Posts Tagged ‘bloating’

Ovarian Cancer Can Have Digestion Related Symptoms

Debbie DeAngelo of GoErie.com wrote an article highlighting some interesting things about ovarian cancer which routinely goes undetected due to misinterpreting warning symptoms. I will have to admit that the symptoms are rather vague and could be hard to decipher as being related to ovarian cancer, especially for someone with a chronic digestive disease like Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Chron’s Disease.

Some symptoms too look out for are:

“…abdominal bloating, increased abdominal size and urinary urgency.”

as well as:

“…feeling full after a small meal, unexplained weight loss, indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, fatigue and abnormal uterine bleeding.”

Factors that could put you at risk are:

…[a] personal history of breast cancer, family history of breast, uterine, ovarian or colorectal cancer, certain breast cancer genes and use of fertility drugs, especially without achieving pregnancy.

Check out the full article on GoErie.com.

Align Probiotics Review: First Glance

Align Probiotics Review: First Glance – Buy Align from Amazon.com

Please check out my updated article “Align Probiotic For Irritable Bowel Syndrome Update” for further information on how I did with Align Probiotic.

Recently Proctor & Gamble’s marketing department got in touch with me to take a look at their flagship probiotic, Align. While I haven’t actually started taking Align yet, I’d like to share some of my first thoughts on the product.

I’ve seen Align advertised before & it has received good reviews on places like Amazon.com. I am a little skeptical on mass marketed products that have slick packaging. In some cases the word probiotic is used to attract people to a product that has little digestive benefit. In one case I got some terrible breakfast bars that supposedly had “probiotics” in them, but they were barely a step above sweetened laminated cardboard. I don’t think this is a goal of Align since they are strictly focusing on a probiotic supplement where the cardboard is only in the packaging, not the actual product.

Packaging

As I said above the packaging looks very nice. I received some sample sized versions which have a little fold out flap with information about Align & it even has a nifty 7-day calendar to track your progress. The capsules themselves come in a flat blister pack for 7-days. You can tear each capsule away from the sheet before opening it. Each capsule has a day of the week listed on it. I am not quite sure if this is how the retail 28-day supply is packaged, but I’d imagine it is similar. Additionally Align promotes the use of the AlignGI.com website, which has an online digestive tracker. All these ways to track your progress, I feel are helpful. One of the hard parts about taking probiotics is taking them consistently and at a regular time. Anything that makes it easier to remember to take your probiotic or to really be able to track your progress, I see as a good thing.

Contents

As for what’s in Align, it goes 100% with the B. Infantis 35624 strain of bacteria for it’s probiotics. There are a lot of products that mix it up and go for a bunch of different strains. I am not too worried about only one strain of bacteria being in there, it may even be beneficial to focus on producing a single high quality strain than to put in a mix of different, but lower quality strains. B. Infantis 35624 has been shown in studies to improve Irritable Bowel symptoms.

Align contains 1 Billion Colony Forming Units(CFUs) of B. Infantis 35624, this is considerably lower than other probiotics on the market. Again I don’t mind this so much as I think CFUs are overrated. Really it’s about quality. If you have 20 billion CFUs but they all die before hitting your gut or are contaminated with other things, it’s not going to do you any good. Also a lot of people have problems tolerating high doses of probiotics. Going low & slow may be the best approach.

Another positive is that it would appear Align uses a vegetable based capsule(not geletin), so vegetarians probably shouldn’t have any problems taking this. There is no lactose, gluten or soy in Align either. There is “Milk Protein” listed as an ingredient, but trace amounts are found in other probiotics as well.

Criticisms

One thing that does bug me is the use of Titanium Dioxide & FD&C Blue #1. Perhaps this was something that came out of focus groups or something. I would have preferred no artificial coloring in the product at all. I am sure there’s only a tiny bit in there, but if I am only going to see the capsule for a few seconds before popping it in my mouth, I shouldn’t care if it’s “white” or “off-white”.

Cost & Money-Back Guarantee

Align is some what pricey, especially when you are dealing with only getting 1 billion CFUs per capsule. However, if it does turn out to be higher quality & works for you, then I am sure it’ll be worth the money.

Align is offering a Money-Back Guarantee, which is actually pretty sweet. Try it for one month, if it doesn’t work, take them up on the refund.

Where To Buy

• Buy Align from Amazon.com

• Find a local store.

Follow-Up

Once I’ve got some real world experience with Align, I’ll post back with more information and a link here to the follow-up review.

Disclosure:  I was supplied by Proctor & Gamble with samples of Align. The positive or negative outcome of this review is not based on receiving these samples.

Review: Gas-X Thin Strips for gas & bloating with Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS)

Review: Gas-X Thin Strips for gas & bloating with Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS)

So I am sure we’ve all probably had times were we’re filling gassy or bloated. When dealing with IBS these times are probably more often than we’d wish. Now, normally I’d suggest a natural product, but in some cases a less than natural product is needed. This is were Gas-X Thin Strips step in. Why do I like Gas-X Thin Strips? A) It works. B) The packaging and form factor are very discreet.

