What if your stomach hurts when you get upset?!


Question: What can this mean? When my bf talks to his ex wife, he clears his throat a lot and when she starts an argument (which is more so than not) his stomach begins to hurt him. He can't eat. He has pains all through his abdomen. Any suggestions on what that can be besides stress. I know stress has a lot to do with the body.


Answers: What can this mean? When my bf talks to his ex wife, he clears his throat a lot and when she starts an argument (which is more so than not) his stomach begins to hurt him. He can't eat. He has pains all through his abdomen. Any suggestions on what that can be besides stress. I know stress has a lot to do with the body.

It's probaby not an ulcer, and stress doesn't cause ulcers--that's an old myth. Ulcers are caused by a type of bacteria, although once an ulcer has formed, stress may aggrevate the condition by causing excess stomach acid. Still, it would make sense for your b/f to have this checked out, because it can be cured early with a course of specific antibiotics. Stress may also reduce the immune system and make the bacteria more likely to be able to cause the ulcer to begin with. I will copy/paste something about it from the Mayo Clinic's Web site at the end of my post.

Probably what your boyfriend is experiencing is either acid stomach or spasms in his colon from the stress. Stress causes chemical changes to the nervous system that affect the digestive tract, causing it to spasm.

It would probably help your b/f to learn some calming techniques, like the kind of deep breathing that is done with yoga, even a yoga class. If he doesn't learn to manage his response to stress, he may still get the pain in his colon under control, but the stress will target another part of the body (like tension headache, lower back ache, etc.), so he will just chase it from one part of his body to another. Stress management techniques learned early in life are best, because, hey!, life is stressful, whether it's an exwife, or a job loss, or something else.

Be well.

From the Mayo Clinic Web site:

Although stress and spicy foods were once thought to be the main causes of peptic ulcers, doctors now know that the cause of most ulcers is the corkscrew-shaped bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).

H. pylori lives and multiplies within the mucous layer that covers and protects tissues that line the stomach and small intestine. Often, H. pylori causes no problems. But sometimes it can disrupt the mucous layer and inflame the lining of the stomach or duodenum, producing an ulcer. One reason may be that people who develop peptic ulcers already have damage to the lining of the stomach or small intestine, making it easier for bacteria to invade and inflame tissues.

H. pylori is a common gastrointestinal infection around the world. In the United States, one in five people younger than 30 and half the people older than 60 are infected. Although it's not clear exactly how H. pylori spreads, it may be transmitted from person to person by close contact, such as kissing. People may also contract H. pylori through food and water.

H. pylori is the most common, but not the only, cause of peptic ulcers. Besides H. pylori, other causes of peptic ulcers, or factors that may aggravate them, include:

Regular use of pain relievers. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can irritate or inflame the lining of your stomach and small intestine. The medications are available both by prescription and over-the-counter. Nonprescription NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Aleve) and ketoprofen (Orudis KT). To help avoid digestive upset, take NSAIDs with meals.

NSAIDs inhibit production of an enzyme (cyclooxygenase) that produces prostaglandins. These hormone-like substances help protect your stomach lining from chemical and physical injury. Without this protection, stomach acid can erode the lining, causing bleeding and ulcers.

Smoking. Nicotine in tobacco increases the volume and concentration of stomach acid, increasing your risk of an ulcer. Smoking may also slow healing during ulcer treatment.

Excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol can irritate and erode the mucous lining of your stomach and increases the amount of stomach acid that's produced. It's uncertain, however, whether this alone can progress into an ulcer or whether other contributing factors must be present, such as H. pylori bacteria or ulcer-causing medications, such as NSAIDs.

Stress. Although stress per se isn't a cause of peptic ulcers, it's a contributing factor. Stress may aggravate symptoms of peptic ulcers and, in some cases, delay healing. You may undergo stress for a number of reasons



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