# Cant Stop Losing Weight-Recently Diagnosed



## wcriss (May 31, 2014)

I was recently diagnosed with IBS that was the result of stress brought on by severly toxic in-laws (a whole other support group!). My symptoms are pressure/pain upper stomach (worsens if I overeat/eat wrong foods), bloating, gas, burping and weight loss. My challenge right now is the weight loss and abdminal pain. Eating is tricky. Foods that I can tolerate one time are not tolerated well another. I am currently trying to manage my diet but at this pont feel as if I have a better chance of winning the Mega Millions. Any advice woud be very much appreciated.

To the college student who posted about annoying gas- Try over the counter Beano. My nutritionist (who left me even more confused) suggested it.

To payitforward from Canada- I tried lifting my left arm and bending it at the elbow (to stretch my left stomach area) and it did releive my gas there (after a few tries). Thanks for the advice!


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## samuel202 (May 30, 2014)

Hi wcriss.

My IBS is exactly the same as yours assuming you don't experience altered bowel movement (constipation or diarrhea) either. My main symptom is pain and the secondary ones are also gas and a bit of nausea at times. When i was diagnosed, i became extremely paranoid as to what i was eating and this led me to lose 14 lbs in a matter of months. I felt like i was going to be stuck like this forever but then i tried working out extensively for the first time in my life. Exercise has been the only significantly effective treatment i've found for pain-predominating ibs (called FAPS by some). There are days in which i don't experience any symptoms at all! Also, i gained 27 lbs and i realized i could eat the food i used to eat again without experiencing symptoms (except lactose products for some reason). I seriously recommend you to try working out in order to reduce your pain and gain some weight back.

Regards


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## kat_hy (Mar 25, 2014)

IBS just sucks doesn't it? I have IBS-D and it has also caused me to drop a few pounds. This is a big cause of concern for me as I was quite thin before and losing any additional weight starts putting me in the dangerously underweight zone. But I get so scared to eat anything as I'm afraid I'll need to use the restroom afterwards, and I'm too embarrassed to tell my friends or family what the problem is.







You should try some light exercise like yoga. I found it helped me a bit when i did it.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

If you lose weight because you don't eat much that is normal weight loss (it would happen if you ate that little even before you had IBS).

If you lose weight even when you add up the calories and you are eating more than enough to gain weight, then you need to go back to the doctor as they need to run some tests to find out which of the reasons you lose weight when you should be gaining weight is going on.

IBS is triggered by a lot of things and trying to control it by diet alone often is a lost cause, and just ends up making you sick when you eat only 3 foods or skip a lot of meals to try to avoid symptoms...especially since eating even a normal sized meal after a long fast can upset anyone's gut. Usually people eat too much at one time when they have avoided food for too long. Often smaller more frequent meals are easier on the system than starving all day long and trying to get all your calories in at one time.


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## kat_hy (Mar 25, 2014)

Kathleen M. said:


> If you lose weight because you don't eat much that is normal weight loss (it would happen if you ate that little even before you had IBS).
> 
> If you lose weight even when you add up the calories and you are eating more than enough to gain weight, then you need to go back to the doctor as they need to run some tests to find out which of the reasons you lose weight when you should be gaining weight is going on.
> 
> IBS is triggered by a lot of things and trying to control it by diet alone often is a lost cause, and just ends up making you sick when you eat only 3 foods or skip a lot of meals to try to avoid symptoms...especially since eating even a normal sized meal after a long fast can upset anyone's gut. Usually people eat too much at one time when they have avoided food for too long. Often smaller more frequent meals are easier on the system than starving all day long and trying to get all your calories in at one time.


Oh I totally agree. I did not mean I was losing weight from IBS directly but more as an indirect effect of the symptoms. I am working as a server now so I definitely cannot run to the bathroom all day. So I need to control my food intake so I do not have an episode while at work. This is causing issues with weight. Now my parents and friends think I am anorexic and I am just too embarrassed to tell them otherwise.


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