When You Shouldn’t Ignore Stomach Pain
These symptoms could be a sign something more serious is going on.
Everyone experiences stomach pain at some point in their lives. Most of the time it’s not serious and can be managed at home with over-the-counter medicines or by improving diet with additional fiber and increasing the daily amount of water intake. However, some symptoms are important to keep an eye out for, as they can indicate a serious health condition.
“We always look for alarm symptoms in gastroenterology,” said Albert Ross, MD, gastroenterologist with Digestive Health Institute, a Pinnacle GI Partner. “These are symptoms that always raise a red flag and shouldn’t be ignored. They include unexplained weight loss, any sign of bleeding from the GI track, and severe pain.”
Unexplained Weight Loss
While many Americans would enjoy losing a couple of pounds without dieting or exercise, this can be a symptom that something else is going on.
“If you are losing weight without trying, something is wrong,” said Dr. Ross.
Sudden weight loss can be a symptom of peptic ulcers, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or colorectal cancer.
Bleeding in the GI Tract
If you are experiencing blood in your stools or throwing up blood, you should be seen by your doctor. Black stools may be caused by diet (eating black licorice, eating a lot of Oreo cookies, or taking Pepto- Bismol), but more often it’s caused by bleeding in the upper GI tract.
Blood in the stool can be a symptom of less serious conditions like anal fissures, hemorrhoids, colitis, and diverticulosis, but this can also be a symptom of a serious condition such as inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer. It’s especially important for those over the age of 40 to see a doctor since colon cancer is more common as you age, although providers have been seeing colon cancer in younger patients more frequently.
Severe Pain
If you have abdominal pain that is so severe it wakes you up at night, that should be checked out.
“There are several things we worry about with this pain,” said Dr. Ross. “If you are experiencing lower right-sided or middle abdominal pain, this could signal something is going on with your appendix. If it’s a sharp pain in the top of the abdomen, we worry about the gallbladder. If it’s a severe pain—if it’s hard to walk or move—then we are worried about something like a peptic ulcer that may have perforated the GI tract.”
If you are experiencing constant pain for a couple of days, or intermittent pain that lasts a couple of weeks, it’s best to get checked out by your doctor.
“When you see your doctor for any of these red flag symptoms, they are going to order lab and possibly imaging tests to help diagnose why these symptoms are happening,” said Dr. Ross. “If a test comes back abnormal that suggests something more serious is going on, then you will be referred to a gastroenterologist for help.”
Another test that is commonly performed to check out the health of the GI tract is an endoscopy. This is a minimally invasive procedure that allows a doctor to examine the inside of the digestive tract.
McLaren offers experienced endoscopy specialists, who skillfully operate an endoscope to examine the inside of the body for signs of disease or to remove tissue. Each year, nearly 10,000 endoscopy procedures are performed at McLaren Greater Lansing.
McLaren Greater Lansing has recently partnered with the experts at the Digestive Health Institute, alongside their current partners, to bring the best in gastrointestinal care to the Lansing community.
For more information on digestive services at McLaren Greater Lansing, click here.
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