Gransnet forums

Dieting & exercise

Excessive wind

(115 Posts)
GrandmaJulia6 Mon 30-May-22 09:59:17

Please help ! The stereotype of “old “ people breaking wind all the time is now applying to me and I’m only 66 ! I have not changed my diet at all and yet I can’t move without breaking wind ! My Grandchildren say “old people fart all the time !” and I hate being classed in this bracket .
Anyone got any tips as to how to deal with this embarrassment! Thank you

Daftbag1 Mon 06-Jun-22 06:55:02

When I realised that I'd joined the club of the 'wind step' , I gave up worrying and let the rest of the world worry instead.

Oh and I've acquired the skill of blaming others without saying a word!

Minerva Mon 06-Jun-22 09:01:13

I am not bothered about being unable to have a ‘like’ button after posts but I would like a ‘funny’ button. I love threads like this which make me laugh.

Whiff Mon 06-Jun-22 09:22:10

This thread has had me in stitches. My dad was very windy and he had dreadful constipation. Nothing helped him with either . He was funny. My dad he used to say teeth marks on the toilet seat again. Mom just rolled her eyes and said hope you sprayed the air freshener.

We should take a leaf out of young children's book and take no notice when we fart or as my grandson says trumpelled . My uncle called it coughed in your rompers when his sons where young. ?️

ElaineRI55 Mon 06-Jun-22 09:50:59

Possibly food intolerances make us become more windy! I think I'm now lactose intolerant which, as others have said, can develop with age as we produce less of the enzyme lactase which breaks down the lactose. I've started taking soy milk and have ordered some lactase. There are some suggestions that taking lactase is better than cutting out milk etc completely as we need calcium to keep bones strong. Many of us are no doubt on calcium tablets anyway! The joys of ageing.

Aepgirl Mon 06-Jun-22 10:00:56

I belong to a very active group of 10 ladies. One always sits/stands next to me and is constantly breaking wind - very smelly - and I have to, discreetly, tell the others that it wasn’t me!!

Nanna58 Mon 06-Jun-22 10:05:52

I suffer , very embarrassing, will try some of these remedies, but won’t hold my breath because it will just come out the of the other end!

PamQS Mon 06-Jun-22 10:41:11

timetogo2016

Alot of the above has had me in hysterics.
If farting was an oympic event,Dh would get the gold.

I’m not exaggerating, one night I was woken by my husband farting very explosively in his sleep.

timetogo2016 Mon 06-Jun-22 10:46:27

I believe you PamQS,Dh woke me the same way,frightened the oogey moogeys out of me.

Shinamae Mon 06-Jun-22 10:48:06

Gongoozler

I hadn’t realised so many of us are so flatulent, not the sort of thing that is normally discussed outside the family! I’m definitely one of the windy brigade and will have a look at some of the remedies!

A sigh is but a puff of wind,
Which rises from the heart.
If it takes a downward trend,
It ends up just a fart!

???

f77ms Mon 06-Jun-22 10:49:48

Whiff

I am windy both ends . I'm 64 and got to the point where I don't let it bother me. One of my uncles used to say even the Queen farts and her poo doesn't smell of roses .

Just try and put up with it. My mother used to fart with every step but she said it's better than having a tummy ache.

Other people pick their noses and teeth which they can stop as they choose to do that. Which to me are awful habits .We can't help when we break wind.

My husband used to say let the wind be free for want of a fart killeth me . He said he saw it on a grave stone when he was young . ?

Where er' you be let the wind blow free, for, 'twas was the wind that killeth me! My Grandad used to say this was written on a gravestone ?

WillowBreeze59 Mon 06-Jun-22 11:30:03

Omg some of these answers did make me laugh!! ?
I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem! I'm about to turn 63 on friday and I've noticed this last year that I too somehow can't control the little pops that suddenly come out when all is quiet, or in a supermarket when standing next to someone that is asking you to reach something off a shelf for them as I'm taller!! I'm silently thinking to myself, it's not all you'll get from the shelf, as I'll get it for you along with a free slightly noisy aromatic smell!!!?
It's like these little pops of wind just fall out, and I cant control them! Highly embarrassing though it is!

