Main symptoms of food retention in the stomach

　　Most of the time, it is due to irregular diet, excessive eating and drinking, or the spleen and stomach being originally weak, damaging the spleen and stomach, leading to the dysfunction of the spleen and stomach, and the obstruction of Qi in the middle jiao. When the turbid Qi is internally blocked, it causes abdominal distension and fullness, loss of appetite, constipation or loose stools, foul-smelling stools, thick and greasy tongue coating, and slippery pulse. When the stomach Qi fails to descend, it rises abnormally, causing nausea, vomiting, hiccups (unintentional intermittent muscle contractions of the diaphragm, causing air to be suddenly inhaled into the respiratory and digestive tracts), and belching with acid.

　　The characteristics of the stomach are that descent is smooth and passage is its function. If dietary regulation is not maintained, with excessive eating and drinking, the intake exceeds the stomach's ability to digest food, leading to the retention of undigested food, which affects the stomach's ability to descend and pass, thus causing symptoms. When food is retained and the stomach Qi is stagnant, the stomach will feel bloated and stuffy, and in severe cases, it may cause pain; when the stomach loses its harmonious descent, the Qi rises abnormally, and the decomposed food in the stomach rises, causing belching with a sour smell and acid regurgitation, and in severe cases, vomiting of sour and rotten food; if food that has not been fully digested is transferred to the intestines, the intestines will be filled with decomposed gas, causing frequent flatulence, or diarrhea with a sour and foul smell. When food retention and internal stagnation occur, the turbid Qi in the stomach rises, resulting in thick and greasy tongue coating, a struggle between the healthy and pathogenic Qi, abundant Qi and blood, thus the pulse is smooth and strong. As indicated in the section 'Injury from Excessive Drinking and Eating' of 'Medical Literature Outline': 'It is said: If the intake of food and drink is doubled, the intestines and stomach will be injured. If there is fever due to the retention of food without proper digestion, the pulse at the two inch level will be deep and slippery and strong. The symptoms will include aversion to food, belching with acid, or a dislike for the smell of food, or an urge to vomit but not being able to, or nausea and vomiting, or shortness of breath and stuffiness, or pain in the stomach when eating, or pain in the abdomen when pressing it, these are the signs.', In 'Treatise on Acute Diseases: Food Diarrhea', it is also pointed out: 'Food diarrhea is the same as stomach diarrhea. It is caused by the spleen being weakened by dampness, unable to properly transport, the Yangming stomach losing its ability to digest, and thus the food accumulation in the large abdomen leads to diarrhea. The pulse at the wrist will be tight and strong, or deep and slippery at the right wrist. The symptoms will include a sour and foul taste in the throat, chest and epigastrium stuffiness, aversion to the smell of food, severe abdominal pain without diarrhea, and when diarrhea occurs, the abdominal pain will subside. Treatment should be given with the method of 'Zha Qu Ping Wei'.',

　　If this condition is caused by spleen and stomach Qi deficiency, the symptoms of deficiency and excess may appear simultaneously. One should carefully differentiate and clarify the proportion of deficiency and excess.

　　1, Symptoms

　　Abdominal distension and fullness, dullness and belching, nausea and vomiting, belching and acid regurgitation, irregular bowel movements, foul-smelling stools, thick and greasy tongue coating, slippery pulse.

　　2, Differentiation

　　It is often caused by overeating and drinking, damaging the spleen and stomach, leading to abnormal digestion and absorption, and obstruction of the Qi in the middle jiao. Food turbidity blocks the middle jiao, causing abdominal distension and fullness, poor appetite, irregular bowel movements or diarrhea, foul-smelling stools, thick and greasy tongue coating, and slippery pulse. The failure of the stomach Qi to descend leads to upward reverse, causing nausea, vomiting, hiccups, and belching.

　　1, Jing Yue Quan Shu <Miscellaneous Diseases>:"Gastric disease is mostly due to excess in temporary cases, while spleen disease is mostly due to deficiency in long-term cases. Many doctors, regardless of the duration of the pathogen or the deficiency, rarely use agents such as opening the stomach and promoting digestion. This is because they do not know about the deficiency. The function of the spleen and stomach is originally to transform food, but now that they cannot transform food, what they can do is to become sick, and yet they can still focus on attacking them, thereby harming their function? Moreover, for any disease, one must first replenish the stomach qi, as the main factor for taking medicine. If the stomach qi is strong, attacking it will remove the disease, and the disease is often easy to recover, which is due to the strong stomach qi and the easy action of the medicine.

　　2, Jing Kui Yi <Food Swelling>:"Overeating can cause food retention in the middle jiao, with symptoms such as acid regurgitation, belching, and aversion to food smell. Eating more exacerbates the symptoms. As the saying goes: 'If one does not regulate their diet and rest, they will suffer from Yin, and Yin will enter the five internal organs, causing fullness and obstruction.' It is advisable to eliminate the retention by resolving it, and in severe cases, by purgation. What is meant by 'fullness in the middle' is purging internally.

