How Do You Relieve Abdominal Pain
Stomach pain has a wide variety of causes and treatments. Some conditions, such as gallstones or appendicitis, may require surgery. Others, such as ulcers or infections, may be eased with medicine. And sometimes you may just have to get through a bout of stomach flu or a kidney stone until it passes.
If you dont know whats causing your abdominal pain, its important to find out, especially if it doesnt go away on its own. Remember that even mild cases can be serious. However, if you have a pretty good idea that your stomachache is related to digestion, you can begin by treating yourself with:
- Bowel rest. Stop eating, or only eat easy-to-digest foods like crackers or bananas.
- Hydration. Drink plenty of water or a hydration formula.
- Heat therapy. Try a warm water bottle or a soak in the bath.
- Home remedies. Try licorice for gas, ginger for indigestion, or peppermint to help relax your intestinal muscles.
Too Much Sugarless Gum
If you consume too much sorbitol, which is found in some sugar-free products, it can cause pain and diarrhea. According to a 2008 article in BMJ, a 21-year-old woman had an 11-pound weight loss, abdominal pain, and diarrhea from chewing about 16 sticks of gum a day.
A 46-year-old man had similar symptoms after chewing about 20 sticks of sugarless gum and eating sorbitol-containing sweets daily. “Sorbitol goes into your GI tract and since your body can’t absorb it, it gets to the bacteria in your colon, which eat it and produce gas and fluids that contribute to diarrhea,” explains Dr. Raymond.
To fix the problem, cut back on the amount of sugarless gum you chew.
Bloated Stomach After Eating
Feeling bloated after eating is very common, although the causes of bloated stomach after eating may be completely different and as such the treatment you may need. The first question to ask yourself in order to effectively stop bloating after eating, is whether everytime you eat you feel bloated and uncomfortable, or if you only experience bloated stomach after eating certain foods, meals or in certain scenarios that involve problematic eating habits The latter is very common . Eating fast, eating when you are stressed or while at work, eating while drinking, emotional eating or eating too much are common causes of bloated stomach after eating. Even if you eat healthy foods.
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When Do You Start Throwing Up After Eating Food
The onset of food poisoning usually begins 2 to 12 hours after eating the food and involves throwing up with no fever. Common food sources that cause food poisoning are spoiled mayonnaise, chicken, fish, beef, or salad dressing. Some clues that it may be food poisoning are: Often there is vomiting without fever
What Are The Symptoms Of Indigestion
When you have indigestion, you may have one or more of the following symptoms:
- pain, a burning feeling, or discomfort in your upper abdomen
- feeling full too soon while eating a meal
- feeling uncomfortably full after eating a meal
- burping up food or liquid
- loud growling or gurgling in your stomach
Sometimes when you have indigestion, you may also have heartburn. However, heartburn and indigestion are two separate conditions.
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Belly Pain In The Lower Left Side Thats Worse When You Move
Abdominal pain in the left lower area of the abdomen may signify diverticulitis, small pockets in the colon that can become obstructed and tear. Traditional treatment includes antibiotics and stool softeners to reduce the risk of abscess formation. Physicians say according to recent research, antibiotics may no longer be needed in this scenario, recommending acetaminophen instead.
Causes Of Stomach Pain After Eating
There are many conditions that can cause stomach or abdominal pain after eating. Some causes are routine, some are serious, and some are medical emergencies.
Causes of stomach pain include:
Irritable bowel syndrome
As many as 20% of Americans live with some form of IBS. The condition often causes lower stomach pain, especially but not always after a meal. Doctors diagnose IBS based on the reported symptoms and will work with you to find an appropriate diet and treatment regimen for it.
Functional dyspepsia
Also called a nervous stomach, functional dyspepsia causes excess pain, discomfort, and feelings of fullness in people who have only eaten a modest-sized meal. Symptoms can last many hours after eating and are not relieved by using the bathroom, unlike IBS.
Acute pancreatitis
Pain following a meal is one of the primary symptoms of acute pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas. Your pancreas produces enzymes needed for digestion. Pancreatitis is a medical emergency, so you should see a doctor to rule out pancreatitis as a cause for your stomach pain.
Other possible causes of stomach pain after eating include:
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Risk Factors And Prevalence
Gastroparesis is a common complication of diabetes. About 20%50% of people with diabetes will experience diabetic gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is more common in people who have type 1 diabetes and in those who have had type 2 diabetes for more than 10 years.
Having poor control of blood sugar, retinopathy , or neuropathy are risk factors associated with increased rates of diabetic gastroparesis.
