A bleeding stomach ulcer can give sometimes give the same symptoms as an upset stomach or the stomach flu. If you find that some of your common stomach symptoms are mixed in with feelings of abdominal pain, then it is possible that you have a bleeding stomach ulcer. It is important to get to a doctor before the ulcer gets worse and develops into a more serious medical condition such as a complete penetration of the stomach lining.
Burning Sensation
One of the more common symptoms of a bleeding stomach ulcer is also one of the symptoms that gets misdiagnosed a great deal. A bleeding stomach ulcer will cause you to have an extremely uncomfortable burning feeling in your stomach that can last as long as three hours. It can feel as though something is gnawing at your stomach from the inside, and it can become extremely painful. In many cases, people will misinterpret this as heartburn, or they may even mistake it as a sign that the patient is hungry. The pain can sometimes be so severe that it will wake the patient up at night. This is usually a sign that it is something a doctor needs to look at.
Weight Changes
People who disregard the symptoms of a bleeding stomach ulcer as being heartburn or some other common ailment will sometimes find comfort in treating the condition by eating each time it occurs. This will result in excessive eating because the person can only find relief from filling his stomach with food. As a result of this practice, the patient gains weight. There is also the opposite effect when a person is experiencing a bleeding ulcer in that it is too painful for the person to allow her stomach to digest food. Inexplicable weight changes accompanied by continued feelings of heartburn are signs of a bleeding ulcer.
Abdominal Pain
In the more severe cases of a bleeding stomach ulcer, it is possible that the perforation in the stomach lining has gone completely through the stomach and is allowing undigested food and stomach acids to enter into the abdominal cavity. This is signified by extreme abdominal pain that seems to be made worse by any kind of movement. Once the ulcer has penetrated the stomach lining, the episodes of abdominal pain can become frequent and severe.
Bloating
In some cases, the bleeding ulcer may occur closer to the base of the stomach near the duodenum. If this happens, then scar tissue may occur in the connection between the stomach and the duodenum, and this will block the path that food uses to leave the stomach. The patient will begin to feel bloated and nauseous, which could lead to vomiting.
Belching
One symptom of a bleeding stomach ulcer that is commonly ignored is continued belching. When it is the symptom of a bleeding stomach ulcer, the belching can be accompanied by abdominal pain and acid reflux.
