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.
It seems that lately that this condition has been worse on my mental health than it has on my physical.
I've been dealing with gastritis for well over seven months now, and while I've grown accustomed to the fact that every day will be filled with nausea, bloating, indigestion, etc. I feel like I'm cracking sometimes, mentally.
I'm snapping at people, I'm feeling depressed and anxious, I've even noticed some OCD symptoms popping up when dealing with food.
How I long to be normal again, how foolish I feel that I ever took for granted being able to eat a slice of pizza or to stop at a rest stop on a road trip or to go to a party and have a cocktail.
And every time I try to explain how hard this is to someone, they just don't get it. "It's just food. You're not missing out on much" or "It's just indigestion, I get that sometimes too" or "Can't you eat any more? You're skin and bones."
No, it's not just food. Our society revolves around it. It's shoved in our faces online and in ads and at work and at parties. And it's not just "indigestion" and no, I can't just "eat a little more" without feeling like I'm going to throw up.
What do you do to keep yourself cheerful/upbeat while dealing with this? How do you look beyond this? Has anyone else dealt with anxiety/OCD/depression while dealing with this? I've tried yoga and that seems to distract me, but whenever I get lost in my own thoughts or have a bad day, especially while i'm alone, it's hard to feel anything else but down.
Thanks in advance and, as always, for listening.
I've been dealing with gastritis for well over seven months now, and while I've grown accustomed to the fact that every day will be filled with nausea, bloating, indigestion, etc. I feel like I'm cracking sometimes, mentally.
I'm snapping at people, I'm feeling depressed and anxious, I've even noticed some OCD symptoms popping up when dealing with food.
How I long to be normal again, how foolish I feel that I ever took for granted being able to eat a slice of pizza or to stop at a rest stop on a road trip or to go to a party and have a cocktail.
And every time I try to explain how hard this is to someone, they just don't get it. "It's just food. You're not missing out on much" or "It's just indigestion, I get that sometimes too" or "Can't you eat any more? You're skin and bones."
No, it's not just food. Our society revolves around it. It's shoved in our faces online and in ads and at work and at parties. And it's not just "indigestion" and no, I can't just "eat a little more" without feeling like I'm going to throw up.
What do you do to keep yourself cheerful/upbeat while dealing with this? How do you look beyond this? Has anyone else dealt with anxiety/OCD/depression while dealing with this? I've tried yoga and that seems to distract me, but whenever I get lost in my own thoughts or have a bad day, especially while i'm alone, it's hard to feel anything else but down.
Thanks in advance and, as always, for listening.
I did struggle to keep myself calm enough to eat and digest the meagre offerings I gave my gut to work on. I took a long bath most days, sometimes two. I had a guided relaxation cd that I listened to in preparation of eating and while I ate.
I learnt EFT or tapping from my naturopath. (You could google it).
Anxiety is as bad as any bad ingredient and if you're a female you can add hormones into the horrid mix.
The tide will turn and life will return to you. It just may take time is all.
What I find best is to avoid moments of food with them and try to deal with food and my problems in my own room myself, try to enjoy other things with them the most like playing football , TV, walking, etc.
This works for me. Btw, gastritis is totally curable if that's your worse conditio consider yourself lucky,youll be healed eventually if you listen to your body really well. I can only advice you to stick with foods that don't make you worse or make you the least worse for a while and see if you improve. I had problems with the most simple foods at the beginning of this stuff, I couldn't eat food without having pain with every bite and i was just eating rice/oatmeal/potatoes. Pray everyday too and ask for strength and give thanks for the few foods you have for now some people can't even food and live on injections.
I am now here typing this after eating 4 granola bars with a can of soy milk , this was unthinkable for me before...when i was so bad i couldn't even breathe properly b/c of the pain.
To keep myself cheerful I listen to music while walking with volume all the way up people can hear it too and sing/dance lol. I don't care what they think at this point after what i am going through :P.
Now i dont know this os because of anxiety or what
I get separate treatment for the mental health side, so I am on anti-depressants and am seeing a therapist. I also do autogenic training several times a day to keep relaxed and this really helps I find.
I have had functional dyspepsia my whole teenage life, just recently developed and treated gastritis and am now dealing with a mixture of the two (still fighting FD and trying not to relapse with gastritis that has healed via EGD). I have sat next to my dates and best friends while they ate at prom night, constantly being asked with amazement if I really wasn't going to eat. It happens. I love to cook and do so a lot for my parents and friends and they're always surprised that I never eat what I prepare.
In the past I would respond with anger and let me tell you the anxiety was definitely there. You feel judged. But the fact is, they can't understand how your feeling and its really not fair for you to expect them to. They've never spent a day in your shoes and have probably had as many stomach aches as you have had in the last month than their entire lives.
Just give up what you are today for what you will become, believe that every single day.
I am currently trying to regain weight and deal with self-confidence issues due to my skinniness. But I have to remain disciplined and eat smaller, slowing my weight progress in order to not relapse with gastritis.
Give up what you are today for what you will become. In the grand scheme of things, 7 months is so little time. Stay positive. You got this!
So this is one more thing we all share. Just wish I knew how to get rid of this one. I think we'd all feel a lot better without the torture of anxiety and panic attacks.
For example, I am one of those people who is always skeptical of medicines so rather than taking the full dose the first day, I'll take a small dose.
When my gastritis was really bad and my stomach hurt all the time, I would be terrified almost to leave the house because I lose control then. I started by just driving around the neighborhood then to the gas station, now I can do pretty much anything. It's slow but the confidence you build can be really helpful.