Severe abdominal pain only after meals can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'troubling' to 'critical'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose severe abdominal pain only after meals, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Stomach Ulcers | 94% | Confirm |
Atrophic Gastritis | 24% | Unlikely |
Mesenteric Ischemia | 18% | Unlikely |
Gallbladder Disease | 1% | Ruled out |
Crohn's Disease | 1% | Ruled out |
Gastritis | 1% | Ruled out |
Lactose Intolerance | 0% | Ruled out |
Food Allergies | 0% | Ruled out |
If you regularly experience general abdominal pain that begins after eating a meal, roughly how frequent and severe is it?
Possible responses:
→ Not applicable / don't know→ Occasional mild/moderate pain → Frequent mild and/or occasional moderate pain → Frequent moderate and/or occasional severe pain → Severe pain after most/all meals |
Meal-induced pain in the abdomen suggests the presence of gallstones in the gallbladder that are causing a blockage in the bile duct: The gallbladder contracts as part of the digestive process but the bile is unable to drain, leading to pressure and pain.
Symptoms of lactose intolerance can be mild or severe, depending on how much lactase your body makes.