Aibu to ask you to help me figure out why I'm so effing bloated?

[DextersMistress]

It's been going on for about 9 or 10 months now, every time I eat my stomach goes massive. I'm not exaggerating, I look 7 months pregnant. I saw the GP back in December who said I was constipated but surely that wouldn't still be the case? Blood test for celiac came back negative.

Please help me figure it out, can post a pic if it'll help.

I come from a family of intolerants

I am gluten intolerant, but the symptoms are more cramping, constipation and pain. I am also dairy intolerant, which is more wind and rushing to the loo symptoms.

I do get severe bloating, piles and red bleeding if I eat ginger. It could be something weird like that triggering it.

My Brother bloats and bleeds after onion (he is also gluten intolerant and very dairy intolerant).

The reaction I have to ginger is more like an allergic reaction. My whole insides feel raw, from my throat down.

Dexter. Please see gp to make sure its not something nasty. I found no help from my gp. Just a note saying i had ibs. I got the book food that harms, food that heals. Reduced my diet to basic and built it up to what i eat now. in the last year ive only needed my tablets once...just before we saw morgage advisor.. I have needed to use disabled toilets due to the fact i couldnt climb the stairs due to the cramp.

Thanks, I will do rach.

I've just registered with a new GP and I don't have my new patient check until the 11th but I'll make an appointment then. In the meantime I'll start a food diary which I can take with me.

I cut out pasta and bread completely for a couple of months and it reduced my bloating considerably.

I now eat bread again but not so much so that it is actually like a treat, like cake and I'll have pasta rarely, but it still bloats me and give me a tummy ache.

Rice seems to agree with me so I eat that instead of pasta.

Me to coco

My stomach shrinks and tendency to heartburn and indigestion goes completely when I cut out sugar. I discovered this by accident but have tested it a couple of times. Lose weight too, teeth cleaner, fewer blood sugar issues and very simple to do, if you have the willpower!

Push for a referral to a gastro doc. It's not normal to have though symptoms for almost a year.

FWIW I have coeliac disease and was diagnosed via an endo, my bloods were always negative. Took a year of me going to the GP monthly to get a referral though. Coeliac uk are really helpful with this kind of thing.

I've identified that I have a mild soya intolerance. My IBS was much better when my diet changed when DS had to go soya free. If I eat his bread, I'm fine. I notice if I eat regular breads and cake as soya flour is frequently used to lighten and cheaply bulk baked goods. I suspect many people mistake wheat/ gluten issues with soya as they are frequently present at the same time.

I have to be careful with dairy and quantities of sugar too, and moderate what I eat rather than completely exclude.

Mrsmook. Ive given up dairy completely about from cheese. No milk has passed my lips for 10 years. I dont drink tea just water...

Agree with others iro Dairy but also want to add get yourself checked for Endo.

x

Posted too soon, I had this and cut out dairy but still had dreadful periods. I was then diagnosed with Endo and I now semi-follow the Endo diet.

I have the implant and have had similar issues to this which I also had when I was pregnant - it's the progesterone I think. Was bleeding all the time so GP put me on Loestrin pill to take on top. All dietary issues and bleeding issues stopped. Missed two pills last week - bleeding started again that day, dietary issues back and v uncomfortable piles flareup. In my experience GPs are reluctant to consider it might be the implant causing issues. I also had mild PND, asked GP if it might be implant and was fobbed off with ADs which I didn't want. Feel 100% better since taking pill on top.

That's really interesting about the implant, I'll definitely mention it. Thanks

I am wheat intolerant and obviously cut that out but I also found onions and anything from the onion family (leeks, chives etc) also had this effect on me. I also found refined sugar had a similar effect.
I strongly recommend compiling a food diary. It's a faff to do but you may find the cause and then feel a million times better

I would get a blood work up and an ultrasound (on ovaries) just to check all okay in that respect. And would ask for referral to gastro consultant.

Food diary also sounds very sensible. Good luck getting to bottom of it.

I feel your pain op. I have rotten guts. It's by trial and error I've worked out what kicks it off. Here's my list, see if anything rings a bell for you. Yy to food diary btw

Wheat
Rice
Potatoes
Dairy
Caffeine
Certain veg (still working that one out, and annoyingly it doesn't correspond to FODMAP) so peppers, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, sprouts and quite a few more. I mainly stick to salad veg plus courgettes and aubergines

Anything with onion powder in it.

It's really boring, but keeping off those foods eliminates bloating.

Plus I drink gallons of water and peppermint tea.

Dp has an intolerance to onions. He bloody stinks the house out if he eats them!

Have any of you suffered with impaction (constipation)? It's something I only heard about from here, I wondered if that could be the problem since the GP said I was constipated. Would glycerin suppositories be worth a try maybe? Can you use them with bleeding piles?

I had this for years. Please try fybogel or similar - a lot of what you describe sounds like constipation! Have also given up bread, pasta and rice and for the first time in years I don't feel like my stomach rules my life. I used to be aware of it all the time. Now it no more bothers me than my big toe.

Meant to say - yes constipation can be ongoing. Certainly needs endless management for me!

Gluten!

With you on peppers in particular trashcanjunkie - evil little sods! So much for a rainbow diet being healthy.

Oh I could cry about peppers mrwalken I love red ones.

On the delicate subject of bowel movements....

Prepare for tmi

Mostly I have the opposite problem to constipation, however following surgery and lots of morphine last year (for my foot not my bum!) I didn't poo for a week. Suppositories won't work if you're very constipated as the poo is too far up. I had an enema in hospital (on my birthday no less!) and it started to shift it. Three days later at home I was stuck again so bought several boxes of mini enemas from sainsburys pharmacy. Used several at a time and it definitely got things moving. I thoroughly recommend it, but if you haven't used them before, get a prescription one from the doctors first.

Interesting that the implant appears to be contributing to this, OP. Hormones can have a massive effect on your digestive tract. My mum had the same symptoms as you, and in the end after a lot of colonoscopies, tests, scans, and having part of her bowel removed - it turned out to be endometriosis. She had a big patch of it in her bowel, so the symptoms would flare up even worse one week of the month. It took a long time for the cause to be found. May be worth considering?