Gut
Not necessarily the most pleasant post I will ever write, so you may choose to come back next time if you are a squeamish sort:
My "gut" aches. More specifically, my abdominal region in and around my umbilicus (belly button). I feel bloated and distended. I know it is because I need to have a bowel movement. But.... one is not forthcoming. In other words, I am considerably constipated.
I ran 11 miles this morning (~16 km) thinking that would likely "jostle" things into moving again. Unfortunately, the run proved ineffective.... and it was unpleasant to boot because of the discomfort.
I have now taken a laxative, hoping that this medication will help to "move things along". We shall see. I am not sure about the ultimate cause of my malaise. However, I am suspicious that a potential culprit *MAY* be the rather large piece of birthday cake I consumed two days ago with regard to my wife's birthday. I am not sure if this is the reason, but it is the only atypical food I have eaten in the last several days.
My theory is that perhaps because my routine diet is of foods that are very high fiber and very low fat content.... that perhaps this (delicious) piece of cake "shocked" my intestines because of the high fat content and low fiber content. It may be a bit of a far-fetched idea, as physiologically I believe a significant dietary change of the above sort would MORE LIKELY cause an INCREASE in fecal motility and a significant "loosening" of the fecal matter when the body is not used to it. But, who the hell knows? I am theorizing that the "shock" to my gut has perhaps encouraged my intestines to "hold onto" the high fat cake bolus quite strenuously to that it can work to absorb as much of the fat as possible before letting it continue on its journey.... since my gut does not often experience such a high fat "treat".
The pain is more than moderate. It is disconcerting. I had similar pain and discomfort one other time, so many decades ago when I was an undergraduate in college, where one time I felt so famished that I (foolishly) went to a nearby fast food restaurant (that has "golden arches) and stupidly bought and consumed THREE "Big Macs" and THREE "Large Fries" in about the span of 40 minutes. I was in similar pain to what I have now.... the NEXT DAY after consuming the plethora of hamburgers and fries. I was not a runner then, so my attempt to help move things along was to roll around on the floor to try to "loosen" things. Again, it did not work, and I took a laxative. But.... before the laxative had a chance to take effect, I ended up spontaneously disgorging (vomiting) up the entire contents of this unfortunate meal. I abhor vomiting, but in that situation, it ended up being a blessing for that to have spontaneously occurred.... as I felt immediately better.
As I am the U now and trying to maintain a normal day of lecture and lab, I sincerely hope I do not spontaneously disgorge today. It would be extremely embarrassing.
PCS = 0 - the discomfort is pretty much all I can focus on. Though, I have been TRYING to distract myself (to limited success) by trying to daydream about pipes.
PipeTobacco
4 Comments:
If it doesn't resolve soon, I would head to the doctor. Could it be some sort of blockage? Hope things start moving so you can be more comfortable!
That would be a heckuva reaction to one pice of cake. I’m with Margaret about getting it seen to before much longer. But hopefully things will work out in the end, so to speak. 🤓
Do let us know as soon as you've been able to get past the mysterious blockage and pain; you have readers here who may worry that it's something more serious if we don't hear from you for a while.
As you were prepared to "go there" and post something a bit graphic, I'll return a suggestion in kind. If you feel at all like you've got some discomfort stuck in your stomach, don't underestimate the good a good vomit can sometimes do. But be prepared, first. I have found that if I know I need/want to vomit, the best thing I can do is drink several large glasses of water first, so that when I retch I'm not risking a painful dry heave at the end of the process. That may sound unpleasant, but it's much better than a "spontaneous" vomit, especially if there's something stuck in your stomach that's causing upset throughout your system.
So sorry! I agree that the cake is a possible culprit. Mostly because I believe that you're as disciplined about diet as you say. A big dose of sugar and white flour and miscellaneous oils/fats COULD do that. I've spent much of 2022 reading about low carb (esp sugar)/high-ish fat diets. Sugar and processed flour are really our enemies. Fat, not so much. Nutrition as a science is just an infant and I predict we'll continue to learn over the next decades. The real trick will be convincing food manufacturers to stop shoveling bad food down our throats. Good luck with that!
As Pat M. said, share news when you have it. These issues DO matter to so many of us but not everyone likes to talk about it. I do!
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