# (Why) am I doing better 'all of a sudden'?



## Bing (Apr 15, 2013)

for like 4 to 5 years i have been experiencing almost constant lower right side abdominal and lower right back discomfort / pressure? the latter especially after waking up. i would say mild, annoying not actually painful. if there is pain it won't last long, happens a couple times a year. i guess trapped gas causes the pain stabs.

when this all started there was major bloating as well but i got rid of that by dropping all bread / pasta / wheat.

like a 1,5 year ago i also started to get really constipated, only like 2 times a week i was able to go, rock hard pellet stools.. hard to pass. tried all the popular dietary stuff including a bunch supplements, you know, all the stuff you read about online, nothing seemed to help. oh, often there's a bulge lower right in the morning as well. this i can massage away usually.

now...

since a couple of weeks i'm kinda regular again, i go almost daily, sometimes like 2 to 3 times a day, and the stools vary from pretty ok to near perfect.

'downside' is that the discomfort now feels more like cramping, less dull and may travel to the left or entire lower ab as well, usually before i have to go. i now also feel better / empty after going, this wasn't really the case before.

this sounds like i'm doing better, right?

a couple of months ago i kinda tried one of those sibo protocols... for a week i took a couple of interfase plus caps on empty stomach once a day followed by peppermint caps. did this again a couple weeks later. i don't recall any changes right after it. not a real serious attempt i would say.

i also tried a garlic 'cleanse' for like a week but that was even longer ago.

more recently, because of my back discomfort and tired girl friend, we bought a new mattress which seemed to help with my back problems almost right away.

also...more recently i started watching my posture and started doing constructive rest position sessions a couple times a day almost daily. this seems to relax my back and bowels? usually there's gurgling and after a while, if there's a bulge, it goes away without massaging. i'm also passing more gas now.

no dietary adjustments recently, if any... i got a little sloppier, watching less what and how much i eat.

what may have caused these changes / improvements? just watching my posture, mattress and the rest position?

edit:

woah, long post. sorry!


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

oh that's terrific you're doing better! congratulations--wonderful news!

the new mattress really does seem to have helped your back problems. that was a good idea. gas, constipation and bloating can aggravate back problems, too--don't I know it..lol..

I've read that IBS problems can wax and wane. it sounds like yours have been waning for quite some time.. and fingers crossed it stays that way.

to me, it sounds like everything you've been doing has helped.







that's wonderful!


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## Bing (Apr 15, 2013)

thanks annie!!,

yes it does seem so, fingers crossed indeed cause i can do without the constipation, the lower right discomfort alone is enough...

today seems like a good day in particular, i can even push down my right side with no problem. i guess real empty today?

thanks again.


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## Corydalis Aurea (Dec 14, 2014)

Always good to see a post by someone who IS feeling BETTER! Gives us all some hope! Thanks Bing!

A note on the mattress, oh yeah, it can make a world of difference, a good example is my husband, he has the flattest feet in the world! He can hardly walk if his lifts start to break down. It happens so gradually that he only notices that he just is hurting more and more, his knees, feet and ankles, until he limping along, wondering what he did to get all messed up! But now, after some years of this, we have learned to suspect that it is time to go to the foot doc and get new lifts! He is a big man, he tends to break the lifts down sooner than they would normally have them replaced, but after he gets a new pair, he is a new man! All those pains just go away!

It has been shown in study (read this a long time ago-so forget the exact details-some googling could bring up more recent info probably) that damage is done to the organs on the side of the body that a person tends to lay at night. If you are a side sleeper, you may want to figure out if there is a way to help those organs, or shift so that gas can move through more freely. The mattress has helped you said, so that may lend some credibility to this theory.

I tend to have to go potty about 2 to 3 times a night, and I hate to get up SO bad, that I will hold it and put in an awful night sleep because of it, makes no sense I know! But I have been having some lower left back discomfort and have been wondering if I maybe stressing my left kidney, not only by laying on it every night (side sleeper) and backing up a full bladder to stress it more!!! A bad habit I need to break!

