Chronic and Constant Distention, Beyond Bloating!

[Paintmiller]

Thank you in advance for your help on this.  I hope that you have some insight.  About 9 months ago, my stomach changed.  I remember that my abdomen got very hard, and stayed this way for about one week. Then my stomach became bloated, and has remained this way every second of every day for the past nine months.  I have no stomach pain.  HOWEVER I do have a dull constant ache/pressure on my mid-right side, to the right of my navel just where my ribs end.  This diffuse pain is also felt in my back in the same place as the front side but in my back.   The distention reaches the point of 6-7 months pregnant.  It never ceases - it is there when I wake up but typically gets worse throughout the day.  The distention can get very bad then minimize without passing any gas.  I have noticed that I strain in bowel movements more often than I used to, but I still have a BM daily.  They are sometimes hard, sometimes not, but this has no effect on the distention.  I even did a colonscopy prep once and had nothing in me and was still distended.  I have a constant feeling of pressure in my entire mid/lower abdomen and in my back.  I think the bloating is in my intestines because it is so prominent under my navel, you could almost set a glass on where it starts.  I have tried to eliminate foods to pinpoint an allergy, to no avail.  Here is a list of tests that Ive had done:

1. Colonoscopy - normal. It took a long time for the prep to go through my system, I think 6 hrs before any BM
2. Ultrasound, Abdominal and Pelvic and Gall Bladder - Normal
3. CAT Scan Abdomen - normal
4. Basic Digestive Blood Workup- Normal
5. Sprue Test - Normal
6. Fluoroscopy, Upper GI Followthrough - "somewhat lenghty transit time, otherwise normal"
7.  Gastric Emptying Test - 90 minutes - normal?

My GI physician suspected slowed motility and put me on Reglan.  I had adverse reactions to this, and it seemed to help a little but not much.  I am now on erythomiacin with may or may not help. Bloating may be less, but still there all the time.  Conversations with my GI physician have led us suspect to a virus that caused the slowed motility.  However, I have these questions:

1.  What IS the dull right sided pain? I can "pop" something in and out all the time right where ribs end which makes bloating worse. Is this from the bloating?

2.  Bloating and pain get worse with activity,especially climbing stairs and hiking. Right side seems to bloat very slightly more than left.  
Could this bloating be structural and not digestive, in spite of normal tests?

3. Could this be IBS if I do not have any stomach pain or diarrhea? I took Zelnorm and the distention got so bad I thought I would split open.

4. If bloating is not fixed with Reglan and erythomiacin, is this not a motility problem?

I have made an appt (AGAIN) with a GI doc next week, and would appreciate input on what to ask for, look for, etc. Thank you SO MUCH for your thought and input.

Sincerely, Christine

[yoshi]

flagyl is an antibiotics.
try eating yogurt with live culture if that makes you feel less bloated!!

[Paintmiller]

Yes but I just started that this month and the bloating has been going on for 9 months.  More bothersome than the bloating itself is the pain/tenderness in my right side.  If I barely touch the sensitive area to the right of my navel, it bothers me all the way into my back.  They cannot figure out what this pain is...and it seems to be more hard than the rest of the area, too...

[Paintmiller]

Thanks, Biskie2 and yoshi.  I am not pregnant, I DID got to Hawaii the week that this started, but my stomach got hard about 3 days before I went, I think.  Though that is something to think about.  I have not been on antibiotics, I did try Flagyl but quit after a week because it did not help at all.  Biskie2 -I try to eat ALOT of fiber, thinking the same thing.  BUT the bloating continues so now I am thinking of cutting fiber out to see if that helps lessen the bloating.  I have always eaten whole grains, lots of fruits and veggies, etc.  This week, I have cut out most fruits, raw veggies and some veggies altogether, and no bread - just brown rice.  We shall see! Thanks for your help.  It will be nice if, someday, I figure this out..or better yet it goes away!

[Biskie2]

You may want to increase your fiber intake - at first, it may feel like you are bloating, but then it gets better.  20 minutes or so after meals, take some probiotics to help your digestive enzymes. You may want to take Gas-X as well.  Drink ALOT of water during this. Good luck!

[Paintmiller]

Thanks for the input!  No, they did not test for that...what does that involve?

[yoshi]

did they check you for severe fungal infection??