What to know about bloating

Bloating can follow eating quickly, swallowing air, constipation, fizzy drinks or particular foods. The timing matters: note whether it occurs after meals, with a change in bowel habit, around periods, or during illness. Irritable Bowel Syndrome commonly includes bloating alongside abdominal discomfort and altered bowel habits. Lactose intolerance, food intolerance, coeliac disease, giardiasis and Helicobacter Pylori Infection can also involve digestive symptoms, but bloating alone does not identify the cause.

Keep a simple diary of meals, drinks, symptoms, bowel movements and medicines to look for repeatable patterns. Eat at an unhurried pace, avoid large amounts of carbonated drinks if they worsen symptoms, and maintain regular movement and fluid intake. Do not start a highly restrictive diet without advice, as this can make it harder to assess the cause and may reduce nutritional variety. Nutrition Counselling can help develop a workable food plan when symptoms appear food-related.

Arrange an appointment when bloating is persistent, changing, painful, associated with diarrhoea or constipation that does not settle, or is affecting eating and daily life. Seek urgent medical care for severe or rapidly worsening abdominal pain, repeated vomiting, a hard swollen abdomen, fever, black or bloody stool, fainting, or inability to pass stool or gas. These symptoms need assessment rather than self-treatment.

Ask whether the pattern suggests constipation, a food-related problem, infection or a bowel condition, and whether any tests are appropriate. Bring the symptom diary and a list of supplements and medicines, including any recent antibiotics or over-the-counter digestive products.