help re extreme bloat (photos): this isnt normal?
uchube
Posts: 44
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
pic 2 just under 1hr later
at first i thought it was refined grains, but it seems to happen with literally everything.
i take probiotics daily and eat very clean.
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
pic 2 just under 1hr later
at first i thought it was refined grains, but it seems to happen with literally everything.
i take probiotics daily and eat very clean. 0
Replies
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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.0 -
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...0
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Try going off gluten. My friend bloats up like that hen she has it.0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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~0
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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.0 -
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.0
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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
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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 culprits0
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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.0
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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 nice0 -
Just go and see a Doctor0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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?0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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!!!0 -
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.0 -
Stalking thread
(Hi, new to the board.)
While I do not share your medical conditions, I experience some CRAZY bloat. Or, at least that's what I would describe it as. I do not yet have a clear answer as to when/why it happens.
I'm 5'1. This time last year I was 119-122 post children and weaning, but over the fall and winter I jumped to 147 and felt awful. I'm sitting at 132-134 at the time being and attempting to adopt some new weight loss methods
So this bloat thing. I am sure part of it looks worse than it is because my belly is SO stretched out from having kids that any bloat is easily noticeable. Sometimes it hurts or feels uncomfortable and sometimes it does not. My belly and even into my hips can swell the difference of two pants sizes or a shirt size. Think Mommy with a soft squishy not perfectly flat belly to 6 months pregnant all over again. I do tend to see as much as 5 pounds gained when this happens.
I *think* I can trace this to too much carbs or wheat stuffs. Still doing some trial and error and just decided to go very low carb in my diet anyway, so I shall see if this continuously improves. My diet has been low dairy for several years now, so not dairy for me. I eat the occasional serving of yogurt or cheese (few times a week?) plus a natural cow milk based creamer in my coffee (tablespoon?) We switched to almond milk 2 years ago.0 -
Lana: If it helps, I haven't had dairy in quite a few months, maybe 2.5, and never cared for grains because of the severe reflux- and because of the LCHADD I've never even had an egg yolk. But they all came up in the intolerance test. Point is, I would get the testing carried out, it will save you a lot of work. I'm relieved now, and can have more of a balanced intake. It was becoming exhausted just trying to find out what the hell was causing my issues. I never would have assumed yeast or egg whites, for example.
It helps to have a definitive answer and that way, you don't have to cause yourself any more anxiety eliminating foods.0 -
Heidi, shame on you for taking such a sanctimonious attitude to a rare and complex disease.
You are right. I re-read my response and it was over the top. I over reacted and got on my high horse. I read some of the comments here and leapt to conclusions. I only spoke so strongly because I was worried based on my own assumptions. I hope you'll accept my apologies.
I do wish you the best and still recommend to anyone that they consult with their physicians before undertaking a special diet, especially if they have an underlying medical condition.'
Heidi0 -
I accept, Heidi :flowerforyou:
Update: I went to the GP for help: he dismissed food intolerances as quackery, but upon seeing my bloat and acknowledging all the antibiotics and years spent on acid blockers and BCPs, said I ''may indeed have a candida problem and should certainly avoid dairy as many can't tolerate them'' (wait, what? you said it was quackery!), he said he wasn't educated enough to prescribe antifungals for the intestinal candida. He then charged me full for no help. Grr. He did say ''i am not poo-pooing this problem, let me know how you get on''. sigh.
I'm in the process of switching GPs to obtain a course of Diflucan or similar to treat what is becoming clear to me a serious dysbiosis/leaky gut problem. I have also ordered a three months supply of multi-billion probiotics, which I hope to combine with antifungals and avoiding the foods I've been flagged for.
Last night I took the one 150mg diflucan tablet in our house and made it through till dinner with NO bloat or reflux. Despite feeling exhausted, fluey and generally toxic, this was promising.
From all I've been reading, following a triadic protocol of low sugar, antifungals and probiotics, the symptoms that have made me so miserable and listless for the past 6 months should get better.
I will keep you all updated, and please do keep chiming in.0 -
GP is GP...they might find the right directions for us but when it comes to treatment, we do need specialists...I do wish we had more like dr. House in every hospital.
Good luck~ I have learned a lot from this thread...0 -
What is York Intolerance Testing (blood draw, etc...)? Did you just go to your regular doctor for that too?0
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With all your medical issues I do not think the internet is the place to look for advice.0
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I don't think Heidi's response was THAT bad, come on.
I mean, you come on here and ask people for advice and help. She gave it. It might be right or wrong, but she gave her opinion.
I don't think it was "nasty, dogmatic ill-educated, rash, sanctimonious and shameful." I mean come on now. You basically bullied her into an apology because you overreacted in a thread you created to ask for help.0 -
a new update: I have been following the low-carb diet that obviously eliminates further the yeast, dairy and eggs. Wasn't seeing a huge improvement except my IBS-C moved more to the IBS-D. i did some research into leaky gut and candida, and then made an appointment with a well-respected local GP/PCP who specialises in allergies, sensitivities, inflammation and so on. He diagnosed me with intestinal Candidiasis and I am beginning a course of Nystatin antifungal from next week. For the next few days I am taking a 200 billion probiotic multistrain powder once a day. I will update again in about 5 weeks after my first round of treatment and the follow-up appointment.
It has been a tremendous relief to find a doctor who knows his stuff.0 -
If it helps, I get way more bloated than that I literally look 7 months preggers and it can last for days.
These things trigger it for me:
Artificial sweeteners/sugar alcohols
Gluten
Dairy
HFCS
MSG(along with a lovely lovely migraine)
Corn
Soy
Legumes that aren't soaked
Truthfully MOST processed food makes me sick, which sucks when I do want a treat. I find that if I stick to mostly pastured meat and eggs, veggies, healthy fats(olive, avocado,coconut,grassfed butter), and some grains(rice and oats primarily) I feel fine. But god forbid I have an icecream cone...all hell breaks loose People can react to all kinds of different and unassuming stuff....it will probably take some trial and error and a lot of time. AND it seems like how the food was prepared/raised makes a difference to me, ie: all beef is not created equal kind of thing. BUT I also know I am a very sensitive individual, most people are not. Good Luck! 0
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