Looks like irritable bowel syndrome but never had bloody stool?

[blue_light]

More than a month ago, I fasted, out of religious reason, 18 hours a day. But in the fifth day, I suddenly had severe bloating and belching. Especially when belching, it feels somehow difficult to get the gas out unless I press the middle part of my stomach. Another symptom is that sometimes I defecated just transparent viscous liquid, I guess it's called mucous. The last symptom is that when I lie down on my back and get back up, I feel a slight pain in the lower part of stomach, and furthermore when I can't sleep in foetus position (a position where your right part of your body face downward, so that you are facing to your right) because shortly after I would feel somehow uncomfortable on the left part of my stomach.
I have consulted a general doctor and after pressing different part of my stomach to check which part was hurting (which ended up me not feeling hurted anywhere) he said it's likely due to the gastric acid, he gave me pantoprazole accordingly. It has been a week since I took this medicine and it does get better, the symptoms are getting relieved, but it seems to be very slowly. However, when I spoke to the doctor I forgot to mention that sometimes my stool contain mucous and that I got pain when lying back. I searched for a while that mucous in the stool may be a sign of either irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease. But according to those resources, both diseases are always accompanied by bloody stools, which up to now I never experienced.

Judging from the moment I got this disease, that is after not eating and drinking for a prolonged period of time, is it really possible that an excessive gastric acid as diagnosed by the doctor is the main problem?
Looking at the fact that the given medicine does reduce the symptoms, can I say that the problem is merely gastric acid and not other stomach diseases (e.g. IBD, IBS, gallbladder)?

[cnoevl21]

anything processed isnt good for you. baking fish and chicken is for sure better than frying it. If you can get a george foreman grill you can use that too. Those get rid of a lot of the fat while cooking, which would be good for you. You may try making things in bulk. Like cooking a bunch of chicken, enough for the week and freezing some, refrigerate some, then you just have to heat things up.

[blue_light]

And by the way this whole I also fried chicken on a frying pan, no deep frying as I don't have the equipment.

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My best hope for now is to bake those chickens and fish, it's to me still the fastest way of cooking while keeping the high fat content out of bay. You know, currently I'm working on my thesis and I have to go to the lab everyday - in short, I don't have enough time to make elaborate cook. Actually I also wonder if processed frozen chicken such as nuggets can also cause problem. But as I see in its nutrition content it only contains about 2 g of fat per 100 g, which is not so different than the fish I stewed today.

[cnoevl21]

the difference is youre not deep frying. And coconut oil is a lot heathier than what fast food places use.
Only a doctor visit will be able to tell you for sure whats wrong and whether its gallbladder or not.
Its possible its just the dairy and high fat thats bothering you. So cutting out cheese and chocolate did the trick. Those are both high fat and dairy.
And baked chicken or fish arent non-fatty, but its low fat. What you want to do is eat a light fish, most white fish are all low in fat and should be fine. Chicken is the same, you just may need to cut off any extra fat before cooking it.

[blue_light]

One more question, does baked chicken and fish (without oil) also qualify as non-fatty food?

[blue_light]

You said that fried foods are not good for my condition, but why are you suggesting me to buy a frying pan and coconut oil, are they not for frying things? The thing is today I tried to eat stewed fish for lunch and only bread for breakfast (before this, for breakfast I always had bread with cheese and chocolate), and I don't feel too much pain and bloating after eating. Does this mean it's really a gallbladder problem? But I'm still curious, if so, why does a gastric acid resistant medicine still work in relieving the symptoms? What I'm also interested in is that what is it that causes a bit of pain when lying down and uncomfortable feeling in foetus position with right part of the body at the bottom?

[cnoevl21]

blood doesn't HAVE to be present for IBS or IBD. And to be honest, those are broad terms that encompass a multitude of problems. Usually the case is that the doctor can't find the cause to be known things like celiac, crohns, colitis, etc. When this occurs, they give you a blanket diagnosis of IBS. Basically saying that there is something wrong in your bowels, but they dont know what.

If you are having all these problems, as hard as it may be, YOU CAN NOT HAVE FRIED FOODS. They are so bad for you, and will cause things like ulcers and other damage to your stomach and intestines.
I know its hard, but you must eat healthier. No fried foods, fatty foods, dairy, or soy. If you cut these things out I guarantee you will feel better.

You asked what are non-fatty foods. You want to eat things like white fish (flounder, talapia, perch) and chicken (not fried). Turkey is good too. Red meat should be avoided, and at best only eaten once a week. It is extremely hard to digest, so if you are having digestive issues, it should be avoided completely.

I suggest you get yourself a george foreman grill, a hot plate, and a frying pan. Buy some coconut oil and start cooking your meals. Add things like rice, potatoes, spinach, broccoli, and carrots as side dishes.

None of it is easy, but if you want to stop feeling sick, its what you need to do.

I was in college too. I know how difficult it is considering your options for what they provide are limited.
For times when you can't cook, just trying eating things like grilled chicken salads (no dairy filled dressing) and some hard boiled eggs. These are things that should be easily attainable at your school.

Good luck

[fntn]

What I described is simply one more option to consider based on your original guess that it was IBS related. As in most things medical, you develop a differential diagnosis and then work with the facts to whittle it down. If it seems that the gastric acid medication is working, then you should certainly assume your doctor is correct and continue. Or if bleeding starts, then maybe a re-evaluation is in order. Hope you continue to improve.

[blue_light]

Thanks fntn.
From your answer, you are implying that it's caused by gallbladder problem. But why did the doctor diagnose me with gastric acid? Furthermore the medicine he gave me is actually a proton pump inhibitor, which impedes production of stomach acid, seem to have been working well in reducing the symptoms. Does this mean there is connection between impeded duct bile and stomach acid?
By the way, what are examples of non-fatty foods? Is there meat which is non fatty? The thing is I live in a student dorm far away from family, and this whole time I always eat fried meat (chicken and seafoods) because I don't have much time to cook proper food.

[fntn]

If you do a very rigorous fasting diet, for an extended period of time as you have done, then you can end up with sludge in your gallbladder. With frequent meals during the day, you gallbladder gets "exercised" often as it contracts at the start of each meal, driving the stored bile into your small intestines and improving your digestion. When this doesn't happen, the bile just sits in the gallbladder and can become more concentrated.

The concentrated bile is thick and moves in a "sludgy" way and this can impede the bile flow and reduce the overall amount of bile actually getting into your duodenum. And without this bile, your digestion is ineffective, in particular, the fatty portions of your meal isn't absorbed.  This will make your stool more of a liquid than a solid.

If this is your problem, simply stick to non-fatty food for a while. Once your gallbladder gets back to normal, you'll be able to get back to your original diet. And as you noted, if you see blood at some point, get to the doctor again. Hope this helps.