Bloated Stomach - Will It Go Away?

[Ltrain917]

Hello,

I'm 32 now and have recently been diagnosed with Celiac. Ever since I can remember, I've been dealing with typical symptoms of the disease, but I just thought my stomach was really sensitive. However, this past year was tough and I realized I had something serious that I needed to deal with. I'm just relieved to find out what it is.

Anyway, my questions concerns my bloated stomach or "pot belly". I've always been skinny, but about 10 years again I began to get a gut. I couldn't understand it because everything else on me is skinny. I went nuts with different ab workouts without seeing any results.

If I remain gluten free, can I expect to see my stomach to slowly flatten? Any idea how long it might take? Or did I do too much damage over the years?

[Lisa]

  Ltrain917 said:

Hello,

I'm 32 now and have recently been diagnosed with Celiac. Ever since I can remember, I've been dealing with typical symptoms of the disease, but I just thought my stomach was really sensitive. However, this past year was tough and I realized I had something serious that I needed to deal with. I'm just relieved to find out what it is.

Anyway, my questions concerns my bloated stomach or "pot belly". I've always been skinny, but about 10 years again I began to get a gut. I couldn't understand it because everything else on me is skinny. I went nuts with different ab workouts without seeing any results.

If I remain gluten free, can I expect to see my stomach to slowly flatten? Any idea how long it might take? Or did I do too much damage over the years?

I don't think that I have an answer to that one. I too have been thin all my life. My problem is that I have a very flat bum and a full belly. I am trying to find a way to twist my torso around to get that perfect figure.

Honestly, remain gluten free and continue work on those abs.

[Looking for answers]

I had the same problem and noticed a HUGE difference in my stomach when I went gluten-free. Since it sounds like you have lots of damage to repair, be patient with seeing results. Once your intestines are no longer inflamed, your stomach should shrink back down to normal size. Oh, and taking accidolphilus and enzymes have helped significantly.

[Rebecca47]

I was really under weight, but sense being dx's I have gained 6 lbs, my stomach is a little big , but when I accidently eat the wrong thing boy do I get bloated, so l like you hope it gets small again. Its the only thing that is a little big. So I hope it goes flat again?

[JenKuz]

  Rebecca47 said:

I was really under weight, but sense being dx's I have gained 6 lbs, my stomach is a little big , but when I accidently eat the wrong thing boy do I get bloated, so l like you hope it gets small again. Its the only thing that is a little big. So I hope it goes flat again?

I had less damage than many on here, I think, though wicked high malabsorption. I was always bloated, gassy, and retaining water when I was eating wheat. Since cutting it out, even just a few weeks ago, my tummy started to flatten. I lost about 6 pounds of water weight in the first week or so, I think from inflammation coming down.

Eating a naturally "anti-inflammatory" diet with olive oil, lots of vitamin E, etc. may help. Check out this website for lots of good, reliable info on the properties of different foods:

Open Original Shared Link

They have a ton of information on every food, it's nutritional content, and potential allergenicity.

My mom did an anti-inflammatory diet for her back pains and arthritis, and the results were fast and very positive. Once I'm not on the road so much, I intend to try it myself. For now I eat however I can (and let me tell you, gluten-free at airports is no fun at all, especially when they confiscate your fruit at customs!)

[Guest cassidy]

I was always very bloated and looked like I had a gut. I was shocked at the difference after a few months. I was always skinny, except for my stomach area. My problem went away completely, so hopefully the same will happen to you.

[loraleena]

I have been getting bloated since going gluten free. So go figure. It could be candida for me.

[Heather22]

As you can see, almost everyone's experience is different. Personally, I have good days and bad. Some days I look normal, and others I look 6 months pregnant. For me, I'd say the two main factors are my starch intake (thus, water retention) and my regularity (cycles of D and Constip.) However, now I have very good control of both of these....after a lot of learning and frustration. I totally gave up on wearing clothes that were remotely tight around my waist (ie. jeans). I've learned to get a few good items that work with every stomach, and make me feel comfortable. I accepted that as just part of having Celiac. : )

If a bloated tummy is an issue for you, I would recommend journaling your food and how you feel. This can help you to better identify what works best for your body (and it may help identify other food sensitivities that might be contributing to your bloated stomach, such as dairy).

