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Can anyone recommend a good natural remedy for gas??!!

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  • 15-05-2013 2:49pm
    #1
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭


    Hi folks,

    I have not had any morning sickness so far (:D), but the hormones and reduced speed of my digestion has really aggrivated my IBS. After eating I am getting really bad trapped wind, in my upper digestive tract (so constantly feel the need to burp but nothing moving). It is really uncomfortable as even when you are hungry, all the trapped gas means you feel full. Very weird feeling full and hungry at the same time! And a lot of cramping under my diaphraghm which isn't pleasant.

    anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if so do you know of any natural remedies to allieviate it? When not pregnant I usually take a dose of my anti-spasm meds and a glass of andrews salts, but this is not allowed while pregnant.

    Any suggestions?


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    #2
    MurdyWurdy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭MurdyWurdy


    I also have IBS and the first few weeks if pregnancy were very bloated and uncomfortable. Have you tried fybogel or psyllium husks? Both are fine to use in pregnancy and helped me. They're more for problems the other end but may help.

    If it makes you feel better, after the first trimester being pregnant has caused my IBS to clear up completely, even though I have to take iron which can cause digestive problems. So you may be the same!


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    #3
    krankykitty
    Registered Users Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭krankykitty


    Peppermint is meant to be very good for trapped wind, tea or the essential oil (edible kind you can get in health shop). You just put a drop or two into warm water and drink. It's recommended for trapped wind after you have a c section which can cause wind pains.

    Another IBS head here and apart from once or twice mine has cleared up! I got a bad attack of it at the start and asked the midwife and she said Colpermin in moderation would be fine (also peppermint based..)


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    #4
    livinsane
    Registered Users Posts: 1,090 ✭✭✭livinsane


    Chewing a raw cube of potato can help alleviate indigestion, and this did work for me.

    I second peppermint tea, I found this helps.

    Hope it passes soon, mine ended with the first trimester thankfully.


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    #5
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    Thanks for that krankykitty, I have colpermin but wasn't sure if I can use it. I'll give the peppermint a go, but its not really indigestion of the normal kind I have, but still I'll give it a go.

    Livinsane - thanks but I don't think I could stand the raw potato though! Although I have no real morning sickness my gag reflex has gotten really bad. Even popping a pen into my mouth or brushing my teeth makes me gag and heave - I think a raw spud might be the end of me!


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    #6
    krankykitty
    Registered Users Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭krankykitty


    Hello Lady! wrote: »
    Thanks for that krankykitty, I have colpermin but wasn't sure if I can use it. I'll give the peppermint a go, but its not really indigestion of the normal kind I have, but still I'll give it a go.

    Livinsane - thanks but I don't think I could stand the raw potato though! Although I have no real morning sickness my gag reflex has gotten really bad. Even popping a pen into my mouth or brushing my teeth makes me gag and heave - I think a raw spud might be the end of me!

    She said the colpermin was ok for me but maybe check with your own just in case? Dont want to give you misinformation based on my own experience...
    Presume you also tried Rennie/gaviscon?


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    #7
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    krankykitty wrote: »
    She said the colpermin was ok for me but maybe check with your own just in case? Dont want to give you misinformation based on my own experience...
    Presume you also tried Rennie/gaviscon?

    Uh yeah of course - I have an appointment with my doctor on Friday so I wouldn't take anything before running it past him anyway, and checking how much is ok.
    I haven't bothered with Rennie/Gaviscon - rennie I actually can't bear to use, as it just makes me want to vom! and Gaviscon didn't really do anything for me before I was pregnant so I don't think it will do much now! And if possible, I would rather stick to natural remedies if I can - I am already on a rake load of progesterone medications to support the pregnancy, so if I can avoid taking any more medications I think it would be preferable.

    thanks for the ideas everyone :)


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    #8
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    Three more remedies I heard of today:
    Ginger
    Activated Charcoal
    Fennel

    Apparently all are safe to use during pregnancy, so going to ask my doctor about it and if he doesn't know I'll hit a homeopath. I'll let you know!


