# gas but constipated?



## iridemyown (May 22, 2009)

Can someone explain to me how someone with IBS-C can be gassy but still be constipated. Last Friday, I got worried about no bm, so I ate a fiber bar. All that night I was gassy, but did not have a good solid bm. To me it would seem that if you are gassy, your intestine is moving along, but there is just nothing in it to excrete. Is this idea of the physiology wrong?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Gas moves separately from stool.If you eat something that makes gas the normal time to fart most of the gas out is when the food first hits the colon (a few hours later) not 1-3 days later when the stool that gas comes from gets to the end.The gas can move more easily and you are routinely moving things along, not just when you have a BM. The colon is active all the time. More when you are awake than when you are asleep, and the amount it is active during the day varies, so more after meals or right when you get up in the morning than in between meals.


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