Painful gas and bloating can strike at the worst possible moment– during an important conference or on a congested elevator. Although passing intestinal gas (flatus) normally isn’t really serious, it can be humiliating.
Anything that causes intestinal gas or is associated with constipation or diarrhea can cause gas pains. These pains typically take place when gas builds up in your intestines, and you’re not able to expel it. Many people pass gas at least 10 times a day.
Fortunately is that although you cannot stop gas and gas pains, a few simple measures can help reduce the amount of gas you produce and eliminate your discomfort and embarrassment.
Symptoms
For many people, the signs and symptoms of gas and gas pain are all too obvious. They include:
- Voluntary or involuntary death of gas, either as belches or as flatus.
- Sharp, jabbing pains or cramps in your abdominal area. These pains might take place throughout your abdomen and can change locations quickly and improve rapidly.
- A ‘knotted’ feeling in your abdomen.
- Swelling and tightness in your abdomen (bloating).
In some cases, gas pains might be consistent or two extreme that it feels like something is seriously wrong.
Gas can often be mistaken for:
- Heart disease
- Gallstones
- Appendicitis
When to see a doctor
It’s thought about normal to pass gas as flatus in between 10 and 20 times a day. That quantity varies from day to day, however.
Call your doctor if your gas is accompanied by:
- Long term abdominal pain
- Bloody stools
- A change in stool color or frequency
- Weight loss
- Chest pain
- Consistent or persistent queasiness or vomiting
In addition, talk with your doctor if your gas or gas pains are so consistent or severe that they hinder your ability to live a typical life. In many cases, treatment can help in reducing or minimize the issue.
Causes of Painful Gas and Bloating in Adults
Gas forms when bacteria in your colon ferment carbohydrates that aren’t absorbed in your small intestine. Sadly, healthy, high-fiber foods are frequently the worst wrongdoers. Fiber has many health benefits, including keeping your digestive tract in great working order and regulating blood glucose and cholesterol levels. But fiber can also lead to the formation of gas.
High-fiber foods that frequently cause gas and gas pains include:
- Fruits
- Veggies
- Entire grains
- Beans and peas (vegetables).
Fiber supplements including psyllium, such as Metamucil, might cause such problems, especially if contributed to your diet too rapidly. Carbonated drinks, such as soda and beer, also cause gas. IYTmed.com advise to quit alcohol.
Other causes of excess and painful gas include:
- Swallowed air. You swallow air whenever you eat or drink. You might likewise swallow air when you’re nervous, eat too fast, chew gum, suck on sweets or drink through a straw. A few of that air finds its way into your lower digestive tract.
- Another health condition. Excess gas might be a symptom of a more serious chronic condition. Examples include diverticulitis or an inflammatory bowel disease, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. Excess gas and bloating might likewise be a symptom of bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine from conditions such as diabetes.
- Food intolerances. If your gas and bloating occur mainly after eating dairy products, it might be since your body isn’t able to break down the sugar (lactose) in dairy foods. Other food intolerances, especially to gluten– a protein found in wheat and some other grains– also can result in excess gas, diarrhea as well as weight loss.
- Synthetic ingredients. It’s also possible that your system can’t endure sweetening agents, such as sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol, discovered in some sugar-free foods, gums and candies. Many healthy individuals develop gas and diarrhea when they take in these sweeteners.
- Constipation. Constipation might make it challenging to pass gas, causing bloating and discomfort.
Risk factors
You’re more likely to have problems with gas if you:
- Are lactose or gluten intolerant.
- Eat a diet abundant in fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes.
- Drink carbonated drinks.
- Have a chronic intestinal condition, such as irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease.
Neither age nor sex affect how frequently you pass gas.
Treatments
If your gas pains are caused by another illness, treating the underlying condition might provide relief. Otherwise, bothersome gas is usually treated with dietary procedures, lifestyle adjustments or over-the-counter medications. Although the option isn’t the same for everybody, with a little trial and error, the majority of people are able to discover some relief.
Diet tips to avoid painful gas and bloating
The following dietary changes may help in reducing the quantity of gas your body produces or help gas relocation faster through your system:.
- Try to determine and prevent the foods that impact you the most. Foods that cause gas problems for many individuals include beans, onions, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, artichokes, asparagus, pears, apples, peaches, prunes, sugar-free candies and chewing gum, whole-wheat bread, bran cereals or muffins, milk, cream, ice cream, ice milk, and beer, sodas and other carbonated beverages.
- Attempt cutting back on fried and fatty foods. Typically, bloating arise from eating fatty foods. Fat delays stomach emptying and can increase the sensation of fullness.
- Briefly cut down on high-fiber foods. Add them back slowly over several weeks. For the majority of people, it takes about 3 weeks for your body to obtain used to additional fiber. However, some people never ever adjust.
- Go easy on fiber supplements. Try cutting down on the quantity you take and develop your intake gradually. If your symptoms remain, you may attempt a various type of fiber supplement. Make certain to take fiber supplements with a glass of water and drink a lot of liquids throughout the day.
- Reduce your use of dairy products. Try using low-lactose dairy foods, such as yogurt, instead of milk. Or try using products that help digest lactose, such as Lactaid or Dairy Ease. Consuming percentages of milk products at one time or consuming them with other foods also may make them much easier to absorb. Sometimes, nevertheless, you may need to get rid of dairy foods totally.
Over-the-counter remedies
Some products may help, but they aren’t always reliable. Think about attempting:.
- Beano. Add Beano to beans and vegetables to help reduce the quantity of gas they produce. For Beano to be efficient, you need to take it with your first bite of food. It works best when there’s only a little gas in your intestines.
- Lactase supplements. Supplements of the enzyme lactase (Lactaid, Dairy-Ease), which helps you absorb lactose, may help if you are lactose intolerant. You may also attempt dairy products that are lactose-free or have minimized lactose.
- Simethicone. Over-the-counter products which contain simethicone (Gas-X, Gelusil, Mylanta, Mylicon) help separate the bubbles in gas. Although these products are extensively used, they haven’t been proved reliable for gas and gas pain.
- Activated charcoal. Charcoal tablets (CharcoCaps, Charcoal Plus, others) taken in the past and after a meal likewise might help. Like simethicone, there’s no definitive proof that charcoal eliminates gas. In addition, charcoal might stain the within your mouth and your clothes if the tablets get on your clothes.
