Hi:
lots of us here understand you!!!
I can bloat anywhere from between one week to two and it will not start to go down until my period begins.
I go up a whole dress size around the hips, stomach and tops of thighs. It gets so bad that by the end of the day I look 4 or 5 months pregnant. I show my belly to my husband to prove that I am not imagining it and he is always horrified that my body can do this. I tell him he takes for granted the fact that his body will hormonally remain on an even keel all month long. It makes me depressed and I feel ugly at these times.
I am trying to understand that it is not me, that it doesn't mean I have permanently swelled, that it does go down and does not lead to any weight gain ever. And this is true. I try to keep my eating normal but with a gut like that, who wants to eat a bean burrito? I try and keep it light, lentil soups, loads of fruit, etc. I force myself to keep going with my exercise routine at these moments even though I don't look at my belly while I'm doing it!
I have one set of clothes that I use for my normal two weeks and the other, less attractive togs for the horrid bloaty days, featuring such style necessities as the elasticated waist and the oversize pants, or pants with alternative button settings, so that I can breathe.
I try and wear heels during these times because they make me feel leaner and I pay attention to my hair and some nice jewelery to attract attention away from my body.
What can you take to alleviate this? Well, depending on how bad the emotional symptoms are that come with this (i.e. it's not just PMS, the three day blues each month, but PMDD, a full blown emotional turmoil that interferes with your social and working/productive life), you can be prescribed an SSRI (newer type anti-depressant) such as Clexa and Sarafem and I can tell you that they work. Celexa did fabulous things for me and my period would come upon me and take me by surpise because I was expecting the big bloat and the emotional upset first, that never arrived. For some reason this drug worked for me physically as well as emotionally.
Talk to your doctor about this one. Warm baths, snuggling in your dressing gown in the evening, + watching a fun movie also work to take your mind of it , as does good amounts of sleep!
Clare
