Ibs bloating??

[Sdaniel]

I am 16 years old and constantly look pregnant because of my ibs. It's making my self confidence decrease sooo much and I've been even looking into liposuction even though it can't help because it's not fat in my stomach. I'm going to a gastroenterologist on Monday but I'm so nervous he won't be able to help my bloating before summer. I get so anxious about it :/

[gherkin93]

Have you been diagnosed with IBS or think that it is based on your symptoms?

If you haven't yet been diagnosed with IBS, going to the gastroenterologist can help factor out lots of other things that may be a result of bloating. I have the same issues with my stomach and have had them since I was your age (8 years ago) but only went to a gastro recently.

I believe mine is definitely diet related and will go through different tests (blood, stool, pelvic ultrasound) to check that it isn't coaelic before getting anything more intrusive like an endoscopy or colonoscopy to check for Chrons. There are special diets that diet related IBS can be treated under.

However you'll need the other gastro related issues to be tested for first as these require different diets, medication etc.

[Sdaniel in reply to gherkin93]

Thank you so much for your reply !! And no I've self diagnosed myself based off what I read online. I'm just really worried that the gastro won't really help the bloating :((

[gherkin93 in reply to Sdaniel]

No worries! More than likely it usually is IBS but you can't really be sure of that until you've done all the relevant tests that point away from other gut issues and thus the only option left is IBS.

Going to the gastro they'll ask you plenty of questions to decipher where your bloating is triggered for example mine is diet related and not stress related as it can be with others. Then from those questions they'll make a course of action to see if it is coeliac, Chron's etc and your doctor may have ruled out ovarian cancer first via a blood test (assuming you're female!).

I'm sure the gastro will be able to help with bloating but it'll take some time with getting to the bottom of the bloating with all the tests and possible food exclusions which are done over the course of a couple of months! Many people suffer from severe bloating and at least have a definitive reason for why it's happening which is the first step and more than often a solution. You'll get there eventually it just takes a lot of time

[Hidden]

You could try to cut out the prime suspects for bloating from food for a week and see if any difference.

Wheat, dairy, soya

Onions, cauliflower, garlic, leeks, peas,

Apples, fruit with stones i.e, plums, mango

Lentils legumes

Add back each food one at a time

This is just a short form of trying out Fodmaps which many people use for IBS

Look at Monash University website or get the app. You can ask the gastroenterologist 's advice on whether to try it as they will have heard of it