Chronic fatigue is something that accompanies many illnesses, so you might not relate it to your digestion. However, your digestive system can have a significant impact on your energy levels. When you deal with bloating and frequent bowel movements, it can drain your resources.
Another common issue with IBS is that you don’t get adequate sleep. If your trips to the bathroom become so frequent that it interrupts your rest, then it can affect your overall energy level. Don’t be so quick to think there’s something else going on with your health if you have an irritable bowel and you’re exhausted all the time.
7. Heart Palpitations
Heart palpitations are a broad term used to describe any issues with the beating or rhythm of the heart. Palpitations occur when the heart is beating too fast or too slow, or you feel like it’s doing flip flops. It’s startling that heart palpitations can be a side effect of poor digestion and irritable bowel, but it’s true.
Anxiety is another major cause of heart palpitations, so it’s often challenging to distinguish between the two. However, it can be digestive issues and an irritable bowel that’s causing your heart problems. When your heart is acting abnormally, it’s essential to have it checked out.
8. Swelling and Bloating
The foods you’re eating are triggering an allergic reaction in your digestive system. The problem is that this causes you to have frequent bowel movements, abdominal pain, and you don’t get the nutrients you need from your food. All this inflammation and other chaos going on in your bowels can cause bloating.
A classic way to tell if this issue is food-related can be identified right after you eat. Your stomach can become distended even if you haven’t eaten a large meal; you will feel like you finished a feast. A gastroenterologist can quickly identify if the issues with bloating are food and IBS-related or coming from another problem.
9. Loss of Appetite
When you have issues with chronic diarrhea, and your body is losing the vital nutrients and electrolytes it needs, it can affect your appetite. While you probably think it wouldn’t hurt you to turn down a few meals for weight loss, it’s the nutrients you need to help your system thrive.
It would help if you tried to eat as many meals as possible as the loss of nutrition can be very problematic for your health.
10. Frequent Urges to Urinate
Do you constantly feel the urge to pee, even if you just urinated? It could be your bowels that are causing the issues. This urge has nothing to do with your bladder being full, but you’re having spasms caused by problems in your digestive system.
Running to the bathroom constantly can disrupt your day, and you can alleviate some of these issues by simply changing your diet and lifestyle. Nothing is worse than being stuck somewhere and feeling these sensations, so knowing you can fix it gives you a glimmer of hope.
11. Chronic Diarrhea
You already know that your bowel habits are one of the most significant indicators of poor gut health, but people who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome often struggle with diarrhea. In fact, diarrhea may be so common that you usually don’t have a solid stool. Many symptoms accompany loose stools, such as urgency, frequency, or just softer than normal feces.
When you think that you’re eating habits and lifestyle can make a difference in your digestion, it’s a frightening thought. When you don’t eat the proper foods, your body cannot absorb the nutrients it needs; thus, you lack things to make your system function properly.
However, conditions like IBS can have genetic links, but they can be managed through lifestyle and diet changes. Poor digestion can certainly mess with your gut and even your brain health, but it can cause many other issues throughout your body that shouldn’t be ignored.
What you put into your mouth has a significant impact on your total well-being. While sugar sweets and carbohydrate-laden foods taste delicious, a diet full of these items can cause you to feel bloated, miserable, and have health issues that impact your quality of life.
While there’s no cure for IBS, you can control it with diet modification. You will feel so much better when you are free from bloating and pain.