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    #9
    red fraggle
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭red fraggle


    i have IBS too! its causing me pains in my lower abdomin and side which is nerve wracking as im thinking its to do with baby. i remembered today that on my first baby i got this stuff from the health shop. got it today and trying it from tomorrow. its culture care pre and pro biotic formula. i sprinkle the sachet on my breakfast. it worked last time so hears hoping. my ibs also cleared up after a few months. im at 13 weeks now so hoping it will clear soon along with the nausea!!

    i might look into peppermint drops as i couldnt drink the tea!!

    so good to hear of other people pregnant and with IBS!!!


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    #10
    Moonbeam
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,953 Mod ✭✭✭✭Moonbeam


    Ginger,gaviscon and mint tea helped slightly,warm baths were probably the best relief though.


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    #11
    livinsane
    Registered Users Posts: 1,090 ✭✭✭livinsane


    Moonbeam wrote: »
    warm baths were probably the best relief though.

    oOOH baths, it seems like a lifetime ago when I was sinking into a warm bath a couple of times a week. Even if you're not in to them normally [which I am not], they are a fantastic relief from alot of pregnancy symtoms.


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    #12
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    well I tried the ginger yesterday - had sliced ginger and a blob of honey in hot water. It helped a bit, but not much and the benefits wore off quickly. for it to be of any use I think I'd have to be drinking a cup every 30 mins!

    My IBS and quesiness is getting worse. I know I am starting to get 'morning sickness' but it's hard to know where it ends and the IBS begins. My traditional morning sickness symptoms are quite mild - as I said my gag reflex has gone into overdrive and even the thoughts of putting something in my mouth makes me dry retch - brushing my teeth takes a lot of deep breaths and takes me about 20 mins! lol strong smells just turn my stomach and make me retch - even if they are not bad smells, they just have to be strong. After a bout of retching I feel a bit quesy for about 5-10 mins and then I'm grand. I think those symptoms are the traditional morning sickness ones.

    But I really don't think I can blame morning sickness on the other symptoms, which are plain and simple IBS but the worst I have had them in a loooooong time. The last time I was this bad with IBS was after a very bad bout of the vomiting bug.

    My tummy is so swollen with trapped gas in my upper GI tract and upper intestine that I already look about 6 mths pregnant! The wind just doesn't seem to go anywhere - not up, not down, it just seems to be bouncing off the walls in there and not moving. I can't lie down in bed as I feel so so ill, I have to sleep sitting up. The gas still doesn't move up to burp very much, but it is better than lying down. If I do manage to belch, it sounds like a grizzly bear! lol I can't eat anything without feeling sick with wind afterwards. The constipation isn't too bad and is alleviated somewhat by taking duphalac which the doctor prescribed but it does nothing for the gas.

    It is the gas that is causing all this discomfort and sickness, I know I can't blame traditional MS on that. Plus there is no let up from it - it feels like it has been 24/7 for the last 3 days and getting worse as each day goes by. I suppose for us IBS sufferes this is our version of morning sickness - to be honest I think I would prefer a few vomiting sessions a day than these constant cramps and spasms. As red fraggle says, especially for a first pregnancy, all the cramping does tend to make you a bit paranoid!

    Think I'll investigate this activated charcoal option. Apparently it absorbs all the excess wind in the intestine. Going to see if my doctor thinks it's safe and if so I'm straight off to the health food shop!


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    #13
    MurdyWurdy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭MurdyWurdy


    Well, I have IBS and also suffered from hyperemesis so you can have both! I vomited a few times an hour for four months, lost over 10% of my body weight and was in hospital on drips and things. So normal morning sickness might still be coming your way!

    Hopefully you'll just have a bout of queasiness though :)


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    #14
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    MurdyWurdy wrote: »
    Well, I have IBS and also suffered from hyperemesis so you can have both! I vomited a few times an hour for four months, lost over 10% of my body weight and was in hospital on drips and things. So normal morning sickness might still be coming your way!

