More Gut Problems - Anyone Relate?

[Janey]

Can anyone relate to this feeling?

Take the heartrate issues out of the question...

Guts are backed up - gastroparesis has flared up and intestines aren't pushing stuff through, migraine, neck and shoulder pain seems to correspond with nausea, feeling like they are all linked and causing each other. Nausea and Migraine pain gets 100x worse when standing up, and gets a bit better when lying flat, but standing up and walking around is out of the question.

Does anybody have it like this some days?

Why do my migraines always correspond to my gut problems?

[Simmy]

My stomach is certainly not the same as it was before I got POTS, much more rumbling, slower pass-through and inconsistency. We've all experienced nausea caused by a virus or something we ate, but to me these are different. It seems as though the nausea is severely exacerbated by the pain of the headache when standing up or overexertion, and when I lie down and the headache subsides so does the nausea shortly thereafter. I am convinced they are linked. I've hurled many times from that pain.

[helen.t]

Can anyone relate to this feeling?

Take the heartrate issues out of the question...

Guts are backed up - gastroparesis has flared up and intestines aren't pushing stuff through, migraine, neck and shoulder pain seems to correspond with nausea, feeling like they are all linked and causing each other. Nausea and Migraine pain gets 100x worse when standing up, and gets a bit better when lying flat, but standing up and walking around is out of the question.

Does anybody have it like this some days?

Why do my migraines always correspond to my gut problems?

Hi Janey, I know exactly what you mean. I suffer terrible migraine and is affected by food and gut problems. When my stomach not happy it affects everything especially the migraine. Migraine is a very complex condition. Our digestive systems are linked as well as a host of other triggers such as hormones, blood circulation, food, heat ,cold, the weather, light. noise just to name a few. I had a couple of excellent booklets on migraine but I must have given them out. If you look up migraine on the internet you will get some really helpful information. your doctor should be helping you too to get referred to someone who specialises in migraine to help you find your triggers and to get the best treatment. My guess is that when we are suffering from constipation or back up, the digestive system pulls more blood which is worse for a potsy person. This will intensify your neck shoulder pain which will spasm due to lack of circulation in the muscles. I hope Ive made sense to you and it helps. Helen

[MightyMouse]

yep. sounds awfully familiar when I'm having a GI shutdown...

[tinkerbella]

I can relate in fact some days I would just rather not eat and just drink just to stop the belly bloat and bowel problems.

I can't remember a day when I never had symptoms.

bellamia~*

[lieze]

Yep belly aches and headaches here too.

Maybe it's the weather-you know my appetite come to think of it always slows down in the summer.

Don't we eat more salads and cold cuts and when winter comes we go for the beef stew and soups.

Maybe we just burn more calories keeping warm in the winter.

I don't understand the fact that I seem to be developing fat despite my low intake of food.

Don't get me wrong I'm glad if I'm taking in adequate calories etc etc but it doesn't seem like I'm eating that much at all.

[Guest humanb4monitor]

I have not had too much of this at all but need to be confy to poopsie!

fleet butt plugs (suppositories) work well.

I know that protein with fiber is the best for keping cleansed.

again and as I always believe--the less sad, stressed, dis-tressed I am, the easier everything is. This too

I bought 'something' recentlythat was near impossible to find!! Near impossible!!

Don't wanna say

Something that can be 'used regularly.' Like the old daze in grandmas house

Haven't tried it yet but I mean it was hard to find. Red and rubber.

sexy--huh?

[issie]

I just watched a U-Tube video by Dr. Mark Hyman, he really recommending magnesium. I wonder if it would help these issues? The only thing, I know magnesium can lower your BP. It's one thing they give to pregnant women with high BP, but it helps cramps and helps to MOVE things through. Might help.

[Janey]

Thanks for all your help guys.

I'm pleased that migraine and stomach problems are related. It creates the worst kind of nausea feeling because it's both "headache nausea" and "gut nausea."

I just don't know how to prevent these GI shut-downs. To top it all off I now have thrush too - probably as a result of some bacterial overgrowth or other, despite me taking 1000's of billions worth of good bacteria a day... It's just one thing after the other.

I've been told I can take a pill for my migraines but that I will have to take it every day, even on my good days... which puts me off...

