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Why Would My Stomach Be Bloated And Hard

Other Causes Of Abdominal Bloating And Shortness Of Breath

“Why is my stomach so bloated?” (Common causes of bloating)

Abdominal bloating has many causes. It is more common in people who experience functional gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome or gastroparesis. Bloating can be due to the buildup of gas, fluids, or food in the stomach.

Overeating or eating foods known to contribute to bloating and gas, such as cabbage, beans, and lentils, may cause bloating.

Abdominal bloating can affect the diaphragm, a muscular partition between the chest and abdomen. The diaphragm assists in breathing, which means bloating can lead to shortness of breath. This happens if the pressure in the abdomen is enough to restrict the movement of the diaphragm.

Being short of breath can cause you to take small, short breaths. This can lead to swallowing air, which is known as aerophagia. Difficulty breathing can be brought on by anxiety or panic attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , pneumonia, and asthma attacks.

There are conditions that can result in both abdominal bloating and shortness of breath.

Any condition that leads to the buildup of air or foodstuffs could cause both bloating and shortness of breath. Also, stool inside the intestines, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, lactose intolerance, constipation, ileus, bowel obstruction, and gastroparesis could cause bloating and shortness of breath.

If bloating or shortness of breath is severe, seek immediate medical treatment.

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What To Do If You Feel Bloated And Tired After Eating

Along with bloating, nausea, and fatigue, the symptoms of dumping syndrome include: Symptoms may appear during or straight after eating, or 13 hours after eating. Dietary changes can often help people to relieve symptoms. It can help to talk to a dietician so that a person with dumping syndrome can maintain their weight.

According to the American College of Gastroenterology, gastoparesis can cause the following symptoms: bloating nausea feeling full quickly heartburn vomiting abdominal pain

They may have a stomach ache or pass more gas than usual. In some cases, salty foods and carbohydrates can make someone feel sleepy or bloated. In this article, we look at the causes of bloating, nausea, and tiredness, and what people can do to relieve these symptoms.

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What Is A Bloated Stomach

A bloated stomach is first and foremost a feeling of tightness, pressure or fullness in your belly. It may or may not be accompanied by a visibly distended abdomen. The feeling can range from mildly uncomfortable to intensely painful. It usually goes away after a while, but for some people, its a recurring problem. Digestive issues and hormone fluctuations can cause cyclical bloating. If your bloated stomach doesnt go away, you should seek medical care to determine the cause.

How To Prevent Bloating

Foods that Affect Bloated Stomach â Heal Beau

Typically, the first line of treatment for preventing gas and bloating is changing your diet. Research has shown that a low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols diet can reduce the symptoms of gas and IBS. A low FODMAP diet avoids fermentable, gas-producing food ingredients, such as:

  • Oligosaccharides, which are found in wheat, onions, garlic, legumes and beans
  • Disaccharides, such as lactose in milk, yogurt and ice cream
  • Monosaccharides, including fructose , apples and pears
  • Polyols or sugar alcohols found in foods such as apricots, nectarines, plums and cauliflower, as well as many chewing gums and candies

The small intestine doesnt always fully absorb these carbohydrates, instead passing them to the colon, where they are fermented by bacteria and produce gas, Lee says. Not everyone gets gas and bloating from every FODMAP foods. You might start by cutting out FODMAP foods and then slowly bringing them back into your diet one at a time to pinpoint problem foods.

In the long run, the key to preventing bloating is understanding its cause. If mild constipation is the problem, a fiber-rich diet, water and exercise may help, but these steps wont always work for chronic constipation. Chronic constipation and other conditions, such as IBS or gastroparesis, require medical treatment, so its important to talk to your doctor about your bloating symptoms.

Feeling Bloated?

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Common Causes Of Bloating

The following are some common reasons why you might feel bloated. In most instances, these causes of bloating can be reduced or eliminated by practical diet and lifestyle changes.

Healthy eating. Believe it or not, healthy foods are the reason for a bloated stomach. Whole veggies such as cabbage, brussel sprouts, and carrots and legumes such as beans, can cause extra air to get trapped in your belly, giving you that uncomfortable and bloated feeling. Foods high in fiber and lactose can also cause bloating since they release hydrogen and methane, which are bloating gases. Certain fruits like apples, pears, and watermelon can also cause bloating because of the high ratio of fructose to glucose.

Consuming diet products. Sugar substitutes found in many diet foods, such as sorbitol and xylitol) can cause you to feel bloated and uncomfortable. Ingesting too much of these or any artificial substances can cause bloating.

