Bloating

If you love to talk over lunch or dinner, this might actually be adding to your tummy troubles.

When we eat with our mouths open, we swallow more air, which can become trapped and fill us up like an airbed.

Keep your mouth closed and chew your food properly to start the digestive process off right.

Both carbonated drinks and gum are sure-fire ways to fill your belly with air.

Stick to water. We know it’s the less exciting option but it’s definitely the safest. Staying hydrated can not only help ward off bloating but help with other menopausal symptoms including food cravings and hot flushes.

FODMAP stands for ‘Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols’. Essentially these are short-chain carbs which we struggle to digest. They end up fermenting in the colon, creating excess gas.

Many sufferers of digestive disorders like IBS follow a low FODMAP diet, avoiding high FODMAP foods as much as possible to reduce bloating and trapped wind.

If being a menopausal whoopie-cushion or water bed is leaving you uncomfortable – or worse, in agony – it may be worth giving it a go and keeping a food diary to see what sets you off.

Alcohol is an inflammatory substance that irritates our digestive system causing, you guessed it, bloating.

It’s also often consumed as part of a carbonated drink. Lager, cider, G&T, fizz… it’s all gassy stuff filling your abdomen with air. Wine and beer contain sulphites too which can aggravate your tum.

Avoid or reduce your intake as much as possible, sticking to spirits with a flat mixer if you do indulge.

You know that cigarettes affect your entire body, not just your lungs.

But did you know that when smoke is inhaled, it also enters your stomach and intestines? Tobacco then irritates your digestive tract, causing bloating, cramping, gas, and those rampant rumbles.

Living in the UK? You’re four times more likely to quit with help from the NHS. Your local GP surgery can put you in touch with your nearest Stop Smoking clinic.

If the thought of releasing gas in front of your colleagues is enough to make you blush, or you’re worried your forehead’s getting sweaty from water weight discomfort, you need to be prepared.

This means dressing in comfortable, loose clothing, keeping wind-settling medication in your handbag, going for a short stroll after lunch, letting hot drinks cool a bit before enjoying them, and chew-chew-chewing your food.

Completing and repeating these steps each day should help reduce office-based episodes.

If bloating is really getting you down, you might want to speak to your doctor about Hormone Replacement Therapy

HRT essentially does what it says on the tin. It replaces the hormones that your body is naturally losing due to the menopause, helping to reduce symptoms.

There are a number of ways you can take HRT medications, including tablets, patches and creams. Most women can take HRT but there are some risks, which your doctor should discuss with you.