Severe Bloating and Distention: How did you find relief?

@clutch - Thanks for the offer. Can you tell me a little about yourself and your experience with this issue? I attribute mine to a family history of constipation and a redundant/tortuous colon (maybe related).
Constipation:
Tried but not particularly helpful - Naturade stool softener laxative, Lactulose (which I found nauseating), Docusate Sodium.
Currently use - Increased water consumption ("float the logs"), high fiber diet from whole plant foods, dried figs or prunes daily , prn use of Miralax (about 3/mo) or Smoothe Move (a Traditional Medicinals tea of senna about 1/month), as health and weather permit - walking as fast as I can 30-40 minutes/day (including stairs) to get my intestines "activated", my uneducated abdominal massage, manually "pulsing" south east of my anus and the dreaded manual extraction (1 year). Very important is keeping a stool shape/frequency diary to take proactive action before things become overwhelming.

I don't get much nausea - when it is felt, it is invariably followed within a few hours by a very satisfying enormous (8-10" long) stool that causes brief jabs of pain as it pushes thru the tortuous colon.
Most of the time, my belly feels "quivery". Sometimes the feeling moves elsewhere, adding to feeling like a shaky old lady.

I had the same symptoms & GI suggested a gastric emptying test. It takes about 4 hrs to see how long food takes to be emptied. I was diagnosed with gastroparesis & lactose intolerant. A completely different way of eating has helped some….. Wouldn’t wish this diagnosis on anyone…. Prayers For answers & solutions… 🙏❤️

I have been dealing with so severe since having C diff and being on antibiotics for over 4 months. I feel like I am 7 months pregnant. Just walking around cause my stomach to blow up like a Helium balloon. The swollen goes down a little when I’m sleeping but the minute I get up and start moving around, it gets increasingly worse. I do not have a Lotta gas but do you have Gerd. Has anybody else had this after being on antibiotics or having C diff. A colon specialist I went to saw my stomach getting larger as I was sitting in front of him. He did blood work and CT SCAN AND ALL CAME OUT GOOD. Ugh....I am so uncomfortable - any suggestions. I understand the frustration. GI doctors just shrug their shouldersa 😩Shrug their shoulders.

Not sure if this suggestion is relevant but some people have found low dose of nortriptyline (start with 10mg and maybe go up to 20 after a few weeks) look up nortriptyline for IBS and see feedback - various for IBS D etc. Worth a try. Gastro docs seem clueless and yet it has been very successful for many. Good luck.

I’ve had the bloating and distention since I had a third of my colon removed. I’ve tried low Fodmap,Miralax, sun fiber with no change. Trying pelvic floor therapy now!
Keep you posted!

I'm looking forward to your updates on the pelvic floor therapy.

My bloating, distension, kyphosis and discomfort has increased the past 10 months.

My young Kaiser gastroenterologist believes using Motegrity for constipation will relieve the bloat. The most common side effects of Motegrity (headache, stomach/abdominal pain or bloating, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, and fatigue) discourage me from trying. The most worrisome is increased likelihood of suicide attempt.

Good luck with your procedure, sounds like it has been a really long road.
Thanks for mentioning your licorice remedy, I will have to try it with my belching disorder ( separate GI thread).

I have your exact same symptoms. Elavel helps with pain,but not with the weight gain, abdominal dysention. I had covid 2years and 4 months ago when this problem occurred. I have seen 5 doctors and have had all the tests that say nothing is wrong. Really?

🤔 I was hospitalized in Jan 22 with Covid and was getting shots in the stomach to prevent blood clots and wonder if that is it. Doctors just don't care. 😭

I found out in May 21 that I have redundant/tortuous colon , but no physician followed up and I guess I only looked it up to see what it was. Now it is giving me major problems. I especially like your description of the "feeling moves elsewhere." Does anyone know if any x-ray/MRI or CT scan actually shows where the loops and sharp turns are. I want to know where mine are, which might help me understand what I am feeling. Does it change? Thanks for the idea of keeping a poop diary. Great idea. I currently am just increasing fiber, water, walking and using MiraLAX nightly which is working pretty good. See the gastroenterologist on Thursday for the first time since my colonoscopy and upper endoscopy. I just have no idea what cause it to begin giving me problems. And unfortunately it took 3 months to get answers.