Bloatedness every time I eat

[Lugsy12]

Last few weeks I get so bloated after eating I look 7 or 8 months pregnant! It's getting me down now as 2 people at work have thought I'm pregnant, absolutely mortified! Any ideas?

[Ginsing]

Hi ,

Lugsy I used to do the same it was terrible! I now avoid eating products made with white wheat flour! Brown flour is not so bad.

I recommend you keep a food diary for a bit it will help you to identify the cause.

Good luck

XXGins

[Hidden]

Have you tried the low fodmap diet ? It works for most people with IBS. I Suffer from bloating every time I eat so can empathise!

[tansy-ann8]

Read your post with interest as I have been a 'skinny' all my life - had IBS for years and have learned to live with it (well as much as one can anyway), suddenly I have a stomach and I truly don't eat lots at all - people say 'is that all you're having' and no I don't snack or ever buy crisps....... but whatever I eat, I bloat - and feel bloated. I have been using this site for a while now but not recently because it seemed that everyone was advertising a specific diet (Fodmap I think) and it became repetitive and boring. So just to let you know that bloating is a problem with IBS and now mine is as bad as yours sounds. If anyone comes up with something I would be interested to hear from you again. You have my sympathy as I know it is deeply embarrassing and worrying.

[momthomas1278 in reply to tansy-ann8]

I see you have heard of fodmap diet and I am sorry you have not tried it. maybe this will help. I was fat and lost 60 lbs but I still had to keep my "fat clothes" because of the bloating, now that is a lot of bloating! the fodmap diet stands for (fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides and polyols.) just like wine when you mix sugar and yeast and put it in a bottle it will fill a balloon with gas because it "ferments". so do some carbohydrates in our IBS intestines, cause gas filling our insides. it's not about fat or junk food it is about wheat products and certain sugars (not cane sugar) and unfortunately these are hidden in the packaged foods we eat as fructans (wheat, rye, barley, onion, garlic, cabbage, prebotics and more) polyo's (stone fruits like peaches,apples,black berries,cherries and more) lactose(milk, soft cheeses, yogurt , some medications and more) so maybe you can see why the IBS community is all in to this Fodmaps diet. without it my size 18 would still look like a size 26 even eating "healthy food"

[momthomas1278 in reply to momthomas1278]

there are expensive tests your DR. can do for fructose, lactose and gluten intolerance but the diet is cheaper

[Socialite]

I do feel for everyone that has this problem, as I do myself. How embarrassing to be asked if you are pregnant when you are not. I am so sorry Lugsy12.

I'm past the age of being accused of being pregnant now, which means that I worry now that people will think I am just a greedy unfit old lady! I guess what hits me hardest is feeling so unhappy about how others may see me. Yet it is a medical condition - it is not something that is easily treated and although we can make efforts in lifestyle and diet control, it is medical. If we had a bad leg that was swollen I am sure we would feel sorry for the person, not point fingers at them.

There is also discomfort and pain of being so bloated and the inconvenience of when travelling having to take three sets of clothes - normal size, bloated size and large kaftans for when my stomach is going to have nothing vaguely tight around it! I guess I have had IBS for so many years now I am beginning to accept this as part of my life. Getting frustrated and unkind to myself has increased my stress levels - and we all know what happens then: increased IBS symptoms!

I don't have a 'recipe' to help other than speaking to your body with love, being kind to yourself as you plan your days, try one adjustment or medication at a time to see if it may help or not, rest when your body tells you it needs to, eat as healthily as you can and if you find out what really upsets your tummy listen to it and act accordingly.

Kindest regards to all.

[Chaobaby7]

this happens to me all the time. I have two sets of clothes even some I can't wear when I go like this, my belly goes round and swollen just like an 8 month along pregnancy,I also found cutting out white flour, eating only natural foods ( so no processed stuff with additives) nothing with artificial sweeteners in, also other trigger food for me are onions, too much sugar, chilli, and pastry, LOVE pastry but it does like me. good luck.

[Vouts]

Hello everyone, it seems that we all have the same problem. I also get bloated to the point that I look prego but I've tried to eat as clean as possible I'm trying to eat gluten free so far it has been really hard but some days are better than others, I guess through trial and error I will come to a solution , so for now gluten free and no processed and packaged food. Hope this helps

[And1305]

Hi Lucy, I sympathise with you I am bloated from morning till night I am sick of people asking me when I'm due, I feel uncomfortable in my clothes if I go a bigger size to give my stomach room the rest of me looks dreadful because the clothes are baggy. If anyone has got any advice I would really appreciate it too. : ( really desperate to change the way I look and feel.

[Bibabunny]

Yes, me too. Sometimes I go to work and grow out of the clothes I am wearing and I can't bend in the middle as my stomach is solid. When I lie on my back, it feels like someone is lying on top of me. I link this to constipation, but this does not seem consistent. This is my main complaint of ibs, the rest I can live with, but not this bloating. It is as restrictive as being 9 months pregnant, and I want my life back.

[momthomas1278]

15 years of IBS was controlled with the fodmaps diet. if you haven't seriously tried it STRICTLY for 2 weeks you are doing yourself a disservice. It has changed my quality of life for a year now. my symptoms have not all vanished. and once you know which fruits, vegetables, or grains you can't have life is so much more comfortable. there are expensive tests your DR. can do for fructose, lactose and gluten intolerance but the diet is cheaper