Can Peptic Ulcer Or Gastroparesis Cause A Bloated Stomach And Indigestion?

Posted on Fri, 23 Feb 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 23 Feb 2018 Answered on

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 Last reviewed on

Question : I have had a bloated stomach for the last several months. When I eat, I get full easily with a dull pain. I have no other symptoms. I have seen 3 doctors in the last year, the first one diagnosed me as having celiac disease. However, two other doctors had bloodwork done and the results were negative. The last doctor is an internal medicine doctor who put me in a machine after eating eggs with radioactive substance to trace my digestive system. The result is my stomach is not. digesting properly. He told me to eat soft foods such as fruit smoothies for a while but I still have the symptoms and they are getting worse. He suspects my stomach muscles are not working properly. I have no other symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, or blood in stools, Could it be I have a peptic ulcer, gastroperalis, bacterial infection perhaps from eating overseas?

Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (17 minutes later)

Brief Answer:

Please see detailed answer.

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

Dyspepsia, in layman's language, is known as indigestion. It is a term that describes discomfort or pain in the upper abdomen. However, it's not a disease in itself.

A dyspepsia is a group of symptoms which often include bloating, nausea and heartburn.

An ultrasound done should be done initially. I would suggest you not to worry too much.

Take a proton pump inhibitor like Esomeprazole 40 mg twice daily along with a prokinetic drug (eg.Domperidone) for 3 days.

This will provide you symptomatic relief from symptoms of dyspepsia (you may need to obtain a prescription for this from your local physician).

Antacid like Pepto Bismol can be taken for a few days along with it.

Any over counter probiotic should be taken for a few days to provide relief in symptoms of bloating.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana

Follow up: Dr. Ramesh Kumar (8 hours later)

Thanks for the response. To continue, I have no heart burn. I now have a continued pain in upper stomach, which at times is relieved by eating some food. A couple of weeks ago I woke up with a sharp pain in upper stomach which was relieved by some hot water and some food. It would appear that some of the stomach muscles are not working or not digesting the food in proper time. If food is left in stomach, will it cause bacteria? The intestines are operating good with normal bowel movements. Again, I feel bloated all the time with some dull pain in upper stomach, sometimes into esophagus. Still sounds like dyspepsia? XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (15 hours later)

Brief Answer:

Follow up.

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

As per the symptoms penned by you in your follow-up, it could be a peptic ulcer.

Classical complain of a patient with peptic ulcer is that when they wake up they have pain which response to food (especially when ulcers are in duodenum).

Next time as the pain starts to take an Omeprazole and if pain responds to it its an ulcer.

The best way is to go for a planned endoscopy.

Hope I have answered your query.

Take care

Regards,
Dr Ramesh Kumar, Gastroenterologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana