Help! Huge abdomen. Just stopped drinking. New here.

[South635]

Hello, I am in my 50s. I started drinking heavily 10 years ago. I just stopped last Fri. I knew there would be side effects like increased pulse, BP, shakes, etc..., but I did not know that GI symptoms were a part of it. I was not fat before I started drinking. Never have been. I put on at least 60 pounds since I started. My abdomen got huge. I felt really deformed with no self esteem. Anyway, I decided to start working on my health and to stop drinking and I was OK until about 3 days ago, and I started having severe diarrhea. My belly got HUUUUGE. When I would lay flat on my back and I would tap my belly, it was like it was full of fluid and air. It felt like it was going to explode. Also, if I touched my abdomen-especially in the middle but all over, it was felt like everything was bruised or something. My kidney area started to hurt, I wasn't peeing much. I was pretty miserable and it scared me death, so I went to the ER. They did some xrays. My colon was full of air. They gave me a bag of IV fluid and I did start to pee a lot. I woke up this morning kinda feeling the same way, but not as bad. The more the day went by, the more the pain started to go away and the belching and cramping to where I could actually eat something. My labs were all normal. Normal liver function. Normal urine. I pretty much started to realize this evening that this must have something to do with quitting. I'm ok with the quitting part, but I am not ok with this huge gut. It was not this big (it was big) prior to quitting. My question is will my abdomen ever go down, and will I be able to lose weight. I don't eat much. Most of my calories were from alcohol. Please someone out there, has anyone else experienced this and were you able to lose weight?

[Nighthawk61]

From 13 to 39 I don't think I ever drank a glass of water, only booze. Now I only drink water. lol It can be done. Power to you~ Here's to 2nd chances~

[dominosarah]

Too bad we cant see inside to our organs and see what they go thru.  When we cut ourselves we can see the healing but our organs are so much more complex, not to mention VITAL.  They are all connected and need to work together and when we drink it just shorts out.  I hope that made sense!!  I have been sober for many years and clean off drugs.  I am so very grateful that i was allowed another chance at this thing we call life.  Many didnt get that chance.  I am so glad you are one of those who was given a 2nd chance~

[South635]

I had no idea that my body was this debilitated by alcohol. The swelling is going down a lot . I have the sweat that smells weird, and my intestines are still cramping just a little. Lips get numb when I sweat- I guess when the toxins come out it makes my face sting too. I never really had any nightmare because I didn't sleep much for 5 days. I am taking lots of vitamins and watching my appetite because weight loss is huge to me. I don't want to be fat anymore. I was thin when I started drinking 10 years ago. I am supposed to have a sonogram soon. All of my labs were normal, but a month ago my ALT//AST was slightly elevated (like maybe by 10 points).

Mentally, the things that used to drive me to drink are out of my life. (unfortunately, 2 of them died- but they were the BIG 2). The other issue, I resolved over time, and decided that anger and drinking were only hurting me, not the ones I was trying to get back at. My eyes were opened to deny negative people into my life-especially friends. Got rid of some very toxic friends, so now my house is all clean, and I am ready to move on.

My husband is being very supportive. I was drinking some MiraLax this afternoon to try to pull some of the fluid buildup out of my system into my colon and my huband smelled the glass haha.

[dominosarah]

Congrats on getting your life back!!  Alcohol beats the living crap out of our internal organs.  It takes awhile to heal from the damage we have caused.  I always figured when i quit my organs were just letting me know they were chapped with me for abusing them and this was my punishment!  Thankfully i have still listened to them and have treated them good.  If this problem persists i would go and see a gastro doc.  We seem to crave sugar once we stop(ibizan commented on that!)  Eat fruits and veggies.  Are you doing anything with recovery care?  That is also important as we bury many demons while using.

[South635]

Thanks, I heard that a lot of people replace the alcohol with food, so I am going to really be careful about that. I pledge not to buy oreo ice cream :) It's nice if you know these things ahead of time so you can watch your intake. That is why I love this forum. It is so helpful.

[ibizan]

We alcoholics discover food when we stop drinking...especially sweets!Within the first 9 months of my sobriety i was wolfing a LOT of oreo ice cream cookie sandwiches,choc covered cherries,ice cream...within 9 months i'd packed on 39 pounds!my weight has gone up and down over the years....but having once struggled w/restrictive aneurexia i'm @ a healthy weight today...and eat what i like...but in palm size portions as recommended!

[South635]

Thanks. That gives me hope!

[ibizan]

TONS of carbs,sugars in alcohol plus lack of good health habits...hang in there....it took time to get that way and it will take time to remedy it!One day at a time w/the not drinking and the belly shaping up too!:)

[South635]

Yes, I had all that and everything was normal. This is really freaking me out. I am so scared. That is why I went to the ER. The pain and everything is resolving, but my gut is still really enlarged.

[ibizan]

Did u have a fasting CBC done w/liver enzyme count?U need to know how the drinking affected your liver and pancreas!