help re extreme bloat (photos): this isnt normal?

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uchube
uchube Posts: 44
in Health and Weight Loss
i've been swollen and bloating for about six months now. today i came back from a moderate intensity resistance training workout, well hydrated, and ate 4 pieces of pre-cooked lean chicken breast (no more than 50g total) with a tsp of mct, and lo and behold, bloat. this is picture 1, and Nothing compared to my usual bloating to be honest- i've had much worse. pic 2 is about a half an hour after id finished, i downed a berocca and the bloat eased it slightly. the belly is rock hard and sore, with swelling extending to up around my ribs.
Three weeks ago i cut out fruit and dairy, as I'm PCOS and IR and am attempting lower carb. i really just want the bloat after every single ingestion to cease. any ideas what this is?

pic 1, after carb and sugar-free food 2dw6bzk.jpg

pic 2 just under 1hr later 24ch6yv.jpg

at first i thought it was refined grains, but it seems to happen with literally everything. :( i take probiotics daily and eat very clean.
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Replies

  • littlefoot612
    littlefoot612 Posts: 156 Member
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    If this has been going on for 6 months, have you seen a Doctor? If so, is your Doctor the one who recommended supplements instead of food? According to the Nutricia website MCT is "Not suitable for use as a sole source of nutrition." On your diary, it looks like you take in more calories in supplements than in real food. ie on today's diary you have only eaten 213 cal in food and the rest (677 cal) was in supplements. You're not eating any fruits, vegetables of carbs at all. Does your Doctor know you have cut out fruit and dairy? I think you should see a nutritionist because your diet looks like it could be causing more harm than helping.
    Good luck with whatever you choose to do but please take care of yourself.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    yeah, you might have to see a doctor for this...this doesn't look normal to me...I feel bloated some time but it only lasts a couple of days...
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
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    Try going off gluten. My friend bloats up like that hen she has it.
  • littlefoot612
    littlefoot612 Posts: 156 Member
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    Try going off gluten. My friend bloats up like that hen she has it.

    She's off gluten already and is consuming no carbs (grains, rice etc) at all, no fruit, no vegetables and no dairy, just some chicken and supplements.
  • uchube
    uchube Posts: 44
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    hi folks, doctor is aware but fairly nonplussed and says to maintain a higher carb diet; i have lchadd, so can't break down long-chain fats- and i've been on mct my whole life. the pcos/ir compromised my carb intake-- my medical history is really complex so was really just interested in feedback in regards to the bloat, this is relatively new and the reason why i've cut down to much to try figure out whats causing it. once i know it simply ain't normal, i'll book in for a scan or go see a GI consultant.

    sorry to alarm anyone.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    I assume you drink plenty of water every day? Drinking water and herbal teas do help me big time but again I only have a mild IBS nothing too serious...as long as I avoid trigger food like dairy and pastry I am fine. good luck~
  • uchube
    uchube Posts: 44
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    to clarify; the lchadd is managed by the mct, and the ir/pcos by metformin. i cut carbs because it made the bloat much worse and i've some weight to lose. and i'm sedentary. and 5ft 2, and desperate lol
    i was fearful of IBS, is this bloat something that sufferers experience? the instantaneity of it and swelling so far up is really alarming, not to mention quite uncomfortable

    i was maintaining a healthy weight of 109 for a few years with normal cal intake until this winter when i became sedentary, began eating a lot of fructose, developed severe reflux and gained 10lbs. and then the bloating started. i really don't know what it is, IBS or leaky gut maybe? its flat in the morning when i wake up.
  • d0v3r13
    d0v3r13 Posts: 61 Member
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    i had a lot of bloating issues when i was suffering from pretty severe acid reflux. and it always stayed in my abdomen, i very rarely had any acid in my throat, it was extremely painful. is it possible that that is the problem? it hurt every time i ingested any amount of food or liquid.
  • uchube
    uchube Posts: 44
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    I too never had throaty reflux, just burning in my middle stomach. I've not experience that kind of pain, however, not for maybe 2 months. I take ACV and aloe vera gel in the morning and found them to work much better than the meds. I would go back to the GI who diagnosed reflux initially via gastroscopy but at the time he said it was 'mild' - it sure didn't feel like my GI issues were mild and it doesn't look like its mild now :tongue:
  • pinkfairybutton
    pinkfairybutton Posts: 16 Member
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    Look into ibs see if you have any of the other symptoms. I get bloating worse than yours if i eat a trigger food. Through advice of my doctor im currently on the fodmap diet and am tons better. Aswell as wheat and dairy being a trigger for ibs you will see that they can be many others, onions and garlic being one of the worst culprits
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
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    I am going to suggest you eat more. Under 1000 calories a day is simply not enough. How long have you been doing this to yourself. One day you were under 500. Also there is no fibre in your diet. So little food volume needs fibre to move it along, there is negligible fibre logged.
  • 2013sk
    2013sk Posts: 1,318 Member
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    Go and see the doctor straight away!!!

    Are you eating lots of high fibre foods??

    How much water are you drinking???

    I notice when I eat lots of carbs/fibre - God I bloat up big time and look pregnant! Its not nice
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    Just go and see a Doctor
  • uchube
    uchube Posts: 44
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    the 500kcal day wasn't including a 2 course celebratory dinner, don't worry. i just didn't log because i know i was over and moved on mentally. I am diligently sticking to no more than 1200 over the last month because i'm 5ft2, and have some lbs to lose, and the pcos and sedentary lifestyle means i have to be strict with intake and carbs. its tough! i do struggle with it. and to be honest, going over isn't appealing to me at the moment because of the constant discomfort.
    i gain genuine fat on anything over 1500 - if im sedentary. i ate over 1500 from november to march and gained, which coincided with reflux and bloating.
    i'll look into ibs diet/fodmaps. i also sent a mail out to other sufferers with fatty Oxidation Disorders and it would appear preservatives and slow motility are issues, maybe its just a flare up for me.
    thanks for everyone who provided sensitive responses.
  • uchube
    uchube Posts: 44
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    an update: i have received results from the York Intolerance testing.

    I am highly intolerant of:

    yeast
    dairy
    eggs

    if anyone has experiences and tips, please share.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    an update: i have received results from the York Intolerance testing.

    I am highly intolerant of:

    yeast
    dairy
    eggs

    if anyone has experiences and tips, please share.

    I guess you just need to avoid these to see if there's any improvement?
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    an update: i have received results from the York Intolerance testing.

    I am highly intolerant of:

    yeast
    dairy
    eggs

    if anyone has experiences and tips, please share.

    Lurker of this thread, so I am SO glad you have some medical answers now!

    My mother has a similar (but bigger) list of intolerances: yeast, dairy protein (allergy), eggs, soy, corn and she has Celiacs

    The best advice I can give from her experience, is to focus on what you CAN eat. Definitely eliminate ALL of the sources of your intolerances (check your supplements/vitamins you may take as well--those ingredients are often always in them).

    Focus on eating meats (if you eat meat), veggies, grains (I see no grain intolerances, YAY, bonus for you), fruits, nuts, seeds, etc. There's a LOT of things you can eat. From your list, you can easily focus on finding vegan recipes (no dairy, no eggs, they don't eat those either) and add meats if you like.
  • littlefoot612
    littlefoot612 Posts: 156 Member
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    I have recently been diagnosed lactose intolerant and after some experimentation as to what I could eat with little to no symptoms, I have found it easier to just eliminate all regular dairy products and packaged food. I found that so many prepared and packaged foods contained milk solids or milk products. I am back to basics with fresh fruit, vegetables and meat/fish/chicken, and doing well with it but it did take a couple of weeks to get used to actually cooking from scratch again. I do have the over the counter medication to help digest dairy foods but have only used it once just to see if it works. It is a hit or miss proposition too depending on your tolerance levels and you may have to take from 1 to 4 pills before eating, so experimentation is needed here too.
    Good luck to you, it's doable and just takes some getting used to.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Go see your doctor/endocrinologist and do what s/he recommends.

    A simple google search and reading about ICHAD disease found that fasting and avoiding carbs exacerbates (makes worse) the problems of ICHAD. From what others have described of your diet (you diary is not public at present), it seems like you may be eating the WORST possible diet for ICHAD.

    DO NOT go low carb without talking to an ICHAD expert. Since ICHAD causes an inability to gain energy from some fats, a diet rich in carbs is necessary for most ICHAD sufferers.

    JOIN an ICHAD support group and, in consultation with your doctor, look for specific dietary information there.

    Meanwhile, you are probably damaging your muscles and, perhaps more importantly, you retinas (and abilty to see -- wanna go blind?) by eating wrecklessly.

    Talk to your endocrinologist!!!
  • uchube
    uchube Posts: 44
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    Heidi, shame on you for taking such a sanctimonious attitude to a rare and complex disease.

    Fasting is to be avoided during illness and in childhood/adolescence so as to prevent running low on fuel. I was tube-fed overnight until age 12 and am cleared to fast over 10hrs overnight before my glucose even begins to drop.

    I have, from birth, been under the close medical supervision of seven consultants, including a professor of opthamology, genetic errors of metabolism, and endocrinology.

    Low carb is not advised for lchadd because of their dependance on glucose. What do you think happens when an lchadder (with a yeast and dairy intolerance) becomes so over-loaded with carbohydrates that they develop Insulin Resistance with PCOS? Answer: the carbs need to drop down, the Medium chain fats need to go up.

    I am already without central vision in my left eye: that happened over a decade ago, and PR is unavoidable with LCHADDs. Thank you for your concern (sarcasm), but since then there has been no further progression and my professor is very happy with me. Excessive intake of glucose would, especially in my case, increase the risk of pigment forming on my retina.

    Hypotonia is mild in my case, as I said, I lift heavy.

    What a nasty, dogmatic ill-educated and rash answer. Please read up on Insulin Resistance & Pcos and appreciate that I manage two conflicting life-long disorders the best I can.

    In terms of the yeast Intolerance- I have read conflicting advice on grain intake. I assume that buckwheat/soba is okay, thankfully. And soda and rye. Unfortunately with the LCHADD I can't do the nuts or seeds.

    All the best to everyone who has offered help.

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