5 Reasons Your Stomach Hurts When You Wake Up Early Morning

If your stomach hurts early in the morning when you wake up, there are a few causes.

Early morning stomach pain and ache can begin right when you wake up after sleeping – sometimes as early as around 4 am.

Some common reasons are indigestion, illness, or eating something unhealthy the night before. 

Sometimes, drinking too much the night can be a factor too.

Consistently experiencing stomach pain every morning means there is an underlying cause that needs to be addressed.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the causes of early morning stomach pain.

Finally, we’ll give some useful tips on how to get relief if your stomach hurts early in the morning.

Let’s dive in!

What causes your stomach to hurt when you wake up early in the morning?

1. GERD

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is a common issue that causes stomachache early morning after sleeping.

GERD is a condition that develops when gastric contents like food, fluid, and stomach acids frequently reflux up into the esophagus.

This condition worsens when you lie down after waking up.

Part of the reason is that digestive juices and food back up into the esophagus from the stomach.

Burping or heartburn is one of the common symptoms of GERD.

In the morning, it’s likely to experience the symptoms of GERD in the form of your stomach hurting.

This is often the case when you sleep with your head not slightly elevated or supported with a good pillow for your sleeping position.

A study by researchers at the University of Arizona reported that people with GERD experience stomach hurt and pain early in the morning after waking up.

2. Food poisoning

In our fast-paced everyday society, harmful substances often cause our bodies to react poorly.

These toxic substances can find their way into our bodies when we eat, breathe, inject, or absorb food or fluids.

Eating food containing toxins or harmful substances leads to food poisoning.

Researchers have shown that food poisoning can result in severe diarrhea, toxic shock syndrome, and other infections.

If you have food poisoning, your stomach will start to hurt in the morning, sometimes as early as around 4 am.

3. Gastritis

People with Gastritis also tend to have hurting stomachs early in the morning when they wake up.

In general, Gastritis is when your protective stomach lining inflames. 

Besides bacteria infection, other habits or conditions can make it more likely to experience this inflammation.

Research shows that severe forms of gastritis can reduce your body’s ability to absorb:

• essential vitamins like vitamin B12, and
• micronutrients like iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc

This failure to absorb nutrients may result in early morning stomach pain and aches. That’s because our body is unable to replenish itself when we sleep.

Moreover, if you have Gastritis and eat anything spicy or drink alcohol at night, the next morning, you are prone to have a hurting stomach.

4. Dehydration

If your stomach hurts early in the morning, it might be just because you’re not drinking enough water.

Let me explain.

Water helps to transport all the nutrients, oxygen, and other essential elements to different cells.

Drinking water allows you to set up a solid nutrient distribution system to serve your body well.

However, when you’re dehydrated, your body is not able to digest the essential nutrients.

Poor digestion can sometimes cause you to experience those hurting sensations early in the morning when you wake up. 

A recent study on dehydration-related abdominal pain shows that people with dehydration experience stomach hurt early morning. 

Related: How to Improve Digestive Health in 10 Easy Ways

5. Irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects your large intestine. It can cause your stomach to hurt when you wake up early in the morning. 

Often, signs of IBS include:

• bloating
• abdominal pain
• cramping, and diarrhea, or
• constipation

Research shows that about 20 to 65 percent of people suffering from IBS complain of adverse or abnormal responses to food.

In fact, if you have IBS, it’s likely your stomach will hurt early in the morning and you have to poop when you wake up.

If you wake up early in the morning with stomach pain and also experience constipation, excessive gas, and bloating, then chances are you’ve irritable bowel syndrome.

According to research, IBS can be treated or managed by adjusting to one’s diet and using prescribed medications. 

If your IBS condition proves severe, you may need more than mere lifestyle changes – you should visit a doctor and get the necessary treatments.

How to stop your stomach from hurting early in the morning

1. Mint

Mint has a soothing effect. And you can take mint early in the morning if you’re experiencing stomach hurt. 

Consuming mint provides indigestion-related benefits. This includes:

• preventing vomiting
• reducing muscle spasms
• reducing stomach pain 

Research study has found the pharmacological and therapeutic effects of components present in mint. 

2. Lime, baking soda, and water

You can take a glass of water, lime, and a pinch of baking soda.

This mixture is found to relieve a variety of digestive issues that causes stomach pain early morning. 

3. Aloe juice

Aloe juice can help if your stomach hurts early in the morning when you wake up.

contains pain-relieving substances that offer relief from pain caused by excess stomach acid.

A clinical study looked into Aloe vera syrup’s impact on the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease.

The researchers enrolled 79 participants in the study and assessed the GERD symptoms including:

• Heartburn
• Food regurgitation
• Flatulence
• Belching
• Nausea
• Vomiting

The findings showed that aloe vera was safe. And it reduced the frequency of the symptoms of GERD with no withdrawal events.

Also, Aloe Juice helps to remove toxins from the bowel and reduce inflammation in the stomach which can reduce pain in the morning.

One study shows that drinking aloe vera juice can suppress the symptom of GERD.

3. Bananas

Banana contains potassium, vitamin B6, and other nutrients that provide relief from muscle spasms and stomach upset. 

Study shows that bananas can help to reduce the symptoms of inflammatory bowel syndrome.

Furthermore, the average banana has around 3 grams of fiber. Therefore, it is safe to say that bananas are a good source of fiber.

One of the many benefits of dietary fiber includes improved digestion. Bananas have two main types of dietary fiber:

• Pectin
• Resistant starch

These two fiber types are abundant in unripe bananas.

Resistant starch ends up in the colon, where it becomes a prebiotic (food for beneficial bacteria).

Pectin has a host of health benefits, including protection against colon cancer. 

4. Drink water

If your stomach hurts early in the morning, drinking first thing when you wake up can help to relieve the pain and enable you to poop.

Sometimes, dehydration can cause indigestion, and your stomach hurts.

Drinking water cleanses the colon, and that improves our intestine’s efficiency to absorb nutrients.

It enables you to have a free-flowing bowel movement, which may prevent constipation.

Staying hydrated throughout the day improves stomach health.