Stomach cramps

Spasms in the stomach are considered as a failure of the digestive organ, which manifests itself in the form of periodic contractions of the smooth muscles of the stomach. Such contractions cause pain in a person, which occurs in attacks and lasts from 2-3 minutes to several hours.

In addition to pain, spastic contractions can provoke disorders of motility and secretion of the gastrointestinal tract, which will inevitably affect the digestive processes as a whole.

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD code 10) classifies gastric spasms into the following categories of pathologies:

• R 10.0 – Severe pain in the abdominal area (symptoms of acute abdomen).
• R 10.1 – Pain in the upper abdomen (epigastric pain).
• R 10.4 – Other undiagnosed abdominal pain (including colic and abdominal pain in children).

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Causes of stomach cramps

The causes of spasmodic contractions in the stomach are a variety of factors, but mainly these are digestive disorders and neurological disorders.

• Prolonged or frequent stress.
• Food or drink (alcohol) poisoning.
• Prolonged hypothermia.
• Irregular eating patterns, skipping meals, eating too much food at one time.
• Smoking, especially on an empty stomach.
• Drinking strong coffee, in large quantities, or on an empty stomach.
• Food allergy.
• Eating foods that are too rough or spicy.
• Exposure to chemicals, occupational intoxication.
• Use of certain medications (eg, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).

People who are most susceptible to spasms are emotionally unstable, with a labile nervous system, and prone to depressive states. Provoking factors may include neuroses and vegetative-vascular dystonia.

In addition, spastic syndrome can be caused by gastrointestinal diseases, such as stomach ulcers, gastritis, duodenitis or other diseases of the digestive system.

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Pathogenesis of spastic gastric contractions

Gastrospasm is a disorder of the motor function of the stomach walls, which manifests itself as a painful syndrome, sometimes quite pronounced.

The basis of this phenomenon is a decrease in the threshold point of excitability of the visceral nervous system, with a simultaneous tone of the vagus nerve. Functional gastrospasm is more common in patients aged 20-35, which in most cases is associated with an incorrect diet. In older patients, spastic pain can be a consequence of various chronic diseases of the digestive system.

Gastrospasm can occur in three variants: total contraction, partial or limited.

When speaking about total contraction, we mean the secondary occurrence of a spasm due to some already existing disease, for example, a disease of the gastrointestinal tract or nervous system.

Partial contractile activity is a reflex phenomenon when a section of the stomach, sometimes quite large, is involved in the process. An example of partial gastrospasm is the appearance of a bipartite gastric shape (like an hourglass).

Limited contraction of the gastric organ is observed in smokers, as well as in cases of professional intoxication and unhealthy lifestyle. Such a phenomenon may also appear in cases of disorder of the higher nervous regulation of the digestive function, as well as in the formation of a mucosal scar after a peptic ulcer or tuberculous lesion of the stomach.

Symptoms of stomach cramps

The main characteristic symptom of gastrospasm is considered to be acute, rapidly increasing pain in the upper abdomen, which occurs against the background of significant discomfort and deterioration of the general condition. The pain may be accompanied by attacks of nausea, vomiting, as well as weakness and apathy.

Severe spasms in the stomach can also provoke spastic contraction of the abdominal muscles, as a result of which the patient is forced to take a bent position (chin to knees).

This condition may be accompanied by tension in the abdominal muscles, protrusion of the abdomen (due to increased gas formation), weakness, and chills.

Each patient may have their own gastrospasm. In most cases, the course and symptoms of the disease depend on the cause of the spasms, which raises many questions from patients.

• Spasms in the stomach after eating are observed less often than on an empty stomach. If this happens, then you can suspect such diseases as gastric ulcer, pylorospasm or pancreatitis.

With a stomach ulcer, pain appears within 30-60 minutes after eating and subsides as the food mass is digested. There is no pain on an empty stomach.

Pylorospasm (contraction of the pylorus) often occurs in patients prone to neuroses or in frequent stressful situations. It manifests itself as an attack of pain and vomiting for half an hour after eating. Only after emptying the stomach cavity does the patient feel better.

With pancreatitis, pain occurs immediately after eating and may radiate to the lower back or liver area (right hypochondrium).

