# I have gas - Lots of gas!



## SweetLilSadness (Jul 9, 2015)

Hee hee....not to make light of this, but every time I think of this I'm reminded of Flo, the Motorama car in "Cars" making the same announcement (meaning, she sells gasoline to the other Cars in town....I'm sorry; it's one of my favorite Disney/Pixar movies.







)

Warning, bit graphic ahead.....

Anyway, Something I've noticed is that a lot of the time, bubbles of gas seem to be "caught" in the area where my #2 comes out, but the thing is, I can't tell if it's going to be gas or a BM until I actually sit down on the toilet and go. I tend to get gas after I have dinner in the evening, and I've started taking 2 Gas X tablets for it afterward. After dinner this evening, my lower back/upper buttocks was aching, but after the Gas X started to kick in, I felt better. I have more or less the same amount of flatulence that I had pre - Gas X, but otherwise, it seems to be working okay so far.

Does anyone else experience this?

ETA: Also, since I do produce a lot of flatulence without stool, does that mean that I don't have as much stool to pass as I feel like I do?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

yes, you're right-- if you have gas without stool, the pressure from the gas can make it feel like you have more stool in there than you actually have.

that's good gas x is helping. beano can help, too. you take one or two tablets right before (not after) you eat a food that gives you gas and it can reduce the amount of gas that you would normally get from that food.

also--don't know if you've tried this but following the low FODMAP diet can help reduce gas, too, if the gas you are experiencing is caused by food. we have lots of information here on the board about the low FODMAP diet and there is a lot of info online about it --monash university has a phone app.

here is a low FODMAP chart that i like but i know there are more current ones out there (and monash's phone app). maybe someone will post one.

https://stanfordhealthcare.org/content/dam/SHC/for-patients-component/programs-services/clinical-nutrition-services/docs/pdf-lowfodmapdiet.pdf

about the FODMAP diet--i've been eating low fodmap for quite a number of years. in my experience, a low fodmap diet does reduce bloating and gas but it does not help with constipation.. a lot of fodmaps have compounds in them that in addition to being gassy also tend to draw water into the stool and so tend to loosen stools as well as soften them. these are the foods one often finds in diets recommended to help relieve constipation. so the whole FODMAP thing is kind of tricky for those of us with constipation problems--a bit of a balancing act, figuring out what foods work best for you, which foods to keep, which to eliminate or reduce, etc. keeping a food diary is very helpful.

what i've generally read is that it's suggested to follow the FODMAP diet strictly for approximately four weeks. after that, what you are typically supposed to do is challenge each group--one food at a time. Wait a few days and then if nothing happens try another food from that group. and then go on to challenging another FODMAP group, food by food, etc.

that's what i've done. i eat a moderate FODMAP diet since i've found that only certain foods bother me, which is good.

everyone is different. some people can't have any FODMAPs at all. others find that it might only be one group that bothers them. others don't notice any difference on the diet. the FODMAP diet is meant to be a 4-6 week diet to determine your sensitivities, but you may also find that you need to be on it long term. essentially the diet reduces fermentable carbohydrates which provides symptom relief to many, but starves our good (and even bad) bacteria of the prebiotics they use for growth. That is why many people recommend challenging food groups later on, so that you can have any many prebiotics in your diet.

another thing that is important with FODMAP is quantity. many people --myself included--find they can eat a small amount of a high FODMAP food without problems. take broccoli for example. i can eat a half cup of it without problems but a whole cup of it gives me gas. i've seen lists, apps like this too--which show some foods as being considered low FODMAP in small amounts but high FODMAP in large amounts.

...like what you said about Flo







cute! i can get quite gassy sometimes, especially if i eat beans...feel like the hindenberg blimp lol.... thank goodness for beano! it helps.


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## clayton (Aug 12, 2015)

I too experience what you have said. I do not know if it will be gas or a bm until I

sit on the toilet-which I do, because I am afraid of the alternative if I do not!

I have not tried abeano or gasx yet. I do feel better since following the

fodmap diet(7 weeks now), 5-6 days out of seven. I do long to get back

to regular eating. Will I? This is all so new to me and very frustrating!


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## sariroko (Mar 16, 2015)

I am also experiencing lots of gas, especially in the mornings. I think I have managed to combat my constipation to some extent(I go once a day usually, tho my stools are still not perfect shaped) without ever using laxatives but by exercising regularly and using all sorts of herbal supplements - I've tried so many over the past 2 years that I wouldn't know which ones actually did the job. Yet the gas won't go. Sometimes it's so bad that I get headaches from it. 
I've started taking magnesium + B6 complex upon recommendation from my mother who also used to experience IBS in her younger days. Hers disappeared synchronously after I was born







. But back to the magnesium, maybe it's too early yet to judge but the past two days I had 0 pains due to trapped wind, while before magnesium I would get them daily.


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