A mother of one has revealed that her chronic gastro problems and incessant farting left her feeling so embarrassed that it ruined her love life. Emma Frost, 30 from Blackheath, London had suffered with stomach pains since she was just 15 years old.
Emma’s sensitive stomach meant she has suffered from severe bloating and wind after every single meal.
And needing to make urgent dashes to the loo has played havoc on her love life, leaving Emma feeling so anxious that she gave up dating and eating out all together.
She said: “My biggest fear was breaking wind in public but there was nothing I could do about it.
“I’d also have to wear baggy clothes to disguise the inevitable bloat that would follow after I’d eaten. Unbuttoned jeans are not a good look so I gave up.”
Emma was tested for celiac disease when she first began experiencing stomach pains and loose bowels aged 15.
However, the test came back negative and doctors recommended she cut back on certain foods to see if that made a difference.
She added: “My symptoms were so persistent that my doctor was sure I must have a intolerance to something and so I began cutting out food groups to see what made the biggest difference. “I started with dairy and that had no effect. But I did find when I cut out wheat and gluten and my symptoms did improve a little.”
She said: “If I did go out with friends or on a date I’d either have to sit and eat nothing or rush out halfway through when the tummy trouble started. “In the end it was easier not to bother going out. I couldn’t go anywhere without checking how close I was to the toilet.”
Emma has also found that stress only exacerbates her embarrassing symptoms.
When she broke up with her long-term boyfriend and the father of her seven-year-old daughter, Emma’s chronic wind began to worsen.
Emma admits that the emotional stress of the break-up “did seem to make it worse”.
Although Emma wanted to start dating again, the single mum-of-one struggled to cope with the embarrassing side effects of her chronic condition.
Not only was getting back in the dating game “a complete disaster”, Emma says “it was a pretty painful one”.
“I decided it would be easier and less painful to stay single than put myself through it.”