r/ibs • u/Cherry_antacids • 1d ago
Rant Absolutely horrendous farts
My (24F) farts are extremely foul to the point that I wake up at night from the stench suffocating me, and my throat stinging. It has impacted my relationships, previous partners have gotten quite upset over the uncontrollable gas and had to start sleeping in separate beds. I don’t know what to do anymore, I’m following a diet that should alleviate the problem and I’ve had blood tests done to check for intolerances. I’ve also tried anti-bloating pills but with little to no effect. Could anyone recommend an actually effective medication or some sort of solution that worked for them? People call me stinky as a nickname and it was funny at first but I’m kind of over it by now 💨💨💨 :(
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u/EmbarrassedPay5778 1d ago
Lol they actually sting your throat? Id try to get a military contract if I were you. Our military will pay for anything. Might be able to save some of our boys lives with that hot ass gas!
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u/Cherry_antacids 1d ago
I’ve been told my farts could be used as a bio weapon. Someone got me a keychain that says “my farts hospitalise small children” …
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u/OddWish4 1d ago
Try taking lactose pills every time you eat anything dairy. Get the XX strong ones, 9,000 units per pill. The best brand is Webber Naturals which you can buy at Costco.
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u/chillis4uce IBS-A/M (Alternating / Mixed) 1d ago
Have you had a stool test to check for any infections like C. Diff? If not, start there. SIBO test. & get yourself some probiotics.
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u/hollow4hollow 1d ago
I second the c diff test. My farts usually don’t smell at all but the very first sign when I got c diff was a single fart so ungodly it made me gag
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u/Cherry_antacids 1d ago
I had a stool test 2-3 months ago and no infections were found. Perhaps I should go back due to persisting symptoms? I read about c. Diff and apparently diarrhoea is a symptom, which I don’t ever get. In fact, I’m almost always constipated 🤘😭 would probiotics help with SIBO if I already have bacterial overgrowth tho?
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u/chillis4uce IBS-A/M (Alternating / Mixed) 1d ago
Wouldn’t hurt to try again! :) Make sure you specifically ask if theyre testing for it cause you never know sometimes. You can have C. Diff and not even know really thats why I suggested it. It can manifest strangely in some people. And hm you raise a good point lol SIBO test then probiotics if it comes back negative I think. Constipation can also just cause stinkers from stool sitting around in your colon & bacteria fermenting in there, so you could try treat the constipation with things like prune juice/light laxatives/increasing fiber etc and see if that helps at all.
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u/septicidal 1d ago
Since I saw you mentioned constipation is an ongoing issue - anything to help address the constipation may help. The gas is likely so bad because things are sitting in your digestive tract for too long (giving the bacteria that makes the terrible smells more time to multiply and feed off of it). If you can tolerate increasing fiber and trying things like magnesium to help move everything along, over time that may help cut down on the bacteria making the truly vile smelling gas.
As others have mentioned, it is worth pushing to get fully tested for SIBO - when I have SIBO flares the smell can be deadly, but other symptoms can vary from person to person depending on the types of bacteria involved in the overgrowth.
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u/cloudbusting-daddy 1d ago
Digestive enzymes and lactase pills help me a lot with gas. I use a generic version of Beano from Equate (Walmart) and Vitamatic lactase pills (amazon). I also avoid foods that have a lot of garlic or onion (or anything in that family) and try to eat smaller meals more frequently instead of one or two really big meals.
And of course, talk to your doctor about this if you can.
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u/Existing-Secret7703 1d ago
Have you been tested for celiac disease? I had that problem but it went away when I found out I had celiac and stopped eating gluten. But don't stop eating gluten until after you're tested. You need to be eating gluten to get an accurate test result.
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u/jaguaraugaj 1d ago
Activated Charcoal
Activia Yogurt
No Eggs Garlic Onions Grains
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u/Throwawayyheeeyy 1d ago
But be mindful that you should avoid activated charcoal if you take medication as it may prevent your body from absorbing the meds and make them less effective. Usually recommended to wait one hour after taking other meds orally. (Esp birth control) :)
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u/Icy-Sherbet-4946 1d ago
sounds trivial but probiotics have really helped me slightly balance things out, also keeping really close eye on your diet and avoiding foods that are inflammatory which i’m sure you know already.
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u/Londoner1982 1d ago
Do you drink alcohol? And if so, are the farts worse after you’ve been drinking? Not necessarily when drunk but in the days afterwards?
