Living With Chronic Bloating And Distention From IBS
I’ll never forget when chronic bloating and distention hit me like a wave, a big wave way over my head.
It was 2013, five years after my IBS diagnosis. I still remember the day.
I remember eating a typical meal that I never had issues with and I blew up like a balloon instantly.
My shorts were about to bust at the seams, as I had just gone up several pants sizes from this distention alone.
Someone actually asked me if I was pregnant, that’s how much my stomach grew!
It was scary to look at, because I was in complete shock and confusion, I didn’t know my stomach could grow that much within minutes!
My IBS Distention Symptoms
I didn’t change anything in my lifestyle or diet at that time, it came suddenly, out of nowhere.
The bloating feels like an over-sized balloon, ready to burst at any moment.
I’ve come to the point where I can’t eat large meals anymore, my stomach and colon are full of mostly trapped air.
Winter is hard for me, because wearing pants is an actual struggle! Who would’ve thought??
Skinny jeans are out of the question, while one pair of jeans might fit okay at the beginning of the day, by the evening they’re too small and start to dig into my stomach.
The jeans digging into my stomach only creates more trapped air and extreme bloating along with abdominal pain.
The distention makes me an entire different clothing size altogether, making me feel huge!!
So not only is it uncomfortable and painful, it’s also a struggle emotionally.
Is It All Thanks To IBS?
I was also diagnosed with GERD, back in 2012.
Before the diagnosis, I didn’t even know I had it, it was discovered through an endoscopy I had in order to rule out other illnesses.
I’m sure in my case, both illnesses are contributing to the chronic bloating and distention, making it much worse.
If you’ve been diagnosed with IBS before taking every necessary test to be accurate, you may want to consider having these tests done.
You may have more than one problem or a bigger problem.
However, IBS is known to cause bloating, so it’s not uncommon.
Why Does IBS Cause Bloating?
The simple answer, is that our gut is not healthy or responding correctly to brain signals.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a psychological-related disorder after all.
Your body is working extra hard to try and rid of toxins as well as performing normal and necessary digestive functions.
All of that crazy gut violence can affect the rest of the digestive tract.
Constant contractions from muscles around the gut can increase the amount of trapped air in your GI tract.
Wacky Present-Day Foods
It’s no secret that our food is full of chemicals that can cause a wide array of issues.
To put it bluntly, our food is not natural.
This is a huge problem, especially here in the United States.
It blows my mind how the FDA will allow horrible chemicals that can cause illnesses into our food, yet ban other things that may be able to help us.
They make it near impossible to get your hands on food that is 100 percent natural and clean of any chemicals.
Chemicals aren’t meant to be consumed by humans or other species, because they’re NOT natural, NOT intended for us.
So would you really be surprised of our food causes things like chronic bloating and distention?
I wouldn’t. That’s not even the worst of symptoms that can occur.
Bloating Relief!
I’ll be honest, I have yet to find a full-proof way of treating my distention, BUT there are tons of great bloating treatments.
One treatment that is commonly used for chronic bloating and distention is a low FODMAP diet.
This is a great diet because it restricts certain types of carbs known to cause digestive upset.
The diet itself isn’t too restrictive, you can still have most of your favorite foods!
Low FODMAP-Friendly Options
The Complete Low-FODMAP Diet: A Revolutionary Plan for Managing IBS and Other Digestive Disorders
FODY – Low FODMAP Dark Chocolate, Nuts and Sea Salt Snack Bars 40g (1.41oz) (Box of 12)FODY – Low FODMAP Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce 550g (19.4oz) (Pack of 3)Low Carb Gluten Free Cold Pressed Vanilla Whey Isolate Protein Powder
Photo Credit 1: By 紫流 at Flickr
Photo Credit 2: By Robin Stickel at Pexels
I didn’t know that bloating is also one of the things that you have to deal with. It’s good to know that there’s a relief for that. Bloating can be really annoying to deal with.
I learned a lot from your post. My sister in law has IBS and I totally understand all that it involves. I am sharing this with her,
I usually feel bloated a few days before the onset of my period. Not the nicest feeling in the world. 🙁
Thanks for sharing this post!! It’s right to know now that there’s a cure for bloating. Will definitely share this post to my uncle, coz’ he’s dealing with bloating.
I always feel icky and bloated before my period… it feels so awful so I can only imagine how much worse it could be people who suffer from it on a regular basis ….