Gastritis Support Group
Gastritis is a medical term for inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It means that white blood cells move into the wall of the stomach as a response to some type of injury. Gastritis has many underlying causes, from infection with the bacterium H. pylori, bile reflux, or excessive consumption of alcohol or certain foods or drugs like aspirin.
Hey guys and gals, this past June I started getting really bad upper left abdominal pain (that sometimes also is present in the upper right abdomen). It came on suddenly without a lot of buildup. I'm an otherwise healthy 35 year old male.
After about a week and unable to take the pain anymore, I went to the ER and they gave me some painkillers, prilosec, carafate, and made an appointment for me in the family practice at the hospital.
I had a urine test, blood test, ultrasound, and h. pylori test. All tests came back fine, so the doctor thinks this is either an ulcer or gastritis.
I was a heavy drinker for many years up until the time the pain started. Once the pain started, I quit and haven't had a sip of alcohol in over 6 months. I'm thinking the pain is the result of years of drinking.
I have a great appetite, bowel movements are normal, no vomiting, and I'm not nauseous much. It's just this unrelenting pain in the upper left abdominal region that sometimes feels like it shoots through straight to my back. I also experience the pain on my left side near the bottom of the ribcage. Sometimes the pain also appears on the right hand side (A problem I had commonly during drinking binges which my doc said may have been reflux/ulcers due to alcohol).
I have been doing a lot of reading online and it seems all my symptoms points to gastritis or ulcer even though my doctor hasn't given a definitive diagnosis yet.
I take 150mg zantac everyday when I wake up and I am on tramadol for the pain... usually around 100-200mg day depending on the pain level that day. I did prilosec for a few months but it didn't do anything. I may try nexium.
This is stressing me out bigtime. I feel like it's never going to go away. I feel like it may be cancer, even though I have no other major bowel symptoms. All these negative thoughts keep running through my head and it's hard to stay positive when I'm constantly in pain.
Six months of this. How long does gastritis and/or ulcer take to heal... especially when I was a heavy drinker for many years. I have put down the bottle. I have no intention to start drinking again, I just want my life back and the pain to go away.
Is it normal for gastritis pain to last over 6 months???
Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you for reading my story.
After about a week and unable to take the pain anymore, I went to the ER and they gave me some painkillers, prilosec, carafate, and made an appointment for me in the family practice at the hospital.
I had a urine test, blood test, ultrasound, and h. pylori test. All tests came back fine, so the doctor thinks this is either an ulcer or gastritis.
I was a heavy drinker for many years up until the time the pain started. Once the pain started, I quit and haven't had a sip of alcohol in over 6 months. I'm thinking the pain is the result of years of drinking.
I have a great appetite, bowel movements are normal, no vomiting, and I'm not nauseous much. It's just this unrelenting pain in the upper left abdominal region that sometimes feels like it shoots through straight to my back. I also experience the pain on my left side near the bottom of the ribcage. Sometimes the pain also appears on the right hand side (A problem I had commonly during drinking binges which my doc said may have been reflux/ulcers due to alcohol).
I have been doing a lot of reading online and it seems all my symptoms points to gastritis or ulcer even though my doctor hasn't given a definitive diagnosis yet.
I take 150mg zantac everyday when I wake up and I am on tramadol for the pain... usually around 100-200mg day depending on the pain level that day. I did prilosec for a few months but it didn't do anything. I may try nexium.
This is stressing me out bigtime. I feel like it's never going to go away. I feel like it may be cancer, even though I have no other major bowel symptoms. All these negative thoughts keep running through my head and it's hard to stay positive when I'm constantly in pain.
Six months of this. How long does gastritis and/or ulcer take to heal... especially when I was a heavy drinker for many years. I have put down the bottle. I have no intention to start drinking again, I just want my life back and the pain to go away.
Is it normal for gastritis pain to last over 6 months???
Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you for reading my story.
I will look into Dexilant. Is it something I will need a prescription for or is it OTC? My doc wants me to come in soon anyway so if it's prescription I can just ask him what he thinks.
As for the chewing tobacco, to be honest no I haven't quit yet. I have tried but it is hard. One of the hardest things I have done. I put down the alcohol one day and never picked it back up. But nicotine is a whole other demon. I am cutting back slowly and really trying.
One reason why it's hard to quit the nicotine, and I will just be completely honest here, is that when I take the painkillers for my stomach, putting in a chew kicks the painkillers into overdrive for maximum relief. Plus, it is very relaxing and calms my nerves which lets my stomach relax.
Tonight is rather bad. I feel like there is a knot in the center of my chest, a bit to the left. Like a very dull ache. Maybe a hernia to go with the gastritis. Ugh.
Anyway, thanks again for all the continued support, advice, and kind words! :)
It sounds like you have a bit of heartburn as well. A Hiatal hernia you usually dont feel at all unless it is a larger one. Small ones are common but they give you typical heartburn or silent reflux all the time. It doesnt sound like that to me.
