Bloat/pressure question

[suschex]

Within minutes of eating anything at all my belly bloats (based on my pregnancies, I end up looking looking 6-9 months pregnant) and feels such pressure and fullness it hurts and feels like it will simply rupture. It also makes me feel very short of breath.

What is happening inside? Why? Anything I can do to avoid this or help when it happens? Not only is it painful but it is rather embarrassing when it happens...people must wonder what suddenly happened to make my belly expand so greatly!

Am I the only one this happens to? :confused2:

 

[Hope345]

I am so glad you asked. My daughter is having the same issue. The pain of the gas is so bad, she can hardly move. I was thinking it may be from a bug (her sister was sick). She had a colonoscopy a month ago and she has been dealing with this since then. She is also bleeding quite a bit. It is best to avoid milk and any food that can cause gas (which you are probably already doing)... looking for advice too.
Hope you get feeling better Suzanne.

 

[NatashaChampion]

This keeps happening to me too, I'm usually not too bad during the day but after my main dinner in the evening my stomach bloats badly and it hurts to do anything for hours!
Not sure whether its just my stomach not being about to cope with so much food in it at one time.
I am going to try halving my dinner and eating it in two sitting to see if this will help.

Would be interesting to see if there is actually a reason for this happening though.

 

[Hope345]

She is using the GAS X strips too. I think they help a bit. Have you eliminated milk products? no broccolli or beans, no gum, no soda, anything that can cause extra gas. Is there any chance you have a bug too?
Our daughter has a doctors appt tomorrow we hope she can make it too. or she will end up in the hospital soon. I am afraid they will need to put her back on Prednisone.

If we find out more info about the gas, I will let you know

 

[NatashaChampion]

I have never heard of Gas X?

I have yet to start eliminating things from my diet and just coping with pred at the moment is proving difficult but will definitely start giving it a go.

Yes will be interesting to see what the doctor says
Thanks

 

[Jennifer]

A possibility is that it's caused by a narrowing (caused by inflammation, scar tissue or both) in the intestines. When food and drink get to this narrowed section the food sits around as it slowly tries to pass through which can produce a lot of gas buildup resulting in pressure and pain. If you do have a narrowing what you can do is eat smaller and easy to digest meals (low residue items) more often rather than 3 large meals each day. Crohn's causes inflammation in the intestines so narrowed sections can be quite common.

Hope345, since your daughter is experiencing blood loss as well, you may want to try EN for a while. A liquid diet in general can help reduce blood loss but you want to make sure that she's getting nutrients as well.

 

[UnXmas]

You're not the only one. My stomach is always bloated - it's very obvious on me because I'm very skinny, so it's clearly out of proportion. It's not so bad first thing in the morning, but as the day goes on, and I eat more meals, it's gets more and more uncomfortable and visibly bigger. There have been several occasions on which a doctor has been conducting an abdominal exam and has commented, because it's so bloated that they suspect I have a blockage of some kind - they know I have bowel problems so I suspect blockages are something they're looking out for when they examine me, but clearly my stomach's bigger than it should be.

I have two kinds of bloat too: one related to stomach-fullness and what I've eaten - I have gastroparesis (delayed stomach-emptying). The second kind of bloat, which I don't get any more, related to bowel-fullness, i.e. further down my digestive tract when I needed to have a bowel movement but hadn't been able to yet. This wasn't a constipation issue, even though I always had diarrhoea I'd be incredibly bloated and uncomfortable with it, and when I was finally able to have a bowel movement, the bloating eased. The reason I don't have this kind of bloating anymore is because I now have an ileostomy, which means that now everything flows out right away, which is far far better.

However, I've had a blocked stoma before, and that took bloating to a whole new level. And I also recently suffered from paralysis of the digestive tract (ileus). Usually this condition means that nothing can flow down the digestive tract and the person ends up vomiting. In my case for some reason I couldn't vomit, and over a couple of days (I was in hospital at the time), although I hadn't been able to eat so there was no food in my stomach, a massive amount of bile collected in my stomach. My stomach was so enormous and it was very very painful. When a nurse saw the size of my stomach she immediately put a tube down my nose into my stomach to drain the bile, which relieved most of the pain.

