HELP! I cannot take this mid-cycle BLOAT anymore! My w/o & self esteem are suffering!

[Inchworm]

I truly don't understand what is happening with my body. My youngest child is now 4 and I had my tubes tied with the last one. I had 3 C-sections and have ALWAYS gotten back into shape after each, since I've been very involved with fitness and fitness goals since high school. WELL, now, suddenly this past 6 months to a year, I am struggling. NONE of my pants fit me from last Spring. I still exercise with great variety doing Kickboxing, Kettlebells, Pilates as well as Lotte Berk, Bar Method and traditional weight training. I still eat well and never eat white bread, I stick with Ezekiel or whole grains, oatmeal, activia topped w/ walnuts and a pinch of flax seed granola or egg whites on Ezekekiel, just to give you a quick idea of my idea of eating healthy. I realize we can't talk the d**t word here, so I won't go on further with that.

Well, not to get too gross, but my mid-cylce is far worse than when I have my actual period. I get sooooo severely bloated that I feel like I'm at least 4 months prego! It's completely nuts. I can actually FEEL the bloat in that my whole abdomen feels heavy and loaded, if that makes any sense. I get severe lower back ache and dark brownish with slight red discharge (sorry if TMI). I do find I'm much more fatigued and feel unable to do my normal routines. When I have my actual period, I do get tired, mostly the day before or on the first day. I have a VERY heavy flow day on day 2 and 3 mostly, where I didn't really have that before and I do get crampy now during period and that never happened before.

My GYN said I am entering peri-menopause and said that I have Cervical Erosion. So, isn't there ANY way to alleviate all of this bloating? I feel like my self esteem is being horribly trampled and I get frustrated when I have to get dressed. I'm used to being pretty lean and in shape and have gone up 2 sizes, simply because I cannot zip my pants. I don't want to hold weight or water in my mid-section, I know it's not healthy.

Has anyone else dealt with this or have ANY advice?

The thing that frustrates me is that I do so well for 3 weeks out of the month with my workouts and feel great and strong and progress. Then, BAM! mid-cycle, it all comes crashing down and I'm out for the week and then it's like starting all over again. I'm almost 38 and I realize as I get older, I may have to work harder at staying in shape. Maybe I need to up my cardio or get tested for something, but what?

Please Help!

Thanks,

Kelly

[annetteb]

Kelly you are sooo not alone. I have had my tubes tied and a MEA, but my bloat also stems from fibroids and a cyst. Emily from the Firm once told me when you bloat drink more water. Actually it seems to help some what.

[Lucky Star]

No advice I'm afraid, but lots of sympathy!! ((Hugs)) You seem rather young for perimenopause but what do I know? However, I would like to comment on this:

Originally Posted by Inchworm

I don't want to hold weight or water in my mid-section, I know it's not healthy.

I really don't think the kind of bloating you describe is at all similar to the hardened intra-abdominal fat that typically causes health problems, so please don't stress yourself about that aspect.

[susan p]

I am MUCH more bloaty in my 40s than I ever have been before. It does indeed look like early pregnancy, I get so distended. Drinking lots of water and avoiding salt and caffeine does help, but it only reduces the problem, it doesn't eliminate it.

Remind yourself that it is NOT FAT, just water, and it is pretty normal, and don't let it bother you too much!

[videofit]

Did your doctor check your abdomen out to feel for a mass? Bloating can be a sign of ovarian cancer and if you also have spotting, that doesn't sound good to me. Can you have an MRI, ultrasound or catscan? Better safe than sorry.

Otherwise, my guess would be wacky hormone levels. Did she do blood tests for them? I wonder if using progesterone cream would help.

[SharonNYC]

Originally Posted by videofit

Did your doctor check your abdomen out to feel for a mass? Bloating can be a sign of ovarian cancer and if you also have spotting, that doesn't sound good to me. Can you have an MRI, ultrasound or catscan? Better safe than sorry.

Otherwise, my guess would be wacky hormone levels. Did she do blood tests for them? I wonder if using progesterone cream would help.

I don't think floating ovarian cancer as a possible diagnosis is really helpful or realistic. Even a medical professional wouldn't want to make a guess on a possibility like that.

I think restraint is always best in diagnosis without portfolio.

[Kellie]

Kelly,

About two years ago I had many of the same problems you are having. I had extremely heavy periods, spotting, (was on the pill at the time even), plus was tired and cold constantly. I was gaining weight, even though through my workouts I was burning approximately 3500 calories a week. I had a CBC done with a thyroid test, and sure enough, I was hypothyroid. I have been on levothyroxine since then and am doing great. What's funny though is that about a year after that started, I decided to go off the pill. I had two periods, and bam, it was over. I have not had a period in almost a year and my hormone levels are in the post-menopausal range, so I guess I'm through. Yippee! Anyway, I don't think the two were related, but it's what happened to me. You might check into it.

Kellie

[Gardengirl]

Oh, Kelly! Welcome to the world of peri-menopause! I just about could have written your post! I'm doing all the same things I've always done, eat pretty cleanly, exercise religiously, and yet my body shape seems to have changed and there's not been anything I can do about it! Really frustrating!

I did see a special on PBS Pamela Peak did regarding meopause and it was pretty enlightening. She said that it's even more important at this stage to clean up our diets. And without getting into disallowed diet talk, she basically said get rid of the junky carbs! Junky carbs make you retain water and bloat, and I do find that to be true now, more than ever before!

Fatigue has been a killer for me. Especially when I didn't understand WHY I was tired. (I didn't know peri-menopause could have that affect on me!) Exercise has actually helped with the fatigue. Leslie Sansone and walking have saved me on numerous occasions when I just couldn't muster the energy to do much else. Plus, I swear that hormonal changes just make you more hungry, which only makes matters worse.

I wish I had the magic answer to give you, but somehow just knowing WHY these things are happening has helped me make peace with it. Not to say that I'm giving up, cause I'm not! I'm coming to grips with the fact that I just need to do less intense workouts (at least for a while) so as not to tire myself out (thus making me more hungry) and stress myself (thus making me more hungry). And believe it or not, I think stressing about all these changes only makes one more bloated as stress does bad things to your weight too!

Maybe once we actually get through menopause, things will stabilize. Till then, I'm going to try and stress less and workout at lesser intensity! Hang in there!

[videofit]

Originally Posted by SharonNYC

I don't think floating ovarian cancer as a possible diagnosis is really helpful or realistic. Even a medical professional wouldn't want to make a guess on a possibility like that.

Let's hope a medical professional would test and not guess.

Symptoms of ovarian cancer

Why not rule it out instead of sticking one's head in the sand? My aunt ignored her symptoms because she didn't want to "bother the doctor with something silly." Now she's dead.

[jmander]

My understanding is that any form of cancer would cause constant (or increasing) bloating rather than cyclical. Even on the above website it says uterine cancer would cause consistent symptoms, just above the list where it includes bloating. On the other hand, fibroids definitely cause cyclic bloating (based on personal experience) and can cause mid-cycle spotting as well as heavy periods (personal experience again). I'm planning on getting my fibroids removed in January and hope that this is indeed the actual cause of my symptoms.