I wonder why my elderly (84) sister in law's stomach get so hugely distended?

[Peregrine Took]

She looks 8 months pregnant but has no pain or discomfort from it.

Could it be a food allergy of some sort? She's had this for years and whenever she is hospitalized they do all these xrays, MRI's and tests (upper and lower GI's) and just wind up shrugging their shoulders.

[Double T]

1. Hernia

[Ecumenist]

2. Have they checked her ovaries?

I knew a lovely lady that had that sort of bloating for her tummy. She was not quite 82. It turned out that she had ovarian cancer. She looked about 7 months pregnant.

[DemBones DemBones]

7. And you can have "ovarian" cancer when you have no ovaries!

When you've had your ovaries removed, you are not safe from "ovarian" cancer, it just grows somewhere else. :scared: Women never catch a break, it seems.

But it sounds as if they have checked her for everything imaginable.

[Ecumenist]

23. Yes, indeed, that's true, sadly but unfortunately true. nt

[Barack_America]

3. Possibly ascites.

Does she have either heart or liver troubles? Have her doctors ever drained fluid from her stomach?

[ZombieHorde]

4. I used to work in a nursing home, there are several things which can cause that.

When I saw it, I reported it to the nurses.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

5. Maybe it's fat?

Seems the most obvious.

But maybe her posture is such that her pelvis throws her whole lower abdomen sort of out there. A lot of older people slump or slouch, and that might be it. If she's not in pain, and has no symptoms, I wouldn't get upset about it.

[Peregrine Took]

12. No she's slim but she did have a lot of surgery on her back several years

ago and she feels that that knocked her organs out of whack.

Not exactly a technical explanation but it works for her. Its just that it bothers us and her medicos.

Thanks.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. I'll bet you

she's lost height in her back, which happens with age, as the disks get worn away (that's why we get short as we get older), and was probably exacerbated by her surgery.

Yep, I think you've solved it. I hope this takes some of the worry off you..............

:hi:

[kristopher]

6. Some reading

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/abdominal_distention/causes.htm

They list 59+ possible causes.

[we can do it]

8. Fluid Build Up from Cancer Is a Possibility

[Brazenly Liberal]

9. Could be IBS

IBS can be very very difficult to diagnose. The symptoms tend to come and go and often have a very subjective quality. Bloat is a classic symptom of IBS. I have intermittent IBS and when it acts up, sometimes the only symptom I have is bloating.

[Peregrine Took]

15. Yes, that could be it. That or a food allergy. n/t

[nashville_brook]

10. congestive heart failure ... my mother and father both had it and it bloated them up horribly

with no pain associated.

[Warpy]

11. There are a lot of things it could be

but I'm not going to second guess any of the doctors who have actually seen her.

Is there a possibility she knows what it is but doesn't want to burden you with the knowledge?

[Peregrine Took]

14. Thanks so much for the kind replies. She's had this condition for many years

and is slightly embarrassed by it but feels no discomfort or pain - its just weird. The best doctors have tested her to death and can find nothing wrong.

I guess she'll just go on looking like she's preggers at 84.

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. "preggers at 84" - now THAT -,, that would be scary . .

.
.
.

imagine raising a rugrat at 85 . . .

[Brazenly Liberal]

18. There are a few things she can try at home.

Ask if she remembers being diagnosed with spastic colon when she was young. That's what they used to call IBS. I know several people, including my son and myself, who were diagnosed when young and then it went into remission until years later. I completely forgot the earlier episode until my sister reminded me of it. IBS is a treat-the-symptom kind of thing, so she might try going on a low gas diet when it acts up. If it's IBS, it'll help. If it isn't, it won't hurt.

Celiac disease, suggested below by peace13, is an underdiagnosed disease that should be given serious consideration. That comes down to diet, too, and she can try cutting out foods with gluten in them - basically anything with wheat, barley, rye, maybe oats.

Good luck to your mom. I sympathize with her completely. It can be so frustrating and a little scary to have mysteries going on in your own body! I'm glad she's not in pain, but being self conscious all the time isn't exactly a picnic to live with either.

[Warpy]

20. As long as she never actually produces an infant

it will all be good.

[peace13]

17. Have they checked her for Celiac disease.

My little eighty four year old friend was diagnosed two years ago. She does pretty well when she follows her diet.

[HamdenRice]

19. This happened to my father just before he died

Obviously it could be many things, but I just thought I'd share one experience.

My father had fought intestinal cancer for several years. Toward the end, it spread to his liver and lungs. Chemo worked surprisingly well for about a year to keep it in check.

When the tumors in the liver began to grow quickly, his abdomen swelled considerably. It wasn't the tumors, however. It's that the tumors secret or attract some form of mucus. Then the water in the body tries to equalize concentrations of proteins and other things in the mucus, so the mucus attracts water. They drained a gallon or more water from his abdomen. As someone upthread put it, cancer often causes massive water weight.

Sounds like she needs to get to the doc right away.

[uppityperson]

21. She's been tested by docs for yrs, they can't figure it out, but we anonymous internet users maybe

maybe we can? I don't understand.

As they may have told her, there are lots of reasons. Some relatively benign, some not so much.

[wuvuj]

22. Poor diet?

Bet she is not eating right. That's a sign of malnutrition?