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.
I am not healed but I'll tell you what I understand: I think you need to be careful initially, for a few more months or up to a year, not necessarily indefinitely.
For instance, the recommended maintenance treatment for gastritis is 20 mg of Pepcid nightly for 12 months after the active treatment at higher doses is done. This goes to show to me that the thinking is that 1. the stomach is healed but we can't necessarily expect that it is 100% healed right off the bat. Nothing works like that. People who have broken bones healed w/could say, for instance "I still couldn't put full pressure on it for another X months" or "it took me x amount of time feel 100% after the cast came off", etc... 2. The fact that one gets gastritis could mean that they are vulnerable to stressing the stomach. I mean if my husband and I eat the same things and I get it and he doesn't, it means maybe I'm a more stressed type and hence will have a more sensitive stomach.
On the other hand, it is not a death sentence. I am not at all concerned about coming down with gastritis again once I am hopefully healed. But no one needed to tell me that I am not eating raw jalapenos (sp?) or covering my food with cayenne pepper like I usually do/did once this is over - heck, I messed it up once, I don;t want to mess it up again :)
I'm not sure at the moment if I am healed, I feel a lot better and have been able (in moderation) to eat some foods that I have left out for months including..cheese and chocolate (tiny amounts),but I have had so many problems with side effects from the meds..On my 3rd type now!!..and still get slight stomach aches and some indigestion...I'm not sure if these symptoms are actually the medicaton OR the gastritis!!!...how do I tell? I will have a chat with Dr on monday, also I didn't know that it's advisable to stay on a low dose of medication for about 12 months after...would that be every day do you think?...or as and when needed?. If I slowly come off the PPI and have a certain amount of acid ....do I go with it and see how it is over the weeks or go back on meds?...lol....it's soooo confusing.
I am sorry, I misspoke - the staying on the pepcid for 12 months after treatment is for ulcers, not non-ulcer gastritis. Here is the source:
Adult dosage
For the treatment of active gastrointestinal ulcers – the recommended dose is 40 mg per day. It can be taken once a day before bedtime or it can be divided in two doses of 20mg taken morning and evening. The ulcers usually heal within 4 to 8 weeks. After that a prophylactic dose of 20 mg before bedtime is recommended for up to a year.
Source: Famotidine Dosage (Pepcid, AC, Pepcidine) - Drugsdb.com http://www.drugsdb.com/otc/famotidine/famotidine-dosage/#ixzz4lc3hCrxf
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Having said this, the cautionary mood to watch out for "bad foods" stays with me nonetheless. I don;t want to risk it again once I am better.
In terms of what to do after you are done with treatment, I hope your doctor can guide you. I don't have enough experience with this whole thing to give suggestions... I would just be careful with what you eat.
I am SOOOO happy you are feeling much better. There is light at the end of the tunnel :))) It's really great news. Please keep us updated.
Yes talking of bad foods...I had just ONE cup of fruit tea yesterday and could feel the acid later on, and then I didn't learn and litterly had just one TINY sip of my husbands red wine...and I could feel the burning as it hit my stomach...I think this means my gastritis is still there??..or maybe my stomach is extra sensitive!! gutted I used to love a glass of red! this condition sucks!! :(