I Keep Having Stomach Problems Over and Over Again

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En español |Everyone has tummy problems from fourth dimension to time, and occasional digestive discomfort is not ordinarily something to worry about. That said, doctors note that there are a few gastrointestinal symptoms that you shouldn't write off, considering they could betoken something serious.

"I've seen many cases where patients have waited way too long earlier seeking medical attention," says Christine Lee, M.D., a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

With studies showing that the coronavirus can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, patients have even more reason to take nausea, vomiting and prolonged diarrhea seriously, doctors say.

Here are ten symptoms you lot should never ignore and what they may hateful.

one. Prolonged diarrhea (especially if paired with fever, coughing or loss of taste and odor)

Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms can be among the first signs of COVID-19 infection, appearing before more well-known symptoms such as cough or fever, says Brennan Spiegel, 1000.D., director of health services research for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

"Don't wait for a coughing or shortness of breath to get tested for COVID" if you accept diarrhea, nausea/vomiting or abdominal pain that lasts more a day, Spiegel says.

Studies show that every bit many every bit half of COVID-19 patients have gastrointestinal symptoms, and about fifteen to 20 percent have only gastrointestinal symptoms. Diarrhea is the most frequently reported GI symptom, followed by nausea/vomiting and intestinal hurting. People who examination positive for the omicron variant besides report diarrhea as a symptom, co-ordinate to the ZOE COVID Written report app.

Spiegel's inquiry found that COVID-19 patients with diarrhea typically have 4 to v bouts a mean solar day.

"One bout of diarrhea may not mean anything," Spiegel says. "Only if you're having three or four per day and it is going on ii days and you have no history of diarrhea, it'south a proficient idea to talk to your doctor, whether we're in a pandemic or not."

If it's not COVID-19, prolonged diarrhea could signal some other type of infection or an underlying status like ulcerative colitis or irritable bowel syndrome.

ii. Blood in your stool

Whether it'southward bright red, maroon or black, seeing blood in the toilet can be frightening. Fortunately, it's normally non life-threatening, says Nicholas E. Anthony, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. The most common causes are hemorrhoids and anal fissures (tears in the lining of the anus). But blood in your stool can as well be ane of the showtime symptoms of colon cancer, especially if information technology'due south accompanied past a alter in your bowel habits or the shape of your stool. Since colon cancer is more common among those over age l, information technology'due south peculiarly important for older adults to see a md without filibuster. Other possible causes of bleeding are colon polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis and diverticulosis.

iii. Severe cramps after eating

Severe cramping is a warning sign of a bowel obstruction — a serious condition that requires firsthand medical treatment. Information technology'due south besides a archetype symptom of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a chronic digestion disorder that has been on the ascension since the offset of the COVID-nineteen pandemic. Experts aren't sure how COVID-19 is linked to IBS, Spiegel says. It could be that the virus changes the gut microbiome or the lining of the intestinal system, triggering IBS. Or the boost in cases could be caused by pandemic-related stress and anxiety. Other IBS symptoms include abdominal hurting (oft related to bowel movements), bloating, gas, diarrhea or constipation.

four. Difficulty swallowing

If you feel like your food is getting stuck in your pharynx or it hurts every bit it's going downwardly, that tin can be a sign of something serious. "The large thing we worry about is esophageal cancer," Anthony says. Esophageal cancer is more than mutual in adults over 55 and three or four times more than likely to occur in men than women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other things that tin cause discomfort when you swallow include an infection, an ulcer, a sore or scar tissue (which tin develop if yous have chronic acid reflux). In addition, a growing number of people are being diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE), a chronic allergic inflammatory affliction that is a major cause of swallowing issues. To pinpoint the cause of your problem, your gastroenterologist will probably insert a tube with a photographic camera attached to it downwardly your pharynx in a procedure chosen an endoscopy.

