# Food goes right through me!



## Abby

Sometimes I eat and 10 minutes later I have to run to the bathroom. It seems the food goes right through me. This doesn't always happen but I worry about it so much that I think this can cause it. I asked the Dr. about this and he said that was impossible. He said the food stays in your system for a while and then gets eliminated. The food that is giving me D has been there for a while. I was having a great week - and tonight ate dinner (with some fried foods I know - but I thought I was on a roll!) and 10 minutes later was in the bathroom. I went once and have been fine for almost 2 hours now! I am just wondering if anyone is like this and if food you eat can be expelled in 10 minutes?


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## Abby

I have tried Caltrate and am on my second bottle - I am taking 2 pills a day one in the AM and one in the PM and sometimes I think it helps and sometimes I think it doesn't - this is my life story with my IBS - sometimes I do well for a while and then BAM! I don't do well for a few days - I get so frustrated!!!!!


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## Guest

Abby, You are not alone. I use to do it all the time until I found my trigger foods. I just started taking the Caltrate Plus so I'm no expert, but it seems to help all those with D. If you are new to IBS, eliminate high fat foods, ruffage (cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, etc) and lettuce and see if that helps. It's just a start - everyone is different. Good luck - you are NOT crazy!







Ellie


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## Persistance

Oh, yes...Ellie is right on the button.Abby -- you're not crazy, but whether or not what's coming out is the food you just ate is an academic question (in other words, does it matter?) The point is that something is coming out. I do have to point out to you that you trigger foods -- foods that are hard to digest -- will cause whatever's at the bottom, so to speak, to come out (or as Flux says, "get the boot"). No, the food you just ate has to stay in your system many hours to be eliminated and go through its process of passing through the intestinal tubes to the colon. Anyway, you're lucky to be able to even think about fried foods. I haven't touched anything fried since I got IBS a year ago! Scared to death of it! If nothing else, the pain! Stick to the chicken, cooked vegetables, rice, potatoes, well-cooked beef, etc. and go easy on the spices when you're having a bout. If Caltrate doesn't help, some of us have found relief from the Chinese herb Calm Colon, available at www.Samra.com. But I have to say -- even then, there are setbacks.


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## Guest

Abby, the analogy my GI specialist used was to imagine food as like a train--what you eat is at one end and it pushes out what's at the other end. So when you get D right after a meal, it is probably something you ate many hours earlier that got the "push." Sometimes this happens to me, too. What I've found, in general, is to avoid the serious triggers (no suprise) like extra greasy and spicey foods, to eat smaller meals, and chew my food better. I believe the urge to go you get is probably triggered by your gastrocolic reflex, or is actually part of it. I have found that Levsin really helps slow my system down. That, and trying to relax during and after a meal, makes a big difference for me. When I'm at my worst, food actually goes through my entire system in 4--6 hours. I am sure of this by seeing the passed food floating in the toilet. CRob


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## LNAPE

Abby,I think you should take 3 tablets a day and be consistant. YOu must take them regularly and if you stop the diarrhea returns.Linda


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## Guest

Definately, happens to me all the time. I'm now just figuring out what my trigger foods are, and if I do eat them, I expect to get sick. You should keep a list of all the foods that make you do this, and try to stay away from them for a while. Is your doctor going to do any tests to see if this is what you have and it's nothing serious? I would suggest that he/she does, or you ask about it. It's not a fun procedure but it's definately helpful. Hope you're feeling better!


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## Dennis

Some foods go through me like a lazer beam...blueberries, corn, spicy chinese/mexican, apples. I guess the trick is to know the foods that do this and eliminate (no pun intended) them. I told my doctor about food going through me that fast and he didn't believe me. I should have taken him to the john to count the kernels!!


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## sickofsick

Things can get from one end to the other faster in some people and I am living proof! When I had the barrium ex-rays,(upper GI) they said I would have to wait hours for it to pass through the entire intestines. They did the first ex-ray 15 minutes later and it was already halfway there. 20 minutes later I was done. The nurse's said they have only seen that once before in all the years they worked there! By the time I got home I had to go to the bathroom and it was barrium!sickofsick


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## flux

What you see with the barium is *not* indicative of how solid food behaves.


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## Guest

Sounds very familiar! I can be in the middle of a meal and have to make a run for the bathroom.However, I have no consistent trigger foods. I can eat greasy fast food with no issues, then the next time have it start a major attack. Sometimes even 'safe' foods, like white rice, cause an attack in the middle of eating it.The only real trigger I notice is when I eat normal portions of food. I am a 'grazer' and sitting down to eat an actual meal usually causes an attack. For example, half a sandwich and a few bites of a veggie or fruit is fine. However, the whole sandwich will cause a run for the bathroom!I started taking Caltrate last Friday. I have only had one attack of D. I seem to be C, which is a new experiencce for me. I am taking half a tablet at lunch and half at dinner. (I don't eat breakfast, it causes major nausea to eat if I have not been awake for at least 3-4 hours) ------------------Color Rainbows in the Rain[This message has been edited by hotmeow (edited 01-25-2000).]


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## Guest

For me it's come down to this. I have a tiny breakfast, a very small dinner, and a relatively normal supper. Then only fluids. In the morning, 20 minutes after I get up, I go to the bathroom whether I feel the need or not. So far, it's like clockwork.But, when food enters my stomach, it makes me feel strange, tired, and crampy. Right before gas or BM, the muscle in the back of my left leg spasms continuously. And there's others depending on where the food is at the moment, some spots worse..but I can put it on a time chart (not yet) and I'm sure it will be like clockwork. (no trigger foods)


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## Bunny

When I did the barium x-rays (upper) the one where you drink the stuff I started running for the bathroom in between x-rays. The stuff just went right through me. It has sorbitol in it (I got this explanation later from a nurse) to keep it from blocking you up. For me it was a nightmare. Every time they called me back in I was on the toilet. I thought I'd die till I got home. I feel that eating sometimes just sets me off. Sometimes it's just the smell of food. Last night we went out to eat. I got there very hungry, had some bread, pumpkin soup and then about halfway into a delicious steak I started to feel nauseated. Just like that. I hate eating out!


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## Guest

Bunny- Do you take an imodium before going out to eat? It has helped me so much! I always hated going out to eat also - I have gone to the bathroom in places that are beyond gross. I'm much better now. But I also have to eat small portions - helps keep my weight down! There has to be a bright side to this awful disorder







Ellie


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## Guest

I eat, I get an "attack". Doctors have told me it is impossible to pass food so quickly! I beg to differ... I go out to eat, drive 30 minutes home, run to toilet and can identify most all I ate for dinner! I eat small meal once a day and drink fluids all day. This is the best I can do with all the medications I have tried or been on. Oh how I wish the stuff that helps some could help me!!! (been real blue lately, sorry if this isn't very "uplifting!"


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## flux

Your doctor is right. The food you are seeing is not what you just ate. It's still in your stomach.


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