very thin person, but bloated stomach

I suffered from the same protruding belly curse since I turned 27 or so, I am now 33 and have chiseled abs but a marked hard roundness to my lower abdomen. This bothered my for years because I have such low body fat and a six pack but the profile is just not as flat as I would like. I did a bunch of research and thought that maybe i need a colonic or something but THE REAL ANSWER TURNED OUT TO BE LACTOSE INTOLERANCE. This was such an easy fix it kills me that I could have rocked a flat tummy all this time if I just laid off milk for a couple of days. Well, that's exactly what I did and I am now so excited to finally have a flat sexy belly. So the answer for you can be a simple food allergy like lactose or gluten intolerance. Just do an experiment first eliminating one or the other from your diet for 2 or 3 days

I'm 15 and Holy sh*t , story of my life :( i eat tons of veggies and health foods and very small portions but often, yet im pretty much skinny everywhere ( and flat chested :________( cuz i dont eat as much as my friends do and they have c's and d's ) im always scared to wear something normal except my hoodies because even my mom says to suck in my tummy. Summer is coming up and I am not ready for a bikini no matter how much exercise I do

I have the same problem.. I'm 5'3 100 pounds and when I eat my stomach always gets bigger because I'm so skinny its easy to tell my stomach is full. But lately it just hasn't gone away, even when its empty. Not sure what that is but I do know that if u don't eat enough food your stomach will fill with water and look large

Me too, I'm fourteen years old as well, and ever since I turned 12 this has been hapenning, I thought it was puberty. I hate it. I look like a pregnant dude after eating during dinner. I try cutting back and eating salad, but when I drink watter it gets all huge. Im about 135 pounds and almost 6 foot. Its all hard, and I think this bloating is doing something to my arousal stuff. jeez

I'm 28, 5'2, & weigh usually around 96-98lbs. Like 27 out of 28 days I'll have a moderate to huge belly sticking out for the past 10 years.  It is NOT fat on my belly, though I do have a tiny bit there.  My mother says "Oh, Tiffany, just do some crunches." I always tell her, "Mom, it's not lack of muscle, it feels like AIR!" (I mean I'm guessing it's air). I can make hard abs and suck in. 

wow, its been two years non ever since i got this bloated stomach. Yours sounds like its getting worse. I can suck the belly in, so i think its air. People call me really skinny, and tell me to gain weight, but this stomach is the only imperfection, and I hate it. Im only 14 and i cant believe this is happening. I told my mom about it and told me I was overeacting. Im doing all I can, but really its no result, somethings gotta be inside my stomach. Its giving my lover abdomen and my prostate area discomfort. So i guess, I should go see aa doctor soon. This is just so embarassing.You should go to the doctor and tell me about it, as you are already 28... till then adieu

jon wrote:

Tiffany wrote:

I'm 28, 5'2, & weigh usually around 96-98lbs. Like 27 out of 28 days I'll have a moderate to huge belly sticking out for the past 10 years.  It is NOT fat on my belly, though I do have a tiny bit there.  My mother says "Oh, Tiffany, just do some crunches." I always tell her, "Mom, it's not lack of muscle, it feels like AIR!" (I mean I'm guessing it's air). I can make hard abs and suck in. 

For the past 4 years I've tried to completely cut out ANYTHING carbonated. I stopped buying two liters of Cherry Pepsi a week. Switched to juices or water when out to dinner, I barely drink alcohol. Maybe 1-2 drinks a week! I drink watered down juices and tea at home. I hate beer. So far, it helps me be less gassy, but I still have this belly. I try SO hard to cut out sugar. Ok, no I don't, I have a little something sweet every day.  :$

This morning, I woke up with my ONE flat stomach of the month. :-)  I tried my damnedest to remember EVERYTHING I ate yesterday and wrote it down. I do regularly drink milk once a day (love it) but always lactose free Walmart Brand. This time Publix was closer so I got Smart Balance 1% Low Fat and Omega-3's. (not lactose free). Also I am about 3 days clear of my 17 day long period!!!! The longest I've ever had. (I have an IUD so a 2 week pd is common.)

I've always been thin, had to do a barium enema once when I was a kid, was ALWAYS underweight, always below average back then, (I can just imagine how I'd compare if I were a kid now! Sheesh!) but this BELLY friggin plagues me! It makes NO sense! I'm really glad I found this steadyhealth thread because I can relate to nearly everyone's post.

This is the first time I've been to this website and probably the first time I Googled something about my belly. So far there are a lot of similar stories, but no concrete solutions. I'm going to keep checking back though.

I feel comfortable giving my email here if you want to chat about this, it's miss kity 6 at americaonline dot com.

wow, its been two years non ever since i got this bloated stomach. Yours sounds like its getting worse. I can suck the belly in, so i think its air. People call me really skinny, and tell me to gain weight, but this stomach is the only imperfection, and I hate it. Im only 14 and i cant believe this is happening. I told my mom about it and told me I was overeacting. Im doing all I can, but really its no result, somethings gotta be inside my stomach. Its giving my lover abdomen and my prostate area discomfort. So i guess, I should go see aa doctor soon. This is just so embarassing.You should go to the doctor and tell me about it, as you are already 28... till then adieu

Yeah, it's not really getting worse in the fact that it doesn't get bigger and bigger, it's just there sometimes and sometimes not. Friday, I had a flat belly and this morning is Monday and it's relatively flat still. I even ate ice cream last night before bed. When you say lower discomfort to me, it sounds like gas. Sometimes I wonder if it's because I swallow air while I eat. It's scary if it could be that because I can't really control that. I can't go to the doctor for you. Sorry. You have to go on your own. And don't worry, NO one is perfect. While you're worried about your stomach, they're worried about their ___________ (whatever).

