Recurring Abdominal Pain

You urgently need to discuss your symptoms with your doctor.

In your case, your age and risk for artery disease make it important for you to have your pain evaluated promptly. If a diagnosis is not identified easily, your doctor may consider the possibility that your pain could arise from artery disease (atherosclerosis).

Angina (the symptom of inadequate blood flow to your heart muscle) is sometimes felt in the abdomen, and it is sometimes provoked by meals. It is possible to have angina after eating if your blood flow adjusts after meals to give more blood to the digestive organs and less blood to your heart muscle. This change in blood flow occurs in some people after meals.

Eating can also trigger intestinal pain if an artery that is supposed to supply blood to your small intestine is too narrow to give your intestine an adequate supply. This is sometimes called "abdominal angina," "intestinal angina," or "ischemic bowel."

If your abdominal pain is brought on by exercise, if you have sweating or shortness of breath accompanying your pain, or if you are a smoker, artery disease is a stronger possibility.

Although an evaluation of your heart and arteries will probably not be the first priority in your evaluation, you and your doctor should remember this possibility if an explanation for your pain is not quickly identified.

Let's continue to explore other reasons for your recurrent abdominal pain.

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