Got diagnosed in November after months of what I thought was just stomach issues. I kept a symptom journal starting back in August because I was genuinely confused about what was happening, and I think laying out what peritoneal actually feels like versus the pleural stuff people talk about might help someone else figure out if they need to push their doctor harder.
With peritoneal meso the abdominal swelling and bloating is relentless. I was gaining weight in my belly but nowhere else, which sounds stupid when I type it but that's what made me finally call my GP. My pants fit fine in the waist but my abdomen felt hard and distended by end of day. The pain is this dull ache that gets worse when I eat, and I had nausea that I attributed to acid reflux for the longest time. Constipation alternating with loose stools, which I now know is pretty common with peritoneal because the tumor affects your GI tract directly.
Pleural meso, which is what most people get, shows up differently. Chest pain, persistent cough, shortness of breath. Fluid buildup around the lungs. That's what my coworker's husband had back in 1982 when we were both at the Johns-Manville plant in Cleveland, though obviously he didn't know what it was then. Took him years to get diagnosed.
The thing nobody tells you is how vague this all sounds. I was seeing my doctor about bloating and stomach problems and she kept saying diet or IBS. It wasn't until I asked specifically about asbestos exposure from my factory work that she ordered imaging. That's what changed everything.
If you worked around insulation, brake linings, old building materials anything like that and you're having persistent GI symptoms or chest stuff that doesn't go away with antibiotics or usual treatments, push for imaging. Specifically ask about meso. Don't let them treat you for GERD or IBS without ruling this out first.