I AM THE SAME! i am skinny, but have a round stomach and i have no idea what to do

I'm no doctor or expert, but I've done a lot of research about abdominal swelling and bloating, as it's something I'm dealing with, too. My best guess is that it's caused in many of your cases by malnutrition, or protein deficiency, considering your low weight. It's like what the kids in Africa suffer with (kwashiorkor), only possibly less severe, like in the beginning stages. I think it's possible that some of you might be dealing with ascites, which can be caused by protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), and eventually this could also lead to kwashiorkor. I've read that many recovering from anorexia experience this. Their low protein-intake causes deficiencies such as low albumin in the blood, and can lead to water retention in the abdomen (ascites). So, it may or may not be what you're struggling with, but it wouldn't hurt to read up on ascites and see if it fits your bill. Also, there are some home remedies for this too, and it wouldn't hurt to give them a try and see if it helps your symptoms.

Here are some links (copy and paste them) to some sites that may be helpful; first, this one covers pretty much every possibility of a swollen abdomen:

http://www.puristat.com/bloating/abdominal-bloating-or-distention.aspx

This one is a list of symptoms and causes of ascites:

http://www.healthblurbs.com/causes-of-ascites-stomach-swelling-abdominal-distention-swollen-belly-symptoms-for-treatment/

And lastly, this one is a list of some home remedies for ascites:

http://in.88db.com/chennai/html/images/articles/health/Ascites.html

Hope this might help some of you!!

I'm overcoming ANNOREXIA. and i think it may be linked to this??..

I feel exactly the same way! I'm happy I'm not the only one... I'm totally freaked out because i usually have a flat stomach like you when i wake up and i used to during the day but now the second I eat anything my stomach expands and i look crazy bloated

I'm 5'0, 95 lbs, and have the same issue. I work out almost every day, have abs, eat healthy (plenty of protein, rarely eat meat, whole foods diet, and rarely have sweets or salts), and drink a plenty of fluids. I think it's due to bad posture and possibly something internal. I've tried fiber pills, colon cleansing, etc. They only time my stomach is flat without me having to force it by tightening internally is right after a case of food poisoning : ( 

I am 5'5" and 118 and this is my BIGGEST concern haha. I know exactly how you feel :( I have no fat on my belly at all but I always look pregnant, especially after I eat. About protein, I got bloodwork done recently and my protein levels were strangely high.... So low protein may not be your problem. I def have some sort of IBS though- so maybe it's digestional. Does anyone ever feel pain when you press on the bloated area??

After more research, I'm fairly confident that what I have is low stomach acid. This prevents the food I eat from being able to digest properly and instead it sits in my stomach and ferments, causing me to be bloated and uncomfortable no matter what I eat, even though I eat very healthy. I suspect this happened in my case because I went on a cleanse and good bacteria was wiped out of my system as well as the bad, and I wasn't careful enough to replace the acidity in my stomach when I came off the cleanse. I'm not sure if this is true for any of you who are suffering from abdominal distention, but a way to check yourself for low stomach acid is to press at the very end of your sternum, which is the bone in the middle of your rib cage, and from there move one inch lower and one inch to the left. If this spot is sore, it's an indication that you have low stomach acid. You can also look it up on google to find the symptoms and some home remedies to build back your digestive enzymes. Good luck!! Hope you all find some relief soon ;). Here's to our health!!

Same here! I am 19 years old, 5'3, about 95 lbs. Im not and have never been anorexic, I eat healthily and dont really have any other problems. Skinniness runs in my family but I have always been so bloated! About a year ago I used to always be constipated so I thought that was why. Once I started taking probiotics the constipation was cured perfectly and healthily and my bloating stopped! I had a beautiful flat tummy for about 4 months and was finally happy! But then it just came back out of nowhere!! And again I have a distended stomach all the time for the past 2 months and I have no idea why :( It takes a huge emotional toll on someone who is so skinny and tiny and 19 years old. Im totally healthy otherwise, I take a good multi-vitamin that is natural and good natural probiotics and eat healthy i drink a ton of water and tea and im definitely not allergic to anything becuz 1: i have been eating the same as when i was flat-tummied and normal and 2: i have tried eliminating one of each thing i eat for at least a week and NOTHING ever changes. I even tried going on a diet that is specific for my blood type and nothing has changed. I do get randomly nauseous too but its been that way my whole life and duznt seem to be linked to anything, i always thought it was just normal. Im going to go get an ultrasound soon to see if it's some sort of cyst or obstruction but i honestly dont get why this came back out of nowhere :( I was so happy that i was finally normal for a while it's not fair. If anyone finds out anything please let me know!! And ill do the same. P.S. its not stress related either! Ive always been good at handling stress.