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We’ve all been hit with stomach pain after eating at some point or another. You may feel a wave of extreme gas pain post-dinner, or even run to the bathroom to poop after eating. There’s usually a clear cause for stomachaches of this kind—like overdoing it on pizza and beer, or going back for that third (delicious) chocolate chip cookie. But other times, the culprit isn’t so clear.

Postprandial pain—aka, a stomachache after you eat—can have a pretty wide range of possible causes, says Hector Gonzalez, MD, a gastroenterologist with Gastro Health in Plantation, Florida. But you can learn a lot about what might be going on by paying attention to your symptoms.

To get to the bottom of your stomachache (and hopefully, keep it from coming back), let’s take a look at some of the most likely causes. Plus, what you can do to soothe a sour stomach ASAP.

1. Overeating

It may seem obvious, but sometimes, the problem is as simple as just eating too much, Dr. Gonzalez says. Thankfully, it’s usually fairly easy to distinguish overeating pain from “there’s-a-problem-with-my-stomach” pain.

“Typically, a stomachache from overeating feels like a general discomfort or pain in your stomach because it’s overly full,” he explains. Typically, the effects of overeating wear off as your body digests what you ate.

2. Indigestion

Indigestion is stomach pain caused by trouble breaking down food, rather than just eating too much of it. And it feels a little different, too. “It might include symptoms like heartburn, bloating, or nausea and tends to manifest in the upper abdomen,” Dr. Gonzalez explains.

Sometimes indigestion is just from eating a specific food that’s tougher to digest (like fatty or fried foods). Other times, it’s a symptom of an underlying problem like acid reflux, a food intolerance, peptic ulcers, IBS, or gallstones—especially if you’re getting indigestion a lot, notes the Cleveland Clinic.

3. Acid reflux or GERD

Acid reflux happens when the acid from your stomach flows back into your esophagus—i.e., the tube that connects your stomach to your throat. The result can be heartburn, upper stomach pain after eating, chest pain, or regurgitating food into your throat or mouth (ew, we know). And if you get acid reflux more than twice a week, it’s called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), per the