Can Dehydration Cause Stomach Pain?
Medically reviewed by Kumkum S. Patel MD, MPH
Dehydration occurs when your body loses more water than it absorbs. Without enough water, your body can no longer function normally, and you may experience significant discomfort including stomach and abdominal pain.
Dehydration can happen for reasons including illness, sweating from exercise, or spending too much time in the heat. Rehydrating properly can help ease and prevent stomach and abdominal pain from dehydration.
This article explains why stomach cramps and pain happen when you’re dehydrated, what you
can do to feel better, and when to seek medical attention.
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Takeaway
Water makes up 60% of an average adult’s body weight. We lose water normally through metabolism, breathing, sweating, and removing waste. Consuming water through beverages and food helps restore water lost from these bodily functions.
Understanding the Link Between Dehydration and Stomach Pain
Water helps your body digest food, move it through the gastrointestinal system, and keep stools soft. If you’re dehydrated, your bowels can become sluggish, leading to constipation, abdominal
pain, and cramps.
Dehydration also causes you to lose electrolytes (important charged minerals such as sodium and potassium) and your blood vessels to constrict. This can lead to muscle cramps throughout the body including in the stomach and abdomen—and dizziness, which can cause nausea.
Both acute and chronic dehydration can cause abdominal pain, which in some cases may be severe. Dehydration can also lead to decreased blood flow (ischemia) in the digestive tract. This has been seen in endurance athletes, such as marathon runners, and in older people. Crampy abdominal pain is one symptom of this.
What Does Dehydration Feel Like in Your Stomach?
If you’re dehydrated, you might feel weak and thirsty. You may also experience abdominal or stomach cramps. If dehydration worsens, you can begin to feel nauseous, vomit, or find consuming fluids difficult.
Some causes of dehydration, such as viral or bacterial illnesses that cause diarrhea, can also cause abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.
Other Dehydration Symptoms
Dehydration is serious and can be fatal if not treated. In addition to abdominal cramps or pain, symptoms of mild dehydration include:
Thirst and dry mouth
Urinating less than usual or dark-colored urine
Sweating less than usual
Dry or dull skin
Feeling tired
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Along with the physical symptoms of dehydration, mild dehydration can also cause mood changes or make you feel confused, angry, or tired.
Without treatment, dehydration can become moderate or severe. Symptoms of moderate or severe dehydration include:
Irritability
Rapid heartbeat or breathing
How Do You Know if You're Dehydrated?
Your symptoms may lead you to suspect you are dehydrated. If your symptoms are severe or your mild symptoms don't resolve by drinking water or sports drinks, you may want to see a healthcare provider.
To diagnose dehydration, they will perform a physical examination and ask about your symptoms. They can also check your blood and urine for further indications of dehydration.
Certain things also increase the chances you will become dehydrated. These include:
Sweating or spending too much time in the heat and not drinking enough water
Not drinking enough water in general
Some medications, such as diuretics (water pills)
Older age
Some conditions, including cystic fibrosis (a genetic condition in which more salt is excreted in a person's sweat), diabetes, and kidney disease
What Helps Relieve a Stomachache From Dehydration?
How to treat your dehydration can depend on what's causing it. In cases of mild dehydration, the best treatment is to rehydrate and replace lost fluids and electrolytes by drinking plenty of water and rehydration drinks or sports drinks with electrolytes.
You should avoid drinks with caffeine or alcohol because they can make dehydration worse.
If diarrhea is causing dehydration, it's best to avoid fluids like juice or sports drinks that contain high amounts of sugar because they can worsen it.
Oral rehydration electrolyte solutions (such as Pedialyte) are often given to children who are dehydrated from stomach bugs. However, these can be expensive and unpalatable. Diluted apple juice (one part apple juice, one part water) followed by preferred beverages (juice or sports drinks) is a different option that some have studied.
How to Prevent Dehydration-Related Stomach Pain
To help prevent dehydration and accompanying stomach pain, you should:
Make sure to drink more fluid than you are losing if you're exercising or in the sun
Schedule physical outdoor activities for the cooler parts of the day
How Much Water Do You Need?
National Academy of Medicine standards suggest healthy adult males should drink about 13 cups of fluids per day and healthy adult females about 9 cups. One cup is equal to 8 ounces. However, how much you need as an individual is based on many other factors, including your climate, physical activity, body size, pregnancy status, and more.
In addition to fluid intake, another 20% of a person's total water intake doesn't come from beverages but from water-rich foods like lettuce, leafy greens, cucumbers, celery, berries, and melons.
Other Possible Causes of Abdominal Pain
There are other possible causes of abdominal or stomach pain besides dehydration. They include:
IBS
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can cause abdominal discomfort and pain along with constipation or diarrhea. Some believe it to result from problems with how the brain and the gut interact and communicate.
Gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis is caused by an infection of the intestines. Symptoms of gastroenteritis can include abdominal pain or cramping, nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, and sometimes fever.
Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common and occur when bacteria infect the bladder,
urethra, ureters, or kidneys. UTIs irritate the urinary tract, which can cause lower abdominal or pelvic pain.
Constipation
Constipation is a common cause of abdominal pain. Symptoms of constipation include having fewer
than three bowel movements a week or stools that are hard, dry, or difficult to pass.
When to Contact a Healthcare Provider
Severe dehydration is a medical emergency that can require treatment with intravenous (IV) fluids. Without treatment, dehydration can cause severe complications and even death.
You should seek medical attention immediately if you have any symptoms of severe dehydration, such as a rapid or weak pulse, extreme dizziness, or not passing urine for eight hours or more.
You should also contact a healthcare provider if you continue to experience stomach or abdominal pain despite drinking fluids or have vomited more than three times in 24 hours. A healthcare provider should also be contacted if you think your baby or toddler might be dehydrated.
Summary
Dehydration has numerous causes, including illnesses that involve vomiting or diarrhea, exercising, being outdoors in the heat, or simply not taking in enough fluids. Abdominal or stomach pain is a common symptom of dehydration.
If you think you might be dehydrated, it’s important to rehydrate by drinking fluids right away. Without treatment, dehydration can worsen and cause serious complications that might require hospitalization.
If possible, it’s best to prevent dehydration by drinking enough fluids and eating foods that have a high water content.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
