Common ulcer symptoms that are important to know early on

Heartburn can happen to anyone. Ulcer that suddenly recurs can certainly disrupt all your daily activities. Therefore, you should recognize the symptoms of an ulcer so that you can deal with it more quickly.

The symptoms that arise due to ulcers are not only pain in the stomach. This condition can also cause a number of complaints in the digestive system. What are the symptoms? Let's look at the following information.

Various symptoms of ulcers that you need to know

Ulcer is a term that describes various complaints of pain due to disorders of the digestive system. Usually, this condition occurs when the stomach wall produces excess acid or when there is injury to the stomach lining.

Common causes of heartburn include unhealthy eating habits, diseases of the digestive system, and the use of certain drugs. Digestive diseases that often cause it include acid reflux and gastritis.

Most people may describe ulcers as pain or burning in the stomach. In fact, that is not the only symptom that is caused. Here are some of the common symptoms that occur when you have heartburn.

1. Stomach pain

All conditions that attack the digestive system will generally cause pain or burning in the stomach. Stomach pain as an ulcer symptom can be caused by a variety of certain diseases.

Examples of several diseases that cause stomach pain as a symptom include:

gastric inflammation or gastritis,
gastric ulcer,
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and
infection of the stomach.

In addition, the severity of stomach pain due to ulcers can also vary from person to person, even over time. Sometimes, you may experience severe stomach pain that makes it difficult to move on.

After some time, these ulcer symptoms may start to subside slowly and become lighter. Mild pain does not necessarily indicate a mild illness.

The best way to find out the cause is to see a doctor.

2. Pain or burning in the gut (heartburn)

Ulcer symptoms caused by high amounts of stomach acid are known as heartburn. This symptom is described as a burning sensation in the gut, chest, or throat.

Excess stomach acid can flow upward. Furthermore, stomach acid will continue to flow up to the gut, chest, then reaches the esophagus. Usually the symptoms of heartburn occur in people who have GERD, aka acid reflux disease.

Everyone experiences symptoms heartburn with different severity. Some just feel mild, ordinary, or very severe. This burning pain in the chest can occur at any time and generally gets worse at night.

3. Flatulence

Besides heartburn, most ulcer sufferers also often experience symptoms in the form of flatulence or stomach ulcers when indigestion attacks. This occurs because of the buildup of gas due to an increase in excess acidic fluid in the stomach.

Symptoms of flatulence are described as feeling full after you eat or drink a lot. These ulcer symptoms are generally experienced by people with stomach ulcers or other digestive disorders that lead to the cause of ulcers.

4. Nausea and vomiting

Nausea and vomiting can be symptoms of heartburn caused by various digestive disorders. Some of them are stomach inflammation (gastritis), stomach ulcers, and stomach infections.

Apart from certain diseases, ulcers can also be caused by eating too much or too fast. This problem can be worsened by the presence of stomach acid rising into the esophagus, causing abdominal pain and chest pain.

All of these things further trigger nausea, which is often followed by the urge to vomit. Normal nausea and vomiting are usually not too dangerous. However, you still shouldn't take it for granted.

Constant nausea and vomiting can make you deficient in fluids and nutrients. If the cause is not immediately known, this condition can be a sign of a more serious illness.

5. The mouth feels sour or bitter

Apart from experiencing discomfort in the stomach, ulcer sufferers usually also feel a bitter or sour mouth. This happens because stomach acid, food, and freshly consumed drinks actually move up into the esophagus.

In fact, food, drink, and stomach acid should remain in the digestive system. When the stomach contents go up into the esophagus, stomach acid and food and drinks that have been crushed enough will enter the back of the throat.

The rising of the stomach contents is what then makes the mouth taste bitter or sour, which of course tastes unusual as usual. The strange taste in the mouth is more likely to be felt on the back of the tongue.

Gastric acid reflux or GERD is one of the causes of ulcers which can cause symptoms that the mouth feels sour or bitter. Ulcer symptoms that appear in people who have GERD may not be recognized as an ulcer symptom. This is because when sick, most people feel that their mouth is bitter.

