Suggest Treatment For Abdominal Bloating In An Elderly Person

Posted on Thu, 20 Oct 2016

Question: My mom who is ninety-five has been experiencing bloating all day. This evening the bloat has gone down some, but when she went to bed, she had a pairn in the diaphragm area - upper right above the bloated area. It is better as soon as she sits up, I have convinced her to try to sleep in the recliner. The pain is better if she’s more upright. No nausea,, no vomiting, Could this be gall bladder?

Answered by Dr. Geeta Sundar (20 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX at this age your mom probably has Hiatus hernia

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX at this age your mom probably has Hiatus hernia---a widening in the gap through which the food pipe passes from chest to abdomen. This leads to contents of stomach and even a part of the stomach itself moving up into the chest, causing GERD, bloating, acidity, discomfort and even cough. This is why she is better when she sleeps raised. The answer is to give her a soft diet every four hours --avoid tea, coffee, colas, garlic, radish, chocolates and fizzy drinks. You can also give her a drug that contains a combination of Omeprazole and itopride to push the contents down, once or twice a day. You can revert back if you have further queries. Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng