Having digestive problems together with a history of psychiatric medication is very common. It seems like almost everyone has at least something.

Could you share your symptoms? What symptoms do you experience? When did they occur?

@The Dust Thanks for starting this topic. Could be a useful one I think. I agree, most people have or have had some digestion issues, with the gut and brain so closely tied it isn't any wonder!

I have digestive problems now. They have improved and shuffled around but I find it really hard to eat anything fibrous or fatty or sugary. The one thing that kills me no matter what is breakfast sausage. I also cannot eat store bought pasta sauce. Besides that my tolerance for anything has come and gone and is mostly reliant on just eating small portions and experimenting.

But something that has helped me even in flares is taking like ginger chewables for bloating and feeling like food isn't passing in my guts. I also take DGL for heartburn.

Edited July 11Jul 11 by yoshi4844
typo and additional information

In my case, before meds, I had horrible diarrheas which got labeled as ibs. They were very linked to my anxiety, so it was maybe that.

On Lexapro I didn't notice anything in particular. Maybe the occasional loose stool when stressed.

After Lexapro and antibiotics... Bowels wise I haven't had loose stools since. I mostly go every morning like clockwork, stressed or not. What I did develop is cramps, horrible bloating, reflux and gas.

@ALonelySoul12 Can you share with me a bit more about these cramps? Do you believe that they are somehow stomach-related? Did they appear after h.pylori infection or after your triple treatment for this infection? Do you feel these cramps under your left rib? I am asking because I have them all the time and I have nowhere to hide, but I still don't understand where exactly are happening.

1 hour ago, The Dust said:

@ALonelySoul12 Can you share with me a bit more about these cramps? Do you believe that they are somehow stomach-related? Did they appear after h.pylori infection or after your triple treatment for this infection? Do you feel these cramps under your left rib? I am asking because I have them all the time and I have nowhere to hide, but I still don't understand where exactly are happening.

They appeared after reinstating lexapro and stayed with me ever since. They can be under both ribs, intestines, sides, abdomen...

1 hour ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

They appeared after reinstating lexapro and stayed with me ever since. They can be under both ribs, intestines, sides, abdomen...

Thanks. But did you notice that something are making them less intensive? Like iberogast or PPI? Is everything worse on the empty stomach?

On 7/11/2026 at 12:37 PM, The Dust said:

Having digestive problems together with a history of psychiatric medication is very common. It seems like almost everyone has at least something.

Could you share your symptoms? What symptoms do you experience? When did they occur?

Me too. Throughout my withdrawal that started in 2019 I have had GI symptoms that come and go, gastric reflux, nausea, constipation, bloating, stomach aches, chest pains. I love pasta but I always suffer the day after eating it, It makes me tired and achy. Sometimes if I eat it with no sauce in small quantities it's ok but I think tomato sauce, garlic, upset my stomach. Some veg like cauliflower and sprouts make my stomach ache too and fresh pears. There are probably other foods too but those ones come to mind straight away.

2 minutes ago, Sonia2 said:

Me too. Throughout my withdrawal that started in 2019 I have had GI symptoms that come and go, gastric reflux, nausea, constipation, bloating, stomach aches, chest pains.

I can say, i am the same, however, my reflux is silent.

2 minutes ago, Sonia2 said:

I love pasta but I always suffer the day after eating it, It makes me tired and achy. Sometimes if I eat it with no sauce in small quantities it's ok but I think tomato sauce, garlic, upset my stomach. Some veg like cauliflower and sprouts make my stomach ache too and fresh pears. There are probably other foods too but those ones come to mind straight away.

According to this description, it sounds like gastritis. People with gastritis can't tolerate anything too "dense" or have to intensive taste.

And what happen if your stomach stays empty?

20 minutes ago, The Dust said:

I can say, i am the same, however, my reflux is silent.

According to this description, it sounds like gastritis. People with gastritis can't tolerate anything too "dense" or have to intensive taste.

And what happen if your stomach stays empty?

Recently I noticed that if my stomach is empty it aches but is relieved with food. I've been eating bland foods recently after a stomach bug.

Stomach bug? So, H.pylori induced gastritis?

Recently I noticed that if my stomach is empty it aches but is relieved with food.

Totally makes sense yes. I also feel that some food "cover" my stomach pain, but I still have painful cramping.