So I guess there are many things that can cause this, and to find something that helps may depend upon the type you have and where in your digestive system the problem is. If it's a bowel problem relieved by having a bowel movement it may help to try some things used to treat constipation. If it's a stomach problem, meds such as domperidone can help move things through your stomach. Is this a new problem for you or something chronic that's been going on a while?

 

[NatashaChampion]

UnXmas, my problem definitely sounds like the second you mentioned about the bowel fullness, i have lost a stone over the past few months so when i eat through the day my stomach gets bigger and bigger especially after dinner and I find it quite embarrassing. Its then really painful and uncomfortable until i eventually manage to go to the loo which can sometime take a long time.

I have had bloating for a long time now but it has become worse over the past few weeks! I have read about blockages and problems with scaring which im not sure if thats the issue but am definitely going to bring it up at my first consultant appointment on the 26th.

 

[UnXmas]

UnXmas, my problem definitely sounds like the second you mentioned about the bowel fullness, i have lost a stone over the past few months so when i eat through the day my stomach gets bigger and bigger especially after dinner and I find it quite embarrassing. Its then really painful and uncomfortable until i eventually manage to go to the loo which can sometime take a long time.

I have had bloating for a long time now but it has become worse over the past few weeks! I have read about blockages and problems with scaring which im not sure if thats the issue but am definitely going to bring it up at my first consultant appointment on the 26th.

Since it got worse lately it's probably a good idea to get things checked out. If you have a complete blockage I think you'd know about it - the level of pain and nausea I had was to the point where I simply couldn't function, definitely couldn't eat (I had to be fed via TPN through an IV, even after the bile had been drained for a while). So don't be too worried, it's more likely just gas or something that may well improve if your disease can be treated effectively. I know it's very embarrassing and uncomfortable, but it's probably nothing too serious, and if something is wrong they should be able to pick it up pretty easily - a plain X-ray was able to identify what was wrong with me, it didn't take invasive tests or anything.

If you do find you feel better after a bowel movement, you might try some treatments such as suppositories which stimulate the bowel, meaning you'd be able to go to the loo and reduce the discomfort sooner.

 

[NatashaChampion]

Yer I don't think its anything to serious because im not getting any nausea or vomiting but i think having an X-ray would put my mind at rest.
I think i will have a look in to treatments because it definitely does get better once i am able to go to the loo x thanks x

 

[Axelfl3333]

just a suggestion peppermint is supposed to be good for gas/wind and its harmless to try.

 

[Hope345]

I asked the pharmacist yesterday about it and he recommended a product (like Gax X) which contains an active ingredient called Simethicone. She takes two after eating and it has helped.
the first thing he said is that the inflammation may have moved up into her small intestines, and since she just had an MRE, I knew it did not show any signs of inflammation.
Having said that, he indicated it was probably a bug going around and these would help her. And they have. she also had a some Miralax (very mild stool softener) to clean everything out.

I think the xrays are a good idea too, if this doesnt help.

 

[Jennifer]

A regular x-ray will only show a blockage. So if you just have minor inflammation making things slow down a bit then it won't catch it.

Also Hope345 keep in mind that inflammation can come and go rather quickly so if you (in your case, your daughter) have had tests done recently (within the past couple months/weeks) that doesn't mean you're in the clear.

 

[Hope345]

Jennifer, she had unflammation on her legs (blorchy) that came and went within hours, however i am geussing the GI lining isnt quite like that, I dont know. Her stomach is extended, she still is inflamwd, but we are getting her gas issue under control.

 

[Dixiedoll23]

I've noticed I have severe bloating when my crohns is doing better.Like my belly just don't know what to do with food? If it's not automatically coming out (as in diahrea) my stomach literally acts like it has no idea how to process food.

 

[4peace]

UnXmas- What do you do for your Gastroparesis? A good friend of mine has UC and GP and her GP is terrible. Botox hasn't worked and neither have meds. She's in misery and has been on a liquid diet for ages now. Her Dr. is starting to(finally) consider a feeding tube. Just curious if you've had any luck with meds or???
Best,
4peace

 

[UnXmas]

UnXmas- What do you do for your Gastroparesis? A good friend of mine has UC and GP and her GP is terrible. Botox hasn't worked and neither have meds. She's in misery and has been on a liquid diet for ages now. Her Dr. is starting to(finally) consider a feeding tube. Just curious if you've had any luck with meds or???
Best,
4peace

I've found nothing that helps unfortunately!