Waist Extenders

4 weeks since having my gallbladder removed laparoscopically – how long till bloated stomach subsides?

My abdomen is so bloated – almost seems to still be expanding. I’m having a hard time wearing clothes. It’s not so much pain as discomfort. I cringe at the thought of wearing a bra (even with a 3″ extender) for more than an hour. I’ve been able to work from home, but I need to get back to the office. I’d lost 20+ lbs. before surgery and am still losing, but you wouldn’t know it from my waist. Any ideas how I can get rid of this? I’m not to lift or do anything strenuous for another 3 weeks, per surgeon.

You shouldn’t still have bloating from the surgery, the gas used to expand the abdomen should pass, quite literally, within a day or two at the most. If you are still feeling bloated, it’s probably more related to dietary problems. You won’t be able to handle much fat at all at first, something they should have warned you about. For the first few weeks you should stick with a really low fat, high fiber diet. That helps get things moving again after all the upset of surgery and gallbladder problems beforehand. You may also be retaining water, since the problem doesn’t sound like it’s restricted to just your midsection. While you can’t do any sort of real exercises, at least not the situps, pullups sort of thing- you can certainly walk. And that’s exactly what I would recommend, walking as much as you can. You also want to have a close look at your diet again, and see if you are getting sabotaged by something where you aren’t expecting it. Salt comes camoflauged in lots of ways, from the stuff you can recognize and will be listed as salt, to preservatives that contain the word “Sodium” in any part of the name. And you’d be surprised to see how much of it turns up in places you’d not ever expect. Also, drink more water, with a twist of lemon or orange if the taste is too “bleah” for you. Water acts as it’s own diuretic, once you have enough on board to start diluting things, the kidneys kick in to reduce volume. It may take a day or so for that to kick in, but when it does, if fluid retention has been part of the problem, get ready to make multiple bathroom calls. Everyone has their own personal fat intake tolerance levels, and there are some foods that can be a challenge as well. Usual culprits are the cabbage family members, and salads at this point could do it as well. Dairy might be a trigger sometimes, as the surgery disrupts the usual balance of good gerbies in the gut. For that you want to add a carton of low fat live culture yogurt to the diet, at least a carton a day for a few days. In the meantime, cut the dairy out of the diet, at least until you’ve had three or so days with the yogurt. With determining the fat tolerance, you just have to cut way back to almost a no-fat diet, and then gradually increase the amount in the diet until you notice symptoms. Then you know your personal limit. Most people can handle the fried meal, as long as they don’t really go overboard, and of course you wouldn’t want to do all three meals in a day high fat. Not a good idea for anyone really, but for you it can cause the gassy bloated feeling a bit faster. Another thing, some people just feel “odd” after an abdominal surgery- with the sensation of things just not being where they are supposed to be. It isn’t pain, it’s more an odd discomfort, a sense of things just not being “right”. I wonder if this might be some of what you feel as well. If so, it does pass, the further time passes and the more normal your life becomes. I guess things just sort of go back where they are supposed to be as you move about more. And of course, if you really have the sense of something being wrong, you should go back to see your doctor. It’s unusual for there to be problems, but that’s not saying there can’t be something. But I really think if you walk about more and watch the diet, and drink to eliminate any extra fluid, you might readjust okay. Good luck, hope you feel better.

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