[Guest humanb4monitor]

prevention:

WE GET better at helping ouselves. (me too)

We TRY ands stay as happy as possible

We do what we choose to give us joy..... LIKE giving!

We try and LEARN how to de-stress through breathing, calming etc

...and we do not let the body take over our lives.

that's what Wonder Woman said when she called.

It is 5:25 in the east and I am not great but gonna try and start my day again.

And anything I dew good for me will be less owies on my body AND SOUL.

(((JANEY HUGGIES BIG BIG)))

((all of us))

It ain't that hard. Just need support!

[Guest humanb4monitor]

there are NO question is what I just posted and I hurt---a lot. Tired of it now. FINALLY. Time to commit to self.

[janiedelite]

YES! Whenever I'm more bloated and having GI issues, I have more fatigue and pain in general but the headaches are certainly more noticeable. I've only had migraines a few times since getting POTS, but they were always precipitated by eating something that triggered my gut to stop (once it was a 1/2 pound hamburger ... honestly, I don't know what I was thinking). During these migraine episodes, I always am more nauseated and usually throw up. Once all the backed up food is out, I usually feel a little better.

I told this to the Mayo neuro as well as my GI doc and PCP... they all said they'd never heard of anything like this. The Mayo doc said he thought a virus caused these episodes.

Since then, I know how to watch for early signs of escalating GI back-up. I'm usually pretty good about avoiding foods that trigger these episodes. Lately I've been a little naughty, so I'm bloated and having worse aching in my upper body and head. I've lived with this for so long, I hardly notice then I feel mildly ill anymore. I only really notice when my guts are behaving properly, and then I'm SO happy while it lasts!

Thank you for bringing up this issue. Now I know I'm not alone when I experience this odd constellation of symptoms. Thanks.

[tinkerbella]

Pain meds can do a number on the gut. do you use fiber pills on a regular basis or senna? I will get to a point that I'm having a near bowel obstruction. i HAVE TO BE CAREFUL AS BEING IN THE HOSPITAL at times when they don't understand Pots they make me worse with miralax.

[issie]

I was told by a doctor that they don't like people to use senna because if they do a scope it could make it look like you're bleeding because it turns the stool really dark. For some reason (that I don't remember) they felt the long time use of it was not good for you.

I have found that Benifiber is very beneficial. It doesn't bloat me like psyllium. You can't taste it, you can even mix it into your morning coffee. It has no awful texture. It will clean the intestines and helps with elimination. The only thing is you have to be sure and drink enough liquids throughout the day. (Not hard for us POTS people.) I was also told fiber is one of the best things to help keep the blood sugar under control and it will help you to lose weight, if you need to lose weight. Fiber will help clear out harmful bacteria and get rid of parasites. Sounds like a good thing to me. Best one I've found.

You may also try a good probiotic. It helps put the good bacteria back into your intestines and helps with absorption issues.

[MightyMouse]

I do get some help from probiotic, as well as use of Miralax, which I don't need all the time. I've used some herbal supplements too, I think the one I purchased was by NSI and called Colon Cleanse. I would take it at night with plenty of water and usually, within a day or so, I would get at least some relief.

I've found there's is no rhyme/reason to the start of a gastroparesis cycle for me...nor any clear pattern to the cycle ending and me feeling more "normal"--always qualifying that with "my normal" b/c nothing about my body does anything "normally" except perhaps grow hair and fingernails

[Rachel]

Hi Janey,

So sorry that your tummy and guts are giving you such trouble.

I have found that Miralax is the most helpful for me. I have to change my dose sometimes as my symptoms fluctuate, but I can usually keep myself regular with that.

I haven't found anything that completely prevents GI flares. I eat a low fat, low fiber diet, and that helps. But I still have periods when my gastroparesis will flare up, and then I have to go on a primarily liquid diet for a few days. After a while I can return to my normal low fat/low fiber diet.

Peppermint tea and ginger root capsules help me with nausea.

Things I avoid are Senokot and other stimulant laxatives (the body becomes used to them over time, and then you need more for the same effect). I avoid most fiber because of gastroparesis, but I have also found that fiber hurts my guts too. If I have too much fiber in my diet, then my guts just can't move. I know it sounds counterintuitive. A common remedy for constipation is fiber, but it creates too much work for my guts and they can't do it.

I hope you can find some relief for your GI symptoms and migraines.

