# What does it feel like to have stomach ulcers?



## tlc-x (May 20, 2012)

Hello friends!

I'm always trying to figure out what is wrong with me and researching lots and I was wondering, what does it actually feel like to have a stomach ulcer?

I have specific places in my tummy that hurt. They hurt more if I drink alcohol or eat spicy foods or hot foods and less when i'm on a bland diet. I call these specific places "blobs" because I don't know if they actually are ulcers or not, or even what they are.


----------



## Rebecca85 (May 20, 2012)

I had ulcers in my terminal ileum when I was diagnosed. My main symptom was extreme pain, it would start off kind of gnawing like hunger. Then when I ate the pain would increase, though still kind of like hunger, but it would come in waves. Then the waves would get worse until I puked from the pain. Eventually I would fall asleep, and feel fine when I woke. After lunch it would start again.


----------



## tlc-x (May 20, 2012)

Hmm.. sounds familiar except from vomiting. That sounds rubbish


----------



## rygon (May 20, 2012)

I have areas which feel like spots of pain, and as you said it gets worse with certain foods and drinks. These areas where my UC is (is guess that means its inflammed and can get ulcer-ish).

By stomach do you actually mean the stomach itself or intestines?

My bro had stomach ulcers and they burst(?) became anaemic, fainted and had about 7units of blood. Ended up having surgery to stitch them back up. All this happened within 2days of seeing the doctor saying he felt ill (doc actually said he was fine)


----------



## JDTM (May 20, 2012)

Yep, the waves thing sounds about right.  When I first had the waves of pain thing, I ended up eventually getting an endoscopy before I knew I was dealing with Crohn's, and I had a couple of duodenal ulcers (that were healing up thanks to taking omeprazole).  When the pain started up again a few months later, the gastroenterologist did a second scope, because she was pretty sure that the ulcers should have healed up by then.  Sure enough, they were still on the mend, but something was up.  Eventually we arrived at a Crohn's diagnosis after a whole bunch of other tests over time.

Anyways, I wanted to mention this because it's weird how the pain works.  My waves of pain felt like they were happening at the top of the stomach, right below the ribcage (below the breastbone, kinda -- but above the bellybutton).  I don't think my duodenum is all the way up there, so it struck me as odd... but I guess it's something like "referred pain" or something like that.  Not sure why I felt it in such a specific spot.


----------



## Jennifer (May 20, 2012)

Could you make an appointment with your GI and have them do a small bowel follow through/barium swallow and an Endoscopy? Then you'll know for sure if you have any. When's the last time you had either of these tests done?


----------



## Rebecca85 (May 21, 2012)

Oh yes- my pain was also referred upwards. They thought it was my gallbladder. Interestingly, the docs could prod at where I thought it hurt no problem. But when they touched the area over my terminal ileum (checking for appendix pain) it HURT!


----------



## PlutoCronie (May 21, 2012)

I have Crohn's Colitis and I can tell you that if you have ulcers acidic foods are the worse kind of food that you can have. I am trying a high alkaline diet, as well as a blood type diet, to see if I can control the usual symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and also heal the lesions. My symptoms always became worse after eating acidic foods, now that I look back before I was diagnosed a year ago.


----------



## Jane (May 22, 2012)

If you have an ulcer is the pain a daily thing or can it be less frequent?

I have had severe pain - rolling upper abdominal cramps, eventual vomitting, I fall asleep and the next day my abdominal region is sore.

It has happened after I ate acidic food (most recently tomato based veggie soup), but it has also happened after non-acidic, non-spicy foods.

It doesn't happen every day.  It can go weeks and months apart until I have another episode.

Last year my GI did an upper endoscopy and a colonoscopy and didn't mention ulcers.  He did say that I have a hiatal hernia.

He has chalked the abdominal cramps up to the hernia and acid reflux.

Sometimes I wonder though...  Could I have an ulcer?


----------



## deedee (May 22, 2012)

I had an ulcer a few years before my diagnosis (might have been related, who knows, I was fine otherwise). It was an awful, gnawing pain that felt like my stomach was eating itself. It was really bad when my stomach was empty, and the pain was relieved almost immediately after eating. It would wake me up several times a night and I would have to drink some milk or have a bite of bread to stop the pain so I could go back to sleep.

I hope you're ok!


----------



## PlutoCronie (May 22, 2012)

The colonoscopy that I had a year ago clearly showed the ulcers/lesions, so I know I have them. I was very lucky that the colonoscopy gave a very precise accurate picture of what my condition looked like.:hallo3: My alkaline diet seems to be helping, now, along with the herbs and supplements. I take only one Rx 750 mg, balsalazide disodium cap a day, as opposed to the prescribed three. I had been getting some skin sores around the knuckles of my right hand, and that seems to be clearing up. Also, no real flare-ups to speak of, so far. I will be ecstatic if I could control and heal my CD this way. My plan is to eventually, again, get off of all Rx, and go the natural way. I've tried this before, but hadn't been using the Alkaline/water diet and Blood Type Diet, just herbs and supplements.


----------

