Gastritis during pregnancy - what is dangerous and how it progresses

Inflammation of the internal mucous membrane of the stomach wall, which primarily provokes disruption of the process of food digestion, which worsens the general condition of the body and leads to rapid fatigue and decreased performance, is called gastritis. The problem of treating gastritis worries many people, since it is one of the most common diseases - about half of the world's population suffers from gastritis.

There are two types of gastritis: acute, which occurs for the first time and proceeds violently; chronic – occurs repeatedly, occurring with frequent relapses. Chronic gastritis cannot be cured. If a person is diagnosed with this, he must come to terms with the fact that he will live with this disease.

The first type of gastritis is acute inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and duodenum. There are many causes of acute gastritis. Among them are chemical, thermal, mechanical, and bacterial. Acute gastritis develops according to this pattern: the surface cells and glands of the gastric mucosa are damaged, and therefore inflammatory changes develop in it. Such an inflammatory process can affect only the superficial epithelium of the mucous membrane or stomach, or spread throughout its entire thickness and even penetrate into the muscular layer of the stomach wall. Gastritis occurs as a result of diseases of the pancreas, gall bladder, liver, due to errors in nutrition, after the use of certain medications, toxic food infections, food allergies (to berries, mushrooms, etc.), burns, and basic metabolic disorders. Symptoms of acute gastritis usually appear in a person 4-8 hours after exposure to one of the above-mentioned causes. A person feels heaviness and fullness in the epigastric region, nausea, weakness, dizziness, diarrhea, and vomiting may occur. The skin becomes pale, a grayish-white coating is noticeable on the tongue, severe dry mouth or, conversely, drooling is observed.

The course of chronic gastritis differs from acute gastritis. The cause of this disease is inflammatory changes in the gastric mucosa and disturbances in the production of hydrochloric acid in it (diseases of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas). Patients experience unpleasant pain, stomach and intestinal disorders after eating or nervous stress, irritability, decreased blood pressure, increased fatigue, and general weakness in general. As numerous mass surveys have shown, more than half of the adult population of developed (!) countries of the world suffers from chronic gastritis; among digestive diseases it accounts for more than 30%.

Most women suffering from chronic gastritis experience an exacerbation of the disease during pregnancy. These women, as a rule, develop early toxicosis, accompanied by vomiting. Toxicosis can drag on for as long as 14-17 weeks and be quite severe. But chronic gastritis is not a contraindication for pregnancy. Despite the unpleasant discomfort and poor health experienced by pregnant women from the exacerbation of their illness, it does not affect the fetus. And yet he needs to be treated.

Symptoms of chronic gastritis

With chronic gastritis in pregnant women, specific symptoms are not observed, because the disease progresses differently in different people. Signs of the disease in most cases are pain in the epigastric region, nausea, belching, vomiting, and upset stool. In chronic gastritis with secretory insufficiency (low levels of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice), gastric and intestinal dyspepsia (disorders) are observed more often. With gastritis with preserved or increased secretion of gastric juice (often found at a young age), pain in the upper abdomen predominates, which can be repeated. In the case of the latter gastritis, patients complain of pain in the epigastric region, in the right hypochondrium or around the navel. Most often, pain occurs after eating, namely after eating a certain type of food. Less often, pain appears regardless of food, on an empty stomach or at night. The pain is sometimes severe, sometimes moderate. With gastritis with increased secretion, the pain is usually severe, with decreased secretion it is weaker. If you don’t want the pain to get worse, don’t eat too much - the more the stomach walls are stretched, the stronger the pain.

Complications (exacerbations) of gastritis in pregnant women

Gastritis itself is not particularly scary, and with normalization of nutrition, the disease proceeds calmly, without exacerbations. But if you abuse the simple rules that are recommended for patients, you can have serious consequences:

An ulcer is a serious inflammation that affects not only the mucous membrane, but also muscle tissue. Treatment of ulcers during pregnancy is complex and lengthy. The disease manifests itself with severe pain, vomiting, and constant heartburn.
Bleeding occurs during severe attacks of gastritis, against the background of exacerbation. At the first sign of vomiting blood, you should seek medical help.
Cancer is the most serious complication that develops after an untreated ulcer. It is quite easy to recognize the formation, since the patient regularly experiences severe pain, nausea, and bleeding./li>

In addition to such serious complications, gastritis during pregnancy can cause damage to the intestines, biliary tract, the development of chronic pancreatitis, and iron deficiency anemia.

Causes of the disease

Predisposing factors for chronic gastritis are:

stress caused by troubles at work or in the family and leading to disruption of the natural rhythm of life (lack of proper sleep due to night shift work);

Conditions that threaten the life of mother and child

Situations when you should call an ambulance are highlighted. These include:

ectopic pregnancy - characterized by severe pain radiating to the leg and anus;
premature placental abruption – accompanied by bleeding and cramping pain, severe and prolonged;
premature birth - starting from 22-37 weeks, is caused by discomfort in the lower back and lower abdomen of a cramping type.

Stomach pain requires seeing a doctor in any case. A woman cannot always independently determine the degree of danger of a phenomenon. Sometimes discomfort is a signal of a serious illness that worsens during pregnancy.

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Diagnosis of gastritis during pregnancy

To clarify the diagnosis of chronic gastritis, it is not enough to study the patient’s complaints and the history of the disease. It is necessary to conduct an endoscopic examination - examination of gastric juice. To do this, gastric intubation is performed, during which gastric juice is taken and the acidity of gastric juice is measured. The procedure is carried out using a special apparatus, which is lowered into the stomach (this is also called “Japanese” swallowing). Don't worry - this is normal during pregnancy. With its help, the level of acidity of gastric juice is determined, and this in turn will help determine the type of gastritis (with high or low acidity) and the appropriate treatment. The endoscopic method is very valuable for diagnosis. It is used to determine the presence of such phenomena on the gastric mucosa as erosion. However, it is considered quite burdensome for a pregnant woman, so the endoscopic method is used when preliminary treatment has failed.

