Desparate! 24/7 Very Loud Intestinal Noises

[dgirl24]

For over 10 years I've had horribly loud noises that come from the intestinal area, which is getting worse and worse. It's almost constant. When I touch the area where the noises come from (it varies, there are a couple different noises), sometimes it feels like something is bubbling almost. My primary doctor told me there's nothing to be done about it, and it wasn't a big deal, but it is. It's taken over my life. It's all but eliminated my social life; I call into work when we have meetings, I can't watch movies with friends, can't stay the night anywhere (it gets worse at night and in the am). I've developed a phobia of silence and any situation that requires it due to this. I've cut out foods, alcohol, all in an attempt to stop the embarassment. Can anyone give me some idea of how to make this stop? I am desperate...

[ISCREWEDUPBAD]

I have the same problem been going on for about 7 months now,, its taking over my life.. no end in sight.

[JC141]

I have managed to cure the problem that I had and you all talk about.  It was a long haul and to be fair I have had to give up alot along the way, but its fair to say it's been worth it.

The first thing I gave up was MILK.  I found that milk caused me no end of grief and I now drink organic soya milk.  I don't eat any form of DAIRY.

I then gave up ALL PROCESSED FOODS, no more ready meals,

I had to give up SWEETS, someone mentioned artificial sugars.  I found this to be a massive trigger.  I realised when I was doing weight watchers and I was eating their 1 point sweets.  My symptoms were worse than ever.  Not everything that appears to be low in fat is good for you.

The next thing I did was to change the way I eat entirely.

For breakfast - NO CEREAL. I eat fruit.  This is normally a chopped apple, banana and grapes.

Lunch, vegetables (raw) carrots / green beans.

For dinner I eat a home made soup the a bread roll (Always wholemeal)  This would be packed with potato, pepper, parsnips, cabbage, celery, green beans, vegetable stock.  What ever type of vegetable you like.  

For supper I will eat fruit.

THIS IS EXTREME, but so was my problem.  THIS WORKS.  

If I fancy something else I always wait till my rest days and I might then treat myself.  But generally I stick with the above.  ALL FRESH FOOD.  

Please note I'm dairy intolerant and some of you might not be, so it's worth doing a food diary and just going back to basics and then just adding things to see how your body reacts.  

[Sunshine633]

Hi there-
I was on this forum about 5 years ago, and was also having EXTREMELY LOUD stomach noises.  I just got them under control by doing 2 things; I stopped eating anything with aspartame (check the label on all sugar-free products, for instance it's in almost all breath mints except Altoids).  Eliminating aspartame worked for a while, but then the stomach noises returned.  My daughter stopped eating gluten, so in solidarity, I also went gluten-free.  WOW, low and behold my stomach noises have COMPLETELY STOPPED!  So, it was both aspartame and gluten that was causing me problems.  I've now been gluten free for 3-months, and I feel better and I am not embarrassed all the time about my stomach noises!

[Gluten_Free_Guy]

This saved me! Thank you!

[Nevergiveup907]

I have this same problem. Propanolol and Gas X an hour and a half before meeting or quiet event. No caffeine the day of,and no alcohol the night before.  For breakfast have a banana and water. Works for me. If I have an am or mid am meeting.  if it's after lunch try to eat something really light-no gluten, like nuts, light salad, nothing spicy or new or sugary. Hope this helps someone I know how devastating this can be.

[ysr813]

I've only had this problem for 8 months but it is terrible. I'm in college and I noticed the problem towards my final days of my first semester in fall (I'm a freshmen soon to be sophomore). I remember going to my doctor and him just telling me that it was normal but it doesn't feel normal. I also went to a GI doctor and he told me the same thing. He said I could continue taking gas pills and asked if I could try a pro biotic. I tried taking align and that worked pretty well but still didn't stopped the noises. When I went back for my second semester I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to finish but thank God I finished and with pretty good grades. I also noticed that ironically my stomach sounds A LOT more when I get anxious about it making noise as oppose to when I'm with my parents and here nothing. I'm thinking of getting the SIBO test before I go back for my second year first semester. Praying for all of you out there because I know how bad it feels to have these noises control your life.    

[dlu]

I have also suffered through similar symptoms for the past 4 years. I don't even think I remember life without worrying about this problem. It’s really starting to get out of control, and take over my social/professional life, even causing anxiety and panic attacks. So I started seeing a GI doctor recently. At first he ran some blood work and that came back fine. No gluten or lactose intolerance (which was my first suspect). The doctor then asked me to take a SIBO breath test (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth). This is a simple breath test that can tell you if there are abnormal amounts of bacteria in the small intestine. It came back positive.

To treat this the doctor prescribed me an antibiotic called Xifaxan which is supposed to kill off the bacteria in the small intestine. I just started taking this medication today, so no happy news to report (yet). But after doing some research on my own about SIBO I really think that this may be the root cause so I'm hopeful.

With SIBO, the bacteria interferes with the normal digestion  process (and can even damage the lining small intestine). The bacteria live off the food that we are unable to digest properly. There are antibiotics as well as diets that can be taken to stop this. Again, I don’t know if the SIBO medication will work, but at least it’s a lead.

So I’d say do some digging online about SIBO and ask your doctor if he/she would recommend taking the breath test.