# Mucus associated with specific types of problem foods?



## AMaine (Oct 28, 2011)

I've had IBS for years. Last summer was the worst it had been with bloating, gas, diarrhea, and mucus. I finally switched doctors and she had me go off of gluten. That helped so much that over the winter I've been able to pinpoint other foods that bother me (impossible before because I was having trouble all the time) such as broccoli, cabbage, green peppers - you know, the usual culprits. Anyway, within the last couple of weeks my gassiness has started up again - to a lesser degree - and now I'm starting to get mucus in my stool again. So I'm wondering - does anyone find that specific types of trigger foods have different responses? For instance, I learned that gluten gives me diarrhea (pretty quickly, it would seem) but broccoli, cabbage, asparagus and the like just gives me stinky gas that doesn't smell good but is otherwise ignorable. Is there something that tends to be more of a trigger for this mucus? I'm trying to figure out what's doing it and I can't. I just CAN'T have another summer like last! I know my diet changes in the summer - we grill more, I eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, things like that. Could it be the roughage?? But I have eaten a few other things that I hadn't had time to eat much in teh winter - spicy food, mainly. I'm so busy during the school year that I honestly just eat a lot of prepackaged stuff that is fast and easy... and apparently doesn't make my stomach hate me.Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!


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## leebe20 (Aug 26, 2011)

AMaine said:


> I've had IBS for years. Last summer was the worst it had been with bloating, gas, diarrhea, and mucus. I finally switched doctors and she had me go off of gluten. That helped so much that over the winter I've been able to pinpoint other foods that bother me (impossible before because I was having trouble all the time) such as broccoli, cabbage, green peppers - you know, the usual culprits. Anyway, within the last couple of weeks my gassiness has started up again - to a lesser degree - and now I'm starting to get mucus in my stool again. So I'm wondering - does anyone find that specific types of trigger foods have different responses? For instance, I learned that gluten gives me diarrhea (pretty quickly, it would seem) but broccoli, cabbage, asparagus and the like just gives me stinky gas that doesn't smell good but is otherwise ignorable. Is there something that tends to be more of a trigger for this mucus? I'm trying to figure out what's doing it and I can't. I just CAN'T have another summer like last! I know my diet changes in the summer - we grill more, I eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, things like that. Could it be the roughage?? But I have eaten a few other things that I hadn't had time to eat much in teh winter - spicy food, mainly. I'm so busy during the school year that I honestly just eat a lot of prepackaged stuff that is fast and easy... and apparently doesn't make my stomach hate me.Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!


 Don't worry about the mucus too much It's not the cause of your IBS it's just a symptom even if you did find a trigger for it I don't think it would solve the other problems such as bloating and diarrhea, I find any food that triggers my ibs will cause diarrhea and mucus and even the foods that don't! So it doesn't seem to matter. If you have IBS then you will likely have mucus mainly because the digestive system isn't doing it's job probably hence the pain or/and diarrhea the body is then forced to produces mucus to help the food move along because your intestines are not working correctly. Don't worry about it though its not causing any permanent damage it's just a little gross and annoying. I find if i'm constantly checking my stools I'm a lot worse and it stresses me out so i just avoid it now. Hope i helped somewhat







x


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## AMaine (Oct 28, 2011)

I probably asked about the wrong thing... I'm only worried about the mucus because it only ever accompanies the symptoms that I THOUGHT I had under control. I haven't had this happen since I went off gluten last fall. Along with the mucus, I'm having loose stool, pain during my BMs, minor amounts of gas and bloating, but general discomfort, which i really really hate. Does anybody have something that triggers these things aside from gluten (not eating that anymore) or the other things I've eliminated or limited: onions, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, cabbage, green peppers, cauliflower.


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## leebe20 (Aug 26, 2011)

AMaine said:


> I probably asked about the wrong thing... I'm only worried about the mucus because it only ever accompanies the symptoms that I THOUGHT I had under control. I haven't had this happen since I went off gluten last fall. Along with the mucus, I'm having loose stool, pain during my BMs, minor amounts of gas and bloating, but general discomfort, which i really really hate. Does anybody have something that triggers these things aside from gluten (not eating that anymore) or the other things I've eliminated or limited: onions, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, cabbage, green peppers, cauliflower.


Hi Amaine, Many people with IBS still find they will suffer with Pain, Loose stools, gas and bloating even on a diet of safe foods. I have tried every diet possible and i still get symptoms no matter what, Like you i thought i had it under control but after many months the symptoms returned again, To the point where it did't matter what i eat i would still get some degree of symptoms. Some other things that may make things worse are sugary foods, fruit which is high in fructose.. Apples, melon, peachs..etc, Caffeine, high fiber cereals, Artificial sweeteners. I'm sure you have seen the IBS list of foods to avoid maybe you should go through it again? to try and track down something that may be making symptoms worse. Sometimes with IBS foods you thought were safe can turn to triggers out of nowhere. The best thing to do is to start from scratch and re-introduce food bit by bit and make a note of how it effected you, this way you might single out a cause.


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## Korga (Sep 8, 2011)

I too, initially had a lot of improvement after eliminating Dairy and Gluten. Unfortunately my symptoms gradually worsened over the next several years. After a lot of trial and error, I'm now on the FODMAP diet and having a pretty big improvement with that. So, keep trying things; eventually something has to help.


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