　　The treatment of arrhythmia caused by food retention in the stomach focuses on removing accumulated food retention. The treatment principle is: to eliminate food retention and calm the mind. The formula used is Bao He Wan (from Dan Xi Xin Fa): 15g of神曲, 20g of山楂, 15g of茯苓, 15g of半夏, 12g of陈皮, 12g of莱菔子, 10g of连翘. In this formula, hawthorn is used to eliminate all kinds of food retention, especially good at eliminating the retention of meat and greasy foods. Shengfu can eliminate food and invigorate the spleen to transform the accumulation of alcohol and food. Lai lu zi can relieve qi and eliminate the retention of grain and flour. Banxia and Chenpi can promote qi and eliminate retention, harmonize the stomach and stop vomiting. Fu ling can invigorate the spleen and harmonize the middle to stop diarrhea; because food retention is prone to heat, it useslian qiao to clear heat and disperse the accumulation. All the drugs work together to make the food retention dissolve, and the stomach qi harmonize. Add 10g ofShi Gao Pu, 12g ofShan Zao Ren, 20g ofYe Jiao Ling, to open the orifices and calm the mind, so that the food retention is eliminated and palpitations are calmed.

　　For severe cases of food retention, with symptoms such as restless sleep, palpitations, and abdominal distension, Diao Wei Cheng Qi decoction (from Shang Han Lun) can be used: 10g of芒硝, 1.0g of大黄, 6g of甘草. It can relieve constipation, regulate qi, and calm the mind. If there are also symptoms such as chest pain extending to the back, back pain extending to the chest, and chest oppression, add 20g of瓜萎, 15g of丹参, 12g of元胡, 12g of枳实. To promote the flow of meridians and channels, activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis.

　　Gastroscopy can not only directly observe the surface of the gastric mucosa with the naked eye, but can also perform pathological examination of the gastric mucosal living tissue at the same time, thereby confirming the accuracy of the observed diseases.

　　Pain in the throat caused by the examination and slight bleeding after taking the gastric mucosal specimen can mostly heal spontaneously, there is no need to worry. If black stools appear after the examination, you should go to the emergency room for medical treatment.

　　Abnormal results: 1-2 days after examination: The patient may have a brief sore throat, and due to local anesthesia, there may be a foreign body sensation on the posterior wall of the throat. There is often a reflex to cough up secretions. It is advised not to force out secretions to avoid mucosal damage. At the same time, some antiseptic mouthwashes or lozenges can be used to alleviate symptoms and facilitate recovery.

　　1. Foods that are good for the body for the main symptom of food stagnation in the stomach

　　Prefer light diet, eat more vegetables and fruits, reasonably match the diet, and pay attention to sufficient nutrition.

　　2. Foods to avoid for the main symptom of food stagnation in the stomach

　　Avoid smoking and drinking, spicy foods, greasy foods, and smoking and drinking.

　　(The above information is for reference only, please consult a doctor for details.)

　　Treatment: Digestive guidance, harmonizing the stomach and reducing reverse. Stagnation in the stomach is due to irregular diet, overeating, exceeding the digestive capacity of the stomach; or even if the amount of food is not excessive, due to the weak function of the stomach, leading to difficulty in digestion and assimilation of food, and the symptoms shown. As the saying goes in 'Medical Classic Review: Internal Injury Discussion': 'Hunger without eating, and overeating, although both are irregular, it is necessary to understand the difference between the two. What is moderation? It is the middle path between not being too little and not being too much. Those who do not eat due to hunger have an empty stomach, which is a deficiency, caused by irregularity. Those who eat excessively and have stagnation have injured the stomach, which is a deficiency with excess, also caused by irregularity. In terms of injury, it is deficiency; in terms of stagnation, it is excess.' 'Jingyue's Complete Book: Miscellaneous Diseases: Diet Section' also points out: 'All kinds of symptoms caused by diet affecting the spleen, there are cold injury, heat injury, transient disease, chronic disease, deficiency syndrome, and excess syndrome. However, the hot, transient, and excess are easy to recognize by people; while the cold, chronic, and deficiency are often not recognized. Nowadays, people think that cold fruits and vegetables cause injury to the stomach, leading to diarrhea, dysentery, and pain, and still think of them as fire syndrome. And treated with cold and cool, this is not recognizing the cold syndrome. There are occasional cases of distension and pain due to stagnation, which everyone knows is real. However, for those with strong spleen and stomach, even stagnation is easy to be digested. Only those who cannot be digested have the most central deficiency syndrome.' Therefore, there are differences between the实证 and the mixed deficiency-excess syndrome of stagnation in the stomach.