Being female, smoking, and having obesity can also raise the risk for gastroparesis.
Causes Of Recurrent Stomach Pains
- Stress or Worries. The most common cause of frequent stomach pains is stress. Over 10% of children have a worried stomach. These children tend to be sensitive and too serious. They often are model children. This can make them more at risk to the normal stresses of life. Examples of these events are changing schools, moving or family fights. The pain is in the pit of the stomach or near the belly button. The pain is real.
- Abdominal Migraine. Attacks of stomach pain and vomiting with sudden onset and offset. Often occur in children who later develop migraine headaches. Strongly genetic.
- Functional Abdominal Pains. Functional means the stomach pains are due to a sensitive GI tract. The GI tract is free of any disease.
- School Avoidance. Stomach pains that mainly occur in the morning on school days. They keep the child from going to school.
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What Causes Indigestion
Some of the causes of indigestion include
- drinking
- too much coffee or too many drinks containing caffeine
- too many carbonated, or fizzy, drinks
Some medicines can cause indigestion, such as
- certain antibioticsmedicines that kill bacteria
What Is Abdominal Pain
Abdominal pain is discomfort or other uncomfortable sensations that you feel in your belly area. Just about everybody at one time or another will get a bellyache.
Most causes of abdominal pain aren’t reasons to worry, and your doctor can easily diagnose and treat the problem. Sometimes, though, it can be a sign of a serious illness that needs medical attention.
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How Can I Feel Better
Most bellyaches don’t have a serious cause. They can happen for many different reasons, but most are easy to treat.
If stress or anxiety seem to be behind the pain, the doctor may recommend that you talk to a counselor or therapist. They help people figure out what’s behind their stress and give advice on how to fix problems or handle them better.
Why Does My Stomach Hurt
Tummy troubles are a common cause for a visit to the doctors office. When patients complain of stomach pain, they are sometimes describing pain that is throughout the abdomen area and may not actually be directly related to the organ known as the stomach.
Doctors first try to determine if a patients abdominal pain is caused by a structural or functional problem.
Sometimes the digestive tract does not function properly due to an abnormality with the structure of an organ. Medical imaging will show that the organ does not look normal and is not working properly.
The gastrointestinal system has its own nervous system to control the muscle contractions that digest the food you eat. Functional problems, also called motility disorders, result from poor nerve and muscle function in the digestive tract. Gastrointestinal organs with motility problems will usually look normal on medical imaging tests, such as CT scans or MRI scans, but the organs do not work like they should. Because functional disorders are hard to see in imaging, they can be challenging to diagnose.
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Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth
SIBO happens when theres an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine which causes the stomach to bloat. It can have similar symptoms to food intolerances, candida, or a leaky gut. However, SIBO tends to cause more bloating towards the end of the day. One of the symptoms of SIBO is stomach cramps after eating.
Holistic nutrition consultant, Mary Vance recommends the low FODMAP diet to reduce bloating and relieve the pain that you feel in your stomach. The low FODMAP diet eliminates certain type of foods which break down easily into sugars and continue to feed the bad bacteria in your small intestine. She has more information on the low FODMAP diet here.
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/6reasons Your Stomach May Hurt After Eating
In most cases, the stomach growls and hurts when a person is ravenously hungry. This ache in the belly is normal and disappears after eating the meal. But for some, it is just the opposite. Their stomach starts to hurt after eating. Occasional stomach ache after having a plate full of the meal is normal. It becomes a matter of concern only if it turns out to be a daily thing. Severe and frequent stomach pain can be an indication of an underlying health concern and may require immediate medical attention. Here are five reasons your stomach may hurt after eating.
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Stomach Burning After Drinking Water
Water is known to be the number one health beverage you can consume, but it can lead to burning sensation in the stomach, too. Drinking too much water can lead to a condition known as hyponatremia, which is characterized by abnormally low sodium levels. The main symptoms of hyponatremia are discomfort, vomiting, confusion, fatigue, and even convulsions.
Consuming too much water can also negatively impact the kidneys. Our kidneys are able to filter through 1,000 ml of water an hour. Drinking more than this amount can overwork your kidneys, and if you have kidney disease you are at an even greater risk of complications of excessive water intake.
Stomach Burning After Drinking Alcohol
Like food, drinking alcohol can cause a burning sensation in the stomach, too. Burning sensation after alcohol is often a result of binge drinking. Chronic alcohol consumption can change the structure and function of the gastrointestinal tract, causing a stomach ache after drinking alcohol.