• Stomach cramps and diarrhea may be a concern after eating stale, poor quality or unfamiliar food, as well as with irritable bowel syndrome. With this syndrome, spasmodic pain occurs approximately an hour after eating. The pain is accompanied by increased gas formation, bowel disorder (usually diarrhea). In most cases, the unpleasant symptoms disappear after bowel movement.
• Stomach cramps and fever often characterize acute poisoning or an infectious disease. Eating spoiled or unwashed food often ends with signs of food poisoning of microbial origin. This pathology reveals itself in paroxysmal pain, stool disorders, and an increase in body temperature. With an infection of the digestive organs, intestinal bleeding may also be observed, which is detected by the appearance of blood in the feces. In this situation, contacting a doctor is mandatory.
• Nausea and stomach cramps are signs of inflammation of the gallbladder, bile ducts or gallbladder dyskinesia. Pain is usually observed in the right hypochondrium, after eating smoked, salty and fatty foods, sweets. For an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to undergo a thorough medical diagnosis.
• Spasms in the stomach and sour belching indicate gastroduodenitis - an inflammatory process of the walls of the stomach and duodenum. The disease can last up to several months, with periodic exacerbations and attenuations. The pain is periodic, localized in the umbilical and epigastric zone. Accompanied by a feeling of heaviness, distension.
• Nervous spasm in the stomach occurs in emotionally unstable people with a weak autonomic nervous system. Abdominal pain in such patients occurs after stress, anxiety, emotional overload. This can often happen, for example, after an exam, after a public speech or a strong fright. Nervous pain can be accompanied by bowel disorder (diarrhea), heaviness in the stomach, increased gas formation. Symptoms subside after bowel movement, as well as when taking sedatives.

Periodic stomach cramps can be observed in any person, and often there is nothing to worry about. It is simply a sign of nutritional errors, poorly prepared food, an abundance of artificial additives in products, etc. However, if the spasmodic pains are regular, then you cannot do without medical help: it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study and find the cause of the disease.

Stomach cramps during pregnancy

Pregnant women almost always experience some kind of digestive problems. Digestive difficulties are most often observed at the end of the second and in the third trimester of pregnancy, when the growing uterus begins to compress the nearest organs, including the digestive organs.

Flatulence, decreased tone of the gastrointestinal tract, difficulty digesting and passing food through the intestines, heartburn are frequent “guests” during pregnancy.

As the size and weight of the unborn child increases, the uterus grows and displaces the digestive organs, the motor skills are restricted, food masses stagnate, leading to constipation. Fermentation may begin, which, in turn, provokes even more bloating and worsens the situation. Spasmodic pains are also a consequence of all the listed processes.

What do experts recommend to ease a woman’s condition?

It is important to eat in moderation, not to overeat, to eat more plant foods and fermented milk products to ensure timely bowel movements and to prevent stagnation of fecal matter in the lower parts of the digestive system. Taking laxatives is not recommended, as this can cause hypertonicity of the uterine muscles, which is very unfavorable during pregnancy.

Consequences and complications of gastrospasm

Spasmodic stomach pains that occur periodically may not pose a particular danger to the body. However, it is still necessary to undergo an examination to exclude the initial stage of an emerging pathology.

Constantly disturbing spasms with small and short-term remissions, combined with the lack of treatment and improper nutrition, can lead to adverse consequences: against the background of banal inflammation, after some time a serious illness may arise.

A patient with frequent spastic disorders should be wary of developing the following diseases:

• gastric erosion;
• peptic ulcer of the duodenum and stomach;
• perforation, bleeding of the stomach;
• stomach cancer;
• atrophy of the stomach walls, etc.

Almost all digestive problems affect the condition of hair, nails, skin, tooth enamel. Weight can fluctuate sharply, both in one direction and the other.

Previously, it was believed that complications of digestive diseases are the lot of patients aged 40 and older. But practice shows that in recent years, the development of adverse effects in young people is not uncommon. The reason for this is the modern pace of life, the lack of a daily routine and diet, the popularity of healthy and not so healthy diets for weight loss, stress, overload, etc.

To avoid all this, it is important to take care of your health and lead a healthy lifestyle under any circumstances. Only in this case the prognosis of the disease can be favorable.

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Diagnosis of stomach cramps

Gastroenterologists claim that a carefully studied anamnesis, risk factor assessment, determination of clinical symptoms of the disease in combination with examination and palpation of the abdominal cavity allow in 75% of cases to determine the pathology in a timely and correct manner. Difficulties in diagnostics may be associated with the presence of additional diseases of the digestive system, which complicates the picture and, accordingly, interferes with the correct diagnosis.

Additional methods for studying spastic syndrome can be divided into three groups:

1. Instrumental diagnostics: ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity, X-ray examination using a contrast agent (barium mixture), and endoscopic methods are performed. The most informative is fibroesophagogastroduodenoscopy, when a special fiber-optic tube equipped with a camera and backlight is inserted into the gastric cavity. This method allows visualizing and assessing the condition of the internal tissues of the stomach and duodenum, seeing erosions and their location, and, if necessary, taking a tissue element for biopsy.
2. Taking blood, urine and gastric juice for examination is also an important stage of diagnostics. The following tests are taken for stomach cramps: general blood test (makes it possible to recognize a hidden inflammatory process in the body), determination of the acidity of gastric juice, general urine test.
3. Differential diagnostics allows identifying the disease. As a rule, with spastic pain in the stomach, the first thing to do is to exclude gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer, gastroduodenitis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, calculous cholecystitis, pylorospasm, gastric erosion and functional digestive disorders.