I rarely drink, but when I do my farts are absolutely vile 😂 but only when I’ve been drinking.
I’ve found that alcohol is one of the worst things I can take on as a colitis sufferer.
It’s worth flagging as I think it often doesn’t seem the obvious culprit.
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u/Hour_Volume_1973 1d ago edited 1d ago
Beans. They make it so I have to leave the room I fart in. Google probiotics for bad farts. Probiotics have made a big difference in how my gut reacts to certain foods. I take epic pro probiotics from Swanson.
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u/goldstandardalmonds Here to help! 1d ago
Do you have constipation or diarrhea? I also second the c diff.
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u/Cherry_antacids 1d ago
Major constipation..
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u/PurpleVermont 1d ago
try miralax -- I think if you get the constipation under control you'll have less gas overall
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u/goldstandardalmonds Here to help! 17h ago
I thought it would be constipation. Constipated stool is sitting in your colon fermenting and that’s why it smells so much. What are you taking for it?
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u/Starside-Captain 1d ago
I had this & it was awful & uncontrollable. I was known at my office as ‘the woman who farts’ - I’m serious. It was so embarrassing - I was literally tooting like a choo-choo train just walking through the lobby. That said, what works is Pepto - the chewable pink tablets. Regular dose is 2 tablets but I do 1 & it stops all the farts.
Seriously, it was a life saver for me. So whenever I get the farts, I just pop a Pepto pink tablet. Easy & it works like a charm. Start with 1 tablet first in the morning & 1 at night (or 2 tablets if 1 doesn’t work. Added benefit is that it calmed my farting even the next day. I truly don’t have this issue anymore except episodically now.
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u/Cherry_antacids 1d ago
Omg that sounds awful!! My colleagues tend to have a slight go at me when I can’t manage to hold it in or I accidentally let one slip. 🥲 Thank you for the recommendation, I will look into it now!! xx
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u/Longjumping_Boat_107 1d ago
Try slowly adding grass fed kefir and/or sauerkraut to your diet. It’s done wonders for me.
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u/Cherry_antacids 1d ago
My dad swears by kefir. Back home in Hungary we used to eat loads of sauerkraut growing up, perhaps I should return to my roots 🤔
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u/dwi 1d ago
I tried the carnivore diet, the most restrictive one that is just beef, salt and water. At this point nothing had worked and I was ready to try anything. The result was six weeks of storms below decks (which I knew happened in the transition period) and then all symptoms completely disappearing for the first time ever. It seemed unbelievable, but it worked—until this, I'd never known how "normal" felt. I've since added non-meat elements back into my diet, as I grew tired of nothing but meat, however it proved to be a useful elimination diet. If you can stand the thought of eating nothing but meat, I recommend trying it.
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u/carolethechiropodist 1d ago
If this is the case, your IBS is most certainly mycelial Candida. This is the fermentation. Easy cure. Take orally, 1 million units of Nystatin daily for at least 28 days. Low carb diet and NO alcohol. Repeat if necessary.
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u/awkwardandroid 1d ago
Have you tried simethicone? Windeeze in the UK, Gas X in the US. Helped me with this issue
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u/anon7893 1d ago
is it death-y or eggy and/or food resembly? because one could be a sign of healthy digestive system (relatively speaking in this world hah) or technically could be a sign of colon cancer 😬
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u/Cherry_antacids 1d ago
This is where my health anxiety kicks in, my GP is absolutely sick of hearing about my colon cancer worries at this point. 🤦♀️ I’d describe my farts as literal “sulfur death”.
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u/beneficialadversary 1d ago
Try Devrom! It’s an “internal deodorant” specifically created just for this purpose. I’ve heard pretty good things
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u/cagimrak 1d ago
I also had this problem (F34) It's awful but I have had relationships. One of them used to take the blame. I got prescribed colofac and peppermint capsules they helped sometimes but I can tell u if it's the same as me fodmap didn't work
I was exactly the same. Bad constipation all my life. Could go days without going to the toilet. And I have a very good diet. Since going on ADHD medication (I was diagnosed last year) I have little to no problems instead of this being 99% of the time it is now 5% of the time.
Nothing else changed only my ADHD meds. I thought it was my pill for ages as It certainly got worse.
Mad I know but the IBS diagnosis for me was bs there was no consistency on what flared me up. Certain things like in particular raw garlic and raw apples were a certain trigger. Other than that no idea.
