Dr Rosemary Leonard

I'm worried about nighttime bloating, could it be cancer?

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I feel constantly bloated, especially at night. I've seen my GP several times, had tests done, and been told I have irritable bowel syndrome. However, I've read recently about someone who had bloating and it turned out she had cancer. Should I go and ask for more tests?

A bloating is a buildup of gas in the digestive tract. This can be in the stomach where it can be triggered by excess gas, eating meals too fast and swallowing air with your food or fizzy drinks. Gas is produced in the large intestine by the action of bacteria on carbohydrates, especially some vegetables, beans and lentils.

Normally the muscle in the bowel works in a coordinated way, but in irritable bowel syndrome some parts of the muscle contract more, which can cause spasmodic pain, while others relax, which can lead to bloating. The diagnosis of this is made when other possible bowel causes have been ruled out with blood and stool tests, and it sounds like you have had these done.

Much less commonly, abdominal bloating in women can be due to gynaecological reasons, such as an enlarged womb, or more rarely a large ovarian cyst, which could possibly be cancerous, but in these cases the bloating is nearly always constant.

However, to be on the safe side, investigations for bloating should include an abdominal examination, and if there is a suspicion there might be a gynae cause, an internal examination. If you have had this done, and nothing abnormal was found, then I don't think you need to be concerned.

But if you haven't been examined, there would be no harm in asking for an appointment so a doctor can do a check of your tummy, which will hopefully put your mind at rest.