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What Causes Nausea, Bloating, Gas And Abdominal Cramps?
Question: Hi, I recently for the past few months maybe 5 or 6 to be exact have been experiencing some stomach issues. It started with nausea, and evening bloating and gas and random abdominal cramps and pains, sometimes experienced together sometimes at different times. Usually there is some relief when passing gas and the gas is excessive more so than ever before but its not always. There are days where there is not much pain at all but its fairly consistent. I had heartburn as well but that has totally ceased and is not a problem. The nausea is much less than before. I mainly have pain and bloating with and without gas but its not always the same its more discomfort than pain and its at different spots. Sometimes when I run my finger over my upper abdomen I feel a bump not bulging or anything but under the surface like raised its not painful but odd. Sometimes it feels like the discomfort is in my ribs on the bones sometimes its in other spots it can be intermittent and is usually brief, also experience hunger pangs. I have a strong appetite and have not experienced any weight loss at all or weight gain and not particularly fatigued its just my stomach. I tried a juice fast and it seemed to be helpful. I also have excessive urination and its like clear urine or pale yellowand more thirst than usual. I was thinking maybe its something to do with kidneys but I have no really significant back pain. I have noticed bubbles in my urine but also am not sure. I was told on a forum its gastritis any idea what it could be??
Brief Answer:
Discontinue the turmeric and garlic for now.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I have a few thoughts on what might be going on:
You may still have some stomach or duodenal (first part of the small intestines) irritation given the symptoms you started with and the bloating and other symptoms are from continued gas.
I see that you are taking turmeric capsules and garlic supplement. When people are having vague digestive problems that are not going away, I usually advise to stop any supplements that are not absolutely necessary and give it a couple of weeks and see if that helps. If it does, you can try to reintroduce one supplement at a time as tolerated, spacing the reintroductions by a few weeks.
Garlic can be gas forming, particularly when raw or taken in concentrated forms. Garlic has sulfur bonds that when broken down can produce gas.
Turmeric can, in some people, be irritating to the digestive tract, even though it is an antiinflammatory agent. The problem is that on it's own, it is not easily absorbable. But of the 2 supplements, I am guessing the garlic may be the biggest culprit.
So here is what I recommend:
1. Give up the supplements for now.
2. Continue the probiotic you have taken in the past or are currently taking.
3. Take simethicone (Gas X is one brand). Simethicone helps break up gas pockets into smaller amounts so that there isn't a big pocket of gas causing painful distention. Take it as needed but don't exceed the amount recommended on the package. This is a safe over the counter product.
4. An acid reducer in the H2 blocker family such as ranitidine (Zantac) is safe (especially when compared with proton pump inhibitor acid reducers such as Prilosec, which can cause rebound side effects). Taking 150 mg twice a day for a couple of weeks may resolve the irritation problem (and symptoms like "hunger" pains). If you don't like to take medications, you can try DGL (a form of licorice that does not effect your hormones adversely). Whole Foods has a product called DGL Plus that is deglyzerhinated and does not contain man-made sugars such as sorbitol.
Now about the increased thirst and urination: have you had your blood sugar tested? Specifically a fasting blood sugar and an A1C (which assesses average blood sugars over a couple of months). Because increased thirst can be a sign of sugar processing problems (diabetes). It can also be due to diuretic hormone disturbances, and that is one of the reasons (in addition to blood pressure) not to take straight licorice.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.
Discontinue the turmeric and garlic for now.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I have a few thoughts on what might be going on:
You may still have some stomach or duodenal (first part of the small intestines) irritation given the symptoms you started with and the bloating and other symptoms are from continued gas.
I see that you are taking turmeric capsules and garlic supplement. When people are having vague digestive problems that are not going away, I usually advise to stop any supplements that are not absolutely necessary and give it a couple of weeks and see if that helps. If it does, you can try to reintroduce one supplement at a time as tolerated, spacing the reintroductions by a few weeks.
Garlic can be gas forming, particularly when raw or taken in concentrated forms. Garlic has sulfur bonds that when broken down can produce gas.
Turmeric can, in some people, be irritating to the digestive tract, even though it is an antiinflammatory agent. The problem is that on it's own, it is not easily absorbable. But of the 2 supplements, I am guessing the garlic may be the biggest culprit.
So here is what I recommend:
1. Give up the supplements for now.
2. Continue the probiotic you have taken in the past or are currently taking.
3. Take simethicone (Gas X is one brand). Simethicone helps break up gas pockets into smaller amounts so that there isn't a big pocket of gas causing painful distention. Take it as needed but don't exceed the amount recommended on the package. This is a safe over the counter product.
4. An acid reducer in the H2 blocker family such as ranitidine (Zantac) is safe (especially when compared with proton pump inhibitor acid reducers such as Prilosec, which can cause rebound side effects). Taking 150 mg twice a day for a couple of weeks may resolve the irritation problem (and symptoms like "hunger" pains). If you don't like to take medications, you can try DGL (a form of licorice that does not effect your hormones adversely). Whole Foods has a product called DGL Plus that is deglyzerhinated and does not contain man-made sugars such as sorbitol.