Be patient. I would search the archives of this forum. There is a wealth of useful information on every topic imaginable.

Best wishes,

heather : )

[Guhlia]

I looked 6 months pregnant on a good day pre-diagnosis. I was very skinny and sickly looking back then with a huge gut. Within weeks of cutting out gluten my stomach began to shrink. It's still not where I would like it to be, but it's a lot better than it was. If you don't see much improvement or enough improvement on the gluten free diet, try cutting out all grains and see if that does the job. There are a few people on here who have had to cut out all grains to keep the bloating at bay.

[emcmaster]

My first question, as you posted this in the diet forum, is is it actually a belly or is it all bloat? Sometimes it's hard to tell which is which.

If it's bloating, which is my biggest symptom, I would definitely journal your food. Everything that goes into your mouth or on your body needs to be written down. For me, gluten & xanthan gum bloat me up and dairy and fat (really any amount of fat over a gram or two) used to.

Also, I've found that Digestive Advantage for IBS helps get rid of the bloat when I occasionally get it.

[Ltrain917]

  Looking for answers said:

I had the same problem and noticed a HUGE difference in my stomach when I went gluten-free. Since it sounds like you have lots of damage to repair, be patient with seeing results. Once your intestines are no longer inflamed, your stomach should shrink back down to normal size. Oh, and taking accidolphilus and enzymes have helped significantly.

[Ltrain917]

  emcmaster said:

My first question, as you posted this in the diet forum, is is it actually a belly or is it all bloat? Sometimes it's hard to tell which is which.

If it's bloating, which is my biggest symptom, I would definitely journal your food. Everything that goes into your mouth or on your body needs to be written down. For me, gluten & xanthan gum bloat me up and dairy and fat (really any amount of fat over a gram or two) used to.

Also, I've found that Digestive Advantage for IBS helps get rid of the bloat when I occasionally get it.

It is hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure it is bloat. However, I really never notice a big change day to day. For me, it has been slowly but gradually getting bigger since college. I understand that this is not an unusual pattern for guys. I just think it may be bloat because of the way it looks. My belly reminds me of a stomach that belongs to an unfortunate starvation victim from a third world country. I guess time will tell.

[emcmaster]

  Ltrain917 said:

It is hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure it is bloat. However, I really never notice a big change day to day. For me, it has been slowly but gradually getting bigger since college. I understand that this is not an unusual pattern for guys. I just think it may be bloat because of the way it looks. My belly reminds me of a stomach that belongs to an unfortunate starvation victim from a third world country. I guess time will tell.

Before I went gluten-free, that's exactly how my stomach was. While I was steadily gaining weight due to the celiac, my belly was mostly bloat.... but because the bloat never actually went down, ever, I was unsure. I knew I was bloated, I just didn't know how much was bloat and how much was fat.

Another thing that you need to try are BCQ capsules by Vital Nutrients. Expensive, but they work wonders for my bloating when I get glutened.

((hugs)) because I know how depressing it is to have a belly through no fault of your own.

[waywardsister]

I'm in this boat as well. I was a skinny kid, then ballooned up (well, for my size) and now am a good weight, though I still have some body fat that needs to go. But my belly is still big and it drives me crazy! I always thought it was fat...but I've always had it. I look at pics of myself as a little kid and whoop! There it is. Exactly like the pics of malnourished kids.

So I guess this is a wait-it-out kind of thing? The puffiness from other parts of my body has receded, but 30 years of glutening won't vanish overnight I suppose.

emcmaster, what are BCQ capsules? I'm looking into l-glutamine too.