Thank you for the laugh though grandmajulia6, for putting this post up, and all of you that have responded with your experiences, and helpful tips. I'm off to buy some peppermint capsules!

EmilyHarburn Mon 06-Jun-22 14:09:04

You may get an answer in some of this reading:

www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/does-flatulence-increase-as-you-age

www.agingcare.com/articles/what-causes-flatulence-in-the-elderly-164293.htm

www.nhs.uk/conditions/flatulence/

www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/stomach-liver-and-gastrointestinal-tract/flatulence

Allsorts Mon 06-Jun-22 14:24:55

Never realised how lucky I have been, none of my family suffered from flatulence, just wasn’t mentioned. I think it must be more common in certain families so they all have it. .

Magrithea Mon 06-Jun-22 16:32:20

Try doing pelvic floor exercises.

You should be able to isolate the muscles around your anus and tighten them as if you are trying to stop passing wind. Try 10 reps and then rest, build up slowly

The same applies to muscles around the vagina and urethra, try lifting and tightening these (without tightening around the anus) as if you're trying to stop a wee. Again start with 10 reps and increase

Have a look at Elaine Miller's video (aka Gussie Grippers/Grips) - a physio who tackles the subject with humour!

JackyB Mon 06-Jun-22 20:08:07

While I have had a chuckle at a couple of posts, this thread is no laughing matter for me as I have been afflicted since before puberty; after childbirth it got worse and since the menopause I haven't enjoyed going out for fear of embarrassing myself.

I have taken away a few tips from this thread and will start by trying probiotics as from tomorrow. I do hope it's not lactose intolerance because the one thing I couldn't live without is a drink of milk at bedtime as well as milk in tea and on my cereal. Proper cows' milk, not the vegetarian alternatives - it's just not the same.

happycatholicwife1 Mon 06-Jun-22 21:35:55

GRANNY GRANBY
???? For your dad. The English are so witty!

hollysteers Mon 06-Jun-22 22:25:56

This thread is a hoot.
My MIL in old age, would break wind, then kick a chair leg or something to cover the noise as it were (too late), making it seem her clumsiness had caused the noise.
Now I find myself doing the same.

Callistemon21 Mon 06-Jun-22 23:21:30

Peppermint actually gives me wind
But at least it probably smells sweet ?

JackyB have you tried lactose-free milk?

Sprouts do it for me .......

Aveline Tue 07-Jun-22 07:18:45

I read about a game played called 'Sprout Tennis'. One, er, 'serves', then the next person, er, 'volleys' and so forth. What a thought! grin

VickyB Tue 07-Jun-22 08:27:33

I developed this problem in my 50s when still working, I hardly dared to move! Have a look at the Fodmap diet and maybe keep a food diary with symptoms (wind) graded from 1 - 10, ten being the worst. It might help you to identify problematic foods. I also found that Kefir and raw cider vinegar helped. Good luck.

Whiff Tue 07-Jun-22 11:55:56

It's funny pre Covid if you farted in public most people coughed. But wonder if some people farted to cover up a cough incase people thought they had Covid ?

JackyB coconut milk is nice even in tea . It doesn't taste of coconut or is sweet. I make my porridge with it as that way don't need to put in any honey. Always make my bedtime hot chocolate with it much nicer than skimmed milk. Ice cream made with coconut milk is lovely. I am not lactose intolerant but my son is he . So I tried coconut milk as he said it was the only sort he liked. Aldi 's is the cheapest them supermarkets own. I don't like soys,rice or oat milk.

Peaseblossom Tue 07-Jun-22 13:51:37

Hazeleyes Seriously?! ?

Aveline Tue 07-Jun-22 14:55:37

Gosh. How do you through life avoiding flatulence?! Just lucky?

effalump Tue 07-Jun-22 16:19:44

Charcoal tablets from Boots. Just remember to swallow 1 or two very quickly as the longer they are in your mouth, you end up with a big black splodge on your tongue. I've used them for years. The other things is, if a fart sneaks out before you realise, just don't react. That way people may think "Did she just fart, or did I imagine it". Let them think they imagined it.

Aveline Tue 07-Jun-22 16:28:26

Working on the old 'He who smelt it dealt it' principle? Don't forget though,
'He who denied it supplied it'!