Ascites

[Teresa222]

I have not had a problem with ascites thus far.  I have a few questions concerning it for those of you who have experienced it.  Is pain the main symptom? Do you feel and look bloated when ascites is present?  Can you feel it slosh when you walk? Do you feel weighted in your abdomen when you are walking or active? Does it feel like gas?  Is the pain similiar to gas pains?

Wow! I have a lot of questions. If you ladies would be so kind to help me out, I would appreciate it.
Teresa

[Brownie3321]

I'm very interested in this info as well!!!!

[Janet535]

Hi Teresa,

For me, when I got the ascities, the first thing was the swelling which caused a great deal of discomfort. After 2 days, the "bloating" was worse and thats when the real pain set in.

The pain for me was around my rib cage/stomach area where i was so bloated and lower back pain which I think was due to stress being put on my back due to all the excess "weight" I was carrying.

There was no "sloshing" around. In fact it felt very hard, almost like when one over eats, and I mean really over eats and your tummy is stretched to the max (if that makes sense and you can imagine that type of feeling). When I pressed on my tummy or rib cage area, it didn't indent, it was as hard as a rock.

I felt very weighed down by it, whether I was moving or sitting. I found it difficult to get out of the chair (kind of like being pregnant, for want of a better discription) Once down, it wasn't so bad but trying to move around was more difficult and brought on the pain much worse.

I wouldn't say it was like having gas or gas pains. But I would say it is an awful experience, being bloated and incredibly uncomfortable.

Perhaps others have had a different experience with it and it may very well depend on how bad and how quickly the ascities esculates. Mine started on the Tuesday and by Friday I was in hospital. They drained 9 litres, which my Oncologist said was equivalent to 63 cans of coke!! (if that doesn't put you of coke nothing will)

Cheers....Janet  :-)

[bohan54]

I had ascites in the abdomen, thought I was gaining weight and bought larger size pants.  It also causes one to feel full after eating small amounts, which made me wonder why my belly was expanding.
I also had fluid around my lungs, this caused a chronic tickly dry cough.  
Mine ascites was never drained as it came down with chemo.
Are you worried you may have it Teresa?

[JC145]

Great question, Teresa .. I've often wondered what to expect with ascites.  I do feel bloated some and worry about ascites, but nothing has ever showed on a scan.

Thanks for posting this question.  Hope we get more answers.  Janet/Sharon .. great explanations.  Thanks,  Judy

[gah_70]

For me, it was like Sharon's experience.  I was losing all this weight, and my arms and legs were getting little.  My abdomen, however, was as big as it ever was, and hard as a rock.  I was mistaken for being pregnant many times, because that's exactly what it looked like.  When I had surgery, they drained 8 liters.  I had no idea what ascites was and had never heard of it, so imagine my surprise a few days after I got home when it started seeping out my incision!  I called my doctor, and they assured me it was okay as long as it had no foul odor, and the skin wasn't discolored.  My abdominal incision eventually healed enough that it could no longer seep out through it...however (this is probably TMI) my vaginal cuff area had not healed enough yet.  So for another two months, lets just say the ascites chose the path of least resistance.  My doctor would not drain me.  He kept telling me chemo would dry it up.  It eventually did, but I never understood why my surgeon didn't put a drain in to start with.

I never had any extreme pain with it.  I was tight in the abdomen, but not enough to have terrible pain like some women do.

Gail    

[Teresa222]

Sharon,
I don't suspect I have ascites. I just want to know how to recognize it should it happen to me.  It's one of the really weird aspects of this disease IMO. When I hear how much is drained from some of these ladies, it astounds me.  Once, when I was first diagnosed, I asked my ONC if I could have it and he responded with, "not yet." That stuck in my memory.
Teresa

[Texas Grannie]

I have had my abdomen drained three times. If it is done correctly, it doesn't hurt. My symptoms are much the same as the other women, except if it goes on too long, you have trouble breathing. I also have a lot of gas that embarrassingly, I can't always control. Because you feel bloated and full, your appetite decreases. If I eat anything greasy at this time, I throw up. Nausea is often present, and my wheezing get worse. It presses against your intestines and other organs and your stomach feels very hard. My six year old grandson said, "Oma, why does your stomach feel so hard?" The fluid is in a bag that increases in size as it fills up. The fluid they took from my abdomen was a honey color. The last time, about a month ago, that I had it drained, they got 4 liters and stopped. I lost six pounds. Once, I lost ten pounds. I don't take chemo because I have slow growing ovarian cancer. Chemo kills fast growing cells. So, if chemo works for you, you may never need to have the ascites drained. Love you all, my sisters. Texas Grannie

[Texas Grannie]

Gail, 8 liters is an extreme amount. I imagine that is why your doc made an incision, or was the incision from a hysterectomy? When I am drained, my doc deadens the area and sticks a needle in my abdomen, a long, large needle. Then they siphon it out of my stomach as one siphons gas out of a car. The deadening hurts more than the draining. It is not a bad experience. I hope you are doing well. If the chemo took care of the ascites, it must be taking care of your cancer as well. God bless, Texas Grannie