What is Endo Belly?

Bloating — many women are all too familiar with abdominal bloating, which is a common side effect of menstruation. However, we’re here to talk about a different kind of bloating called endo belly, which is a side effect of a common gynecologic condition called endometriosis.

By common, about 11% of reproductive-aged women in the United States have endometriosis, which translates to millions of women, many of whom have some experience with endo belly.

To give you a better idea about what’s behind endo belly, we turn to board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Fernando Otero and the team at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley. Below, we explain what endo belly is and how we can help.

Endometriosis at a glance

If you’re reading this, we’re going to assume that you know a little bit about endometriosis, but we’re going to provide a quick description here. With endometriosis, cells and tissues that are supposed to grow inside your uterus grow instead outside the organ. These growths often attach to neighboring organs and support structures inside your pelvis, including the:

Ovaries
Fallopian tubes
Outer surface of your uterus
Rectum
Intestines

This list isn’t complete, but our goal is to illustrate that endometriosis isn’t confined to reproductive organs and can cross over into your digestive tract. And this plays a role with endo belly, which we get into next.

When endo belly strikes

There are generally two reasons why women experience endo belly, which is a description of bloating and inflammation in the lower abdomen.

Endo belly with your periods

One of the issues with endometriosis is that the misplaced tissues still respond to your menstrual cycles, and they become inflamed during your periods. Since these tissues aren’t confined inside your uterus, you can experience noticeable swelling. With this type of bloating, symptoms tend to worsen during your periods.

Endo belly and your digestive health

Another way endometriosis can cause bloating is by disrupting and slowing digestion in the intestines, which can lead to gas buildup and constipation.

The reality is that many women experience endo belly for both of the reasons above, leaving them with near-constant and uncomfortable lower abdominal swelling.

It might surprise you to learn that it takes, on average, about 4-11 years for a woman to be properly diagnosed with endometriosis. This is largely because symptoms can affect different areas of your health, and it can take some time to connect the dots. A great example of this is endo belly, which is often confused with digestive disorders.

Finding relief from endo belly

Now let’s get into what we can do to address your endo belly, which includes:

Adding more fiber to your diet
Avoiding fatty meats and processed foods that are hard to digest
Hormone therapies
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists to reduce the effects of estrogen

Should these steps fall short, the next step is surgery. During this surgery, Dr. Otero uses the most minimally invasive surgical techniques available to remove problematic endometrial adhesions. In removing these tissues, you should experience relief from all of your endometriosis symptoms, including endo belly.

For a more personalized plan of action for your endometriosis and endo belly, please contact one of our offices in McAllen or Edinburg, Texas, to schedule an appointment.