IBS and Training Ectomorph

[somethinghere]

Hello there, this is a bit of a long story but ill try to make it short.

Im currently 21 years old 6'1 and 142 lbs. About a year and a half ago I started working out and eating A LOT. The first 8 months or so I saw great change and was highly motivated and happy. I went from 140 ish lbs to 150. then suddenly I began getting recurringly sick. mostly flu viruses and stomach viruses. I trained as hard as i could in between these bouts of illness, but only managed to maintain my weight.

Then one day after a serious stomach flu, I noticed my bowels were not performing right. I thought to myself it would only be temporary but lo and behold almost a year has pased since then and I still have bad alternating constipation and diarrhea, and a very weak stomach.

SO all this has translated into a severe reduction in weight and hindered my training performance. i am now back down to 142 lbs. My IBS only seems to get better when I stop eating as much food as I need to increase my weight. This sucks, I just wanna know if anyone else has gone through something similar. ive had many tests done, and tried several probiotics to no avail. its lime my body and I are totally out of sync.

[somethinghere]

My age is actually 21 not 47, i cant edit that for some reason.

[kitpapa]

So what has your doctor done or what recommendations has he given you to help with the IBS?

[bearjewcometh]

Hello there, this is a bit of a long story but ill try to make it short.

Im currently 21 years old 6'1 and 142 lbs. About a year and a half ago I started working out and eating A LOT. The first 8 months or so I saw great change and was highly motivated and happy. I went from 140 ish lbs to 150. then suddenly I began getting recurringly sick. mostly flu viruses and stomach viruses. I trained as hard as i could in between these bouts of illness, but only managed to maintain my weight.

Then one day after a serious stomach flu, I noticed my bowels were not performing right. I thought to myself it would only be temporary but lo and behold almost a year has pased since then and I still have bad alternating constipation and diarrhea, and a very weak stomach.

SO all this has translated into a severe reduction in weight and hindered my training performance. i am now back down to 142 lbs. My IBS only seems to get better when I stop eating as much food as I need to increase my weight. This sucks, I just wanna know if anyone else has gone through something similar. ive had many tests done, and tried several probiotics to no avail. its lime my body and I are totally out of sync.

As someone with crohn's I feel ya. have you tried take a crack at the AIP diet?

[somethinghere]

Stool tests, blood tests etc. Nothing showed up, not even a wheat intolerance or anything. I considered seeing a gastroenterologist for a while, but money is an issue and i have no health insurance. i figured at this point I must have IBS cause anything else would have already given rise to other symptoms.

[WonderPug]

What calorific foods do you best tolerate?

[AdamWW]

I'd avoid labeling it IBS for now, it may be a specific food intolerance. Have you done an elimination diet to try and rule out common issues? Things to try:

- dairy/lactose
- soy
- eggs
- tree nuts
- any and all supplements you began taking at or around the time at which you started training and 'forcing' food down.

I'd recommend cutting those out individually for about 2 weeks each and seeing how you do. Residual issues in the gut often delays results from removing problem foods.

Other issues can include issues with acid/bile production so gallbladder problems are a possibility.

Finally, it may simply be an issue with your gut flora. Any time you go through an infection the reestablishment of normal gut bacteria is very important, and an over or undergrowth of said flora can result in the symptoms you mention.

You may also try adding in probiotics and seeing if that helps.

I'm curious, did you take antibiotics for any of the infections you experienced?

[somethinghere]

Ill try eliminatig them for two weeks. i only tried a few days before because i usually notice diet shifts pretty quickly.

Ive tried probiotics from yogurts and pills and nothing seems to work there. i used those for a few weeks and then stoppped.

I did take antibiotics for one of the flus, but after the first one i figured it would be bad for me to keep taking more and I just let the illnesses run their course. interestingly my immune system seems a lot stronger now, its been months since i last got sick.

Thanks for the reply.

[ErikTheElectric]

Stool tests, blood tests etc. Nothing showed up, not even a wheat intolerance or anything. I considered seeing a gastroenterologist for a while, but money is an issue and i have no health insurance. i figured at this point I must have IBS cause anything else would have already given rise to other symptoms.

Have you tried working with an RN or registered dietitian?