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5. Unexplained weight loss (especially if accompanied past abdominal pain)

Weight loss when you oasis't changed your diet or exercise habits is a mutual symptom of many serious illnesses, including cancer, Lee says. "Well-nigh people proceeds weight equally they get older because their metabolism slows down," she says. "If you're losing weight without much effort, that's a ruddy flag." See a dr. if you've dropped 5 percent or more than of your trunk weight within six to 12 months. Although it is a symptom of some types of cancer, a 2014 study published in the periodical American Family Medico found that in patients over 65, such weight loss is frequently due to other causes, similar peptic ulcers, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease or an overactive thyroid.

6. Chronic or prolonged constipation (especially if you're having pain)

Almost anybody experiences occasional bouts of constipation, and studies bear witness that it'southward especially prevalent among older adults. Constipation is typically defined as three or fewer bowel movements per week. Information technology may not seem like a big bargain, simply if your constipation isn't treated, over time the stools in your colon can go so large and solid that your body can't remove them — and that can be painful or even deadly, Anthony warns. "If it goes longer than vii days, I want to see y'all," he says. Constipation can be acquired by a wide variety of issues, including certain medicines, a nutrition low in cobweb, and medical conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, thyroid issues, diabetes or, in rare cases, colorectal cancer.

vii. Sudden, intense abdominal pain

A precipitous pain that doesn't permit up tin signal acute appendicitis (if it'due south on your lower right side), diverticulitis or a serious infection. The context is important, Lee says, because musculus cramps and other issues can too manifest as precipitous hurting. "If you're an athlete rock climbing and y'all go a sharp hurting in your belly that simply lasts a second, you lot probably simply pulled a muscle," she says. If it'south something serious, she explains, usually the pain keeps escalating and doesn't let up.

8. Frequent, severe or worsening heartburn

Occasional heartburn — a burning, uncomfortable sensation in your chest — is common amidst older adults and can usually be treated with over-the-counter medications. But if your heartburn is frequent and worsening, or if it's not responding to medication, yous may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a disorder in which the valve betwixt your stomach and esophogus doesn't close properly. Left untreated, GERD can lead to complications including erosion or narrowing of the esophagus, or a precancerous condition called Barrett's esophogus. In rare cases, severe heartburn can as well bespeak a more serious status such equally esophageal cancer or a hiatal hernia.

9. Swollen abdomen

It's not unusual to feel bloated after y'all eat a big meal. Merely there's a difference between bloating and distension, an actual increment in measured abdominal size. "Do you literally run into your belly puffing out? Is it bigger in circumference?" Spiegel asks. If the respond is yes — and the symptom persists afterward you lot've had plenty of time to digest a meal — it tin exist a sign that excess fluid or gas is forming in pocket-sized intestines as the outcome of an obstruction, inflammation, bacterial overgrowth or a gastrointestinal disease.

10. Feeling full afterwards eating very trivial

If you feel stuffed even though y'all didn't eat much, the about mutual cause is gastroparesis, a condition in which food stays in the stomach longer than it should. It can happen when a astringent illness "stunts the electrical system of the stomach," Anthony says, then gastroparesis can be a long-term side consequence of COVID-19. Influenza, breadbasket surgery and diabetes tin can also trigger the status. Although it can resolve on its own, your doctor can prescribe medications that will stimulate your tum to contract and assist speed digestion. If information technology's not gastroparesis, other more than serious causes of early satiety include an ulcer, an obstruction or a tumor.

If you don't have one of the above symptoms, don't let that keep you from seeing a gastroenterologist if you suspect that something's wrong, Lee says. The earlier you discover a problem, the more options yous have and the better your chances of success at managing it.

"The longer I do this, the more I realize that it doesn't matter what the textbook says — patients know their bodies," Lee says. "If something is not normal for you, so information technology is a red flag, fifty-fifty if it's not on the listing of summit five. If something bothers you, you should get it checked out."

Editor's note: This story, published Feb 11, 2020, was updated to include additional symptoms as well as long-term side effects related to COVID-19.

Michelle Hunker is a contributing author who has covered wellness and personal finance for some of the nation's height consumer publications. Her work has appeared inReader'due south Digest, Real Simple, Prevention, The Washington Post andThe New York Times.

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Source: https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/stomach-symptoms.html

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