6. Burping often

It was previously explained that an increase in the production of acidic fluids can trigger acid backflow into the esophagus. This is especially so when reflux of stomach acid is accompanied by a buildup of gas. This reaction often makes people burp when they have heartburn.

Belching is the body's natural way of expelling air and by-product gases from the acidic fluids that accumulate in the stomach. Burp is useful so that a bloated stomach becomes more relieved.

However, burping in a healthy body condition is different from people who experience ulcer symptoms. If usually belching only occurs occasionally after eating, this does not apply to those of you who have ulcers.

Belching which is a symptom of an ulcer usually occurs repeatedly automatically, regardless of whether you have eaten or not. Unlike the compound under normal conditions, continuing to burp while on an ulcer can have a boomerang effect.

Repeated belching during flatulence will allow more air to flow into the stomach. Do not rule out, later there will be more gas accumulating in the stomach. This gas must also be excreted through belching.

Burping does not provide relief either and it can instead indicate that there is a problem with your digestive system. This one ulcer symptom can be related to various digestive disorders, especially gastric ulcers.

7. Easy to feel full

When attacked by ulcer symptoms, the stomach usually hurts because it is filled with excess stomach acid production and gas. This condition unconsciously makes you feel full, like when you just eat and drink.

In fact, there may not be a mouthful of rice or even a sip of water that has entered your stomach. That is why, ulcer symptoms can sometimes make you lazy to eat because you feel full.

Even when you eat, you will feel full very quickly even if you only eat a few spoonfuls of rice, side dishes, and vegetables. In short, the portion of your food when you are experiencing ulcer symptoms is much less, and different from the portion you eat on usual days.

8. Stomach tight and hard (like) after eating

Similar to feeling full easily, you will also feel a very full stomach and are like full after eating. In fact, it is possible that your food portions are actually small. This term is known as stomach begah.

When compared to when you are not having an ulcer, your one meal portion may be much more than during an ulcer. Portions of food under normal circumstances will certainly not make you feel full afterwards.

In the case of an ulcer, the gas that has accumulated in the stomach makes the stomach fill up quickly, causing stomach symptoms to develop. This condition is not dangerous, but may cause discomfort and interfere with daily activities.

When to see a doctor when you have ulcer symptoms?

Various mild ulcer symptoms will usually improve on their own. You only need to avoid various triggers, so that the symptoms do not recur, such as avoiding spicy food, quitting smoking, and drinking alcohol.

However, if the symptoms are severe enough, medical drugs are needed, for example antacids. If the symptoms do not improve, it is possible that an ulcer is a sign of a more serious health problem.

You must see a doctor if the ulcer symptoms you are experiencing do not heal with herbal remedies such as drinking honey or ulcer medication without a prescription sold in pharmacies. Especially if this lasts up to two weeks.

However, you don't always have to wait that long either. Even more so if the symptoms of an ulcer are very disturbing to the point of obstructing daily activities.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, do not delay to have your health checked by a doctor if ulcer symptoms develop worse. Here are some signs.

Vomit blood, or vomit looks like coffee.
Difficulty chewing or swallowing
It's hard to eat because you lose your appetite.
Body weight decreases day by day.
Black stools, or appear to have blood in them.
The pain in the stomach does not get better, it even gets worse.
Upper or lower right abdominal pain that feels severe.
Hard to breathe.
Continuous heavy sweating.
The frequency of vomiting continues to increase and does not improve.

You need to know that delaying treatment can make the condition worse, increase the risk of complications, as well as complicate treatment.

Understanding the symptoms of an ulcer helps diagnose the disease

Understanding the symptoms is sometimes not enough to help doctors detect health problems related to the digestive system. For example, people with GERD tend to experience it more often heartburn than people who have gastritis.

So that you don't forget the ulcer symptoms that appear, try taking notes. This way, you can observe how often your symptoms recur. This note is also a symptom complaint report when you visit the doctor.

In addition to seeing the record of this ulcer symptoms, the doctor will ask you to carry out various health checks to make a diagnosis. The examination includes imaging tests, endoscopy, blood tests, stool tests, and breath tests.

Further tests will help your doctor determine the appropriate treatment for you. That way, complaints that arise regarding ulcers can be resolved to the root.