Heaviness in the stomach after eating

The human digestive system is a system of organs that carry out the physical and chemical processing of incoming food and the subsequent absorption of the broken down substances by the mucous membranes. The most important digestive organs are the stomach and intestines: they are responsible for the assimilation of useful and nutrients and their distribution in the systemic bloodstream and lymphatic bed. If any disturbances appear in the work of these organs, the person experiences characteristic symptoms: abdominal pain, nausea, heartburn.

In some cases, digestive distress can manifest as heaviness in the abdomen after eating, bloating, a feeling of fullness and fullness. In a healthy person, such manifestations can be the result of errors in nutrition, for example, overeating. If this factor is excluded, and the severity periodically continues to bother, it is necessary to consult a specialist, since such a symptom can be a manifestation of serious gastrointestinal pathologies. The gastroenterologist, coloproctologist and hepatologist (in cases where digestion is impaired due to diseases of the liver and other biliary and bile-forming organs).

Non-pathological causes

Causes that are not associated with diseases of the digestive system are called non-pathological (secondary). Most of them (over 57%) are associated with diet. The heaviness and feeling of fullness in the stomach can occur with an abundant intake of protein foods, simple carbohydrates and fatty foods, especially if they contain saturated and transgenic fats (refractory lipids). Such fats take a very long time to digest, and for their breakdown an increased amount of digestive enzymes is required, which leads to an additional load on the pancreas. Foods that can provoke a heaviness in the abdomen within 10-40 minutes after consuming them include:

• fatty meat, lard, smoked meats, sausages and sausages, bacon;
• dairy products with a high fat content (whole cow's milk with a fat content of 3.5-6%, sour cream 20-30%, cream, hard cheese);
• ready-made baked goods with butter creams and layers;
• palm and coconut oil;
• margarine.

Refined foods, which contain a large amount of simple carbohydrates, can also provoke stomach discomfort, so their consumption should be limited. These products include white crystalline sugar, sweets, bars, high-grade refined flour, white polished rice. In order not to create an enzymatic load on the digestive organs, it is better to replace white sugar with dark cane (brown sugar), and pasta from flour 1 and premium - pasta from coarse wheat with a high content fiber.

Note! Even healthy protein foods can cause heaviness and pressure in the stomach if consumed in large quantities. quantity, therefore, when drawing up a diet, one should adhere to quantitative norms that take into account age needs.

Low physical activity

A sedentary lifestyle leading to a weakening of muscle strength (physical inactivity), including peristalsis of the gastric and intestinal walls, is one of the main causes of digestive disorders. Violation of the evacuation function (stopping the stomach, lazy stomach syndrome) leads to a slowdown in progress food from the stomach into the duodenum, which leads to heaviness and distention in the upper part belly.

To stimulate the movement of food into the intestines and the evacuation of the food lump from the body, it is recommended to perform a complex of physiotherapy exercises every day, walk more, walk in the fresh air. Swimming is especially useful for digestive disorders, therefore, if possible, you should visit the pool at least once a week.

Important! Lazy stomach syndrome can also occur in people who are forced to remain immobile for a long period of time (for example, in patients with a spinal fracture). Such patients are shown drug correction (digestive enzymes, antispasmodics, for constipation - laxatives based on lactulose).

Severity in the stomach with poisoning

Severity after eating can occur with some types of poisoning, for example, poisoning with drugs or sausages, which can release botulinum toxins. In case of mild poisoning, typical symptoms - vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, fever - may be absent, so it is important to pay attention to other possible manifestations of foodborne toxicity. The clinical picture in case of mild poisoning is rather meager and can manifest itself with the following symptoms:

• heaviness and discomfort after eating, accompanied by increased gas production and the discharge of a large amount of odorous gases;
• headache against the background of a general deterioration in well-being (fatigue, drowsiness, lack of appetite);
• changes in stool color, odor and consistency.

Light poisoning is not always accompanied by diarrhea. In some cases, stool frequency can be normal - up to 1–2 times a day - but stool appearance and odor usually differs from normal stool. Feces acquire a light yellow color, the smell becomes sharp, putrid (the result of the activity of pathogenic flora), mucus may appear on the surface.

What to do if there are signs of mild poisoning?

