Help with Gas problem

[gracie]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I truly appreciate it.
Jeanie, I see you are early in recovery. I just want to wish you the best with your recovery. Hope all goes well.
Gracie

[Karyn]

Hi Gracie,
Do the indignities never end?!?!?!? Your poor thing! Just giving you something to think about: I was also on Gabapentin and it reeked total havoc on my bowels. In addition to the excess gas, I was also stool incontinent. Docs tried to convince me it was my diet (it wasn't) and also had me taking fiber supplements, which caused me to have constipated diarhrea. I don't know if you have a history of digestive problems or not, but I thought I'd throw this out there.
Warm regards,
Karyn

[gracie]

Karyn,
Thanks for the response. I don't normally have digestive problems. I take 2400mg a day of the gabapentin. I've been on it so long that I don't even remember what I used to feel like without drugs. I've had the gas right along, but more so since TIR surgery last Feb. I now do have constipation problems since the dosage of my amitryptiline was increased. I can't go for days then I end up with a terrible stomach ache and have to go 2-3 times a day for one day then back to constipation. I have received some pretty good ideas here and I am going to go this weekend and try to get some of the things that might help. Thank you for your words of support though. I don't wish anyone to go through what we are all going through, but it is nice to have someone that truly understands.
Gracie

[Tiny Dancer]

Gracie,

I hate to tell you but incontinence goes with PN. And gas escaping and not being able to stop it, is what they consider as the first level of incontinence.

Kate

[Karyn]

Caring thoughts and best wishes to you, Gracie! I hope you find something that helps. I know constipation is listed as one of the side effects of the gabapentin but I actually got the opposite side effect from it (diarrhea). I don't know if flatulence is listed as a side effect of amitryptiline. I just want to say that I also understand about not being able to remember how you felt before the drugs. I really had to struggle and dig deep to try to remember that there WAS a time when I wasn't flatulent and incontinent. Although both of those things have definitely improved since discontinuing the gabapentin, I still experience both to some degree. Please let us know if you find anything that helps!
Warmest regards,
Karyn

[gracie]

I have had some success with some of the advice I received. I want to just say thank you to you all. I can't look at this thing as the first level of anything. I am prepared to fight it as long as I have to. I can't look at the down hill battle only the up hill one.
Gracie

[Judith]

Gracie, and others,
Just wanted to add a little suggestion. When I was having problems with constipation from meds, docs wanted me on a dose of Miralax a day and that was worse than what I was experiencing. MY PT works with a lot of GI patients and she suggested I try something called Natural Calm. I buy it through Vitacost but it's all over the internet. It is a magnesium powder that you can titrate to the dose that works for you. It's been absolutely the perfect solution for me. I have figured out the right dose for me now and I rarely have any problems now from a GI standpoint.
Judith

[gracie]

Thank you Judith. I think you are the second person that mentioned something like that. If it works for more than one of us then to me it is definitely worth a try. I will look into it right away.
Glad you have had success. I absolutely love to hear the positives here. Gives me hope.
Gracie

[JeanieC]

Gracie,

Thank you for your good wishes for recovery. I see that you are also in your first year of recovery and I do hope you have seen at least some progress. I realize it will take you a while to try out all the remedies suggested to you but please let us know if any seem to be particularly beneficial. Gas, and trying to stop it escaping, does add to rectal pain besides being embarrassing when in public. I do think that some of these will help though.

Best wishes,

Jeanie

[gracie]

Hi Jeanie,
I do think that I have rec'd many good suggestions and I am going to do some experimenting to see what will work well for me. I am still in my first year of recovery. It has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. I have had periods where I do feel a bit better, but then I may get hit hard again with the pain. This can last several days as well. I find that when I do have a good spell, I am reluctant to put too much excitement into it yet. I always hope and pray it will last, but so far that hasn't happened. Now I just try to be thankful for the days I feel better. How are you doing since surgery? Have you seen any improvements? I will keep updates here and I hope you do to. I am always interested to see how others are recovering.
Wishing you well,
Gracie