Now about the increased thirst and urination: have you had your blood sugar tested? Specifically a fasting blood sugar and an A1C (which assesses average blood sugars over a couple of months). Because increased thirst can be a sign of sugar processing problems (diabetes). It can also be due to diuretic hormone disturbances, and that is one of the reasons (in addition to blood pressure) not to take straight licorice.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Hi thank you for the information and the detailed answer. I began taking curcumin turmeric supplement and the garlic about 7 to 10 days ago and will stop taking them as it seems tough to absorb. I mainly started taking them for the antioxidants but I get that from other sources. In the past I have taken mastic gum supplements and the DGL chewable licorice tablets at the same time as well and it seemed to have less if any adverse effects I stopped taking them as I dont usually take any supplements more than a couple weeks at a time but I will resume taking the probiotic as I never experienced any negative effects. Is it okay to take the probiotic with DGL you mentioned and mastic gum or any combination of those as well as a the OTC's for acid you had mentioned.
I suspected it could be acid related so I stopped eating or drinking caffeine or citrus foods and I will begin taking zantac on a daily basis as you mentioned for a couple weeks and see if that helps. In terms of diet is there a specific diet you would recommend, I am open to anything and really just want to eat the same strict diet everyday that will keep any adverse symptoms away and be simple. I have been eating fish,chicken and vegetables along with bread and rice but I can't pinpoint foods that are easily digestable for me and will not cause flare ups. I dont have any blood in my stool or in my urine that I can see and have never actually vomited even when experiencing nausea so I am hoping I can gradually eliminate the remaining symptoms as it's caused me some anxiety recently.
In terms of the urination I had a fasting blood sugar test a couple years ago and it was normal never an A1C but I will test again over a few days and see if that shows anything, I also tested for ketones in my urine and that came up negative as well so I am not sure whats going on. I read about a rare form of diabetes insipidus which causes frequent urination and thirst but not related to blood sugar and I have thought of a water deprivation test to see if its related to inability to regulate water. It doesnt bother me to go to the bathroom more I just wanted to rule out underlying causes. Thank you for everything I appreciate it.
I suspected it could be acid related so I stopped eating or drinking caffeine or citrus foods and I will begin taking zantac on a daily basis as you mentioned for a couple weeks and see if that helps. In terms of diet is there a specific diet you would recommend, I am open to anything and really just want to eat the same strict diet everyday that will keep any adverse symptoms away and be simple. I have been eating fish,chicken and vegetables along with bread and rice but I can't pinpoint foods that are easily digestable for me and will not cause flare ups. I dont have any blood in my stool or in my urine that I can see and have never actually vomited even when experiencing nausea so I am hoping I can gradually eliminate the remaining symptoms as it's caused me some anxiety recently.
In terms of the urination I had a fasting blood sugar test a couple years ago and it was normal never an A1C but I will test again over a few days and see if that shows anything, I also tested for ketones in my urine and that came up negative as well so I am not sure whats going on. I read about a rare form of diabetes insipidus which causes frequent urination and thirst but not related to blood sugar and I have thought of a water deprivation test to see if its related to inability to regulate water. It doesnt bother me to go to the bathroom more I just wanted to rule out underlying causes. Thank you for everything I appreciate it.
Brief Answer:
Thoughts on this.
Detailed Answer:
It is safe to take DGL with probiotics and the ranitidine (Zantac) and simethicone. I am not that familiar with mastic gum, so I can't advise much about that.
I have seen cases of diabetes insipidus but it is pretty rare. Anemia is also a cause of excess thirst but I would not expect that to be happening with you (we see that more in young menstruating women).
Regarding the dietary things to avoid, for now, consider avoiding (in addition to the things you mentioned) tomatoes, alcohol, spices, garlic, chocolate and food that has a lot of grease. Unless you know for sure that they don't bother you.
Foods that may be easier to tolerate: green leafy (kale), cruciferous veggies cooked well, such as broccoli, green beans, tofu (without a lot of spices), cooked carrots and sweet potatoes (high in Vitamin A which can help the tissues heal), white potatoes, rice, fish, chicken, turkey. Bread is ok if you know that you have no trouble with it, but you might want to eliminate it for awhile because of the gluten in it. Oatmeal would be a better choice for a carb. Almond or rice milk.
Thoughts on this.
Detailed Answer:
It is safe to take DGL with probiotics and the ranitidine (Zantac) and simethicone. I am not that familiar with mastic gum, so I can't advise much about that.
I have seen cases of diabetes insipidus but it is pretty rare. Anemia is also a cause of excess thirst but I would not expect that to be happening with you (we see that more in young menstruating women).
Regarding the dietary things to avoid, for now, consider avoiding (in addition to the things you mentioned) tomatoes, alcohol, spices, garlic, chocolate and food that has a lot of grease. Unless you know for sure that they don't bother you.
Foods that may be easier to tolerate: green leafy (kale), cruciferous veggies cooked well, such as broccoli, green beans, tofu (without a lot of spices), cooked carrots and sweet potatoes (high in Vitamin A which can help the tissues heal), white potatoes, rice, fish, chicken, turkey. Bread is ok if you know that you have no trouble with it, but you might want to eliminate it for awhile because of the gluten in it. Oatmeal would be a better choice for a carb. Almond or rice milk.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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