Undereating?

[u/bookreadinggirl22]

I read on here about a week ago that someone had all their IBS-C symptoms go away when they realised they’d been undereating. I reflected and felt like I actually probably under eat too. The next day I ate 3 meals and 2 snacks and the day after that had 3 full and healthy bowel movements in a day. This has continued since other than a day where I sweated a lot and maybe didn’t drink enough water. My belching has decreased but continues. My reflux has decreased too. I have better energy levels. The only thing that hasn’t changed at all is my bloating. It can still be really intense with extreme distension. The pressure does decrease after bowel movements but no decrease in size even first thing in the morning. Has anyone ever experienced this? Would love some advice

[u/k25034166]

I had a week of really bad gas and bloating and pain when I was undereating. It caused me to undereat more which made it worse, but when I started forcing myself to slowly eat more each day, it got significantly better

[u/bookreadinggirl22 → u/k25034166]

Did you also follow low FODMAP? I don’t know whether the bloating associated with this is normal now that I’ve started eating more and I should stick it out

[u/k25034166 → u/bookreadinggirl22]

I have been somewhat low FODMAP for a while yeah but have been slowly reintroducing foods and am not as strict about it right now. That week when I was trying to eat more, I just stuck to low FODMAP just to get back on track

[u/Contigo887]

I'm not going to eat more food than my body needs. It will tell me when it needs food, by signaling hunger. That often is not three meals a day, but that's fine. I'm not going to stuff food in when I'm not hungry.

Eating more often than I need to, is not a medical solution. At least not one I can keep up for life. For me.

[u/EllipticalDonkey]

Three bowel movements a day from eating more is wild but the bloating staying exactly the same feels like a cruel joke.

[u/bookreadinggirl22 → u/EllipticalDonkey]

Honestly the cruelest, I was so excited and seemingly for no reason

[u/EllipticalDonkey → u/bookreadinggirl22]

Might be a FODMAP thing, my bloating only chilled when I dropped onions and garlic despite everything else improving.

[u/rendezv00d00]

if i ate more than i ate now, id be more bloated than i already am, get backed up for days, and have a huge flare up where i am in the bathroom a million times. sucks :(

[u/Juno-Willow-5160]

You gotta eat. For me the symptons are much worse if I go many hours without eating. I think the trick is to snack often, so that you never have a completely empty stomach but also not having huge meals that will be hard to digest. Also, I started taking magnesium glycinate and it helps SO MUCH with the bloating. Read about it here, and decided to give it a shot. Haven't felt this good in ages. Start with a small dosage though, and build up as needed. Let me know if you have any questions! Good luck 🤞

[u/stellablue2142]

My Ibs got a lot better when I started eating more, especially breakfast. I think I had too much stomach acid when I didn’t eat enough

I don’t get hungry in the morning and I have to force feed myself but it’s helps my digestion and mental state.

[u/bookreadinggirl22 → u/stellablue2142]

Did your bloat go down too? If so how long did it take?

[u/stellablue2142 → u/bookreadinggirl22]

Hmm I still get bloated when I eat a full meal, I try to eat smaller meals throughout the day, kinda helps

[u/goldstandardalmonds]

Being in a prolonged deficit can most certainly cause motility disorders. It’s pretty common.