What Causes Abdominal Pain Accompanied By Urgency To Have Bowel Movements?

Posted on Sat, 18 Jan 2014

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

Sat, 18 Jan 2014 Answered on

Tue, 4 Feb 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello Dr. Dec. 4 2013 I went out for a friend catfish dinner, that same night I woke up with very bad diarrhea which lasted sever days, during that time I also experienced severe abdominal cramping, and my stomach made really loud gurgling noises. I took cipro 500 mg which I received as prophylaxis for a safari trip. During that time I was well hydrated ate bland foods. It resolved, but now I am experiencing mild/dull low (above bladder) abdominal pain accompanied by urgency to have bowel movements. My bowel movements when not diarrhea have been soft and unformed, but now soft and flaky and small. I have also started taking digestive enzymes. Please help.

Answered by Dr. Ashish Verma (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: its gastroenteritis Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for writing to XXXXXXX This is Dr. Ashish Verma, a general surgeon, answering to your query. You are having gastroenteritis, or food poisoning as you may call. When i get a patient with gastroenteritis, i prescrib a antibiotic like metronidazole, a ppi and a preprobiotic, so that the bad bacterias are killed and the good ones take their place to restore normalcy. I would advice you to take the same, but as these are prescription drugs, you must see your local doctor for the same. The pain is due to gastritis anc ppi will take care of that. Also take plenty of fluids to replace what is lost. Hope that i have answered all your queries. If you have further queries, I will be glad to answer them. Get well soon. Dr. Ashish Verma

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Ashish Verma (17 hours later)

Thank you Dr. for your response. Is it possible to have gastritis for so long? Even though I don't have fever or chills.

Answered by Dr. Ashish Verma (50 minutes later)

Brief Answer: yes it can last for even years together Detailed Answer: Hi, Yes, gastritis can last long, and it is not due to infection to cause fever and chills. Gastritis is the inflammation of stomachs inner lining due to excessive acid production leading to ulceration of the mucosa. This increased acid production can be due to various causes like stress, spicy foods, tea, coffee, soda drinks, medicines, illness, infection by h.pylori, etc. So you need to take a ppi for it and reduce the above mentioned causes to promote healing of the mucosa. Hope that i have answered all your queries. If you don't have further queries, you can close this discussion and rate the response. Get well soon. Dr. Ashish Verma

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj