Gurgling

[Chap]

Hi,

I frequently get loud gurgling sounds from a very specific place in my abdomen: on the right side just below my ribcage. I assume it has to do with my Crohn's. It's not painful, just annoying (and LOUD).

I don't know if it's gassiness (but then again, how else could it be making noise?).

Sometimes it kicks up after eating, but sometimes first thing in the morning.

Does anyone else experience this? Any OTC remedies to suggest?

Thanks,
Chap

 

[violetcreams]

Yes, mine goes through phases of being really gurgly & loud. I haven't found any way of stopping it when it's in one of those moods!

 

[Misty-Eyed]

Yes and it's very loud. I got told it's just the air going past my strictures.

haha yesterday my friend was sitting next to me in a lecture when it was being noisy. He said, 'It's a good job I know you or I'd think you were dying' lol

 

[violetcreams]

Lol Misty!

Yeah, it can be ridiculously loud. I hate it when people comment. I usually get "don't worry, it's nearly lunch time" & I'm thinking, yeah, food or no food = no difference.

 

[Chap]

Arggh - yeah, it's the comments that bug me more than anything else.

 

[violetcreams]

Yeah & sometimes in meetings at work, people will turn towards me & stare at my abdo with visible horror. Lol

 

[CrohnsHobo]

All the time when I am flaring, especially when laying in bed. Since I have been feeling better they have been less (as I type this I just had one).

 

[violetcreams]

It was reminding you that it has a voice & wants to be heard!

 

[Chap]

It's not like I'm anxious to have surgery, but if a re-section would alleviate the gurgles, that would be a "plus".

Meantime, I'll just have to mash my forearm into my side and hope for the best!

 

[violetcreams]

Heehee, yes, the mashing the arms into the abdo technique!!! I am familiar with that.

 

[Astra]

How weird that people just assume that it's because you're hungry?!?
purleeese!

 

[Misty-Eyed]

I quite like my noises! They keep me company. Ok, that makes me sound like a really lonely loser.

My stomach used to rumble before my strictures though. When I was young and ill, my grandma used to come and look after me when I was off from school which was pretty often. Her stomach used to rumble as much as mine and I loved it. We had our own 2 stomach band.

 

[CrohnsHobo]

It was reminding you that it has a voice & wants to be heard!

My GF and I will often say "was that you, me, or the cat?"

 

[mharvey90]

absolutely
mine are so severe/loud/painful that I get accommodated at my university to take my exams in a private room, because the anxiety of taking an exam in a quiet room with other people around is just too much. hoping my surgery in may will take care of the problem!

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

I was getting physio today getting my back and ribcage massaged, which set off the very audible gurglings. The therapist didn't say anything.

 

[fateful_one]

Not only can I hear it rumble, I can see it!

When my tummy gets all crazy and starts to flare, it gets really loud. Usually it is only in the lower right but other times it seems to be all over. If I lay down in bed and watch my belly, I can see it moving, twitching if you will. I kid around that I have an alien inside me.

 

[Crohn's 35]

If I get intestinal gas I take the gelcapsules of GAS X or 180mg. Doesn't always work but if pains is associated then I take tylenol #3.

 

[skikdi]

It's happening in a relatively small Philosophy class at the moment. Embarrassing

 

[spcwife23]

yip i get the loudest ones you can ever hear to hush everyone up in a room if it catches me by suprise.. i learn to tear an piece of paper, or make some noise right before i know the gurgling is about to happen..i hate it but its very helpful, the day i dont hear that noise is the day i know im in trouble.. that means im flaring when i dont hear anything for a while

 

[skikdi]

Yeah exactly. From what I understand gurgling means stuff is passing through, but if I'm cramping and there's no gurgling...that means I'll be throwing up in a matter of hours

 

[fosterschick]

i get the excat thing almost like the gas is squeezing past something v loud and v painful at times ... i am undiagnosed tho so dont know what mine is gp thought strictures but nothing showed on small bowel barium enema so defo not that for me !!! xxx

 

[skikdi]

This weird thing happens when I lie on my back. I can see different parts of my intestines filling up with air. It's insane, really. Then when I switch to my side it goes away.

Wondering if that happens with you guys as well

 

[sawdust]

Yes and it's very loud. I got told it's just the air going past my strictures.

Me too. Try to have a sense of humor about it if you're embarrassed. I often blame it on the "quiet and unsuspecting" person present, blame it on a strange food or cuisine, or put your hands over your abdomen and "play it like a theremin." People often think I'm hungry too. It's usually the opposite.

 

[ace2848]

I have had crohn's for 10 years and my stomach gurgling has never been as bad as it has been in the last 6 months. I'm not sure what has caused it to get so bad, but it's gotten to the point where I feel like I can't put one drop of food in my body without it making at least some sort of slight gurgle noise and thats only if im lucky. Usually about 30-60 minutes after eating I get the most insanely ridiculous noises coming from the center of my stomach right below my belly button. These noises are usually always accompanies by firy pain. I also have a lot of anxiety when it comes to work because I work in an office where it's almost always quiet and i have to try and come up with ways to mask the sound of my stomach like turning on a fan and turning up the radio. But If i get pulled into a meeting, then I'm screwed ha!

I had 6 inches of small intestine removed in 04' and was virtually symptom free for about 3 straight years after that. But the last few years I have began to flare a lot, and this gurgling is getting out of control!!! Glad to see there are plenty of others who know what I'm going through! But I wish none of us had to deal with this terrible disease!

 

[mrspecker]

I haven't been diagnosed yet I've got ibd but don't know which one I get this gurgling noise really loud and embarrassing

 

[Fernando1]

I have researched this problem that I also have extensively, the technical term for this is the unlikely name of borborygmi.

This is caused by the intestines shifting with gas as if they are trying to digest something that is not there. This twisting and turning causes gas and bubbles to be propelled through the intestines.

I have discovered that there are cycles in the day when this happens the most, for me is around 3 pm in the afternoon. So I give the intestines something to do: at 2:30 I eat a snack or drink Ensure to begin a mini-digestion process. You may have to be away in private if there is a small delay where you have some gurgling as a reaction to the snack, everything should be fine after that.

I also take anti-spasmodics like Bentyl (you can also try Donnatal or Hysocimine) that relax the bowel and stops the internal contortions. Gas-x works more lower in the colon and reduces your level of gas and farts way down there, the gurgling occurs before your colon in the small bowel specially in the Jejunum all the way to the Ileum.