Feeling meh and trying to find relief from menopause bloating?
Yeah, I hear ya.
Let me tell you a very quick story about menopause bloating. before I was diagnosed as being perimenopausal I looked 6 months pregnant. This is not an exaggeration, if you ran a finger down my breastbone, as soon as you got to the end of my rib cage, this is where my preggo belly began.
I went up 2 dress sizes and I would often get a sharp abdominal pain on the right-hand side of my hip, so I did what anyone would do and went to the doctor.
They prodded around and acknowledged how swollen it was and said that I needed to go for scans and not to worry me but it was similar symptoms to ovarian cancer.
I was so scared but off I went and had all the scans they could give me, blood tests were done, and the result came back all clear. And that was that. I was told it might be irritable bowel syndrome and to keep an eye on my eating habits.
I spent so long trying to get my head around where the bloating was coming from and I did find a few things which helped, so in this article, I will give you all the advice and tips I found helpful when I was researching this.
What Causes Menopause Bloating?
Menopausal bloating usually comes in two forms, excess intestinal gas or excess water, each of them being as uncomfortable as the other.
Hormonal changes are to be blamed for our menopause belly and that bloated feeling we can have throughout the day, or sometimes all day and night!
Both estrogen levels and progesterone levels fluctuate during menopause and unfortunately, this means our water retention joins in for the ride.
There can be other things at play which doesn’t help and can trigger bloating, such as carbonated drinks, and smoking, even the artificial sweeteners in chewing gum can be problematic.
Symptoms of Menopause Bloating
When our hormones decide to take a nose dive and we find ourselves bloated like a pufferfish, we can sometimes find it hard to explain it other than bloating.
Here are some common symptoms of menopause bloating:
- A tight hard stretching of the stomach
- Constipation
- Trapped wind
- Abdominal pain
- Excessive wind
- Excessive burping
- Feeling sick
It can sometimes feel like this is weight gain but there is a normal weight gain and menopause weight gain and we need to know the difference.
If you are having any of these bloating symptoms, always go and seek advice from a GP, if you have any other menopause symptoms then make sure you note them down too.
How to Stop Menopause Bloating
Many women struggle to know exactly what is causing bloating but even fewer know what to do to help themselves, let’s take a look:
Natural remedies for menopause bloating
There are ways you can help yourself naturally to ease the belly bloat, consider the below but make sure you check if they have any effect on the medication you might already be on. Always speak to a GP before taking supplements if you are on meds.
- Supplements for menopause bloat, such as Menopace
- Probiotics
- Supplements with agnus castus in them, great for bloating
- Vitamin B6 can act as a diuretic
- Ginger or peppermint tea, ginger has been a great help for my painful bloating
- Evening Primrose Oil is said to help with hormones, which can only be a good thing.
Alternative therapy for bloating
Acupuncture for bloating. Hear me out.
Chinese medicine sees bloating as coming from two main areas, either an imbalance in the liver or an issue in the digestive system.
The research I have found shows that acupuncture can help with this and is a way to strengthen the digestive process and reduce bloating.
If your digestive system isn’t working as it should, acupuncture might help with the menopause bloat.
Take a look here at the research I found: https://www.londonacupuncture.co.uk/conditions/acupuncture-for-bloating
Lifestyle changes to try
Menopausal women really can help themselves when it comes to our digestive health but we can help ourselves out overall.
We need to try and consider lifestyle factors when it comes to helping:
- Increase our water intake
- Cut back on processed foods
- Exercise regularly – work a treat on my energy levels
- Consider quitting smoking
- Don’t use too much salt in cooking
- Try and see if you have any food triggers
- Get enough fibre in your diet
- Reduce carbonated beverages
I know this sounds like a pain in the ass but it really does help with digestive issues, fluid retention, bowel movements, gas retention and many other things which do not help our bloat.
Does HRT help with menopause bloating?
I will answer this purely from my own perspective, before I went on HRT there were things above which really did help, but it wasn’t until I went on my combination HRT of oestrogen and progesterone that my abdominal bloating went away.
When I say went away, I mean it went completely away, along with the other symptoms I was suffering from.
I did a lot of things on the list above and I definitely saw weight loss, my diet improved, and the uncomfortable feeling did go away a little but not entirely.
HRT help me out a lot BUT it can actually cause bloating for some women.
I wanted to be honest and tell you this because often when we talk about a solution to a persistent problem we forget not everyone wants to take that solution.
If HRT is not on your wish list then go for the above, if you want to check it out then please speak to your GP.
Best Diet for Menopause Bloat
Avoid
Spicy foods – they are harsh on your stomach
- Fatty foods – really hard to digest
- Salty foods – overly processed foods are a bugger for this
- Fizzy drink – too much air intake
- Too much alcohol – can affect our digestive process
Add in
- Fruit and veggies – great for fibre
- Omega 3 rich food – like salt
- Yoghurt – lots of probiotics
- Bananas – potassium-rich and will flush out the sodium
- Oatmeal – helps the bowels move
- Sweet potato – another sodium fighter
Preventing bloating may not always be an option but we can consider what little steps we can do to help with menopause belly then it makes life a little easier.
How Long Does Menopause Bloat Last?
Ergh, this one sucks.
It can come and go throughout the whole time your hormones are fluctuating, this means it can come when you are perimenopause like me, aged 38, and stay until the menopause is over.
How long is a piece of string?
I still bloat the week before my menstrual period (I am currently still having my period) just like I used to, but I am a ninja with my triggers which are gluten, dairy and crisps!
Bloating is super common during perimenopause so you might find it eases off as you move through this new stage in your life.
Could Bloating During Menopause Be Something Else?
Always, always go and see a GP if you experience bloating for an extended amount of time, there are nasty things that have similar symptoms and it will always be best to be medically reviewed so you and your doc can find a solution.
By the same token, there are a bunch of less scary things that mean you are struggling with bloating. Bloating, annoyingly is a common symptom in many conditions, again, I will sound like a broken record but PLEASE go and speak to a GP if you have symptoms of bloating.
Closing Thoughts
Ah menopause, what a joyful time you are. Hormonal fluctuations have a lot to answer for but please know that there are things out there to help, especially with bloating.
There are so many articles on this topic and I hope you found some of the above useful. If you have found a way to manage menopause bloat, please do let me know. As my oestrogen levels decrease more and more, I am quietly confident the bloat will return from time to time!
Kathryn x
