Chronic Indigestion

GENERAL INFORMATION:

What is chronic indigestion? Chronic indigestion is also called dyspepsia. If you have stomach discomfort for more than seven days a month, you may have chronic indigestion. The word chronic is used to describe conditions that may slowly get worse, come and go, and last for a long time. With this condition, you may feel bloated or feel like you have too much gas inside. You may feel like throwing up or you may feel full when you have just started eating. Women who are pregnant are not diagnosed with chronic indigestion.

What causes chronic indigestion? Most people who have chronic indigestion do not have another disease that is causing it. In others, abdomen (stomach) discomfort may be caused by any of the following:

• Inflammation (swelling) of the esophagus or stomach.
  
  
• Stomach fluid flowing from the stomach back up into the esophagus.
  
  
• Cancer in the stomach or intestines.
  
  
• Peptic ulcers. This is a condition where germs (bacteria) and stomach fluids injure the walls of the stomach and intestines.
  
  
• Eating too much spicy or fatty food and drinking liquids containing caffeine and alcohol. Liquids containing caffeine may include coffee, tea or soda. Liquids containing alcohol are beer, whiskey, rum, and vodka.
  
  
• Medicine such as non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), steroids, narcotics, and antibiotics.

• Absorption or movement problems in the stomach and intestines.
  
  
• Adrenal insufficiency (problem making hormones).
  
  
• Anxiety (worry or fear) or stress.
  
  
• Constipation and diarrhea. This is when you have dry, hard stool, followed by watery stool with mucus (slippery fluid).
  
  
• Diabetes (high sugar level in the blood).
  
  
• Ischemic heart disease (decreased blood supply to the heart).
  
  
• Vascular (blood vessel) disease.

How can I tell caregivers about my indigestion? Tell caregivers when you last had indigestion, and how long it lasted. Tell your caregiver about other signs and symptoms that appear with your indigestion, so that these may be treated. Caregivers also need to know the medicines you are presently taking, or have taken for indigestion. Tell your caregivers if you or someone in your family has had cancer of the esophagus, stomach or intestines. Tell them if you have had a peptic ulcer.

What signs and symptoms may be related to my chronic indigestion?

• Pain and tenderness in your stomach.
  
  
• Feeling of fullness in your stomach when you have just started eating.
  
  
• Nausea (upset stomach), or vomiting (throwing up).
  
  
• Stomach swelling.
  
  
• Heartburn (pain felt on the lower part of your chest).

How may chronic indigestion be treated? If caregivers find a condition causing your dyspepsia, that condition will be treated. If you are 55 years old or younger, and your symptoms are mild, you may be given medicine for 4 to 8 weeks. For those over 55 years of age or with severe symptoms, treatment depends on the results of a test called an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. You may need one or more of the following treatments:

• Medicine:
  
  
  • Antacids: This helps decrease the amount of acid in the stomach to relieve your symptoms.
    
    
  • Histamine antagonists: This decreases the amount of stomach fluid and improves your condition.
    
    
  • Proton pump inhibitors: This is used to decrease the amount of stomach fluid produced during dyspepsia.
  
  

• Treatments and procedures:
  
  
  • Psychotherapy: With this treatment, a specially-trained caregiver talks and listens to you. He will help you find the cause of your stress. You may meet with this caregiver alone, or with a family member. This treatment may help if stress is causing your dyspepsia.
    
    
  • Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: This procedure uses a scope that is put inside the mouth to see the inside of your digestive tract. A scope is usually made of a long, bendable tube with a light on the end of it. A camera may be hooked to the scope to take pictures. Endoscopy is needed if you have vomiting with fresh blood. This is done to learn where the bleeding is coming from, and to stop the bleeding.
  
  

What can I do to prevent or treat my chronic indigestion?

• Avoid stress. Learn new ways to relax, such as deep breathing, meditation, and listening to music. These may help you cope with stressful events.
  
  
• Avoid using NSAIDS, steroids, and narcotics. Taking these medicines when they are not needed may cause your indigestion to be severe (bad). Talk to your caregiver if you use this medicine to treat other conditions.
  
  
• Change your diet. Avoid eating spicy or fatty foods. Avoid drinking too much coffee, tea, soda, or liquids containing alcohol, such as beer, wine, rum, or whiskey. Chocolates, peppermint, spearmint, and citrus juices like orange and lemon may make your dyspepsia worse. Eat small meals several times a day rather than large meals. Ask your caregiver if you need to lose weight, and set a goal to lose it.
  
  
• Talk to your caregiver about over-the-counter medicines. Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are the kind that you can buy without an order (prescription) from a caregiver. These medicines are safe for most people to use and may help you feel better when used correctly. However, they can cause serious problems when they are not used correctly. People using certain other medicines or that have certain medical conditions are at a higher risk for problems. Using too much or using these medicines for longer than the label says can also cause problems. Follow directions on the label carefully. If you have questions, talk to your caregiver.

Will I need appointments with other caregivers? You may need to see a gastroenterologist if your symptoms get worse, are hard to control, or do not improve with treatment. He may do a procedure called an endoscopy. You may need to see a psychiatrist to help you cope with stress.

What should I expect with time or treatment? Relief from chronic indigestion depends on the cause of the symptoms, your treatment, and other factors. If you have peptic ulcer disease, you may need to take antibiotic medicine to treat it. You may need more appointments until your symptoms go away. Dyspepsia may continue even with treatment. It may be a long-term condition, or one that goes away and comes back. If your symptoms do not go away, you may need to have more tests including an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

Call your caregiver if you have any of the following:

• Pain, discomfort, and problems with having bowel movements.
  
  
• Mild to moderate nausea with vomiting and stomach swelling.
  
  
• Your skin looks pale, and you feel weaker and more tired than usual.

Seek immediate help by calling 911 if you have any of the following:

• Trouble swallowing.
  
  
• Severe pain in the stomach that does not go away after taking medicines.
  
  
• Dark-colored stool, or you vomit bright red blood.
  
  
• Weight loss without trying to lose it.
  
  
• Repeated episodes of vomiting.
  
  
• Mass or lump in your abdomen.

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

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