My weird experience with alcohol
I doubt if this will make sense to many IBS sufferers, as alcohol is mostly considered a big trigger for IBS.
What happens to me doesn't happen every evening, and I can go a long time without these particular symptoms. But about 4 hours after dinner (I eat about 6pm, so this can start happening around 10pm), after having felt very good, suddenly my gut starts feeling horrible. It's not pain or bloating, it's this all encompassing "discomfort" (very hard to describe) and I start to feel almost like the world is ending. That's a feeling that's also hard to describe.
My heart speeds up, or slows down a LOT, and I might miss heartbeats 4 or 5 times a minute. Also my breathing becomes more intense and deeper. I can feel something akin to nausea, but (how do I explain this?)...it doesn't feel as if my stomach is involved in that. It's not indigestion, reflux or any stomach thing. It feels more like being so scared it makes you feel queasy.
I will pass some wind, maybe tree or four times, but even doing that doesn't help. I literally feel scared, and am unsure what I'm scared of!
Probably of an IBS D flare up starting!
Anyway, I am beginning to learn that if I sip ONE SHOT of alcohol (vodka is the only alcoholic drink that I can handle, and I usually add a little honey to it as it's not nice on its own) -I can feel quite normal and okay again within 5 minutes. My heart returns to normal, my breathing steadies, even the passing wind stops, and I think -what was that all about?
Then I'm usually good for the rest of the evening and night! The alcohol does not trigger a flare up, it seems to do the opposite. And the next morning I don't necessarily have a negative bathroom experience either.
In fact I'm usually good until the next time that happens, which might not be the next evening, it could be weeks later.
Does anyone else find that kind of positive effect from alcohol?
I keep thinking it has to be a bit weird, considering alcohol is an IBS trigger.
The feeling you're describing, with the all-encompassing discomfort and feeling like the world is going to end, reminds me of what anxiety feels like to me. When it's really bad, I get nauseous, too, but even slight anxiety puts my stomach into knots and I couldn't possibly imagine eating. Could it be something like that that you're experiencing? But then of course it doesn't make much sense that it would happen a couple of hours after dinner, and without any particular trigger...
No matter what this is, I'm glad alcohol helps you! If it doesn't cause any negative effects, I wouldn't question it. 😉
I personally can have some wine without it triggering my IBS. We also have this article about alcohol and IBS: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/alcohol-indulge, I don't know if you had seen it?
I hope others will chime in soon, I'd to know if anyone else has a similar experience!
Karina (team member)Oh yes, that sense of "almost nausea" which gets triggered by what's going on lower down in the gut. I know what you mean. That thing after dinner always happens quite a few hours later (usually 4 or 5) so I think that's when all the food has possibly just begin to filter down into the colon. So part of it might be the gastro-colic reflex at work?
Prior to that happening (randomly) all I feel is restful, enjoyed my food, watching a video or movie, relaxing...etc. So it's hard to know what starts it happening.
But I wonder if there's also a fight-flight response too triggered by oversensitivity to fairly normal stuff occurring during digestion, and maybe that's why (in my case) a small amount of alcohol soothes that sensation, because it cools down the sympathetic nervous system a bit.
And part of it I'm sure could be a slight PTSD reaction based on scary experiences in the past with a sudden flare up?
I don't know. But the odd thing is it's not a food trigger which causes that, and it doesn't seem to be an obvious stress trigger either.
But it's quite strange that something that many with IBS find to be a gut irritant and trigger for IBS. can be so helpful for me! Mind you I always think I had to have been built back-to-front! 😁
That's possible about the gastro-colic reflex! I know for sure that IBS has caused me to feel far too much discomfort and almost panic over fairly normal digestive sensations. The "slight PTSD reaction" is exactly how it feels for me, too. We've had such terrible flares that started after feeling slight discomfort in our guts, so that now every little sensation makes out brain think that a flare is coming up, even when it's not.
Since the reaction always starts at approximately the same time in evening, could it be related to something that happened around this time in the past? Did you use to get flares at this time in the evening before?
Haha, it is a bit strange that alcohol helps you, but bananas don't work!
Maybe it's about the quantity, too? I imagine you drink less of the vodka than someone might drink if they were having beer or wine.
Karina (team member)
Yes, I think you're right. It doesn't help when we may have memories of times when we just started to feel a bit of gut discomfort, and then suddenly a horrible flare up came. It is bound to make us hypervigilant about anything we feel is "moving about down there", or even the natural need to pass wind could set off that memory.
I mean...what some people (without IBS) don't realise is how absolutely horrible it is to go through an IBS flare up, especially when we might have been feeling completely normal just minutes before. It's like nothing can be trusted any more. Not even feeling OK!
I don't think the 4-5 hour gap I can sometimes feel after meals and when those particular symptoms start is connected with memories of times past when flare ups began, because often my flare ups would begin first thing in the mornings after sleep. I did have two flares that started at night, but one started at 1am, and another at 2am, so those don't fit that pattern.
It might be more to do with the time digestion takes, and coincide with the time food has passed through the small intestine and what's left starts to enter the colon. The timing would make sense. I also wonder if it has to do with wind moving down as that happens.
No, bananas don't help me. They make my tummy a bit "too frisky" the next morning! i.e. they act like a laxative for me, as do many other fruits and some veggies like beetroot or carrots. I have had many upset tummies the next morning from eating even half of a banana the day before, even when it's not too ripe. That may be because of the fibre. I don't know. It can't be fructose, as I can happily eat honey.
It's a shame, because I do like them.
Yes, with the alcohol, I will feel some relief even after just a few sips (or maybe one measured shot in total) It doesn't need any more than that.Yes, I have never been able to work out why many foods that are fine for some with IBS, happen to act like laxatives for me!
When I was well and didn't even KNOW about IBS, I always knew to eat carrots or beetroot if for instance I got even slightly constipated, and those foods would naturally bring me back into balance the next morning. If I ate greens they were less effective.
Now, it is the same thing, but it's just that the effect is more magnified.
I don't know why...maybe it's some natural thing which those veggies contain? I doubt if it's just fibre, as greens contain fibre! But knowing that avocado contains natural sorbitol, makes me wonder if other veg also do! And of course, sorbitol acts like a laxative. But when I research foods like carrots bananas or beetroot I see no mention of that.That's so interesting that you always had that effect from these foods, even without IBS. I just did a quick Google search and it seems that beetroot and carrots are known to help with constipation, so you're not alone! All articles/forums talk about fiber though, so this still doesn't explain the difference with greens.
Maybe one day a dietitian will come across our discussion here and be able to share more insights. 😀
Karina (team member)
What you describe sounds to me like a panic attack - perhaps you're having one because the prospect getting up early to work the next day (or, as you say, the threat of having another IBS flare-up) is stressing you out. It sounds like self-medicating with a little bit of alcohol to relax you doesn't sound like a bad thing to me. Just don't binge!
Yes, it could be that alcohol just calms down any anxiety and stops it ramping up. That might be the reason,
Apparently I have heard that even trapped wind can cause a vagal nerve response, and create anxiety-like feelings. That's on a different level to our normal anxiety-calming strategies, but alcohol might reach it.
Haha...I am NOT suggesting anyone starts drinking! I am just exploring my odd response to a small drink, and wondering why.
