What is endo belly? Endo belly is the colloquial term for abdominal distension caused by endometriosis. Unlike the short-term bloating that sometimes accompanies your period, endo belly is much more severe, triggering physical, mental, and emotional symptoms.
Other symptoms include cramps that begin before and extend after a menstrual period, lower back or abdominal pain, pain with intercourse, pain with bowel movements or urination, and infertility. Individuals with endometriosis may experience fatigue, constipation, bloating, or nausea, especially during periods.
“Endometriosis can also irritate or block the intestines, causing constipation, gas and bloating. In endo belly, both processes are probably causing the abdomen to bulge out.”
Changing your diet can help reduce endo belly symptoms, such as bloating and other gastrointestinal symptoms, which can reduce your discomfort and pain. You can try to: Avoid foods known to cause inflammation eg alcohol, caffeine, dairy, gluten, processed foods and red meat. Drink peppermint tea or ginger tea.
Unlike the short-term bloating that sometimes accompanies your period, endo belly is much more severe, triggering physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. While the severe bloating may subside after a few hours, it can also persist in a less severe form for days or even weeks.
Endo belly typically gets worse as the day goes on. "Frequently, patients will be fine in the morning, and it will get bigger and bigger until the evening when they can't button their pants," Dr. Goldstein explained. "You can look six months pregnant by the end of the day."
The endometrial-like tissue can build up and cause the abdomen to become inflamed. If the endometrial-like tissue covers or enters the ovaries, it can trap blood and give rise to ovarian cysts. Endometriosis can lead to digestive issues such as gas and constipation.
Does having endometriosis make it harder to lose weight? Yes, many women with endometriosis struggle to lose weight with diet and exercise changes alone. However, the hormonal imbalance that contributes to endometriosis and the progesterone-based treatments can interfere with your body's ability to lose weight.
It might be as simple as eating too much too fast, or you could have a food intolerance or other condition that causes gas and digestive contents to build up. Your menstrual cycle is another common cause of temporary bloating. Sometimes a bloated stomach can indicate a more serious medical condition.
When it comes to endo belly, diet and gut health is an essential component to explore. The “endo diet” or an anti-inflammatory diet are regularly recommended to endo patients: These diets generally eliminate alcohol, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, red meat, preservatives, artificial sugars, and caffeine.
Untreated endometriosis can cause significant pain, bloating, excess menstrual bleeding, and digestive distress. Over time, it can also affect a person's fertility. When endometriosis tissue grows outside the uterus, it can affect other organs — especially the ovaries and reproductive structures.
Stage IV: This is also known as severe endometriosis. With stage IV, deep implants and dense adhesions are present. There may be superficial endometriosis and filmy adhesions, but the disease is more widespread than in Stage III. Any score greater than 40 indicates severe endometriosis.
Imaging allows them to locate larger endometriosis areas, such as nodules or cysts. The two most common imaging tests are ultrasound, which uses sound waves to make the picture, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnets and radio waves to make the picture.
7 Estrogen is the hormone that causes endometrial cells to swell and thicken every month. High levels of estrogen can lead to increased bloating and irregular periods. Hormonal fluctuations may also affect your metabolism. Changes in your hormones may lead to weight gain, especially around your abdomen.
Losing weight with Endometriosis
The first thing that the patient with endometriosis can do is removing the endometrial tissue that grows outside the uterus because this will reduce the pain and also bloating. Doing this treatment will make the patient look thinner and also lose some weight.
Endometriosis can affect women across all ethnic backgrounds and at any age, but it most commonly affects women during their reproductive years between the ages of 25 and 35.
DeNoble shares the best endometriosis sleep positions to reduce pain and increase comfort: sleeping on your back with a pillow under your knees to keep the spine in a neutral position, on your side with a pillow between your legs, and on your stomach with a pillow under your hips.
Many people notice that it is worse immediately before or during their period. Some people with frequent bloating may gain as much as 10 pounds in a year, though there is overall little research on the subject.
Endometriosis can have a range of symptoms such as heavy and painful periods, discomfort during and after intercourse and infertility. However, the condition can also cause abdominal bloating and general fatigue which are very common and often overlooked.
There is no cure for endometriosis. Hormone therapy or taking out tissue with laparoscopic surgery can ease pain. But pain often returns within a year or two. Taking out the ovaries (oophorectomy) and the uterus (hysterectomy) usually relieves pain.
You could be putting your health at risk if you don't get treatment. While they are unlikely to be fatal, they can have a negative impact on your quality of life. Untreated endometriosis can lead to a variety of complications, including: Pain that lasts for a long time.
Can endometriosis be seen on an ultrasound? Ultrasounds can show large clumps of tissue that are likely signs of endometriosis. Ultrasounds are also very good at identifying endometriosis of the ovaries. But ultrasounds can't show tiny pieces of tissue that may also be signs of endometriosis.