Treatment of stomach cramps

Treatment of spasms is selected individually, taking into account the factor that provoked this phenomenon. Pain can be eliminated by taking certain medications, which we will discuss below. However, first of all, the doctor will prescribe a diet for the patient.

The following will have to be temporarily excluded from your daily diet:

• heavy foods (coarse meat fibers, lard, animal fat);
• fresh baked goods;
• smoked and fried foods;
• spices, seasonings (including salty and peppery dishes);
• alcoholic and carbonated drinks;
• coffee and cocoa;
• food that is too hot or too cold.

The dietary nutrition should be followed not only until the signs of spasm completely disappear, but also for several more weeks.

The need for treatment with medications is determined depending on the diagnosis made by the doctor.

The following medications may be prescribed for stomach cramps:

Antispasmodic drugs:

• No-shpa (Drotaverine) 1-2 tablets up to 3 times a day;
• Acabel 1-2 tablets up to 3 times a day, or 1 suppository twice a day;
• Baralgin (Spazmalgon) 1-2 tablets three times a day;
• Gangleron 0.04 g up to 4 times a day before meals;
• Datiscan 0.05-0.1 g up to 3 times a day 15 minutes before meals;
• Papaverine orally 40-80 mg up to 4 times a day, in suppositories 1 piece up to 3 times a day.

Antimicrobial drugs (if Helicobacter pylori bacteria are detected): Amoxicillin (Flemoxin), Erythromycin, Clarithromycin, Levofloxacin, Azithromycin).

Probiotics:

• first generation (Colibacterin, Lactobacterin, Bifidumbacterin);
• second generation (Bactisubtil, Sporobacterin);
• third generation (Linex, Bifiform, Acipol, Atsilakt);
• fourth generation (Probifor, Florin and Bifidumbacterin Forte).

Complete treatment of spastic syndrome may also include reflexology, herbal medicine and homeopathy.

Homeopathy for stomach cramps is a specific type of treatment that is not yet widely used by medical professionals and patients. If you trust homeopathy, then among such drugs there are also remedies that eliminate the spastic state of the digestive organs. Attention: before use, consult a gastroenterologist!

• Thallium Thallium (metal);
• Symphytum (Comfrey);
• Symphocarpus racemosa;
• Stronita (strontium carbonate);
• Senna (Alexandrian leaf);
• Quassia (Quassia bitter).

Surgical treatment is used only in extreme cases. This mainly happens with advanced gastric ulcer, extensive gastric erosion, and oncology.

Folk remedies for stomach cramps

Herbal treatment can be effective for functional gastrointestinal spasms. We will try to share with you some useful tips:

• to eliminate painful spasmodic attacks, prepare a mixture of the following plants: chamomile flowers, nettle and St. John's wort, 2 tablespoons each. Place the mixture in a container and pour 0.5 liters of boiling water over it, leave for 1 hour. After an hour, filter the infusion and take one glass at once. Drink the rest throughout the day, dividing it into 3-4 doses;
• for a faster effect, it is recommended to take 1 teaspoon of motherwort juice diluted in 100 ml of clean water;
• Regular tea with mint has a good antispasmodic effect. Add 1 tablespoon of small dry mint leaves to a glass of water. Pour boiling water over it, let it brew for 30 minutes and drink throughout the day instead of tea;
• You can brew an equal mixture of chamomile and immortelle. This mixture not only relaxes the stomach muscles, but also relieves signs of inflammation. Brew 2 tablespoons of the mixture in 250 ml of boiling water, leave for at least half an hour. Take 100 ml 3 times a day half an hour before meals for 2-3 weeks.

For spastic pain, it is useful to drink freshly prepared carrot juice with honey added. You can also grate carrots on a fine grater, add honey and drink half an hour before each meal. A good effect is provided by an infusion of carrot seeds (for one tablespoon of seeds - 250 ml of boiling water, infuse in a thermos).

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Prevention

Preventive measures include giving up bad habits (smoking and alcohol abuse), a balanced and systematic diet, and limiting the consumption of fatty and smoked foods.

In order to control the signs of a possible disease and prevent their development, it is necessary to avoid overeating and prolonged fasting. It is necessary to eat often, but little by little. Skipping meals is undesirable.

When eating, you need to make sure that the food is chewed well. For this reason, you cannot eat on the go or dry food.

Spasms in the stomach caused by diseases of the digestive system take a long time to treat, and there is a risk of various complications. This should be taken into account when starting to take care of your health in advance. Disease prevention is much easier than treatment, so you should not bring the body to failures and dysfunctions.