Blog Posts Tagged IBS | Sheila Meyer

Do You Suffer From Frequent Bloating, Gas or Stomach Cramping?

If you suffer from bloating, gas or stomach cramping, you may have an inflammatory-type bowel condition such as:

Chrohn’s
Celiac
IBS

These conditions can affect any part of the digestive system...from the stomach where food is broken down .... all the way to the small intestine where absorption of nutrients takes place.

When inflammation is present then the possibility of malabsorption increases. Malabsorption means nutritional deficiencies. What are some of these and what contributes to the malabsorption?

Malabsorption = Nutritional Deficiencies

Prednisone is a corticosteroid commonly used to reduce or manage inflammatory responses. Prednisone can cause a deficiency of zinc and potassium.

Zinc
- Loss of appetite
- Hair loss
- Diarrhea
Potassium
- Muscles feel weak, twitch, cramp
- Body feels heavy or weighted down
- Abnormal heart rhythms

Calories are lost due to the malabsorption. For someone who is trying to lost weight you might think this is not a bad thing. However, there is more to "lost" calories:

Carbohydrates
Protein
Fats
- Vitamins A, D, E, K: these fat-soluble vitamins have no "fat" to dissolve in then the body is unable to absorb them

Some medications that are commonly prescribed for inflammatory bowel conditions may sometimes prevent the absorption of Vitamin D and Folate:

Cholastyramine
- Vitamin D
Sulfasalazine
- Folate (inability to be metabolized)
  - Important for helping tissues grow and cells function.
  - Works with Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C to help the body break down, use, and create new proteins.
    - NOTE: "proteins" are lost through calories not being absorbed AND through the use of this medication
  - Helps form red blood cells which helps prevent anemia

Steroids

Calcium

Chronic Diarrhea

Magnesium
- Key mineral for bone growth & other body processes

Some symptoms of Malabsorption may include bloating, gas, stomach cramping, bulky or fatty stools and chronic diarrhea.

In severe cases fatigue or sudden weight loss may be noticed.

Be sure to check with your doctor if you have been experiencing any of these symptoms.

Did you enjoy this tip? If so, see what else may contribute to inflammation! Check it out here.

Check out some of my other online resources HERE and learn more about how to enjoy life despite stressors.

People, including doctors, thought we were crazy...all in our heads.  After all, how could normal, every day household and personal product smells affect your ability to function, to cause you to be incoherent and feel shaky inside, to have an emotional break-down?  Inside we were dying.  Outside we appeared normal. 

Fragrances were, and are, part of every day, normal life.....candles, laundry, cleaning, perfumes.  Everyone and their neighbor used them.  For us, we either had to isolate ourselves or suffer the following day or two with a toxic hangover.  Isolation is never a good option, especially with children.  During the summer it was impossible to go outside without inhaling someone's laundry or the recent lawn product application.  My husband was so bad one summer that he could eat constantly and, yet, still lose weight.  Every month I would get a sinus infection and/or chest congestion. 

Then came the food sensitivities and autoimmune disorders.  How could food cause my ears to be red and hot, my cheeks to flush, and cause my entire body to break out multiple times in a horrendous, red, itchy, inflamed rash only to burn when scratched and ooze yellow, sticky fluid?  Imagine, every day having gauze pads over the majority of your body under your clothes and hoping the rash doesn't drain so much that it soaks through your clothes.  It would take months to disappear.  People said "just get a cortisone/steroid shot" for relief.  They could not understand why that was not my choice. 

By discovering and eliminating my many triggers, finding a new, non-toxic way to support my immune system, my liver, and my thyroid, I have not had a major skin breakout for about 3 yrs and have been able to manage my autoimmune disorders without the use of standard medication. 

I finally found a way to acquire "Freedom from Toxins", "Freedom to Achieve Wellness", and "Freedom to Choose". 

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Do You Suffer From Frequent Bloating, Gas or Stomach Cramping?

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