Just keep working at it. Work on the mental stress/health as well. That is the key to you getting better. Try getting out and walking and calming your brain.
I've been dealing with this for over a year now. I've been to the ER 5 times. They finally admitted me. I've had every imaginable test run, upper GI, cat scan, cancer test, hpylori, etc. They find nothing but gastritis.
Stress is a huge factor for me. I was in the hospital this month on a liquid diet for 5 days. They sent me home with the usual meds. I'm still having morning nausea every day.
Elavil has helped keep down the extreme pain that sent me to the ER. I deal with the stress in any way I find helpful, weaving, meditating, shutting myself in a room alone when family stress gets too high.
I feel like an invalid. I can't do much, & am afraid to travel too far from home.
I wish I had more to offer, but I'm totally confused as to the cause other than stress. I don't eat the obvious but I've lost so much wait & can 't afford to lose more, so I'm eating what I can, but the wait isn't coming back.
The best thing about the hospital stay was the Elavil & knowing it's not cancer. Elavil is an antidepressant & helps with nerve pain. It's helping. with the pain & the anxiety & panic attacks. Don't bother with the prilosec, it just doesn't work.
I made a couple replies to lacemuse about my gastritis condition, maybe there is something there to help give you a clue. But maybe your symptoms are caused by something else? During my 3-year medical odyssey at one point they said it was my pancreas, and I may have pancreatitis. So I did a bunch of research.
Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas, and can be caused by heavy drinking - usually for several years. There are 2 types of pancreatitis, Acute and Chronic. Acute is a painful attack that usually goes away after a week or so, but it def is painful. The pain is in the center of your ab, left or right and radiates to your back. The pancreas is a long organ in back of your stomach and is attached to the back of your abdomen wall. It creates insulin and enzymes to digest your food and works with your liver. Chronic pancreatitis can occur usually after a few rounds of Acute Pancreatitis. It may not be as painful, but it is a long-term thing.
I def would ask your GI doctor for an EUS (Endoscopic Ultra-sound) test to check your pancreas, liver, and stomach all at the same time, so you know what is going on. Unfortunately, you got to go through a few tests to get to the answer - hopefully!
Good luck, don't give up. Keep doing your research.
They also looked at my liver, kidneys, and spleen which were all fine as well. The only thing they did see was I had mild fatty liver. But on a follow up visit several months later, the doc said the fatty tissue was going away due to the fact that I have quit drinking.
I wouldn't be surprised if I damaged my stomach though... and now it will take some time to heal.
Seems to be the worst in the morning, when I first wake up, and will gradually ease up over the course of the day. Not all days though. Some days I am in pain constantly.
And on the worst of the worst days, not only will the upper left abdomen hurt, but the right side will hurt as well.
Have you been tested for H. Pylori bacterium?
Has your colon been checked - like with a colonoscopy?
Diverticulitis or some sort of inflammation in the colon might be an issue?
Try not to stress about it or think about it all the time. I agree alcohol damages the lining of the stomach. it is a common cause of gastritis. many young people on this site talk about drinking too much and developing gastritis.
You sound like you have had a lot of tests.
Dont take antibiotics unless you have a reason to. They can also cause gastritis and that may make you worse.
Well here we are another few months later and the pain is no better. There's still no nausea or vormiting. I don't feel "sick".
It's just this pain that will not go away and it's really ruining my life right now. Even the painkillers are starting to lose their potency and not helping me very much.
I feels like a torn muscle but I know if it was just a torn muscle, it would be healed by now. Wondering if it's a hernia after all.
I'm really at a loss here. I've tried everything suggested in this thread with no luck. I see my doc again in June, so I'll see where to go from here.
May I ask has anybody had endoscopy test, suffer from panic attacks and anxiety so fear is present to take the test, has anyone had the sedation for test or coped without sedation, any words of advice most gratefully appreciated.
So don't go worrying - you will be really surprised and won't feel the need to panic - it just won't be there.
Let us know how you go and then you can tell me I was right.
I was originally told after my first scope that I didn't have helicobactor, but my scope that I had done in January show extensive helicobactor, chronic gastritis with cell changes.
I know anxiety plays a huge part in the healing process, and as a manager who works a stressful job, long hours with little breaks, this contributes to my already stressed stomach.
I feel my only option left is to leave my job to concentrate on overcoming this horrible gastritis and eliminate as many possible causes.
It is such a shame because I have worked really hard to get where I am and getting we'll paid for my efforts, but stress and anxiety is the byproduct of this & it's making me ill.
But if I don't get this under control, I have no doubt I will be dealing with a lot more than just gastritis.
So my new goals are:
- eating (small regular pain meals, food planning)
- sleeping (GI doctor had to give me sleeping tablets cause my stomach kept me awake most of the night)
- exercise (couldn't exercise because I had fatigue issue due to low vitamin B & vitamin D due to the acid suppressants)
- mental clarity & balance, because I'm not depressed, I just want to heal my gastritis caused by a bacteria that the 'nutter' GI missed 4 years ago