Thin strip style products have been around for awhile, I first saw them showing up in the early 2000s for things like mints. At the time my co-worker handed me something that looked like a piece of colored tape and said “try it”… I pondered for a bit as I wasn’t sure if I was being handed some sort of psychotropic drug or an actual piece of tape. Luckily it turned out to be a a minty breath freshener. I don’t think my co-worker was trying to tell me something as we didn’t sit near each other, he was just showing me this cool new product(at least this is what I tell myself). So now instead of minty freshness we have minty gas relief thanks to Gas-X Thin Strips.

Gas-X contains Simethicone which is basically an anti-foaming agent, it helps the bubbles that form in your digestive tract form into large bubbles which makes it easier to pass gas. So while it’s advertised as an anti-gas drug, it actually makes it easier to fart. This is probably of benefit for people with IBS, I’d rather fart than feel bloated. Being bloated makes you feel tired & flabby. One of the benefits I’ve found with Gas-X is that it seems to also help motility so if I am feeling constipated as well, it usually helps get things moving again.

The main reason I tried Gas-X Thin Strips in the first place, was because it was in thin strip form. These things are very handy & very discreet. You can fit a bunch of them in your wallet, which is just not possible when dealing with pills. The only thing non-discreet about them is that it says “Gas-X Gas-X Gas-X Gas-X Gas-X” all over the outside of the package. It’s not that big of a deal though as you can easily tear it open and gobble it down with no one the wiser.

Overall Gas-X & Immodium(though haven’t been using this in quite awhile) are my trusty over the counter standbys which I use from time to time. There are probably other similar products that use Simethicone & they would probably work in a similar fashion. Gas-X is just the one I’ve been using. You get 18 strips per box, which is a pretty good value. I am still on my first box and it’s been a few months since I bought it. You can probably find it at your local pharmacy or department store – OR you can support this site and buy it from the Amazon.com link below :)!

Purchase Gas-X Thin Strips Peppermint from Amazon.com.

Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel(IBS) – Buy Iberogast from Amazon.com

Today I’ll be reviewing Iberogast, a natural herbal pro-kinetic motility agent from the company Medical Futures.

So first off, what is a motility?

Digestive Motility

Motility is basically another word for movement. Movement in your digestive tract is obviously important. It’s especially important that these movements are coordinated. A lot of digestive problems can be linked to poor motility, such as chronic indigestion, gastroparesis, constipation or diarrhea.

Basically somewhere in your system these movements are going too fast or too slow. These symptoms could be a chronic issue such as when dealing with IBS or gastroparesis or acute symptoms brought on by eating too much or food poisoning.

There’s a little diagram to the right to help illustrate motility. Hopefully your digestive tract isn’t really green, orange & red. ;)

What is Iberogast?

Iberogast, which is also known as STW 5,  is a mixture of different herbs that have been shown in clinical studies to aid in the motility of the gut. It was developed in 1961, so it’s been in use for decades. Since it’s herbal and natural, side effects or problems from it should be rare/non-existent.

What’s in Iberogast?

Here’s a list of the main herbs in Iberogast. Probably not what you’d find in your kitchen:

• Iberis amara
• Angelica
• Caraway Fruit
• Peppermint Leaves
• Chamomile
• St. Mary’s Thistle
• Lemon Balm Leaves
• Celandine
• Liquorice Root

How do you take Iberogast?

Iberogast

Iberogast comes in a 100 milliliter bottle. The bottle contains a special cap on top of the bottle to help aid with dispensing it via little droplets. Dosage suggestions are 8 drops for children 3 months – 3 years, 10 drops for children 3 to 6 years, 15 drops for children 6 to 12 years & 20 drops for anyone 12 years or older. For an adult this gives you about 100 doses per bottle or if you’re taking it 3 times a day with each meal, you essentially have a 1 month supply.

The label recommends Iberogast be mixed with warm water, but also states it can be mixed with your favorite drink. It’s suggested that you to take Iberogast with each meal.

Taking Iberogast

Medical Futures has a statement on their website that Iberogast should not be used by women who are pregnant or nursing due to lack of clinical studies on women who are pregnant or nursing. However, they follow that statement up with the fact that it’s been used for years and probably doesn’t pose a significant risk.

The flavor is similar to the taste of raw vanilla extract or perhaps licorice. Iberogast does contain some alcohol, which you can somewhat taste. The flavor would probably be less noticeable in a cola based soft drink like Pepsi or Coca-Cola.

Does it work?

I would have to say, yes it has helped me out from time to time. It has not cured my IBS, but I do feel less bloated & perhaps I have less constipation. It’s certainly worth trying, especially if you’re trying to stay on a more natural route for healing. I have not had any negative side effects or issues that I would blame on Iberogast.

Where To Buy Iberogast:

• Buy Iberogast from Amazon.com