways I feel better than I have for the past five years. My stomach is flat, and I have no more bloating. I can eat more without feeling winded and in pain.Has anyone experienced symptoms like these? I'm seeing a GI doctor later this week, but I'm afraid they'll just write it off as anxiety or nerves, because my symptoms are all over the map. Whatever this is is real, and to be honest, I'd give anything to be bloated and in pain again, as long as I didn't feel like this.


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## tjo (Apr 27, 2011)

Dear Neonscribe,I don't know if I can help you but wanted to share that after decades of same type IBS as you am also getting this distressing lower digestive tract tickling. Relief upon bowel movement and then starts up again. Very distressing. Causes agitation. After 2 weeks has gotten better as am taking grapefruit seed extract drops and probiotic. Could it be some kind of bug compounded by pre-existing IBS? Please get back to me after your drs. visit or anytime. I'm not going to be able to make it to Dr. for a couple weeks and by then I very much hope this will have passed.Sincerely,TJO


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## NeonScribe (Apr 25, 2011)

Thank you very much for your comment. I'm sorry to hear you're suffering from the same symptoms. They're definitely not fun.I saw my GI, and he said that because they ruled out anything dangerous (i.e. cancer), he says it sounds to him like an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine, which makes sense. I was bloated and in pain for five years, and drinking the apple cider vinegar started flushing some of that stuff out.I'm going to continue drinking the ACV, as well as take garlic supplements to ward off the overgrowth. Oddly enough, since I started taking garlic, I've been bloated and constipated again like I used to be, but I'm hoping it's only tempoary. Maybe it's bacterial die-off?The ticklish feeling has subsided somewhat; the GI said it was probably colonic spasams. Garlic is a natural antispasmodic, I learned, so that's another reason I've been taking it, in addition to its antimicrobial properties.I hope that with time, I can eventually get rid of this stuff. I'm already feeling a little better, which makes me optimistic. Best of luck to you, and thanks!


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