Bloated stomach (Confused)
Looking for ANY answers!!! I am a 43 year old Marine vet so all my medical history is through the VA which is not the greatest.
Sept 23rd, 2021 I noticed I had lost my appetite and my stomach was bloated and I had really bad acide reflux to the point it was making me throw up. I went to the ER, they told me they had no idea why, gave me a covid test and I did come up positive.
Fast forward to today and my bloated stomach has never gone down, not for a single day. Every so often depending on how much I eat ill have little aches in my stomach but for the most part I have zero pain. I also can not belch if I am laying down or not at a perfect posture. Example: I am sit back in my chair, eat dinner, drink water and I will not belch util i situp or stand.
I have got a prostate exam, colonoscopy, the one that goes thru the mouth, a CT scan and that have told me that I am all good to go and have no idea what is wrong with me.
I have never in my life had any issues with food and not sure if IBS is something u can randomly develop but I have to start looking at options myself. I am completely confused and feel hopless at this point.
Could it Be IBS? if so, what do I do?
Could it be from covid?
I will answer any questions u have if it gives you more information and appreciate ANY help.
Thanks!
Hi
, first of all, I'm so sorry that you're going through this and your doctors haven't been able to help so far!
While we can't diagnose you, I can suggest a couple of things you could try to help with your symptoms:
- First of all, I'd try adapting your diet to see if it helps at all. The Low FODMAP diet (https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/ibs-diet) is a good first step. You could also experiment with cutting out gluten and dairy for a while (cutting out gluten helped me SO much with bloating!).
- You could talk to your doctor about getting tested for SIBO (https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/getting-tested-for-sibo) which can cause similar symptoms.
- Have doctors tested your blood and stool yet? If not, I'd ask for that to rule out any infection or something like that.
- Since your symptoms started after Covid, this forum entry might interest you if you haven't seen it yet: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/forums/post-covid-ibs-does-anyone-have-it - you're not the only one experiencing digestive issues after infection!
I really hope that some of these suggestions will help you.
Wishing you quick relief, Karina (team member)
