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.
Hello, everyone!
So I've been dealing with gastritis since June of 2016. I don't really know 100% if NSAID's caused it but I assume that it did. On October of 2015 I had my wisdom teeth extracted and I was prescribed Norco's. I took one Norco with some mashed potatos and an hour later I was puking my brians out. Since my body didn't respond well to Norco's I thought that Advil would be harmless since I used to take Advil for headaches, cramps, backpain etc. I took Advil everymoring (sometimes on an empty stomach) and every night (sometimes on an empty stomach). Since nothing ever happened to me while taking Advil on an empty stomach I saw no harm in taking them like that sometimes. After two weeks my wisdom teeth pain went away so I stopped taking Advil. January came along and I was getting really bad sciatic nerve pain since I was taking a 5 hour biology class that I had to sit through. So I started taking Advil again! My sciatic pain lasted for about 5 months and then it went away on its own, as it usually does. Then there was a week were I gave up all caffeine and I got really bad migraines so AGAIN I began to take Advil for about a week. I also remember going to Target with my mom and asking her to buy me my own bottle of Advil so I can keep it in my bag because I was having really bad menstrual cramps. June 13th came along and BAM! I got a burning feeling in my stomach. I went to get a scope done and they said I had mild gastritis. My doctor said people that get gastritis from NSAID's usually heal within 6 weeks but that is bullcrap because from everyone that I've seen on here no one that had gastritis due to NSAID's healed that fast. When I would take Advil I would usually take 3 pills that were 200mg. I was curious to see how many I took so I looked for my advil bottle (it was a bottle of 100) and there were only 60!!! that means I took 30 within a month of getting it. However, I need so hope from anyone that has had gastritis from NSAID's, I'm really scared that this is going to be my new normal. How long does it take to go away or at least get better? Please, let me know, I'm desperate.
I think you commented on my post on Reddit. My symptoms now are still burning in my stomach; mostly the left side or the top of my stomach. If I eat super greasy, salty, or sweet food I will have a bad flare up. My heartburn is basically non-existent at times (thank god) but if I do eat a lot I will get acid reflux, which I never had before my gastritis which sucks!
I hope you get better soon. you said: "If I eat super greasy, salty, or sweet food... " Well, honey, you can't. That;s the worst thing you need to do. You have to baby your stomach. It is damaged and each time you put any food in it, it irritates it during the digestion process. I am talking about plain rice and steamed veggies. Now imagine putting the salty, greasy, sweet stuff. Be patient. Eat a very bland diet for 2 months or so. No coffee, alcohol, citrus, red meat, grease, spicy things etc. Do a search on this forum on what to eat with gastritis.
I eat a total of maybe 10-15 items for the last 3-4 months and still not healed.
If you protect your stomach and put healing things in it (slippery elm tea, zinc carnosine, and others - search for supplements or herbs for gastritis here), you should heal in 6 months or so. But don;t irritate it in the meantime. In one of the posts, someone who healed said it is black or white, no in between, i.e., NO CHEATING EVER until you heal. One cheating might set you back for 2-3 weeks easy and we will never get anywhere like that.
Best wishes.
Asli