Help for pregnant women with stomach pain: medications, prevention

Have you been struggling with GASTRITIS and ULCERS for many years without success?

“You will be amazed at how easy it is to cure gastritis and ulcers just by taking it every day.

During the nine months of pregnancy, global changes occur in the body of expectant mothers, against the background of which many women experience sensations unknown before this time. They can be both pleasant and exciting, and cause severe discomfort.

Most pregnant women complain of pain in the stomach, and they can occur in any trimester and have varying intensity. As a rule, this condition is due to the fact that the growing fetus begins to put pressure on the gastrointestinal tract and, as a result, discomfort appears. But, there are other reasons that can provoke the occurrence of pain, which should not be ignored and need timely elimination.

The main reason for the appearance of pain in the stomach of a pregnant woman should be considered the natural process of enlargement of the uterus. It gradually begins to expand, as a result of which physical pressure is exerted on neighboring organs.

Expectant mothers may develop accompanying symptoms:

vomiting reflex;
heartburn;
severe nausea.

When the second trimester of pregnancy begins, pain in the stomach area is added to the already manifested symptoms. Already at the beginning of the third, in expectant mothers, the enlarged uterus begins to compress both the large and small intestines, and also shifts the lobes of the liver to the side. As a result, digestive processes are disrupted, as it becomes more and more difficult for the food bolus to move from the stomach to the intestines.

Other factors can provoke the development of pain in the stomach in pregnant women:

too long breaks between meals;
stressful situations;
insufficient amount of fluid in the stomach;
consumption of harmful foods that should not be present in the diet of expectant mothers;
binge eating.

Some women confuse stomach pain with contractions, so they begin to panic and go to medical institutions for consultation. They should know that this organ of the gastrointestinal tract has a horizontal location. If pain appears, its localization will be the region of the ribs, as well as the area located below the navel.

Discomfort and pain in women who are pregnant may occur for the following reasons:

abdominal muscle tension;
severe fatigue;
penetration of viral bacilli into the body;
infection (bacterial);
disruption of defecation processes;
the appearance of polyps;
disruption of the gastrointestinal tract;
pneumonia or sore throat;
allergies;
individual intolerance to certain products;
various forms of gastritis.

When studying statistics, you can find that in almost 45% of pregnant women, gastrointestinal diseases go into remission during pregnancy. This is due to the fact that expectant mothers actively produce progesterone, which stimulates the process of mucus production, the action of which is aimed at protecting the gastric mucosa from the effects of various aggressive factors. Only 12% of pregnant women experience exacerbations of pathologies that have developed in the digestive tract.

Treatment and nutrition

In case of exacerbation of gastritis, the patient is recommended bed rest and diet. The diet provides for fractional meals (up to 6 times a day). Food is prepared in a semi-liquid form and not fried, the consumption of table salt and carbohydrates (sugar, jam, confectionery), and broths that have a juice effect are limited. It is recommended to consume milk, mucous or milk soups from cereals, soft-boiled eggs, meat or fish balls, dumplings, butter, cottage cheese, kefir, vegetable stew, fresh fruits and vegetables. If the patient's condition improves, the diet is expanded, including boiled meat and fish, potatoes, pasta, doctor's sausage, lean ham, cereal, cheese, and sour cream. When the exacerbation has passed and you can eat normally, patients should still exclude fried foods, smoked foods, and spicy seasonings from their diet in the future - these foods should generally be avoided by all pregnant women.

In the absence of edema in pregnant women with normal or increased acidity of gastric juice, they are recommended to drink mineral waters: “Borjomi”, “Smirnovskaya”, “Slavyanovskaya”, “Jermuk”. The daily norm is up to 300 ml 3 times a day, 1.5-2 hours after meals. Pregnant women with low acidity should drink water “Mirgorodskaya”, “Essentuki” No. 4, 17, “Arzni”.

Treatment with medications for pregnant women suffering from chronic gastritis has its own characteristics. Depending on what type of gastritis you have, your doctor (gastroenterologist) will prescribe medications. Under no circumstances should you self-medicate if you have this disease. Even medicinal water, if unknowingly, can cause harm - cause aggravation and more.

The only thing that can be recommended is herbal treatment. Chronic gastritis with normal or increased gastric secretion is treated with infusions of medicinal plants, which have an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and enveloping effect. These are St. John's wort, chamomile, mint, oat seed, flax seed, yarrow, knotweed, cinquefoil, calamus rhizome, sedatives (valerian root, motherwort herb), celandine. Also, medicinal herbs that suppress inflammation of the gastric mucosa and stimulate its secretory function are used to treat chronic gastritis with reduced secretion in pregnant women. Only this is a different set of herbs: wormwood, plantain leaves, thyme, cumin, fennel, oregano, parsley, parsnip, mint, trifolia, St. John's wort, yarrow, and others.

To avoid getting sick

The best way to prevent the onset or exacerbation of the disease is to follow a diet. Take food little by little, in small portions, 4-5 times a day, chewing it well. Don't overeat (it's better to eat more often). It is better to exclude the list of foods that irritate the gastric mucosa from the diet. These are strong broths, canned foods, smoked meats, spices, seasonings, strong coffee, tea, carbonated drinks. Remember: stress, smoking and alcohol abuse contribute to the development of the disease.

Especially for beremennost.net – Elena Kichak