Hi!!! I took activated charcoal on an empty stomach to try and relieve stomach gurgling ,gas and a bloated tummy. About 20 min later I had very bad nausea and I don't know what to do from here. I am really losing hope here . I am trying everything I can to sort out my tummy issues but I am not having any success. It's really depressing me. please help! I am bloated almost every night, my tummy gurgles like crazy and my bowels movements are not satisfying. could all this really be just GERD and hiatal hernia????
Hi christelle51966,
What’s your diet like? Can you give an example of an average day for you that includes your main meals, any snacks you’d have and what drinks you’d consume (including how much of each drink).
Obviously, activated charcoal does not agree with you. The other possibility is that taking the activated charcoal on a full stomach might have worked better. Try a food diary to see what foods could be causing this. Have you been diagnosed with IBS? Bowel habit change along with your other symptoms sounds more like IBS than hiatus hernia or GERD. I have GERD and don’t get bowel habit change with it. Have you asked your doctor for anything else you could take?
toasted bread ,scrambled eggs and roibos tea for breakfast…
rice/ boiled potatoes, chicken / fish and veggies for lunch…
toasted bread and a cup of tea for dinner with some butter occasionally.
2/ 3 glasses of red wine most days of the week.
I snack on fruits or nuts most days.
I have to admit that the food is mostly fried and not boiled. I only go on a bland oil free diet when my symptoms flare up.
I do not take milk anymore as it makes my stomach gurgle and causes diarrhea.
hi Pippa! I met a doctor who told me I could have IBS and put me on mebeverine and that made my symptoms even worse. I tried food diary in the past which wasn’t of much help. some days I ate foods that are believed to be triggers a s had a perfect day, other days even taking water bloated me and gives me nausea. I am completely lost! Do i need a colonoscopy? I feel my doctors are missing something.
and how do you manage your IBS?
Mebeverine made me worse too but Buscopan worked without side effects. It doesn’t sound like doctors are missing something. It may be that you need to keep tweaking your diet and ask for a different antispasmodic. Have you tried the fodmap diet? Ask your doctor if you need a colonoscopy.
My IBS is under control without doing anything except for avoiding stress.
thanks Pippa. Will see my doc next week and ask. living with digestive problems is really not fun.
HI Christelle, I have a lot of the same symptoms, and done all the recommended things as well. I have had a colonoscopy, endoscopy, & even an anoscopy which is where they use a microscope to look in there. I was diagnosed with GERD, hiatus hernia, esophogeal erosion, & anal squamous cell carcinoma. A laundry list of problems. I trued so many things to self medicate, because i was terrified of surgical intervention. My Aunt went in fir hernia surgery & they accidentally stapled through her pericardial sac, and she died before they could repair it.
I had gone in hospital several times with gallstones and pretty much could tell when i got them by the symptoms but they usually eventually passed or something as the pain would stop eventually or they would drug me up with pain medicine until I felt better. In 2017 I thought I had a bad case of flu that was going around & I waited 3 days with no relief and finally called an ambulance & once I got to the ER, I had a burst gallbladder and was having a stress heart attack ( taksubotu, or broken heart syndrome) brought on by not knowing it was not the flu but my gallbladder had burst and I got sepsis on top of everything.
I learned a valuable lesson not to wait to go to the ER depending on diagnosing myself as by other people’s symptoms.
Just because everyone else said oh I have that going on too, you will feel better in a few days.
Going by that I almost died. Even the ambulance guys initially said I could have my spouse take me to the ER instead of them. But I insisted on them transporting me as they could at least start an IV & give me fluids on the way. I had not kept anything down in 3 days. I knew I was dehydrated.
Once I got to the ER it was a race against the clock to save my life. After emergency surgery the cardiologist told me do not ever wait 3 days sick. And do not try to get to the ER on your own because people die that way. The ambulance has the equipment to save you. Your family does not.
So to sum it up get a DR to check you out & if they cant figure it out don’t give up. Get a second opinion. I would not hesitate after my experience to ask to see a specialist if I am still sick and they say oh it will pass.
Good luck to you and don’t take no for an answer even from a Dr. The best place I have ever gotten treated is at a medical school. The trainee physicians are actively learning and not so fast to lump everyone into the same category.
