Bloated Tummy

Hi All,

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Loving these little hearts on the screen   

Just a very brief history of whats been happening, I noticed an elevated Calcium over a year ago! After numerous blood tests, Endo's ruling out HPTH, then agreeing it could be a possibility then finally saying "I'm normal" I am still none the wiser whether I have it and I can't get my GP to monitor me with blood tests often enough to find out! I have an appointment with my GP in a couple of weeks.

I just wondered whether anyone suffers tummy problems? I seem to go through a phase of suffering from what feels like my time of the month when I'm not due, also my belly feels like a football and without sounding too grim, I just feel like I need a Colonic! No tummy pains wake me up in the night but I feel like my tummy is expanding and I feel SO bloated!

Does anyone experience anything like this?

Thanks
Lucie

Hi Lucie, yes I suffer with this but I also have ulcerative colitis so not really sure if its HPTh related for me. I live in Derby and I'm in contact with a lady called Sallie Powell who struggled for 7 years with a diagnosis of HPTH she is on the closed facebook HPTH page. She has written articles for various newspapers and magazines (one being the Derby Evening Telegraph) which included her story and she photos of her bloated tummy. 

Take care Mel x

Hi Mel

Thank you for replying. I just read Sallie's story - I can certainly relate to it and the photos! I'd love to run my story by her! It's a shame the Facebook page has closed, this stuff needs to be take more seriously doesn't it.

Lucie x

To add onto this I've had a mild heartburn feeling for a few days, trapped wind feeling and just muscle aches and pains! But still none the wiser where I stand 

Hi Lucie,

I experience symptoms exactly like you describe. They come and go, I'll have weeks where it's bad and other times no problem at all. Bloating, trapped gas, muscle aches, sometimes pain in the mid back area. I really relate to Sallie's story too and at some point would also like to compare notes with her.

I would speculate that pHPT affects pre-menopausal women slightly differently. Mainly because they have higher estrogen levels and since these are linked to Calcium they can bounce around. There is some mention in the research that younger patients are more likely to have intermittent or normocalcaemic pHPT. My personal feeling is this is responsible for the PMS type rollercoaster symptoms like bloating as your other hormones become increasingly unbalanced in response to uncontrolled Ca levels. Post-menopausal women have lower estrogen and don't have the wiggle room and therefore their Ca levels could be even more ridiculous. 

To add to that, several studies show that pHPT patients' cortisol levels fall after a successful op. If you look at cortisol related symptoms you find it causes that churning stomach feeling and the high anxiety levels so I think that probably relates to the acid indigestion.

To top it off, both Ca and iron cause constipation in high doses. I eat a ridiculously high fibre, fruit and vegetable diet and *whisper* I don't take all my iron prescription just to try and keep things moving. Raised Calcium on it's own may well be enough to explain our discomfort.

So, in summary, I can't pin down the direct cause, but indirectly I am convinced it all points back to the parathyroids.

Interested to know if anyone has a good solution for bloating - my only answer so far is to wear mainly dresses with leggings.

Love
Dee
xxxx

Thanks Dee that was a very interesting read, very educational!

What are your Vitamin D levels like? I'm about to call my GP to see if my levels have changed much since August. I just want to get to the bottom of this 



Lucie xx

My vitamin D results have been
Dec 2013   38nmol/L
Jul 2014     74.2nmol/L (i was getting sun exposure every day)
Dec 2014    28nmol/L

Under 30 is considered deficient in my area.
I had spent a week in equatorial Africa two weeks prior to the test and I know I was getting vitamin D exposure there cos I felt the difference to my mood and energy, so I was surprised it was so low. I pointed this out to the GP and mentioned it was entirely consistent with pHPT which causes an increased vit D metabolism. 

Regardless she wants me back on the vitamin D treatment despite the fact it makes my other symptoms ten times worse. I've agreed that I'll do it (when I have a quiet month at work) but only on the condition she tests my Ca/PTH. Not sure who's going look more foolish, her for giving me vit D or me for taking it. Just call me a human guinea pig. Not looking forward to it but, like everyone here, I'll go through hell if it gets me more test results which lead to a diagnosis.

Lots of luck with your GP. 

Love,

Dee
xxx

Thank you Dee, info you've provided has been very helpful. I called my GP Surgery but the Receptionist couldn't understand the result so I'll have to pick a copy up tomorrow and see for myself.

I was looking at Sallie's photos again and that's how my tummy looks right now. It's mainly upper abdomen that feels bloated and I have lots of wind, it feels a little better after the loo but I feel like I need deflating!!

Thanks
Lucie

I'd just like to add that I had TERRIBLE IBS before my parathyroid surgery! That was the first symptom to resolve after surgery. I had trouble for many years before surgery. It was horrible! LOTS of gas and bloating and constant churning and rumbling. The rumbling was so loud, I had to stop attending church!! I am very happy to say that it is MUCH, MUCH better now! I might still have bouts of abnormal amounts of gas from time to time, but it is not constant, and my stomach no longer rumbles! I am a vegetarian, which might have something to do with the gas issues I deal with now. It is nothing like it was before though!

Audrey