What is an Enlarged Stomach?

My suggestion folks! Have a gastroscopy, and a biopsy of your stomach. Mine showed I lack the enzyme which breaks down sugars found in the following: fruit, wine, soft drinks, ice cream, sweets, carbohydrates, milk. meaning, fructose, lactose, sucrose. Good luck!

I am an alcoholic. I drink more than a bottle of wine a day. But until right now and this post -- or this realisation -- I have been fairly 'functional', but it seems that the booze is coming home to roost.

About four months ago I had a strange feeling in my chest, so I went for an MRI and to a local stomach doctor to be have my stomach photographed and inspected with an endoscope.

The stomach doctor (well respected with a great modern endoscope) took loads of photos down as far as my duodenum, and said that while I had no sign of ulcers or cancer, I had the beginnings of GERD (the sphincter? between my stomach and esophagus was not quite closing as fully as it should) and in the same region, signs of inflammation and infection of the stomach wall.

I asked for a test for pylori bacteria, which came back negative.

The chest MRI came back second saying that while my lungs appear okay, I have an enlarged front stomach wall and was told to "go and see a stomach doctor."

I phoned the stomach doctor again, and he repeated his diagnosis, saying "Yes, your inflammation was visible, as mentioned," but he prescribed nothing. Nor did he mention my boozing, which I had told him about, but recommended I ate less sweet food (which I eat little of).

I guess that rules out Ménétrier's disease, and stomach cancer, since the doctor would have seen them. But perhaps a secondary lymphoma from liver cancer might have done the trick? That seems a little unlikely at the present time due to the fact that I appear to have quite a lot of energy. My guess is that people with metastatic cancer tend to feel a certain drain on their aerobic exercise ability, which does not seem to be happening, right now, yet.

Anyway, I have kept boozing, and I can feel that my stomach wall is enlarged, inflamed. I feel very sure. I have yet to get the typical GERD symptoms but I bet they are in the cards. I guess that if not already, then soonish my inflamed and enlarged stomach will turn ulcerous and or cancerous.

Tonight I ate loads of vegetables before I started a bottle of wine. That helps.

I am not a doctor, but I would like to suggest that alcoholism, on an empty stomach, can lead to stomach inflammation, and an enlarged stomach wall. I also suggest that these can lead to ulcers and cancer.

But my situation may be worse. Metastasized liver cancer perhaps.

Keep well.

Some people have stomach reduction surgery to lose weight. Does the stomach enlarge and return to its normal size after some time post-surgery?

My mother had surgery a year ago and she developed a bloated stomach. The doctor said she had what they call ascites, which means build up of fluid.

The doctor said it would drain away on its own over time. She was really swollen and inflamed after the surgery, so I guess it is no surprise that there was a build up of fluid.

I had a neighbor a few years ago who had an enlarged stomach. People kept saying he had just gained weight, but it seemed he did it very, very fast to me.

Later on we found out he had stomach cancer. He was having severe stomach pain and went to the doctor. He was diagnosed with cancer and began treatments for it. I guess you never know what can happen. It certainly taught me that a distended belly that comes on quickly should be checked out.