After taking migraine medicine last night, I have stomach pain. What does this mean?

Question

Hi doctor,

I have chronic gastritis for about a year. Last year I had two bleeding ulcers. I had to take migraine medicine last night, and it usually upsets my stomach. All through the night, the stomach pain woke me up. It made noises all night, and I vomited. What does this mean, and what should I do?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Well, I can understand you must be very concerned about your symptoms when they bring you out of your sleep at night.

It would have very easier for me to figure out what caused these symptoms to develop overnight if you have mentioned the medications you have taken for migraine. The migraine is treated with different classes of medications, the one common which could be a culprit underlying your symptoms is a painkiller containing Ibuprofen (NSAID), Diclofenac sodium (NSAID) or any other component with the same class. They basically increase acid production and can cause pain in the stomach.

I am also afraid if you were using painkillers for migraine a year ago, then the cause for your bleeding ulcers year back could be due to the use of painkillers.

I want you to tell me the names of medicine, and I will tell you whether they were the cause for your current and past symptoms. This is possible that ulcers have now developed as well because of the continuous use of anti-migraine medications. Lastly, chronic gastritis, with one history of bleeding ulcers in the stomach, is also somewhat concerning. It is possible you could have H.pylori infections-the another common cause of stomach ulcers, and a possible explanation for your current and past symptoms.

You can continue with Omeprazole for now, till the time you provide me more information about your medical history and as I can give your a proper plan of treatment. I hope it will help you to figure out things.