Chronic Bloating

[babanesta]

I've been having a severe bloating problem for over five years now. Its practically 24/7 and its causing me a lot of discomfort. I've had several tests done and took a lot of medication but still I havent noticed any improvement. My stomach is always full and swollen. I'm intending to do a blood test for the Helicobacter Pylori and that is my last hope to find some cure. Has anybody gone through the same experience and got healed?? Please help


This discussion is related to Chronic Stomach Bloating.

[seekingbuddha]

Camillarhodes,

thanks much for your post.  I have been searching the net for over 2 hrs reading about stomach bloating, and your post was the most useful i found. I have tried herbal treatments (ayuervedic  treatment, to be specific) and i did find that it helped being a prokenetic agent  as well as serving as a laxative which completely  releived my  symptoms  within a month, but i was told to continue the treatment for an extended period. But i stopped after 6 months, and the problems  resurfaced as my dietary habbits got bad over the next 4 years.  I suspect that as we age, the lack of  GI motility adds to the problems with no real solution. Its just a system that is starting to  shut down as we age, and the only people  who can escape various problems are the ones who have held their health / exercise /diet habbits  in their  younger years.  I also found that  more exercise and diet controls helped my somewhat, in releiving my  recent onset of  symptoms again.

[John_33_2008]

hey:

have you found any relief to your bloating problem?  did you find the cause?

john

[camillarhodes]

i'm so sorry to hear that all of you are struggling with the same thing i am going through, because i know it has had devastating effects on my life. i don't know if anyone reads this strand anymore but i thought i'd share what i've found.
my distention is severe. my stomach is relatively flat in the morning after sleep, but whenever i drink it swells up almost instantly to the point where i look 6 months pregnant after a normal day of fluid intake. it makes just walking around and living very uncomfortable. i'm a 20 year old female and have been suffering from this for almost a year.
i have done quite a bit of research, and i think what a lot of us are suffering from is something called Functional Abdominal Bloating. it is sort of like IBS without any of the other IBS symptoms; just the bloating and distention. i recommend you check it out and see if it fits your symptoms. the literature seems to recognize three reasons for these functional problems: dysmotility, visceral hypersensitivity, and some kind of disconnect between the brain and the gut. at this point, there aren't as many treatment methods out there as i'd like, but there ARE things we can try. prokinetic agents for motility problems, tricyclic antidepressants for hypersensitivity of the nerves in the gut, antispasmodics to control abnormal gut reflexes... there is even a drug called neostigmine that, in a trial, reversed gas retention (but i’m not sure it can be used long-term). and there had been a recent study that certain drugs called NMDA receptor antagonists can help limit visceral hypersensitivity (http://www.bioportfolio.com/news/DailyUpdates_25.htm). probiotics can have some effect, and it's also worth trying a laxative and an antibiotic like rifaximin.
the point is, there's hope.
i'm still waiting to try these treatment modalities myself, but i have to hope one of them will stop the distention. because i'm sure you can understand that the prospect of spending the rest of my life like this is unbearable.
i hope this helped someone.

[babanesta]

I'm sorry to hear about your dad because I know exactly what he is going through. I'm as desperate as he is and please keep me posted of any developments. I will do likewise. Thanks

[txlawman]

My dad has almost the same thing.  His stomach gets so swollen it feels like a watermelon. He has had several tests ran and doctors are not able to find anything. He has been taken several types of medicationsl, and nothing seems to work. He will do fine up till the late afternoon then that is when all of the bloating, and discomfort sits in.  I have no suggestions yet on what to do, we are desperatley seeking help as well, this has really had to change his quality of life and living.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

[abdo518]

After a troublesome 7 weeks of vomiting, gasses, unsettled stomach, and heartburn I have had enough and went to the doctor. At first GP thought I had acid reflux as I have had it before a couple of years and I showed in my file. She gave me the normal anti acid and dehydration solution and then told me to go home. A week later I have noticed that the medicine made me able to eat but the pain was there and what was more worrying is that I was losing weight while I was eating. I came back to her and then she took me to a specialist doctor in the same hospital. I have became very anxious and got paranoid as I usually don’t like to see doctors and I had some stress at work and with the family for three weeks. The doctor ordered me a blood and stool test and gave me stronger medicine. I still was losing weight and I got more paranoid. Two days later I had to leave on a business trip and I forgot to take my medicine with me. I came back a week latter to the doctor to get my blood and stool test the pain was there and still I could not eat anything especially in the mornings. The pain used to start at my stomach and then go up the esophagus it also used to get very intense under my ribcage and it even some times went all the way back to my kidneys. The blood test was all well but the stool test I tested +ve fro h pylori infection. I had a two weeks antibiotic course that I finished yesterday but I have lost 4 -5 kg in 6 weeks. (It might be good because I am around 25 kg overweight). Now I can eat in the mornings without having the felling of throwing up but since I was not eating well for a while, I no longer can eat the same quantities like before so my weight did not change over the past two weeks.