Anyone experienced sudden and severe abdominal distension that hasn’t gone away?

[Molly357]

I’m used to bloating but it always goes down overnight. This has lasted 3 days so far and my stomach is so distended my clothes can’t do up. Any ideas? Wondering about A&E.

I’m talking gaining 8” around waist overnight that is still there

You need to see your GP 1st thing and get admitted for tests, please dont be fobbed off

Gp just said IBS. I’m not concerned about ovarian cancer as been ruled out another time. Just can’t work out what could cause this level of distension that isn’t going!

How long ago was it ruled out? If its anything more than a month or two, I'd be pushing to be tested again and/or referred for a scan.

This happened to me last year. I essentially puffed up and looked 9 months pregnant.

Once the really nasty stuff was ruled out, it turns out I had developed allergies to wheat and gluten and have coeliac disease.

The removal of the triggers has helped but I regularly puff up if there's cross contamination and I'm still not sure of all the foods that cause the inflammation. Unfortunately I've been left with horrific stretch marks (on top of the terrible ones I already had from pregnancies).

Ask the Dr to test for coeliac and try keeping a food diary and cut out all gluten. grains and wheat to see if it helps. I'm 6 months down the road and it's still a struggle.

Yes when accidentally eating food triggers such as gluten (am coeliac) , the distention lasts weeks. Also happens when I am constipated or have a UTI (I get them recurrently, lucky me )

Are you in pain or change in bowel habits OP? Any unusual bleeding or blood in urine etc?

Also has your weight changed with the distension & how much by?

Already gluten free but negative blood test so guess intolerant. No constipation . No scales to test weight. Yes there is pain snd can’t eat much as feel so bloated.

Blood test for coeliacs was years ago

If the Dr has ruled out ovarian issues (ask for a blood test to check your ca125 levels, if the havent already done that), then I'd suggest exclusion diet and restest for ceoliac. You may have inadvertently eaten gluten or have developed a new sensitivity. The FODMAP diet is a good way of working out the triggers. Milk, wheat, gluten, garlic and onions are my big hitters so I have eliminated them.

I would strongly advise you request an urgent abdominal/gynae scan. Other conditions such as cysts can cause ascites and a distended abdomen, especially with associated pain.

Yes but accompanied with severe pain so I went to A&E, once I finally got a scan it turned out one of my ovaries was very enlarged and I had infection in my tube and lots of fluid in my abdomen. Took a few days in hospital on intravenous antibiotics to sort out. It turned into a bit of a recurring issue over a few years and they found a ‘mass’ but an MRI ruled out anything sinister. Get checked out ASAP!