After having the issue my belly started getting bigger and bigger. Now it is way bigger than my pre-SP (PFS) state. I wonder what is the cause? water, swelling or liver enlargement? Has anybody done any investigation like ultrasound to see why belly for some pfs sufferers has become bigger?
1 Like
Estrogen dominance?
I have the same issue, it’s just due to testosterone not acting. I also can’t see my abs anymore despite being low body fat and doing crunches/planks/ab rolls regularly.
I don’t think it is due to Estrogen only. There is some solid reason behind it. Some days it even gets worse, and when it gets worse, I see swelling in my legs and around my ankles.
Lose of smooth muscle I presume
1 Like
I have the same issue with swelling, especially around the ankles. It gets really bad at times, but rarely occurs when I’m fasting from food.
Same. I have always a bloated belly, except if I do not eat for a long time. Made scan and had ultrasound scan today. And belly looked fine according to doctor, so it is not structural. Maybe microbiome, pancreas related, who knows.
1 Like
I hope some more members would like to go for ultrasound then we might have clearer picture. It is strange without any reason to have such a big belly.
1 Like
it is strange. but the problem is that an ultrasound and these other scans only look at the structure. And we have so many people with pfs that have done scans that if it was something structural, we would have found out by now. The problem is that these scans cannot see wether certain tissues don’t function properly.I can feel my brain is fucked up, i have visual snow, i have tinnitus, i cannot concentrate for long. But I have done an mri and my brain looked fine, so I am healthy according to the doctor. So these basic scans are completely useless in our case.
1 Like
I have the same issue. Despite having a very small stomach my entire life, i seem to have the inability to rid excess from my lower abdomen. I am also 29 years old in athletic condition.
Still wondering about my bigger belly, what has made it so big. Once covid issue has subsided I will discuss it with my doctor.
1 Like
Got any labs on hand? Bigger belly/mid section fat may be caused by:
Low estrogen
High cortisol
Water retention
There’re probably other causes but these were on top of my head.
1 Like
When I was eating a normal diet, full of veg, salad my upper abdomen and mid section was always swollen. I couldn’t shift it. Since being more selective with food it has reduced a lot if I eat steak only my stomach returns to washboard status but that food alone is unsustainable. For my situation I think it’s estrogen and the thyroid. I had the swollen upper abdomen for years not realising I had Pfs
I am taking levothyroxine now and it helps with the bloating and belly.
Yes, I know what you are talking about with the bloating.
For me, I think it was some kind of low test/high est problem. The bloating went away eventually, and I’ve been jogging 40+ minutes every day.
My belly fluctuates from 60% to 100%. When eat wheat it goes to 100% swollen state and if stop wheat (all kind of gluten) comes back to 60% in a week, but still not to my normal pre-SP size. I also notice it is not just belly, my whole body swells. Swelling is easily noticeable in my legs below my knees.
As you can see it is like a balloon. Before SP use my chest was wider than my belly but now it is the opposite. I will try to find my pre-Sp use pic and upload them so that you can see the difference. It is a shame that SP is still being advertised as a good supplement, just for the sake of money.
That belly. I have the exact same. What the fuck is going on there. I also have trouble breathing, even standing up is difficult for me because of it. I am now on thyroid 50mcg a day for 3 days now, and I am just checking if it gets better. I believe so but I still have to take it some longer to see if it really does something. the last study from melcangi stated that people with pfs have different microbiomes. Now, is this a cause or a consequence? My guess would be consequence. Maybe somehow we have altered digestion capability and therefore microbiome adapts to the new situation. I do now know. We will probably do not know for a long time because research is not far enough to understand this even outside of pfs. But for me this is such a thing that stands out. Since having pfs I never had the feeling of hunger like i used to. I can stop eating for a day without real hunger. How fucking strange is that. I also became so dry in mouth, skin etc. I believe the thyroid replacement works in that department. So i am just hoping for the best.
1 Like
Mind you my this belly is at its minimum. When I was on wheat it was even bigger. This one is 5-6 weeks after stopping glute. Before PFS I used to have very small belly and always was whishing for a little bit bigger belly but never wished for this big one.
To me pfs is liver dysfunction. I don’t know the root cause but I am sure liver is behind this all, maybe we have got fatty liver? We have all the symptoms of non-working or damaged liver. Just visit any forum and read posts of people there, you cannot a find a single thing which can be different between us and them.