“How do I know if my stomach pain is serious?”
I have stomach pain, mostly in the morning. How do I know if my stomach pain is serious?
4 Answers
The serious red flags to look out for with chronic stomach pain include intractable vomiting, weight loss, blood in the stool or a distended, hard belly that doesn't improve. See your doctor right away if you suffer from any of these symptoms.
Stomach pain is very common. Stomach pain that is serious usually has additional symptoms with it such as vomiting, weight loss, fever or diarrhea. If the pain wakes you up at night or impacts your sleep that is also a good sign you need to have it checked out. Hope you feel better soon!
If the pain is accompanied by emesis, diarrhea, weight loss, poor appetite, waking up from sleeping, urinary symptoms, all are concerning signs. If any of the above is present and/or it has been going on for a while, then see your doctor so that she or he can examine and send off testing.
Pain that is "serious" is usually severe, unremitting, associated with nausea, vomiting, perhaps in the setting of anemia, weight loss or other symptoms.