Fizzy drinks. Bubbly drinks like soda, champagne, or seltzer can do a number on your stomach because of the carbonation. When you ingest these drinks, the bubbles expand in your gut, which leads to that bloated feeling. This is also true of popular probiotic, naturally fermented drinks like kombucha, which can cause gas, bloating and loose stools.

Recovery from a stomach bug. Many people experience bloating after having a stomach virus or bug. Thiss because of the bacterial overgrowth that occurred in the small intestine as a result of the infection.

Remedies For Belly Fat

While a simple diet change helps get rid of bloat, belly fat takes a bit more work. Try for at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. Following a healthy diet filled with lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and lots of water can also help shed those pounds. It is important to remember that everyone gains and loses weight differently, so be sure talk to your doctor about what fits best for you.

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Why Is My Stomach Bloated And Hard

When your stomach swells and feels hard, the explanation might be as simple as overeating or drinking carbonated drinks, which is easy to remedy. Other causes may be more serious, such as an inflammatory bowel disease. Sometimes the accumulated gas from drinking a soda too quickly can result in a hard stomach.

Causes Of Hard Stomach And What To Do About It

How to fix a Bloated Stomach naturally in 4 minutes

Lets look at the various reasons why your stomach can become swollen and hard. You will also find some easy ways to relieve the symptoms and reduce hardness and bloating around your abdomen. At the end of the article, there are some home remedies you can try at home for general relief from abdominal bloating.

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Questions To Ask Your Doctor

  • Do I need a test to diagnose lactose intolerance?
  • Why do certain foods cause my bloating when they never used to?
  • What can I do if I have diabetesand my medicine or artificial sweeteners cause bloating?
  • Could my bloating be a sign of something more serious?
  • What kind of tests will I need?
  • What kind of over-the-counter medicine can I try?

What Causes A Swollen Stomach

Stomach swelling often occurs when there is an obstruction within the digestive tract. The obstruction could be due to slow bowel movements, trapped feces, a cancerous tumor, or parasites. Inflammatory diseases such as Crohn s disease, and other diseases within the digestive system are also common contributors to a swollen stomach.

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You Live A Sedentary Lifestyle

Diet and lifestyle also play a role. A sedentary lifestyle is linked to having higher amounts of that hard-belly visceral fat . Women are more likely to store fat as subcutaneous fat than visceral fat, though they start storing visceral fat when they reach menopause.

There are many ways to get started moving moreeven getting up and walking around more frequently during the day matters. If you want a gym routine and don’t really know where to start, try this total body workout.

Bloating That Doesnt Go Away

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For bloating to be potentially worrisome, it generally needs to have lasted for more than two weeks in a month, says Monique Swain, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

If bloating doesnt go away after making simple diet swaps or going to the bathroom, speak up. If bloating is persistent and does not vary with changing eating habits or bowel movements, it is a good idea to seek medical care, adds Alex Hewlett, DO, associate professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

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How Is Bloating Treated

Bloating will usually go away by itself if you adjust your diet for a while. Cut down on salty foods, carbohydrates and fizzy drinks. For some people, it can help to avoid foods that contain onion or garlic, wheat, rye, lactose products or stone fruit.

Bloating caused by constipation can be treated by eating more high-fibre foods, increasing the amount of water that you drink, and exercising regularly. Some people may need laxatives to treat constipation.

If you have a medical condition such as coeliac disease, you will need to follow a strict diet to prevent bloating and other symptoms. If you have IBS, following a high-fibre diet and the low FODMAP diet may help. This involves cutting out some dairy products, wheat and other grains, and some fruits and vegetables. Talk to a health professional such as your doctor or a dietitian before starting this diet to make sure it is right for you.

If you have a food intolerance, you may need to try an elimination diet to find out which food or foods are causing your problems. Your doctor or dietitian will advise you.

Some people find that probiotics containing lactobacillus and bifidobacterium can help with bloating by reducing the production of gas in the gut.

How To Get Rid Of A Bloated Stomach

One of the most effective bloated stomach remedies is improving your diet, since the foods you eat play a huge part in regulating how much air and poop is trapped inside your digestive tract.

To keep things flowing smoothly, you want to make sure to eat a high-fiber diet, aiming for about 2530 grams every day or even more.

This isnt too difficult when you eat plenty of whole foods, including veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes and ancient grains. It can certainly help you to track your symptoms after eating certain foods known to cause bloating, but remember that a bloated stomach is caused by your entire lifestyle, not just the food on your plate.

Some of the best foods for helping to battle stomach bloating include:

Now that you know what you should eat, lets look at some of the foods that might make your bloating even worse. More often than not, some of these foods might be the culprit:

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Journal Your Way To Finding The Culprit

If you get bloated often, say, more than once a month, its worthwhile to figure out what triggers your symptoms. Try keeping a food journal for a few days and write down everything you eat and drink. Be sure you include the ingredients in your meals in case one of those is the actual problem.