Maybe try distraction techniques like light exercise such as walking and concentrate on a hobby. This can help to relieve symptoms. Anxiety can make stomach problems worse.
I see. I think GERD and acid reflux are pretty similar. I have been on medication for my acid reflux before, but came off it when I realised that taking it for a prolonged period of time would make the reflux worse than before (thankfully I did because the doctor didn’t mention it). When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do before any food or other fluid intake is to drink a 250ml glass of water with x1 teaspoon of organic unfiltered unpasteurised cider vinegar. I’ve been doing this for about a year now and my acid reflux has almost disappeared since. I don’t know for other people, but red wine has always irritated my guts since having acid reflux.
I can eat bread occasionally, but eating bread/wheat any more than once a week or so just continually makes me bloated. Have you tried cutting out bread and wheat products for a month? Also, it may seem odd, but I think sometimes people forget to fart, or hold them in at work, which can cause painful bloating.
My last question is: how much effort are you prepared to make to try and make yourself better? I’m asking you this because through my experience on here, as soon as I mention to people that they should try eating vegan for 2-3 months, they’re suddenly uninterested in making the effort to try and help themselves (I didn’t go vegan for health reasons, but since becoming vegan, it’s improved my health and almost completely cured my lifelong IBS).
My IBS got better without making any diet changes because food was not the cause. Stress is my trigger and as long as I try to avoid stress, my symptoms stay away.
I’ve never heard of stress being the main cause, but I’m happy that you identified what it was and have dealt with it yourself.
thank you so much for your feedback and I hope you are now doing a lot better. I will seek a specialist s opinion as well . It’s just that doctors blame it on anxiety when they run out of ideas. I will not take no for an answer and push until I get the one doctor who will be willing to help me feel better.
My doctor identified stress as the cause and IBS can be triggered six months after a stressful event which happened to me. It can also happen after an accumulation of years of stress and anxiety. It is a well known cause of IBS and once you have IBS, bouts of stress and anxiety can trigger flare ups. The gut brain link is very strong and any emotional upsets can also be felt in the gut. The intestinal nerves are very sensitive and there are more there than in the spinal cord.
You are right Pippa, when I go out with friends or do something that keeps my mind away from my tummy, I 'll feel pretty ok. but when I get home, everything turns upside down. I am crying real tears because I can’t believe at 36 years old I can have so many digestive issues. this worries me a lot. I have 3 kids that need me.
I am ready to try anything to have a somewhat normal life again. my condition is putting a lot of stress on my everyday life.
Generally, doctors don’t blame everything on anxiety when they run out of ideas. My doctor diagnosed my IBS correctly based on my anxiety and other symptoms.When you have IBS, nothing shows on scans so there is no point in having the same continuous tests when time and time again they are negative. When you don’t respond well to treatment, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have something else or that your doctor isn’t helping. It may simply mean you haven’t found something that works for you. In the case of IBS, everyone is different, so it is difficult for doctors to tailor a regimen of treatment to your individual needs.
The problem you really need help with is your anxiety rather than your stomach. Since you have seen that your stomach improves when out with friends but gets worse when you go home and think about your symptoms, this is an indication that you need to ask your doctor about relaxation therapy or CBT. Distraction techniques helped me in the same way you describe. When you start to relax, this can really calm your stomach. Once I started to calm down, it really helped my gut symptoms. Your doctor is mentioning anxiety because he or she had noticed that anxiety is a real problem for you.
And thank you fir your kind reply.
stress is indeed a silent killer. You mentally think you can overcome your bodily ailments if you can just be strong enough. My own experiences taught me an important lesson. No matter how much I think I can achieve perfection simply through force of will, is not realistic. Mind over matter, or even self hypnosis, biofeedback or other fad cures is not the cure all for everyone.
like one size fits all does not even work in panties why expect it to work health wise.
If that was the option there would be no need of medical practice at all.
Anxiety and stress are a part of our daily existence and sadly, there isn’t literally any escape from it. Short of becoming a hermit on an island or something and even then there would be the worry over sustenance. So the next best solution is indeed to find what works for you.
I find acupuncture, relaxation recordings, yoga, free apps on my phone like word games or similar mindless tasks lull me into a few minutes of peace and calm.
Trial and error is the only sure way ti fund your own path.