Leaky gut in the morning

[luckoftheirish]

Hi,

Lots of people with Crohns complain about having bad diarrhea first thing in the morning when they wake. I've had Crohns over 12 years and never had that problem however in the last 3-4 months it's become a big issue for me.

I've searched the forums however I haven't been able find a good reason/theory for why this happens. Does anyone have a good explanation?

I asked my consultant however he simply said that Crohns symptoms are non-deterministic, some people have bad mornings and some don't (that's why they get paid the big bucks!:ybatty:.

I tried to come up with my own theury. About 4 months ago my Crohns was flaring badly, I'd been on Humira for 12 months however it was ineffective and my symptoms had deteriorated. My doc put me on steroids to try calm my symptoms however i ended up in hospital for 1 week on 400mg of steroids a day. When i was released i was given a reducing dose of steroids starting a 40mg which lasted 8 weeks. Only in the last couple of days I have been free of steroids. During this time i truly believe that the good bacteria in my gut have been destroyed and the gut fora is completely unbalanced. My doctor is not concerned by this however I feel that until i sort out my gut health that i will continue to suffer. I've taken up a grain, sugar and dairy free diet to try help my gut recover but its tough to stay motivated when the symptoms persist.

Does anyone else share this view or agree slightly?

 

[shamrock15]

Not sure I agree with it entirely, however there are many meds that can upset your bowel bacteria. Probiotics may help get this under control for you.

As for why it is worse in the morning, I think it may be due to natural body rhythms. I do tend to have 3 fairly closely spaced bowel movements in the morning, often fairly fluid. I think the bowels do tend to relax somewhat overnight, and when they wake up they try to expel what was in them. Just a theory for me. I do find that if I eat bulking foods, for me either mashed or bbq'd potatoes seem best, it does alleviate things somewhat. Hope you find something that works for you.

 

[UnXmas]

I've also heard that many people's natural timing is to have a bowel movement shortly after waking. Healthy people can suppress this without trying if the time is not convenient for them. But with a diseased bowel that kind of subconscious control isn't always possible.

I'm not clear from your post why you think this issue relates to bacteria. At one point recently my doctors suspected overgrowth of bacteria may be contributing to my symptoms - there is a way for testing for it, though I believe the test is not that widely available. My doctors wanted to try me on a course of antibiotics to see if that helped (taking it that if they did help, the diagnosis of bacteria overgrowth would have been correct). But I wasn't that convinced by the diagnosis, and other things came up which my doctors thought more relevant, so I didn't end up trying the antibiotics. But shortly afterwards, I ended up on masses of antibiotics for something else, and as my bowel symptoms didn't improve, my doctors concluded bacteria were not my problem.

So if you're worried about bacteria, I would ask about being tested for it or trying antibiotics.

 

[BlakeTheSnake]

I had a problem where I would wake up around 7am EVERY morning to go to the bathroom and I am usually not a morning person. It was always D and it caused me to sit there for up to an hour because it always felt like there was more waiting to come out. I would have mucus and sometimes blood in the stool. If it wasn't D, it would be pencil thin. After I feel like I got mostly everything out, I was usually exhausted. I wasn't on any meds and I was watching what I was eating for the most part.

After a few months of this going on, I decided to change my diet even more. So I began the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. As I stated earlier, I would go to the bathroom around 7am EVERYDAY. It was weird because I would only need to go that one time in the morning, but it usually lasted 45min to an hour. Now once I began the diet, the next day I didn't have a bowel movement at all, which is very rare for me (I ALWAYS have at least one bowel movement a day). I was shocked, but at the same time I was happy I didn't have to go through the stress of the pain of sitting on the toilet. The following morning I woke up around 9am to go to the bathroom. Surprisingly, I didn't have to strain or concentrate like I used to. I had a formed stool for the first time in months and it didn't hurt! I couldn't believe it. Just 2 days into the diet and my bowel movements already changed. It's day 29 of the diet and I've had solid bowel movements since.

Obviously I support the SCD diet since I've seen an immediate change, but to make things fair, I still have abdominal pain every now and then. It's not as frequent, but there are still the bad days.

 

[deborah123johnston]

hi,,im doing gaps last ten months havent been taking my meds..i am trying to heal my leaky gut and restore my bacteria balance..i am suffering from gerd here as well.my practitioner told me not to take ppis as this would cause more bad bacteria,so im feeling extremely uncomfortable...i have crohns..i am worried i wont achieve the results i want cause it bloody hard work....my practitioner said you should eventually wean off meds as you wont properly heal..hope shes right

 

[luckoftheirish]

thanks for the comments

regarding the SCD diet, yes i agree with this approach however for the last three months my diet has been even more restrictive than the SCD diet as i have avoided grains, dairy, sugar and all sweeteners including honey and glucose but the watery stools still persist.

At this point i suspect i have an issue with bile acid malabsorption. I can't think of any other reason for watery nature. I have also been taking probiotics, digestive enzymes, magnesium salts and complete amino acid profile.

In the past whenever i have flared restricting the diet would show good results in a matter of days but this has been going on for weeks now.

 

[BlakeTheSnake]

thanks for the comments

regarding the SCD diet, yes i agree with this approach however for the last three months my diet has been even more restrictive than the SCD diet as i have avoided grains, dairy, sugar and all sweeteners including honey and glucose but the watery stools still persist.

At this point i suspect i have an issue with bile acid malabsorption. I can't think of any other reason for watery nature. I have also been taking probiotics, digestive enzymes, magnesium salts and complete amino acid profile.

In the past whenever i have flared restricting the diet would show good results in a matter of days but this has been going on for weeks now.

Are you taking any L-glutamine? Also, homemade gelatin (especially after eating meats) seems to help me digest things better.

Do you have any acid reflux or have difficulty passing gas?

 

[luckoftheirish]

just started taking l-glutamine this morning. I dont have problems with the other symptoms however my stomach does feel like a washing machine when i wake in the morning.

For some reason there is a large amount of fluid. Usually after a couple of small movements im back to normal until the evening. Must be some correlation between the time it takes by body digest food..

As i mentioned earlier my diet is strict so for me it feels like something wrong with my digestion/absorption