The occurrence of pain when feeling hungry or after a longer period of fasting is often a symptom of the development of some pathology in the area of the gastrointestinal tract, explains Russian therapist Dr. Zuhra Aliyeva. Such pains are a consequence of damaged stomach walls. The reasons for the occurrence of pain during fasting are not many:
• peptic ulcer disease of the stomach and duodenum with increased sensitivity of pain receptors in the area of the ulcer;
• spastic contractions of the stomach walls that reflexively occur around the formed ulcer defect;
• an increase in the relative proportion of hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice, which leads to an increase in its acidity;
• hypermotor dyskinesia;
• chronic or acute gastritis;
• frequent stressful situations;
• changes in the hormonal background during pregnancy;
• can also occur in irritable bowel syndrome, an ulcer-like variant.
Hunger pains are very strong and hard to bear. Here are the signs that appear in such a problem: lack or decreased appetite; diarrhea or often constipation; feeling sick and vomiting; getting heartburn and belching; flatulence. With the different diseases that are the cause of such a condition, there may be a different anamnesis.
“The nature of the pain, the time of occurrence and the duration can tell the doctor about the probability of a certain disease. Sometimes it is a matter of gastritis, but most often such symptoms are inherent in peptic ulcer disease of the stomach and duodenum. If the pain occurs at night, it often indicates a stomach ulcer in the antral region," explains Dr. Aliyeva.
In cases where the pain occurs in the morning and passes only after breakfast, it may indicate a duodenal ulcer. It is also characterized by increased gas formation, nausea and vomiting, and rumbling in the abdomen. All these symptoms require the intervention of a specialist, since no one can determine what exactly the disease is on their own. Regardless of the fact that small meals or frequent snacking of small portions are able to relieve stomach discomfort, it is not recommended to control hunger pangs in such a way, the specialist points out.
"Such behavior of the patient can blur the clinical picture and complicate the establishment of the correct diagnosis". Therapy includes drug treatment, non-drug treatment (normal lifestyle, i.e., adequate sleep, regular meals, staying in fresh air; giving up harmful habits; avoiding stressful situations) and diet.
Stomach pains during hunger will disappear if you follow all the doctor's recommendations, but the most important thing is to never resort to self-medication, advises the specialist.
Caution
Patients often think that the stomach hurts from hunger, but it could be a myocardial infarction and complicated arrhythmia. With a heart attack, such pain moves to the arm or neck. Therefore, whoever is in the risk group should treat their he alth responsibly and in no case suffer pain, hoping it will go away
Diet is necessary:
• fractional feeding;
• no more than 3 hours between separate meals;
• warm dishes - neither cold nor hot;
• rejection of fatty, s alty, smoked and spicy foods;
• giving up soda, alcohol, coffee, canned goods, spices, onions, garlic, black pepper, mustard, pickles, citrus fruits, fruit juices, concentrated meat and fish broths;
• limiting sweets;
• low-fat dairy products only;
• dishes with meat and fish, in which the fat content is not less than 10-20 g in pure form;
• porridge and pasta, boiled or roasted vegetables.