    Hopefully you'll just have a bout of queasiness though :)

    oh please god no, don't tell me that! you poor thing, I can only imagine how awful that was. Fingers crossed that this is as bad as it gets for me (which is bad enough thank you very much!). It's been a struggle to come to work the last few days, cos all I want to do is sit quietly and not move. Sleeping sitting up has me knackered, cos I'm not sleeping great that way. I don't want to tell anyone in work until at least 14 weeks, so I really really hope my symptoms stay manageable.


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    #15
    MurdyWurdy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭MurdyWurdy


    Hello Lady! wrote: »
    oh please god no, don't tell me that! you poor thing, I can only imagine how awful that was. Fingers crossed that this is as bad as it gets for me (which is bad enough thank you very much!). It's been a struggle to come to work the last few days, cos all I want to do is sit quietly and not move. Sleeping sitting up has me knackered, cos I'm not sleeping great that way. I don't want to tell anyone in work until at least 14 weeks, so I really really hope my symptoms stay manageable.

    Fingers crossed you'll be fine. It's unusual to be that sick! Also, all the women in my family were sick like that so it must be partly genetic.

    Hopefully you'll get some more sleep soon and can hide it from work til 14 weeks!


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    #16
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    MurdyWurdy wrote: »
    Fingers crossed you'll be fine. It's unusual to be that sick! Also, all the women in my family were sick like that so it must be partly genetic.
    Ok, now I just remembered - my mam told me she had morning, noon and night sickness and had it up to 7 months on each of us! :eek:
    Sadly Mam is no longer with us, so I can't check out what exactly her symptons were, but I definitely remember her telling me that - pity I was a teenager and only half interested! watch this space!

    (and if it is twins there is a very good chance the morning sickness will get worse - much worse! the scan next week can't come quick enough now!)


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    #17
    MurdyWurdy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭MurdyWurdy


    Hello Lady! wrote: »
    Ok, now I just remembered - my mam told me she had morning, noon and night sickness and had it up to 7 months on each of us! :eek:
    Sadly Mam is no longer with us, so I can't check out what exactly her symptons were, but I definitely remember her telling me that - pity I was a teenager and only half interested! watch this space!

    (and if it is twins there is a very good chance the morning sickness will get worse - much worse! the scan next week can't come quick enough now!)

    Well, fingers crossed you'll be ok! Lots of people take after their mums but I also know two sisters who were pregnant at the same time and one was sick and the other wasn't at all so who knows how it all works.

    People kept asking me if I was sure it's not twins because I was so sick but I think at this stage (34 weeks) I'd know! Best of luck with scan anyway.


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    #18
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    MurdyWurdy wrote: »
    Well, fingers crossed you'll be ok! Lots of people take after their mums but I also know two sisters who were pregnant at the same time and one was sick and the other wasn't at all so who knows how it all works.

    Must be the men's fault then - soemthing to do with the half dose of genetics they provide! easiest to blame them I reckon! :P


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    #19
    Moonbeam
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,953 Mod ✭✭✭✭Moonbeam


    MurdyWurdy wrote: »
    Well, I have IBS and also suffered from hyperemesis so you can have both! I vomited a few times an hour for four months, lost over 10% of my body weight and was in hospital on drips and things. So normal morning sickness might still be coming your way!

    Hopefully you'll just have a bout of queasiness though :)

    I was the same on my 1st girl except I had it for my whole pregnancy. I was barely sick at all with my son!

    op - I hope you find a solution soon it is uncomfortable enough being pregnant with out the extra discomfort and embarassment,


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    #20
    Hello Lady!
    Registered Users Posts: 856 ✭✭✭Hello Lady!


    Moonbeam wrote: »
    op - I hope you find a solution soon it is uncomfortable enough being pregnant with out the extra discomfort and embarassment,

    Embarrassment is to a minimum at the moment, as if the gas does manage to move it is moving upwards, not downwards. I do still sound a bit like a bear growling, but I can kind of try to keep the noise to a minimum. I dread to think what it would sound like if it was coming from the other end :eek:


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