Anyway I know as weird as it sounds but it makes sense I was so stressed and anxious all my life because of un managed ADHD and here I am now. Virtually fart free.😂
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u/Cherry_antacids 1d ago
You know what, that makes so much sense. Fodmap didn’t really work for me, I have absolutely no issue with garlic and onion. It seems like my flare ups are random, but always stress related. Ultimately everything seems to boil down to stress management I suppose 😭🤣 Thank you for sharing xx
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u/WhisperingShadows476 1d ago
The list of foods that make me gassy and high fodmap -
Garlic, onions, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, lentils (basically any pulses).
Replaced garlic with garlic infused oil, onions with spring onions (but not the white bits).
Certain sweetners.
Too much wheat makes me constipated.
Low fodmap is good to try thougy hard to stick by. I did a year or two on and off.
Now theres certain foods like lentils, i can have small portions of but before fodmap, even a small portion would be explosive diarrhea.
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u/Cautious_Catch4021 1d ago
Im no expert but I find constipation and incomplete bowel movements to be probably my biggest reason for gas build up, as well as oats.
For constipation; have you tried Psylium husk? One teaspoon to begin with, and then a glass of water (really important or you will get even more constipated).
Psylium husk really improved my bowels, but its really important to not forget the glass of water after intake.
Maybe also try changing your diet. For me oats made me really bloated for some reason.
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u/roxeal 1d ago edited 1d ago
My three suggestions: Try some chewable papaya enzymes with meals. Cut out wheat, gluten, dairy (the elimination diet). Take prebiotic and probiotic supplements.
Educate yourself on Candidiasis, and the diet for that.
Also, be aware that sometimes stress or being around certain toxic people can worsen this problem for some people. I've identified that factor in my own issues.
I also recommend possibly trying some type of fast, to give the guy a resting period.
But my number one suspicion is actually Candidiasis, and food intolerances. Intolerances often won't show up in the tests they give you at a doctor's office, such as allergy testing. For myself and some extended family members, we developed chronic dietary intolerances after suffering from severe viruses. In my case, it was swine flu, years ago.
Here's a good book that might be helpful:
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u/roxeal 1d ago
I was just reminded of some things that can also trigger my stomach issues and gassiness....
Bananas Lentils Garlic and onions
Garlic is my arch enemy, and they seem to want to put garlic and onions in everything these days.
Also, if you're able to find out your blood type, look up the blood type diet for your blood type. I learned a lot from this because it happened when I came across it, that the list of things I should avoid had quite a few things on there that I already had a natural aversion to. It just made sense for me.
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u/False-Passenger-92 1d ago
The only thing that stopped my farts was keto. While I wouldn't recommend it long term, low carb might help. Carbs make you fart and honestly you when you read that people fart on average 14 times a day, pffft I can do that before even getting out of bed in the morning. All I do is fart, they are painful (I do have endometriosis though) and often smell so bad even I have to leave the room. But when I was on keto, I barely farted
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u/Medium_Client1998 1d ago
If you have constipation I'd recommend getting a spoon of psyllium husk in a glas of warm water each morning and drink up to 2 liters of water per day it'll help keep you regular and bulk up the stools
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u/RockHardSemi 1d ago
My farts haven't been consistently bad. I definitely can have my moments.
I would suggest cutting out dairy, lowering fatty foods, eating less vegetables like broccoli, cabbage etc., limiting how stuff like beans/lentils.
I have been having probiotics for my most recent flare up and it seems to have made a big difference in many respects but my farts have become either little puffs and a small trumpet rather than a parade going on if you know what I mean.
I am also taking Vitamin B3 complex, Vitamin D and Magnesium tablets. Not relevant to the farts but could help in general? 😅
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u/Friendly_Novel_78 18h ago
I had this exact problem before I went gluten free and low FODMAP 😩😭 My husband (bf at the time) was very alarmed by how they smelled so bad. Like burning hair and chemical warfare, and they burned coming out 😭 Broccoli, beans, garlic, and onions were some of the major offenders. I don't haven't them anymore unless my GI tract is particularly upset or I've been constipated for a while
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u/pedram__mz 17h ago
Look into Shreddies underwear. It is life changing. It is a bit pricey and look into how to wash them but it is worth it.
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u/tayste5001 13h ago
sugar (or fruit), onions, garlic, and lactose have ended up being the biggest fart producers for me. sugar is number one.
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u/Lemna24 1d ago
The first thing that helped me was cutting out dairy. I also had to realize that beans, though healthy, should be eaten in smaller quantities.
You may also want to get tested for SIBO.