Why is my stomach swollen?

Symptoms:

Your abdomen keeps swelling up. You have bouts of abdominal pain and alternating diarrhoea and constipation. Over the past year your abdomen has been swelling and you look like you’re five months pregnant. You don’t have any pain but your periods are very heavy.

Over the past few months, your abdomen has been swelling. You don’t have any pain or abdominal symptoms. You’ve been a hard drinker all your life. It could be:

(irritable bowel syndrome) an inflammatory condition of the bowel which increases the sensitivity of the bowel muscle and causes it to go into spasm. An ovarian cyst. Most women have at least one ovarian cyst. It’s normal, but they can grow quite large, up to the size of a melon and they can undergo malignant change.

Ascites or fluid in the abdomen which usually collects in people who have cirrhosis of the liver or a cancer such as bowel cancer which has spread into the abdomen. Stop it:

Try the FODMAP exclusion diet which has achieved success in sufferers of IBS. Take a bowel-softening preparation to prevent constipation. See your doctor and have your abdomen checked out. You will be referred to a gynaecologist for special investigations and treatment when the cyst can be examined and surgically removed.

See your doctor who will refer you to a specialist where you’ll have a sample of the abdominal fluid examined and tested. If you have cirrhosis of the liver you’ll be advised to stop drinking. If cancerous cells are found in your abdominal fluid you’ll be investigated to find the cancer.