Abdominal distension
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AnsiStar
Posts: 165 Member
Does anybody else suffer with this?
I'm relatively slim figured but my stomach almost always has a bloated appearance to it - I can look about 5 months pregnant sometimes! I used to think this was caused by fat and a lack of muscle. Turns out it really isn't!
I've gone through some possibilities in my head like food intolerances (gluten, wheat, lactose and dairy being the most obvious but haven't tried cutting each out in turn to check), and IBS. Bowel problems do run in my family but I'm not "windy" or "gassy". My digestion's pretty slow but I also don't eat a whole lot and I get a good amount of fibre. I'm also working to improve my posture as the curve in my spine makes it stick out a bit more but not enough to warrent how big it can get sometimes. I don't overload on fizzy drinks or salt and I drink enough water.
Can anyone suggest anything else it might be? I can't flipping stand it! I've had an ultrasound to check I don't have any hidden cysts (I don't - thank god!) but even my doctor was stumped by this.
I'm relatively slim figured but my stomach almost always has a bloated appearance to it - I can look about 5 months pregnant sometimes! I used to think this was caused by fat and a lack of muscle. Turns out it really isn't!
I've gone through some possibilities in my head like food intolerances (gluten, wheat, lactose and dairy being the most obvious but haven't tried cutting each out in turn to check), and IBS. Bowel problems do run in my family but I'm not "windy" or "gassy". My digestion's pretty slow but I also don't eat a whole lot and I get a good amount of fibre. I'm also working to improve my posture as the curve in my spine makes it stick out a bit more but not enough to warrent how big it can get sometimes. I don't overload on fizzy drinks or salt and I drink enough water.
Can anyone suggest anything else it might be? I can't flipping stand it! I've had an ultrasound to check I don't have any hidden cysts (I don't - thank god!) but even my doctor was stumped by this.
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Replies
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Check with your doctor about allergy testing? Or take one possible cause out of your diet for a month to see if it helps. Maybe go dairy free for one month. If that's not it reintroduce dairy, but cut out gluten?0
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Yep, I had it big time. Read Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis and cut out wheat-bye bye bloat
I actually had bread for the first time in about two months, last weekend, (an Arbys sandwich), and I bloated up so badly afterward I couldn't button my jeans-crazy! So for me, it's definitely a wheat/gluten? thing. I'm not super strict about avoiding it, but I do try to stay away from it most of the time. 0 -
A whole month?! Oh man I'm in for some tough months. Think I'll start AFTER my trip to Italy and just hold my tummy in (like I have for about 7 years) when it blows up.
What did yours look like? If you don't mind me asking.0 -
IMO you need a medical checkup.0
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IMO you need a medical checkup.
Yeah you think I should go back?
It's taken me this long to figure out I'm not actually fat, my stomach just blows up occasionally and it's one cause of my eating problems.0 -
It wouldn't hurt. I know there are tests for Celiac's disease because several of my husbands family tested positive for it. Talk to your doctor about testing and/or eliminating possible causes.0
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Celiac Disease is present in my family so it could be possible I suppose. I forsee them just saying try going out with a whole host of things one at a time to figure it out. My doctors are very dismissive0
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my stomach blows up and I look pregnant if I eat wheat (it also makes me pretty sick) i just avoid it now, at first it was hard but I have so mayn intolerances that its just another. hope you find out the cause!0
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Yep I've had it ever since I had my son... so almost 20 years now. Thing is that in hospital they told me to just so situps while holding it together, ........ hold what together I asked..... they walked out. I was only 18 & I guess they figured I figure it out.
Anyway fast forward to now...and even without holding it together..... or having to buy one of those over priced tummy things..... it's actually repairing. Less & less does it look like a mine blew up in the middle of my stomach. I don't have an explanation for it at all.... it's just done it in the last few months.
It is repairable WITHOUT surgery though.... at least in my case & I was kinda torn into 2 mine was that bad.0 -
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I'm relatively slim figured but my stomach almost always has a bloated appearance to it - I can look about 5 months pregnant sometimes! I used to think this was caused by fat and a lack of muscle. Turns out it really isn't!
QUOTE
It's taken me this long to figure out I'm not actually fat, my stomach just blows up occasionally and it's one cause of my eating problems.
Hi
Does your belly 'occasionally' blow up or 'almost always has a bloated appearance to it' - it could be something to do with your diet in the form of an intolerance. It could also be connected to exercise as I have read on these boards that muscles can hold onto water when they have been worked.
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If your doctor is "dismissive" time to find a new one.
mine still does the pregnant thing on occasion, but if I remember correctly, its bread
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Celiac Disease is present in my family so it could be possible I suppose. I forsee them just saying try going out with a whole host of things one at a time to figure it out. My doctors are very dismissive
I think the doc said that because that is the first port of call so i don't think its being dismissive. I cut out lactose and gluten and when that didn't solve the problem I then had the celiac test and a colonoscopy. Just try cutting things out for a longer period of time and then at least when you go back you can say i have done this, this and this, and still no change...whats the next step.
