Cause of Bleeding Ulcer Symptoms

Quick Take

Abdominal pain when you eat or drink, a run-down and tired feeling and lightheadedness are all tip-offs that something is wrong inside your body. A feeling of malaise that doesn’t go away isn’t normal. Learn the cause of bleeding ulcer symptoms and their treatment.

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A patient who realizes he’s not feeling well, suffers from abdominal pain, feels run down and tired, drinks alcohol or smokes and uses NSAIDS to relieve body aches might want to ask his doctor to give him a physical. A bleeding ulcer may be the heart of the problem. Your doctor can help you to under the cause of bleeding ulcer symptoms and start you on the road to recovery through specific treatments.

Helicobacter pylori Bacteria

This bacteria lives in your gastrointestinal system and can be the cause of bleeding ulcer symptoms. You may never feel any effects from the H. pylori, but if conditions in your stomach are just right, an ulcer can develop, according to the Health Care Center.

If you have the H. pylori bacteria in your system and they are causing an ulcer, you may experience frequent belching or burping, bloating, a burning ache in your stomach, nausea, vomiting and weight loss. The Mayo Clinic advises that If you experience bloody or black stools, black or bloody vomit that looks like coffee grounds, persistent or severe pain in your abdomen or difficulty swallowing, call your doctor and get medical attention right away.

NSAIDS

Medications like aspirin, ibuprofen, ketoprofen and naproxen sodium can be the cause of bleeding ulcer symptoms. These medications all carry the risk of abdominal bleeding in patients who are susceptible to bleeding ulcers, according to the Health Care Center. If you have been taking an NSAID long-term for a pain condition, you need to make sure you understand the risks these medications can potentially pose – you may develop bleeding ulcers.

If you already have been diagnosed with an ulcer, talk to your doctor about taking another form of painkiller that does not pose the same bleeding risk.

Alcohol

When you drink alcohol by itself, particularly on an empty stomach, the alcohol can irritate your gastrointestinal tract . If you take an NSAID along with the alcohol, this combination increases the risk of damage to your gastrointestinal tract, especially if you already suffer from an ulcer.

Your doctor may order you to stop drinking. If you want to continue drinking, ask him for advice. He may direct you to drink small amounts only when you eat something.

Heavy drinkers with ulcers are at an especially high risk of developing bleeding because they are less likely to take precautions when they drink or take care of their health and visit their doctor when they start to feel worse.

Smoking

Another lifestyle factor that plays a role in the development of ulcers is smoking. While smoking has not been definitively determined to cause ulcers, this habit increases your chance of developing one. Once you have been diagnosed with an ulcer, the cigarette smoke slows its healing. Once you have recovered, if you do continue smoking, you are at a higher risk of redeveloping a new ulcer, according to Gastroenterology Consultants, P.C.

If you do not want your ulcer to perforate and start bleeding, talk to your doctor about methods of quitting smoking.