@The Dust I had bloods done recently that ruled out bacterial infection, doctor said it was a virus. My husband had it after me but not as bad. It does seem to be gastritis right now but I haven't had it this bad before. Nausea and no appetite. How are you now?

Thanks for asking. Not good pain everywhere, digestion behave strangely, just as yours, nothing new. And brain fog and pain everywhere. I also don't want to eat.

But it interesting how this gastritis is predictable. I mean, I had never have nausea, but it appeared literally this month.

Thanks for sharing this about bug, so your doctor tried to explain your gastritis as virus induced gastritis? But still this stayed unknown? If I understood correctly. So has H pylori also been ruled out?

And, can you name this specific bacteria in your blood?

Sorry if I am asking to much, but my gastritis is kiling me. It already did it actually.

Edited August 10Aug 10 by The Dust

@The Dust I have had nausea, acid reflux and stomach aches every now and then throughout my 6/7 year withdrawal ordeal and constipation more noticeably since coming off citalopram around 18 months ago. CT Scans around two years ago when I was really ill were normal.

My stomach virus started just over 4 weeks ago, I had a temp 38.5, diarrhoea and vomiting also. For a week it was bad but the vomiting was replaced with nausea. I went to out of hours doctor at the hospital and he gave me a good examination and said I had a non specific infection. Two weeks later I was still getting stomach and abdominal aches but the diarrhoea had stopped and a doctor gave me antibiotics that I took for 2 days because they made me feel worse. Now I have acid reflux, nausea like never before, stomach aches and constipation. Could be the effects of antibiotics, not sure. You mention brain fog, I have that too. I have not eaten a proper meal in four weeks, living on the BRAT diet.

last week I was another doctor who prescribed ppi 's but I haven't taken them, afraid to. He went through my blood results that I had done during the second week of my illness and he said it showed it wasn't bacterial. It was a set of routine blood tests that were prearranged and not taken because of the virus. I am explaining because I do not want to mislead you. I have not had these symptoms this bad ever before. Have you been checked out by your doctor?

I personally stick to avoiding foods that cause reflux....just google them.

Also I stuck to a low histamine diet which works wonders.

Recently I noticed a supplement I was taking has xylitol and it was causing bloating.... artificial sweeteners are really bad for this as are guar gums, xanthan gum and other emulsifiers.

Even ginger, which is for nausea can irritate the stomach lining and digestive tract if you take it on an empty stomach, overdo it or if the supplement has artificial sweeteners.

This is a brutal symptom when it's hard to even enjoy a bit of food. ❤️🙏

Edited August 11Aug 11 by LostinCanada

4 hours ago, LostinCanada said:

This is a brutal symptom when it's hard to even enjoy a bit of food. ❤️🙏

Yes! ***** eating!!!

But I have to correct you about artificial sweeteners. Guar gums and xanthan gum are nothing but pure fibers present in nature. I don't say they can't cause problems. The problem could be because of it's high osmotic activity, it binds water and makes everything harder to digest.

Xilitol is a bit different. It is nothing but poorly absorbable sugar (FODMAP) by humans present also in fruits like apples and that's why can ferment in small intestine very quickly and then you can get gas because of that.

Of course it's well know that these can course GI problems, but not because they are artificial or something like that.

@Sonia2 Thanks for sharing. You wrote very well, but for me, it's still strange that your gastroenterologist though about stomach infection, but didn't do test for H.Pylori. Usually, this is the first step.

Yes, I visited every single specialist (stupid!) nothing was found, of course. H pylori was ruled out. The only thing found out was gastritis and duodenitis by gastroscopy and by biopsy though. One time I my test for hydrogen SIBO was positive, but later negative...

Artificial Sweeteners: A Double-Edged Sword for Gut Microbiome - PMC https://share.google/62qy6rT8gJkuMGNjW

Food Emulsifiers and Metabolic Syndrome: The Role of the Gut Microbiota - PMC https://share.google/6pB9exB7Gz1bGB1Pq

Whether something is natural or not is not the issue....these are things that can cause added problems for people that are highly sensitive, so if you are consuming them whether in a supplement or in icecream, they may cause an issue.

That was my only point.

