No Flatulence As A Symptom? TMI Sorry

[birdie22]

I've posted about being bloated and distended as a symptom. I've realized that I rarely, if ever, pass gas. I know they say the typical person passes gas about 10x's a day. Other than a time a few weeks ago when I ate a very bean heavy meal, I haven't had any flatulence. Zero, zip, nada. I'm guessing that when I'm bloated and distended it's trapped gas. Anyone experience this? Is it abnormal to go days, weeks, maybe months w/out passing gas? I know, I know, I should be grateful I don't have the opposite problem! I just find it curious and wonder if a)it's even a problem and b)if anyone else with gluten issues has experienced the same thing.

[psawyer]

There is never TMI here when we are trying to find answers.

Yes, it is normal to fart several times a day, but like so many things, it is not so simple.

You didn't share the rest of your bowel rhythm. Are you typically constipated? A plug of hardened fecal matter in the rectum can block it, trapping gas further up the stream.

[mushroom]

Yes, I agree with Peter. If you are constipated, a bolus of gas can become trapped behind fecal matter that you cannot pass, and the gas itself makes it difficult then to have a bowel movement, let alone pass the gas. Most people would consider it to be normal to have at least one bowel movement per day, although I know there are many who don't. If you cannot pass flatus, then you need to burp to relieve gas trapped in the intestinal tract. Do you ever feel the need to do this or do you not ever feel any bloating?

[birdie22]

I have regular BMs daily. BMs are usually in the early morning and my bloating systems usually appear after lunch or dinner. Prior to going gluten-free a month and a half ago they were on the looser end but not D. They've gotten firmer. No belching except for the time I was on prilosec for 6wks. Several times a month and usually for several days in a row (so 2-3 days in a week, usually 2 weeks a month) I'll get very uncomfortable bloating and visible distention. My waist and upper abdomen increase in size 1.5-2in from normal. I'll feel discomfort right in the area of my diaphragm/base of my breast bone and I feel like I wish I could poke a hole in my belly button to let air out. I wish I could pass gas to relieve the pressure but I don't even have a feeling that I need to. It's like the air doesn't make it far enough down the digestive track to permit that to happen. It wasn't until my recent episode of flatulence that I realize, OMG, I can't remember the last time I passed gas. So that made me wonder if when I was on gluten that it was causing my system to trap air and that now that I've been gluten-free for a while that my system is starting to function more normally.

[Jestgar]

I've posted about being bloated and distended as a symptom. I've realized that I rarely, if ever, pass gas. I know they say the typical person passes gas about 10x's a day.

hmmm...I never do either, unless I've eaten something bad. I never thought about it, just appreciated it.