[Guest]

one of the things that drives me crazy is that since day one with "ibs" started, i seemed to get "fat" and stay fat. i'm constantly bloated when i'm not gassy and when i am. my muscles feel displaced - like my guts are bunched up in the middle. i used to be very very toned and flat stomach but now i'm large and flabby there even though the rest of my body has stayed the same. i can't help but wonder if its the ibs thats done this. i also feel as if all this pulling has made my torse shorten. does anyone else have these strange skeletal muscle issues due to ibs? i'm beginning to wonder if my problem isn't more neuro-muscular, but perhaps this is normal for a gut that has been "pursing" itself for 10 years straight. i also feel that to hold myself up and the when i'm talking - i'm not using my right muscles anymore. god, does this sound like parkinsons? can ANYONE relate?

 

[sieljo]

I can definitely relate. I work out regularly at the gym and my body is nicely toned...except for my abs as they're hidden beneath this monstrously bloated gut.

I find this massive accumulation of gas to be quite intolerable.

 

[crankypants]

I am about 20 lb overweight, nothing that should prevent me from buying normal ready-to-wear clothing, but for years--even back when I weighed 110 lb or so--I've been limited to elastic waistbands or very loose lightweight jeans in order to accommodate bloat attacks. I think in addition to tenderness along the GI tract itself, the muscles in my trunk are more or less chronically sore. When I bend backward my lower abdomen hurts like heck, for example (I first noticed that in my 30s, and I'm 51 now). I guess when things aren't functioning right, there are all sorts of ripple effects.

 

[FrankAB]

Yes, joan! skeletomuscular issues!With the onset of IBS I've noticed a real tightness in neck & shouldrs -- it feels like my spine is being compressed.I had tension there before but much worse now !& hard to get rid of, even with exercise & stretching...If anyone can suggest a good yoga or body-therapy posture...

 

[Guest]

Hi yall -I'm glad you guys can relate. This morning i woke up with relatively flat stomach despite the flab and fat that's accumulated there. 10 minutes later its as if everything, especially my skeletal muscles are pushing up and out. suddenly i'm hunched over and have a huge gut and I CAN'T control it. shoulders and neck start to feel tense and with pressure. i go through this every day. I guess there IS a ripple effect. FrankAB I totally know what you mean. I don't really at this time have any suggestions. This bloating/pressure and how it affects the rest of my body is the MAIN ibs problem I have and so far no answers. Even after going to the bathroom it persists. Feeling sort of hopeless today.

 

[FrankAB]

I wonder if physiotherapy could help? I guess one would have to find a physiotherapist willing and able to deal with an issue beyond standard tennis elbow or runner's knee.

 

[Theldon]

I feel as though my abdomen is always larger than it should be. I ask my parents, and they say its all in my head, but since its throbbing all the time, and everyday (almost) it seems bigger.