@LostinCanada Thanks, you motivated me to read this stuff! Sorry, but your sentence is really worded in a way that could be interpreted as saying that xylitol is an artificial sweetener, or at least as if it belongs to a similar category, although that probably wasn’t intentional.

54 minutes ago, The Dust said:

Yes! **** eating!!!

But I have to correct you about artificial sweeteners. Guar gums and xanthan gum are nothing but pure fibers present in nature. I don't say they can't cause problems. The problem could be because of it's high osmotic activity, it binds water and makes everything harder to digest.

Xilitol is a bit different. It is nothing but poorly absorbable sugar (FODMAP) by humans present also in fruits like apples and that's why can ferment in small intestine very quickly and then you can get gas because of that.

Of course it's well know that these can course GI problems, but not because they are artificial or something like that.

@Sonia2 Thanks for sharing. You wrote very well, but for me, it's still strange that your gastroenterologist though about stomach infection, but didn't do test for H.Pylori. Usually, this is the first step.

Yes, I visited every single specialist (stupid!) nothing was found, of course. H pylori was ruled out. The only thing found out was gastritis and duodenitis by gastroscopy and by biopsy though. One time I my test for hydrogen SIBO was positive, but later negative...

@The Dust Thanks but my bloods showed it was not a bacterial infection and h pylori is bacterial. My doctor said it was viral. I also had temperature of 38.5 and h pylori does not usually cause a fever. I have had weeks of poor appetite, poor sleep and stress but today I started eating a normal diet. I think the erythromycin irritated my stomach prolonging my symptoms. Hope you are feeling a little better today, duodenitis sounds very painful.

57 minutes ago, The Dust said:

@Sonia2 Thanks for sharing. You wrote very well, but for me, it's still strange that your gastroenterologist though about stomach infection, but didn't do test for H.Pylori. Usually, this is the first step.

Yes, I visited every single specialist (stupid!) nothing was found, of course. H pylori was ruled out. The only thing found out was gastritis and duodenitis by gastroscopy and by biopsy though. One time I my test for hydrogen SIBO was positive, but later negative...

Yeah, erythromycin made probably everything inside your stomach worse. It's sad to say it, I'm sorry to say this. It happened to me too, i think. I was more bloated after rifaximin. I took it even though my SIBO test was negative, but it made my bloating worse, probably just because of that! Yes, having fever is not h.pylori symthom, so your doctor decided that specific test was not needed. And you probably made made your stomach worse befor infection and antibiotic when you were on psych med for so long, and now that's the result... I am sorry!

Actually, duodenitis by itself is not that painful. It is, yes but i think abdominal cramping because of it makes everything unbearable, yes.

Edited August 11Aug 11 by The Dust

On 7/11/2026 at 4:52 PM, yoshi4844 said:

I have digestive problems now. They have improved and shuffled around but I find it really hard to eat anything fibrous or fatty or sugary. The one thing that kills me no matter what is breakfast sausage. I also cannot eat store bought pasta sauce. Besides that my tolerance for anything has come and gone and is mostly reliant on just eating small portions and experimenting.

But something that has helped me even in flares is taking like ginger chewables for bloating and feeling like food isn't passing in my guts. I also take DGL for heartburn.

@yoshi4844 I've just recently had a few issues with the stomach, I did not know they make ginger chewable, I'll have to check in to that. Thanks for the tip.

I recently have been experiencing some stomach pain since I got back from camping. I fullness just below my sternum/ribcage, dull to sharp pain in lower left of ribcage and stomach feeling like I'm bloated and maybe just noticed I haven't had a bowel movement in 2 to 3 days, probably bound up , @mstimc60 suggestions was a heating pad on my stomach which did help with the pain , and took some Miralax that works with the water in your system to make it easier to go. A little prune juice and a bit of plain Greek yogurt, so far things are settling down, not perfect but better.

@Bernadette How can you survive without bowel movement for 2-3 days??

It's very uncomfortable, but when they do come watch out 😂 poo is gonna hit the fans, . I just recently started going again, I took a laxative but I was doing Miralax earlier. My Doc said if nothing is happening in 5 days she was gonna do a enema, not the most pleasant thing. I had one when I was about 45year old and my appendix ruptured. Needless to say I won't have to worry about that, things are moving along just fine now, no pun intended 🤣

Did you tried back coffee? It "solves" constipation literally after 20 seconds. Works immediately.