[Guest celiacsher]

I still look bloated and it has been 1 and a half years for me. I dont think it will ever go away. We will just have to adjust. I am not sure why I think it has something to do with us being malnorished. I am not counting on loosing it anytime soon.

Sherri

[waywardsister]

  celiacsher said:

I still look bloated and it has been 1 and a half years for me. I dont think it will ever go away. We will just have to adjust. I am not sure why I think it has something to do with us being malnorished. I am not counting on loosing it anytime soon.

Could you be eating other things you're sensitive to? For example I can't have any dairy (casein intolerance) and I suspect soy is trouble for me as well. Grains is general seem to bloat me, and many others...could be an issue for you?

[viviendoparajesus]

when i went gluten-free it did not seem to take long for my stomach to be less bloated. what i thought was fat seemed to be me being bloated. ironically being on the so called anti-inflammatory diet seemed to mess me up and i went off it and bloated back up. though spring and summer seem to be a problematic time of year for my health which i do not understand. . while i did not notice a connection to my being bloated enzymes helped my digestion and helped me have regular bowel movements instead of constipation, diarrhea, and alternating diarrhea and constipation. i have no proof but i think the probiotic and acidophyilus have been helpful too - they would have to be after antibiotics killed the good bacteria. i have tried anti-candida diet, anti-parisite programs, and doing a food diary - but i do not understand why i am still so bloated, hungry, and symptomatic - i do not cheat and have gluten and i avoid CC. best wishes.

[glutengirl42]

I have been on the gluten free diet since the end of June with tons of minor setback, either cross contamination, accidental gluten consumption, etc etc, however I have SIGNIFICANTLY decreased my gluten intake and try really hard to monitor all that goes into my body. I too still suffer from the swollen belly and I too refer to it with silly names. I'm hoping that it gets better in time.

[espresso261]

Are you an "apple shape" (if you gained weight it would be stomach/chest... possibly shoulders) or are you "pear shape" (if you gained weight it would be in thighs, hips, legs etc). I was always a pear shape when i was younger. i lost a lot of weight a few years ago (little did i know then it was probably the celiac). i was incredibly skinny but my stomach would bloat out so much at certain times that my pants might zip one day and not the next. the rest of me was thin.... legs included... for a pear shape, that is odd. since going gluten free my stomach is flat again. ive actually put on a couple pounds, but its in my legs which is great because my clothes actually fit the way they are supposed to!

[anabananakins]

  On 8/18/2011 at 3:02 AM, viviendoparajesus said:

when i went gluten-free it did not seem to take long for my stomach to be less bloated. what i thought was fat seemed to be me being bloated. ironically being on the so called anti-inflammatory diet seemed to mess me up and i went off it and bloated back up. though spring and summer seem to be a problematic time of year for my health which i do not understand. . while i did not notice a connection to my being bloated enzymes helped my digestion and helped me have regular bowel movements instead of constipation, diarrhea, and alternating diarrhea and constipation. i have no proof but i think the probiotic and acidophyilus have been helpful too - they would have to be after antibiotics killed the good bacteria. i have tried anti-candida diet, anti-parisite programs, and doing a food diary - but i do not understand why i am still so bloated, hungry, and symptomatic - i do not cheat and have gluten and i avoid CC. best wishes.

Have you looked into FODMAPS? It turned out I had bit problems with fructans (onion makes me bloat right up) and polyols. They aren't going to kill me but the symptoms are annoying so I avoid these foods - makes a huge difference to bloating.

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[granolagal]

I've had bloating issues for years now. Never knew what it was from. I am very thin, but due to bloating, some days I look pregnant, other days my stomch is flat as a pancake. There are times when my stomach would be so distended I was in agony with killer lower back aches. I honestly thought my skin was going to tear apart! I've been gluten-free for 3 weeks with no change to the bloatedness. I'm going to give it some more time, and if I still don't see a change, I may try a dairy elimination/challenge.