tummys

[Catwoman]

Do all coeliacs have bloated tummys?

[philaustin]

In my case yes.

Before going GF, sometimes my insides would blow up like a balloon with so much pressure that I found it hard to breathe. I guess the reaction to gluten creates a lot of gas that pushes everything else to one side in the body cavity.

As a child I always had a bloated tummy and had to wear braces ( suspenders to our US cousins) to hold my trousers up, even though I was skinny. I looked like I was malnourished.

Every Christmas the mince pies, pork pie, sausage rolls, cakes and sandwiches would be laid out and every Christmas I would feel ill and bloated after eating the stuff.

I thought it was normal.

[vince]

I'm a tellytubby when mine goes there must a way of dealing with this? I have clothes in various sizes to match at worst I just stat in my dressing gown

[Lynxcat]

Not sure if it's any help but raw foods make a tummy increase in size so try lightly steaming them to help your enzymes to break down the food more easily. 'An apple a day' apples are brilliant but even these cause bloating - try having compoted/baked/boiled apples and this should also help a little.

[sassyl]

Yes, until I started low-FODMAP diet. The changing waist has disappeared!! In fact I've lost two inches, not in weight but in bloat!!!

[Sappho]

Since I stopped eating wheat and gluten my stomach has flattened. It used to curve out from under my ribs and I looked pregnant at times with it. It was the first thing I noticed when I went gluten free and other people have remarked on it. I get it for a few hours if I accidentally get wheat but it goes down pretty quickly

[Jacks]

In my case yes too. I have a cupboard of elastic waist trousers and when that failed, like Vince I spent most of my post eating in my dressing gown. People used to make cruel comments about my 'pregnant' gut even though I'd increased my ab-crunches to 500 a day ....!

[FionaGFG Administrator]

Interesting. Neither I nor my sister had any obvious stomach problems pre diagnosis. I often wonder how I was ever tested on dizziness and tiredness alone. Sadly since going GF I barely have 2 days a week when stomach is flat and often had in the first 6mths regular bloating. I found the knack was to swap for maternity wear to hide it (at least it expands) and that my blood tests were normal - not due to gluten then so says dr..and I had no lactose issues.

Through trial and error I discovered that the following foods do not agree:

- sugars - especially man made ones

- chickpeas (raw / tinned ones)

- brussel sprouts

- cashew nuts

- raw salads/ veggies - especially tomatoes / salad

- fizzy drinks

- milkshakes

I tried avoiding some FODMAP foods (check out the Android phone app for tips on this search Fodmap), and things improved.

It always seems to be hard to digest raw foods / root veg that cause the problem especially if not cooked. So I just try and adapt accordingly.

As it can take anywhere for 1 yr - 7yrs+ for the stomach villi to heal & then start working well it's not surprise we continue to have problems. My top tips is don't think you've always been glutened - v often it may be something else causing the bloating.

[chrisash]

hi, i agree with you the bloat is just one of the effects of coeliac, wish it wasnt,

like you i have a few sizes for when it happens (suppose we have glutened days when everyone else has fat days)

[Lynxcat]

I didn't realise that it could take from between 1 to 7 years for the stomach villi to heal and start working well! I don't think that gluten free bread helps - it seems to make my tummy swell. Though as you have stated it is not always gluten that causes a tummy to become bloated. Here is a further thought .. it has long been recognised that malnutrition caused a form of oedema of the stomach in children it is called kwashiorkor.

I think it is vitally important to concentrate on firstly avoiding anything that could possibly harbour any form of gluten and to build up good a quality nutritional diet - trying to make every breakfast different, containing a variety of nutrients; to have varied snacks and a wide variety of food stuffs for lunches and evening meals; possibly also a tiny supper the size of a fist a few times each week.

Optimum health has to be the most important thing to us all for us to strive for!