Annie7 is right about the waxing waning symptoms too, I am not so sure that even a shift in seasons for us northern people-does not cause a flare up. Dietary changes with the seasons, stress changes- all factor in.

Best wishes to you!


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## Bing (Apr 15, 2013)

thanks corydalis!

i indeed try to sleep on my back, seems the best way to let my system do what it needs to do. i ditched my pillow as well.

i forgot to mention... i'm training myself to relax my entire ab area, this often will cause immediate gurglin', i suspect my default setting is tight and tensed ab and related muscles?. maybe this causes some sort of blockage resulting in trapped gas / stool?


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

oh yes, Bing, i think you're right about the tense muscle thing. the gurgling when you relax is a good clue...listen to your body, as they say...









and i know for sure that tense, tight pelvic floor muscles will make it very hard if not impossible to get stool out...

relaxing is good for body and mind....deep breathing --belly breathing--is too...


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## Bobby Chang (Jun 12, 2014)

Bing

Could it be all because you are now sleeping better ( vs poor sleep earlier) and you have a calm mind due to less/more release of brain chemicals which keeps your anxiety down and you have now improved ibs symptoms.

Relation between Serotonin Sleep and Anxiety are documented at many places.

Is your Sleep quality better with new mattress ?


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## kals (Dec 8, 2014)

I don't know, are you taking fiber? I take fiber. I think im always in pain even if I don't feel it outwardly, I think the pain is hidden?


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## Bing (Apr 15, 2013)

annie7 said:


> oh yes, Bing, i think you're right about the tense muscle thing. the gurgling when you relax is a good clue...listen to your body, as they say...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thanks again annie, still weird how unaware we can be of what is going on in our own body.


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## Bing (Apr 15, 2013)

Bobby Chang said:


> Bing
> 
> Could it be all because you are now sleeping better ( vs poor sleep earlier) and you have a calm mind due to less/more release of brain chemicals which keeps your anxiety down and you have now improved ibs symptoms.
> 
> ...


thanks bobby,

i guess sleep quality went up as well but it's not like it was really low, just the back aches woke me up sometimes.

but yes sounds logical! will read more into anxiety links.


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## Bing (Apr 15, 2013)

kals said:


> I don't know, are you taking fiber? I take fiber. I think im always in pain even if I don't feel it outwardly, I think the pain is hidden?


thanks kals,

i don't supplement it if that is what you mean.

where is your pain located? what do you mean by hidden?


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## seahorse (Feb 4, 2015)

my gastroenterologist and my ibs therapist says that the bowels can be very constricted causing the bloating and constipation, but you probably knew this. my therapist was telling me also that there are two main types of the brain controls, the one which you tell your body to do stuff and the one which manages everything else you dont control yourself, lungs, gut etc. and that sometimes that can kind of shut down. i think the matress and posture was definately a contributor since your body does a lot of stuff while you sleep to help you function.


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## Jade144 (Dec 19, 2011)

maybe your body has gotten used to your new process that you have given it. I have had multiple organ failure, atlas, I have to look forward to five years so far a year and a half. I have posted different remedies one that has caused a massive backorder of supplements I depend on daily. I have used one yearly or mostly monthly. Most of the blogs are a lie. They post information about herbs garlic. Yeah garlic makes you fart, but what other herb makes you gassy and have a bowel movement. Only took me one month on this at massive amounts to have a movement up to twice daily or as necessary. Just a thought. Best of luck. Good to hear.


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## Bing (Apr 15, 2013)

@seahorse:

thanks, i think my bowels are constricted off and on or something as the lower right side bloating comes and goes. seems like a pattern at times.

@jade:

thanks, i think you're right, the body may need a while to get used to a new regimen.

also, in my case, the solution to staying regular seems partly dietary after all...

so here's a little update:

i became less regular and even constipated again a couple weeks ago so i started tracking what i eat / had eaten.

seems that if i don't eat potatoes regularly, i tested this a couple times... , i get constipated again.

so i make sure to eat potatoes at least three times a week. i don't know how this works though cause i tried raw potato starch before but that didn't do anything for me.

i think the constipation started after i started experimenting with less carbs / paleo / primal diets (no or very little potatoes).


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