Heyas, (long post)
Quick intro, my mum's 45 this year and for a year now she's complained of a bloated stomach to me describing the feeling to me as being pregnant, which I didn't really understand..

but I could relate to her basketball in stomach description.
Mum's about 165cm in height, 57ish kg and is of Chinese Ethnicity (21 years in Australia), her diet consists of a lot of white rice, red meat, fish etc. I've mentioned this because no one yet has mentioned their ethnicity which may more clues to their type of food intake
Mum had stomach ulcers for about 10 years she did know about which no doctor could diagnose (ridiculous really..) until maybe 5 years ago. She also has had hyperthyroidism and took a lot of medication which did not work until over a year ago then it was fine. Since then she's complained of a bloated stomach & am unsure if there is a relation. The other week she felt nauseous & weak
I'm trying to help ease the bloated stomach problem for mum and read through all your responses prompting me to take this much more seriously. As you peeps have mentioned, it is somewhat difficult to describe so I didn't really understand where she was coming from
Tests I am aware mum has done all within past 6 months (no abnormal results):
- CT Scan (Abdomen and Pelvis)
- Ultrasound (Abdomen)
- Blood Test
- & Upper gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures
Mum is quite unfit, she does go for walks in the evenings however which relaxes her, her hyperthyroidism is no longer an issue. I did not realise she had this problem until I noticed her stomach was quite large and thought it was all the result of not exercising. I am encouraging her to exercise more as it should help her all round in health & with her metabolism/digestive system. (I'm no doc) Less fat around her stomach region I'm guessing will also reduce the amount of pressure on her bloated stomach
Regarding foods, mum says the following appears to have a fast bloat effect on her:
- rice, bread, noodles, cabbages.
She has constipation occasionally but not always and is able to "empty out" completely. She also mentions she seems to have trouble passing gas
The docs seem pretty lazy at this point so I'm getting mum to experiment safely, naturally with some of the things people have mentioned above and if it don't work I'll get her to check out other specialists.
For now I've asked her to experiment and stay clear of dairy, rice/bread/noodles/cabbages/cauliflower/brocolli & getting her to try chamomile & peppermint tea with and without grated ginger. She says oatmeal is better than rice for now. She has had a similar diet for many years and in fact has improved it with more veges/fruit and less red meat in recent years. She drinks 5 or more cups of water a day and I've convinced her to stop drinking coffee and more tea without milk
I too was thankful I read this thread & wish you all well. I was actually very shocked so many people have this symptom with little explanation from professionals on what it could be! I'll post any updates if I have any.
Don't feel down guys! More awareness of this can only do good & some posters have found their cures so keep your heads up! =]