Is this a symptom of ALS?

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LovemyPALS

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My father was diagnosed with ALS about 3 years ago. He has recently experienced 'gas' pains in his stomach. He says he doesn't know if he has to burp or pass gas, but it is extremely uncomfortable and painful for him.

Could this be from the medication? muscles breaking down?

Any info would be great!
 
I'm not a doctor but would guess meds before muscles. Is he on anything new?

AL.
 
Does he have a PEG tube? Dad had similar challenges after using his feeding tube for a while. The feed rate and timing of his meals was altered and that seemed to help. His doc suggested he start using a mild children's medication for gas relief (I want to say Mylicon, but I'm not sure) which helped, too.
 
If he doesn't move much then I think he could end up with constipation which could trap gas, here is a recent story about my brother-

Recently in the hospital they gave my brother something for constipation. He was feeling very uncomfortable in his stomach so the thought was that would help (and had been several days since he had a bowl movement)
I'm not sure if the gas was already present or if the medicine caused if it was blockage keeping the gas in him but his stomach was swelled pretty tight and he was in complete misery. The last 48 hours were the worst.
I'm not sure if there is a medical term for what I am going to describe (and beware it does sound kind of icky but it worked!) they did something where the inserted a small tube in his rectum that immediately helped some of the liquid stool come out and gave him some gas relief. Then they brought in a bigger tube 2 hours later and this helped release a ton of gas for him. His stomach became more loose and he was finally out of pain.
Seems a bit extreme to go through to get rid of gas but I was so glad they finally got him out of pain.
 
OMG! You all are full of knowledge. Even though my dad has had this for years, we are so new to all of it. I do as much research as I can, but nothing compares to talking with peeps who know what I am talking about! I think the 'Tube,rectum, gas releif' process might be what he needs.

My mom has been giving my dad a over the counter medicine/powder to put in his water so help with his constipation. It doesn't seem to be working anymore.

I will talk with my mom about this procedure and see what can be done! I'm sure at this point, he will do anything to be more comfortable than he is right now!
 
Glad I may have been of help :)

You may, of course, want to talk to someone with medical knowledge and get an idea of what size tubes (first looked like a thick straw, the kind you would drink a milkshake with, the second was a lot larger, maybe the size of an American quarter) and to exactly do the procedure, but without a doubt he went from yelling for pain medication (which didn't help him) and seeming in sheer agony to suddenly calm and serene once they were able to let the
gas out.
 
Hi

This sounds like something my husband was going through also. Except he was also feeling nauseous. He got an enema and felt better too, but was still feeling crampy and nauseous. Then we traced some time back and decided to try taking him off his Rilutek. After about 2 days it made such a difference, and now he doesn't sleep lots and has more energy to sit for longer durations of time.
 
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