The first thing to do is to ensure the evacuation of gastric contents. At home, a weak saline solution is used for these purposes (1 spoonful of salt per liter of warm water). You need to drink the solution 1 sip every 5-10 minutes, and then artificially induce vomiting. Medication correction consists in taking sorbents and antimicrobial drugs based on nifuroxazide (Enterofuril, Stopdiar). Of the sorbents, the most effective are those based on lignin (Filtrum-sti, Lactofiltrum), dioctahedral smectite (Neosmectin, Smectin) or polymethylsiloxane (Enterosgel).

The dosage of nifuroxazide for adults is 200 mg 4 times a day for 6 days. The dosage regimen for sorbents is shown in the table below.

How to take enterosorbents in case of poisoning, heaviness in the abdomen and bloating?

Drug name	Image	Application scheme
"Lactofiltrum"		2-3 tablets (1065 mg of lignin and 360 mg of lactulose) 3 times a day
"Filtrum-sti"		800-1200 mg 3-4 times a day
Enterosgel		15 g 2-3 times a day with water or stirring the paste / powder in 100 ml of water. Duration of treatment - up to 7 days
"Smecta" ("Neosmectin")		1 sachet 3 times a day (dissolve in 50 ml of water) for 3-5 days
Activated carbon		A single dosage is calculated based on the patient's weight: 1 tablet per 10 kg of body weight. Crush tablets to powder and stir in water. Take 3-4 times a day
"Polyphepan"		1 tablespoon (previously diluted with water) 3-4 times a day for 3-7 days
"Polysorb"		6-12 g divided into several doses

Important! Any adsorbents and enterosorbents should be taken at intervals of 1-2 hours with other medicines or food. If the table does not give recommendations on the duration of treatment, the drug must be taken within 5 days.

Digestive disorders with helminthiasis

Helminthiasis is an acute or chronic parasitic infection that develops against the background of infection with helminths (parasitic worms). To date, more than 420 helminths are known that can parasitize in the human body. Worms can enter the gastrointestinal tract with raw water, poor quality food, unwashed fruits and vegetables. In children, helminthiasis is considered a disease of dirty hands, since worm cysts can be found in large quantities on any surfaces that the child comes into contact with (earth, sand in a sandpit or on the banks of a river, soil, water in puddle). Some types of worms can enter the body through the skin or through ingested air and dust, so it is important to ventilate the area and do wet cleaning as often as possible.

Symptoms of helminthic invasion cannot be called typical, since they often have a blurry course, and determine what exactly became the cause of poor health and digestive disorders, it is possible only after laboratory diagnosis of feces and blood. One of the leading gastrointestinal symptoms in helminthiasis is the severity and discomfort in the stomach, flatulence, and flatus syndrome. It hurts to complain of lack of appetite, nausea. With severe anemia resulting from damage to the blood vessels of the intestine (helminths feed on blood), there may be a decrease in the patient's body weight.

Other signs of pathology at any age are usually:

• skin rashes (especially if a person has not experienced skin problems before);
• pallor and increased dryness of the skin (a symptom of impaired absorption of vitamins in the intestines);
• circles under the eyes;
• bad breath (the symptom is especially typical for children aged 2 to 7 years);
• upset stool;
• unreasonable vomiting.

Important! A small number of helminthiases (less than 3.4%) can develop as a result of transmissible transmission of the pathogen from an infected human (through blood), therefore, in the presence of fresh wounds, abrasions and scratches, you should always glue the affected skin with a bactericidal with a plaster.

Treatment

Treatment of any helminthiasis should be comprehensive and include not only taking drugs to remove parasites from the body, but also a number of other measures, for example:

• improving personal hygiene skills (frequent and thorough hand washing, timely change of bed and underwear);
• disinfection of the home (if necessary);
• veterinary treatment of animals;
• strengthening the immune system.

To increase the body's resistance, general strengthening measures are used: long walks, swimming, physiotherapy exercises, vitamin therapy, hardening. Especially useful are walks in pine and coniferous forests, green parks located far from busy highways and industrial production.

Veterinary treatment of animals includes drug deworming, which must be carried out 2-3 times a year, regardless of whether the animal walks outside. At home, drugs are used for this: Milbemax, Cestal, Praziquantel. It is very important to regularly clean the litter box of the animal and to use protective equipment (gloves) for this.