Alcohol causes a burning stomach because the chemicals in alcohol are rapidly metabolized in the body. When this occurs, a reactive oxygen species cause oxidative stress to the cells and tissues along the gastrointestinal tract.
Possible causes of stomach pain after drinking alcohol include:
- Binge drinking
- Shrinking of the gastric lining due to alcoholism
- Chronic alcohol consumption
- Inflammation of the pancreas due to alcohol consumption
- Gallbladder disease triggered by the alcohol
- Liver damage resulting from alcohol consumption
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When Should You See A Doctor
Is stomach pain after eating a regular occurrence for you?
It may be time to visit a medical professional, naturopathic doctor, or holistic nutritionist. A stomachache after eating should go away after a few hours, but if your pain has lasted for more than a week or if a stomachache occurs after every meal, speak with your doctor.
How Is Abdominal Pain Treated
Treating abdominal pain depends on its cause. Options include:
- Medications for inflammation, gastroesophageal reflux disease or ulcers.
- Antibiotics for infection.
- Changes in personal behavior for abdominal pain caused by certain foods or beverages.
- Local or spinal injections of numbing agents or corticosteroids by pain management physicians.
In more severe cases like appendicitis and hernia, surgery is necessary.
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Drink Plenty Of Fluids And Rest
With stomach pains after eating resulting from food poisoning, rest and drinking plenty of fluids are key treatments. This allows the body to flush out the toxins that have gathered in the gut.
Maintaining hydration with water is important at any time, but it is recommended to wait at least an hour before drinking water after meals if too much food has been consumed in one sitting.
Types Of Abdominal Pain
There are several types of abdominal pain, which are based on how quickly your pain starts and how long it lasts:
- Acute pain starts over a few hours or days and may come with other symptoms.
- Chronic pain lasts longer — from weeks to months or more — and may come and go.
- Progressive pain gets worse over time and often comes with other symptoms.
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Food Poisoning And Tummy Bugs
Eating food contaminated by bacteria or virus can bring on what we all know as food poisoning. This is marked by all or some of these symptoms cramps or pain in the abdominal region, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and fever. You may contract this from uncooked/raw food, food thats not been properly prepared or thoroughly cooked, or even contaminated water or juices.
E. coli is one of the most common offenders found in raw/undercooked meat, especially beef, raw vegetables or fruits, juices, unpasteurized milk, and contaminated water. It can cause pain and severe diarrhea within a day of consuming food thats contaminated. B. cereus, another culprit in bacterial infections, causes similar symptoms when you have raw/undercooked poultry, contaminated water, or unpasteurized milk.5
Medical Conditions Responsible For Stomach Ache
Some types of stomach pain need not be linked to what you eat. They can be caused by conditions that are triggered by when you eat. These include:
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You Might Have A Food Allergy
A food allergy is a step up in severity from a food intolerance. If you have an allergic reaction to a food, it means your immune system has mistakenly identified that food as a potentially harmful invader and mounted a defense against it, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology explains. That immune system defense is what leads to symptoms like abdominal cramping, a tingly or itchy mouth, hives and overall bodily itching, facial swelling, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and even potentially life-threatening trouble breathing.
According to the AAAAI, the most common food allergens are proteins in cows milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, and tree nuts. If you notice youre constantly dealing with pretty intense symptom flare-ups after eating these foods, an allergy could be to blame.
Symptoms Of Stomach Pain After Meals
Most of the time, the causes of digestive trouble after eating are not too much to worry about. But if the pain is very strong, sudden, or long-lasting, it should be examined by a doctor as soon as possible.
Some common warning signs of stomach pain after a meal are:
Bloating
Just because others can tolerate certain kinds of food well, does not mean you will too. Eating too fast, too much, or foods too high in fat can all trigger gas and bloating issues in the stomach. Try logging the foods you eat and tracking how your body responds to different things.
Constipation
Stomach pains after eating, coupled with constipation, can spring from various lifestyle and dietary factors. For example, the abdominal muscles and diaphragm are needed to aid digestion, and insufficient fiber in the diet can make it hard for food to pass through your system properly.
Heartburn
Heartburn often accompanies stomach pain and indigestion. Heartburn is often caused byacid reflux, the reverse flow of stomach acid up into the esophagus, causing burning and discomfort. Too much alcohol and fatty food are often to blame.
Nausea
Nausea is an important sign to look out for because it has several possible causes, anything from food poisoning to Crohns disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. If you regularly feel nauseous after eating, see a doctor.
Other symptoms and warning signs associated with stomach pain after eating are:
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