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primek's avatar
primek
Member
10 years ago

Gas

One of my most distressing side effects of AC chemo is wind pain after even a small drink or meal. My stomach / abdomen blows up so much I look about 9 months pregnant...I can feel it distended and it remains for hours. Then of course the farting starts seceral hours after I eat.  I can't  wear anything other than loose clothing because of it. The other annoying thing is I am unable to tell if full or not...as full of air. So it's easy to overeat....especially if feeling squarmy....which is worse when hungry. I've  tackled gastritis  using nexium. I've  tackled constipation issues with coloxyl and movichol. Neither issue resolved the gas. Any suggestions?

Kath

9 Replies

  • Thanks. Drink that already, doesn't  help with the gas / bloat for me.

  • I also had AC chemo and the bloating/gas.  I found plain sparkling mineral water helped a lot.  Added a squirt of lemon sometimes to make it more palatable. 

  • I've  been advised whikst undertaking chemotherapy  to have no soft cheeses...as the lysteria risk. ..unless cooked and no real yoghurt...as real yoghurt contains live bacteria which is the risk when having chemo. Inner health plus is concentrated bacteria....so it could pose a risk. Also not to have shop bought prepared salads...freshly made salads is okay, especially during neutropenic times.

  • hi, 

    i still eat wholemeal bread, and you can purchase inner health plus without the dairy component, about the yoghurt, no one has said anything to me about that and i have been having yoghurt off and on for the last three years! we all seem to get bits of different information, could you explain about the yoghurt culture so i can be aware for future reference,i chose inner health plus because some of the other drinks etc had a high content of sugar, anyway hope this helps ,

    wendy

  • I would strongly suggest peppermint tea to help you expel the gas faster. It will not prevent it but what it does is firces it to bind with other gas and makes you either burp it out almost straight away or you will have a few big farts real soon.

    You can get pepermint extract at chemists also which you place a few drops off in hot water and drink but I really tjink actual tea is better both taste wise and for effectivness.

    I used it after major surgery when I suffered from severe intestinal neuralgia and we also use it for tummy upsets and food poisoning. It works great due to speed - just remember to drink the tea hot - needs to be hot for it to work

  • Thanks Wendy,

    I thought since we are unable to eat yoghurt due to the culture then we couldn't have inner health plus. I was going to ask the oncologist about it next week as thought it might be an answer (or yokult). Are you able to eat wholemeal bread?....just presently my taste buds are everywhere and I often just want a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich.  Veggies just taste weird for about 10 days after chemo so I struggle with lunches. Mind you presently it is all foods.

  • Hi,

    thought I would just let you know that I had the same problem, I found that eating white bread or white bread rolls, pasta, eating cakes, pastries some biscuits made it even worse I felt very embarrassed and would not go out, however since taking inner health plus everyday, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, my tummy is flat as!!! and no more wind, so long as i behave myself and dont eat anything i know will upset it,

    hope this helps, you can purchase inner health plus at chemist warehouse a lot cheaper than at your pharmacy about $20 cheaper so worth going there,

    take care,good luck

    wendy 55 

  • Hi Kath, I'm probably not much help but I do understand how awful it is having bad wind. Sometimes it's so bad I'm scared to go out. Just something else we have to put up with. Maybe talk to your GP next visit.

    Take care. 

    Anne-Marie

  • I had that plus reflux. Medications didn't do a whole lot toward fixing it and in the end I just ate weetbix every meal for a week. Boring I know but it fixed my reflux and the wind with no meds.