A common problem that we see at the Atlanta Fibroid Center is the woman who looks pregnant but is not. She may exercise frequently, but she can’t lose the bulge in her lower abdomen.
What Can Cause A “Belly Pooch”?
Abdominal swelling or distension can be due to a varied number of medical conditions. The patient often reports feeling bloated, which is a buildup of gas in the gastrointestinal system. This can be digestive in nature due to an increase in gas-producing foods (high-fiber, beans, cabbage, etc.), malabsorption or intolerance of certain food substances, or an interruption in normal bowel function such as gastrointestinal illness or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Uterine fibroids can also cause a woman to have a belly pooch, or on rare occasions, distension can be caused by ascites, which is an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen that requires an immediate medical evaluation to determine the underlying cause.
How Can Fibroids Cause a Belly Pooch?
Fibroids are a very common cause of abdominal enlargement that is often accompanied by bloating. This bloating is cyclic and can begin right before the menstrual cycle but will subside after the menstrual cycle.
Many women ask, “Why am I so bloated that I look pregnant?” These women often report that they can see the difference in the size of their abdomen during different times of each month, especially when they are lying on their back, and their clothes often fit very tight or not at all during this time.
How Can Fibroids Make Women Look Pregnant?
We often hear patients tell us, “I’m skinny, but my stomach looks pregnant. What is causing this?” In many cases, uterine fibroids are to blame, and they may not even know they have them. As fibroids grow larger, they begin to fill up the uterine cavity, causing it to enlarge. As the uterus enlarges, it will start to make a woman look pregnant.
Doctors often use references to pregnancy when describing how distended a woman’s uterus has become due to fibroids. A simplified estimate of their uterine size is based on a similar-sized pregnancy, comparing the length of the uterus to the number of weeks of pregnancy. For example, a 16-cm-long uterus would be compared to the size of a woman’s abdomen who is about 16 weeks (4 months) into her pregnancy.
A woman with an enlarging uterus may not know why this is occurring and may start taking pregnancy tests, which will be negative.
Tell-Tale Signs That You Have Uterine Fibroids
If you are experiencing an enlarging abdomen and weight gain despite all efforts, you may have uterine fibroids.
Even women who exercise frequently will notice this “stubborn area” that continues to make their belly big no matter how much exercise she does. People may even ask them, “When is the baby due?” which is obviously embarrassing for all concerned.
As the belly enlarges due to increasing fibroid growth, there is often added weight gain and possibly stomach deformation. This is particularly discouraging to the woman who is eating right and exercising.
Anemia Caused By Growing Fibroids Can Compound Weight Gain
This weight gain can accelerate if the patient becomes anemic and the associated fatigue decreases or eliminates exercise, or if she becomes disheartened by a perceived lack of results.
Frequent Urination, Especially At Night, May Signal The Presence Of Fibroids
It may not be discovered as fibroids until this “poochy belly” starts causing symptoms. These symptoms will be determined based on the location of fibroids in her uterus. Anterior fibroids are likely to cause increased urinary frequency and waking up at night to urinate (nocturia), as the bladder sits right in front of the uterus. These fibroids may even cause the woman to leak urine on occasion due to the increased pressure in the bladder.
These symptoms may be initially brushed off by the patient and attributed to increasing age. If you’re waking up multiple times a night to urinate, this should be investigated.
Can You Feel Fibroids Through Your Stomach?
Fibroids that are in the front of the uterus are the most likely to be felt by a woman. Sometimes, fibroids make your stomach feel hard, and a woman may notice something hard and firm to the touch, which is not something she has felt before.
Do You Have These Symptoms of Fibroids?
Fibroids in the central part of the uterus next to the cavity are the ones that will cause heavy bleeding. If a woman has these fibroids, known as submucosal fibroids, they will present much earlier than women who have fibroids on the outer part of the uterus (subserosal) which cause bulk-related symptoms (i.e. abdominal pain or pressure, bloating, increased urinary frequency, etc.).
If you have an enlarging belly, fibroid symptoms, or weight gain that is unexplained and you believe it is due to fibroids, make an appointment today with the leaders in the non-surgical treatment of uterine fibroids, Dr. John Lipman and the staff of the Atlanta Fibroid Center.
