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Avatar universal

abdominal pain, bloating, belching

I am a 42 yo female, and I have had some GI problems for the last 8 months or so. Right before lunch or dinner, or sometimes just as I am beginning to eat, I will feel rumbling and bubbling in my intestines and my stomach will fill up with gas and I will become very bloated. It is often painful and lying down relieves the pain somewhat. Large doses of TUMS (2 Ultra 1000s) seem to help with the pain. I have very frequent belching and flatulence, and the belches seem to come from deep in my gut.

I have had a gall bladder ultrasound (negative for gallstones) and an endoscopy which showed "inactive gastritis" --if this is inactive, I'd hate to know what active gastritis is like!

I am currently on 40 mg omeprazole twice a day, which doesn't seem to help much. The problem seems to be getting more frequent, and this week, I've experienced new symptoms. I went out of town and became constipated (a frequent occurrence for me). I took some mineral oil, and after having several bowel movements the next day, I felt great--no gut problems for about 24 hours. However, two days later I was constipated again (no BMs), so I took more mineral oil. This time, I only had a small BM, and by lunch, I felt extremely bloated, like I had eaten a huge meal when I had only had a small lunch. This was yesterday. I've since taken a citrucel with lots of water, and had yet another dose of mineral oil, but I've only passed a small amount of stool, and my abdomen feels sore, like I've been punched in the stomach.

I typically have a BM at least once a day, usually twice a day, but I am hypothyroid and have a history of constipation and episodes of crampy diahrrea (this has been much less since I began treatment with thyroid hormone about 4 years ago). Any ideas?

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Avatar universal
sounds like IBS. I have IBS and bloating and lots of gas is a symptom. You should eat small frequent meals, not large meals, and don't let your stomach get empty. I'm always munching on crackers, grahams, a bit of bread, little snacks before meals and then i don't eat much, half portions at meals. Gaviscon liquid anitgas works pretty well for me.  doc also puts me on antibiotics every so often to get rid of bowel gas due to bacterial overgrowth. go to helpforibs.com
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Avatar universal
Well, not sure about the bloating that comes on right as you are getting ready to eat a meal, but sometimes abdominal pain, bloating and fullness (and constipation and chronic reflux problems due to a full stomach) can be caused by gastroparesis.  There seem to be a lot of people on the board just recently who have abdominal pain and bloating, and I'm sure most of them don't have GP, but it's always a possibility, and so I mention it.  You might want to ask your doctor about it.  Do you have any nausea or vomiting?  Does the bloating get worse as the day goes on (and potentially food piles up in your stomach)?  Gastroparesis is slowed emptying of the stomach.  It can can be mild, moderate or severe.  Severe is usually a permanent condition due to neuropathy/myopathy/autnomic dysfunction.  There are many causes, sometimes they never know what causes is, but it is linked to many autoimmune diseases.  You mentioned that you have hypothyroidism.  That is one of the illnesses that GP is linked to, but my understanding is that it is usually mild or moderate (not severe) when associated with hypothyroidism and can improve if hypothyroidism is gotten under control.  You might want to type in gastroparesis or hypothryoidism and gastroparesis and see if you think the symtpoms fit what you are experiencing.  
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