Preparations for the treatment of helminthic invasions

Drug name	Image	How to use?
"Nemozol" ("Albendazole", "Sanoxal")		Patients weighing more than 60 kg are prescribed at a dosage of 400 mg. If the patient's weight is less than 60 kg, the dose is calculated by the formula: 15 mg / kg (in 2 divided doses). Duration of admission - from 5 to 30 days (depending on the identified pathogen)
"Pirantel" ("Helmintox", "Nemocid")		Children over 2 years old: 5 ml of suspension once. Adults weighing up to 75 kg - 3 tablets once (chewed). If you weigh more than 75 kg, a single dose will be 4 tablets
Mebendazole (Vermox, Helmedazol, Vormin)		1 tablet 2 times a day for 3 days

Enzyme deficiency

Insufficient production or complete absence of any enzymes necessary for the breakdown of certain substances is called fermentopathy. Pathology can be caused by a genetic factor, that is, be congenital (hereditary), or develop under the influence provoking factors, the main of which experts consider chronic eating disorders and insufficient intake of protein products.

The most common are two types of fermentopathy: lactase deficiency and celiac disease.

Celiac disease

This is a condition in which the human intestine, due to the lack of necessary enzymes, cannot break down gluten, a complex protein found in large quantities in the gluten of cereals. The symptoms of celiac disease are quite typical, so the pathology is detected in early childhood (genetic a predisposition to celiac disease is part of the mandatory studies that are carried out to an infant in maternity hospital).

These include:

• heaviness, pain, discomfort, bloating in the abdomen after eating any foods containing gluten or starch;
• frequent watery stools with a lot of mucus;
• stunted growth and development, poor weight gain in children;
• symptoms of vitamin deficiency.

People with gluten intolerance cannot eat cereals, cereals, bread, flour products. Vegetables containing a lot of starch are also excluded from the diet of such patients for life: potatoes, carrots, beets. Drug treatment includes iron preparations ("Ferrum-Lek"), vitamin supplements, calcium preparations (intravenous calcium gluconate), probiotics (Normobact, Linex), enzyme preparations (Mezim, "Festal").

Lactase deficiency

A true lack of lactase (an enzyme that digests milk sugar) occurs in only 1-3% of adults. Pathology can be manifested by bloating, seething, rumbling in the abdomen, heaviness and distention after eating, if lactose was a part of the meals eaten. For treatment, a lactose-free diet and preparations containing lactase ("Lactazar") are prescribed.

Diseases of the stomach and intestines

To find out if the stomach and intestines of a person are working normally, and what is the reason for the heaviness in the stomach after food, you need to contact a gastroenterologist and go through a complex of instrumental and laboratory diagnostics. Treatment depends on the identified diseases and their severity.

Gastritis

The most common disease of the gastrointestinal tract, in various clinical forms, is detected in every third inhabitant over 30 years of age. Typical manifestations of gastritis are epigastric pain, nausea and vomiting, heaviness that occurs within half an hour after eating. Some patients may feel the presence of a foreign body in the throat, heartburn, complain of an unpleasant odor, bitterness in the mouth and belching.

For treatment, bismuth preparations ("De-nol"), proton pump blockers ("Rabeprazole", "Pantoprazole", "Omez"), antacids ("Maalox", "Almagel"), antibiotics for the eradication of an infectious agent (amoxicillin and clarithromycin).

Colitis

This is inflammation of the large intestine, which is characterized by a feeling of fullness and heaviness in the stomach, upset stool, increased gas production, intestinal cramps, painful false urge to empty the bowel (tenesmus).

Treatment includes adherence to diet (table number 4), treatment with mineral waters, exercise therapy, massage. From medications, antispasmodics are prescribed (Drotaverin, Papaverin), drugs for stool regulation, probiotics ("Bion-3"), drugs from the group of antiplatelet agents and thrombolytics ("Pentoxifylline").

Enteritis

Enteritis is an inflammation of the small intestine, which can also manifest as heaviness after eating, nausea, flatulence, and other symptoms characteristic of functional dyspepsia. Drug therapy is carried out by analogy with intestinal colitis and requires adherence to diet and rejection of bad habits.

Heaviness after eating is one of the most common complaints with which patients seek the help of a gastroenterologist. If this is the only symptom, it is most likely a matter of improper diet, but if there are other signs, you should not postpone the visit to the doctor.

Video - Severity in the stomach and nausea