As you make that journal entry, note how you feel 30 minutes after you eat. Terrific? Overly full? Tired? Gassy? You may see some patterns that help you figure out if you have any food allergies or intolerances.

Is Bloating A Cause For Concern

Why is My Stomach so Bloated in Early Pregnancy?

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Weve all had that bloated, uncomfortable full belly feeling at some point. Most of the time, its perfectly normal and no cause for concern. On rare occasions, it could be an indication of a more serious problem. Unless your bloating is accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and weight loss, its probably nothing to worry about. Most of the time, diet and other simple reasons such as eating a big meal or too much salt can explain the bloating youre experiencing. Lets discuss some common causes of bloating, and when bloating can be a cause for concern.

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Stomach Bloating Can Be A Sign Of An Enlarged Liver Know The Reason And Diagnosis

An enlarged liver or a liver inflammation is a serious health condition. Leaving it, untreated can cause severe distress to the body. If diagnosed on time, its treatment is possible.

Other Diseases

If your doctor tells you that you need to keep a check on your drinking or eating habits, that means you need to be careful about your liver health. Liver enlargement or inflammation in the liver is a grave health condition, which can even lead to deaths in the worst cases. Hepatitis is usually another reason behind this, although this condition can be treated, but only if the diagnosis is done on time. Liver problems mainly crop up due to several lifestyle-related factors including excessive drinking, lack of exercise and a disturbed diet pattern.

This medical condition should be treated on priority as the liver helps in the regulation of food in the body. It also cleanses your blood by getting rid of harmful chemicals produced in your body. It makes a liquid called bile, which helps you break down fat from food. Also, it stores glucose in the body, which is a sort of fuel for the body to function. In cases of late treatment, there can be chances of liver transplants, which involves a longer recovery process. Liver transplant cases can be every bit harrowing for the individual to follow a set pattern of lifestyle to reduce the risk of re-damaging the new liver.

Why Does My Stomach Feel Hard When I Press On It Not Pregnant

Generally, you expect a hard stomach when you’re pregnant. Your hard-feeling stomach is caused by the pressure of your uterus growing and putting pressure on your abdomen. The hardness of your stomach while pregnant can be more pronounced if you eat a low-fiber diet or drink a lot of carbonated beverages.

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Remedies For Stomach Bloat

Sometimes a simple diet change might be all you need. Sticking to foods that are high in protein or complex carbohydrates can help. Drink plenty of water and stay away from carbonated drinks. Making your meals last longer can help keep you from overeating so be sure to try eating slower and chewing your food more.

Another remedy is to try, in place of three meals a day, eating more frequent, smaller meals. This prevents the bloating that typically follows large meals.

My Stomach Is Bloated And Hard At Night What To Do

What Causes Your Stomach To Be Bloated And Hard ...

Ever sat at the dinner table well beyond the time which the plates have been removed, only to sigh at your family or friends, and whisper I feel bloated when asked why you have elected to skip the movie or board game? Youre not alone. Many people feel discomfort associated with a hard bloated stomach at night, and often, this sensation follows us into the bedroom making sleeping awkward and uncomfortable.

If you are finding yourself searching for answers to the question of why my stomach is bloated unfortunately you may get a lot of answers. Overeating, especially before bedtime, can leave you with telltale signs of bloat, including a hard, distended belly at night. If you are finding this a frequent occurrence, and that you are constantly complaining to your bedmate that my stomach is bloated, you might consider not eating close to bedtime, and taking a quick walk after eating, especially after a large meal.

Antacids are the most common treatment for bloated and hard stomach, however if you are noticing that you cant remedy your situation with an antacid, a walk or herbal remedies or teas such as ginger tea, speak to your health care provider. He or she will want to evaluate your consistent night tummy troubles to ensure that you dont have an underlying condition that is affecting your midsection.

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Rule Out Medical Conditions

In some cases, bloating may result from a medical condition. To get rid of this bloating, a person may need help from a doctor to diagnose and manage their condition.

Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis, may cause people to experience bloating. Irritable bowel syndrome , can also cause this symptom.

Gynecological conditions, such as endometriosis and ovarian cysts, can also cause pain, swelling, and feelings of bloating in the abdominal area.

People with these symptoms should discuss them with a doctor, who will also want to know about any relevant family medical history and other medical conditions. The doctor may order diagnostic tests to look for any problems. These may include an X-ray, ultrasound, colonoscopy, or blood tests.

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