I hope you manage to resolve your tummy issues soon !0 -
Frequency of stomach bloating -
I've had this problem as long as I can remember. I don't feel bloated and it doesn't hurt but it feels hard to touch like a bloat does. I do have stomach acid issues but they only came about the past few years so doesn't explain having the distension when I was younger. It's not ALWAYS at its biggest, it is sometimes normal sized and has been a lot better since I cut down on carbs (not cut out, just down) but I noticed last night it had completely balooned and so I realised the problem was still present, I'd just forgotten how big it can get!
Dismissive doctos -
They've been dismissive with other things, not just this. The doctor I saw at my local surgery was actually pretty concerned about it, hence sending me for a scan and then giving me a gym referal so I could tighten my muscles. He recently moved to Canada though. The doctors at my surgery are not the best but I could try and get several appointments with perhaps the more caring ones there. I spent months going there in tears from the pain trying to get a diagnosis for my acid reflux but they never did anything. Undfortunately I don't have an alternative surgery though.0 -
Frequency of stomach bloating -
I've had this problem as long as I can remember. I don't feel bloated and it doesn't hurt but it feels hard to touch like a bloat does. I do have stomach acid issues but they only came about the past few years so doesn't explain having the distension when I was younger. It's not ALWAYS at its biggest, it is sometimes normal sized and has been a lot better since I cut down on carbs (not cut out, just down) but I noticed last night it had completely balooned and so I realised the problem was still present, I'd just forgotten how big it can get!
Dismissive doctos -
They've been dismissive with other things, not just this. The doctor I saw at my local surgery was actually pretty concerned about it, hence sending me for a scan and then giving me a gym referal so I could tighten my muscles. He recently moved to Canada though. The doctors at my surgery are not the best but I could try and get several appointments with perhaps the more caring ones there. I spent months going there in tears from the pain trying to get a diagnosis for my acid reflux but they never did anything. Undfortunately I don't have an alternative surgery though.
If it happened last night look through your food diary and figure out what you ate. That right there will give you a good starting point.0 -
Eat really low carb, lots of fiber, lots of fish and broccoli if you can stand it.
Also I have a very deep arch in my back, I believe this has a lot to do with why my tummy looks distended0 -
Frequency of stomach bloating -
I've had this problem as long as I can remember. I don't feel bloated and it doesn't hurt but it feels hard to touch like a bloat does. I do have stomach acid issues but they only came about the past few years so doesn't explain having the distension when I was younger. It's not ALWAYS at its biggest, it is sometimes normal sized and has been a lot better since I cut down on carbs (not cut out, just down) but I noticed last night it had completely balooned and so I realised the problem was still present, I'd just forgotten how big it can get!
Dismissive doctos -
They've been dismissive with other things, not just this. The doctor I saw at my local surgery was actually pretty concerned about it, hence sending me for a scan and then giving me a gym referal so I could tighten my muscles. He recently moved to Canada though. The doctors at my surgery are not the best but I could try and get several appointments with perhaps the more caring ones there. I spent months going there in tears from the pain trying to get a diagnosis for my acid reflux but they never did anything. Undfortunately I don't have an alternative surgery though.
If it happened last night look through your food diary and figure out what you ate. That right there will give you a good starting point.
Yes I thought that but I had quinoa which I believe is wheat and gluten free and I had dairy in the form of cheese (cottage and edam) and milk. I have these things all the time and never notice bloating to that extent. I'd even had milk and cottage cheese earlier in the day and was looking quite trim before dinner0 -
I had a very similar problem; my stomach often bloats up and distends, often to the point of being very round and hard like a pregnant belly. My GP did tests for Coeliac Disease and when they came back clear he basically gave up on it. Instead, I referred myself to a dietitian. She went through my food diaries (which I'd been keeping for weight loss) and recommended a few things (cut down on caffeine, particularly diet Coke, more fibre and a probiotic yogurt or drink twice a day) and I've had great results! Much less bloating and discomfort now, and I've only been doing these things for a couple of weeks.
Last Saturday I went to a party where only diet Coke was available for those of us not wanting to drink booze, and my tummy the following morning was so huge, and it hurt a fair bit too. Learnt my lesson now!0 -
Ive had the same things for years and have had numerous tests and scans to no avail. I was determined that it must be an intolerance, so I made a plan over a few months to phase certain well known triggers out and narrow down what it might be. A year on and Ive worked out that bread and fruit with a skin (ie apples), are the triggers. Ive now stopped eating these and its solved my problem completley...well that was until last night when I decided to treat myself to a pizza....hello bloat!! Back on the straight and narrow now and feeling better already0
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It's good to know I'm not alone in this! I thought there was something really strange about it! I'll see a doc and see what they think. If they're being their usual crappy selves I'll start phasing things out. How long do you think I should cut each thing to test?0
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Fibroids0
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