Rachel

[MightyMouse]

Rachel noted she eats a *low* fiber diet--if you have slow motility, that's what may be suggested by your GI doc b/c if you have too much fiber and your guts aren't moving you can actually create a blockage.

Sorry for posting all my replies in small chunks, but ever since my car accident in March, my attention and concentration are spotty.

[blueskies]

Hi,

I have chronic daily migraine and what I'd call chronic daily constipation. Regular migraine was present two years before the constipation became a problem. I've got some bowel movement each day but some days but eventually it all stops and it can stay stopped. Last time it stopped I stopped my migraine med -- low dose opiate which makes the constipation worse -- out of desperation as I was bent over and sweating from pain of constipation (and thought my colon was about to burst). I did get to go to the toilet a few times for two days while off the meds but then that stopped too. Meanwhile my migraine flared -- big time-- and had to get back on my opiate med. Got back on it a week ago today and it's taken a week for it to start performing like it usually does -- keeps my migraines down to about a level 3. But woke this morning 'feeling' that my gut has almost closed down again. I've tried every laxative possible and am allergic to some, others cause my erythema to flare, others just plain don't work. The one thing that was working was magnesium sulfate (I think you call it Milk of Magnesia in the U.S) but I was reacting to it more and more until finally, just over a month ago the red erythema marks I get on my skin when I take it started to peel. This was happening on my face: Saw my allergist and she said 'no more magnesium sulfate.' So no more magnesium sulfate and one month later I had to stop the opiate which led to level 10 migraines just so I could have a few bowel movements. I've been told by my gi that the bowel movements experienced after I stop constipating meds is not a turn of proper bowel motility and I have the body to prove it. It's just a sudden emptying out of the bowel that has been affected by the opiates. Most people, when they stop opiates get diarrhea. No such luck for me. It was what I was hoping for. Instead I just got to go to the toilet a few times for two days and it was still prettty constipated.

I will be starting senna and docusate tonight. I hate the stuff because it also causes my erythema to kick in. But I'm only going to use it for a while....

Next stop will have to be daily enemas. It's a last resort. Hopefully it will work. Once I've worked out how to use them. Anyone got any advice or know any good sites that explain clearly how to give an enema.

I really think the migraines and the bowel problems are related.

blue

[dianne.fraser]

Janey

These days I just accept that my gut doesn't work properly - like Blue, I'm always constipated..... Its one of my constant symptoms, along with fatigue. Most of my other symptoms sleep, or are sporadic, until something aggravates my illness, or I have a full-blown exacerbation.

The thing that seems to most aggravate my gut is maize starch, which I'm allergic to - it gives me stomach pain (which shows up at gastroscopy as inflammation), nausea and bloating (9-months-pregnant-type bloating - ughhh). Iron tablets also aggravate my gut - I no longer take them. I'm also much more constipated in the few days before a period.

The things that ease my illness generally, are the things that seem to most ease my gut eg rest, laying flat and plenty of fluids.

Like Rachel, I use ginger to ease my nausea.

Re the neck soreness - I see an osteopath and a neurological physiotherapist every 4-6 weeks to treat and prevent this symptom, along with the soreness I get at the back of my head. I've found my illness is better controlled overall as long as I have these symptoms under control.

With best wishes

Dianne

[potsgirl]

I'm also chronically constipated, and the only thing that seems to help me is Senna. If I take 2 in the am and 2 in the pm, I'll usually go every day. I've been on them for about 4 years, and have tried everything. This is the only thing that has ever worked, and my gastro doc and other docs think it's okay for me to take them. I know I should get a colonoscopy to see what's going on, but just can't get the gallon of liquid down!

[tinkerbella]

I'm also chronically constipated, and the only thing that seems to help me is Senna. If I take 2 in the am and 2 in the pm, I'll usually go every day. I've been on them for about 4 years, and have tried everything. This is the only thing that has ever worked, and my gastro doc and other docs think it's okay for me to take them. I know I should get a colonoscopy to see what's going on, but just can't get the gallon of liquid down!

what is the liquid sweet jana? is it the so old one? i have to down it if it is and then it sits...................likes it's never going to work till after bottle # 2 then hours later the magic begins.... i could use one now..... i hate this ibs stuff. i know too much TMI.

xxx's

love,

bellamia~*