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.
Hi all,
I'm a 23 year old female fresh out of my undergrad degree. So, in early February my boyfriend and I ate take-out pizza, and either it was bacterial food poisoning or a GI virus but he became violently ill with vomiting and diarrhea for about 2 days starting a few hours after eating it. He ate part of a pizza that I did not touch. Initially, I felt a little "off" stomach-wise, but I didn't develop diarrhea or throw up or anything like that. My immune system is pretty strong, in my opinion. However, a couple days after this incident I noticed I started feeling gross and queasy off and on, and queasiness and general stomach upset is something I never experience. I haven't had a stomach bug that has made me really ill for about 15 years now. Over the next couple of weeks it was the same kind of symptoms, but I started getting nauseous after eating sometimes and felt incredibly full really fast (before this I could basically eat as much of whatever I wanted). On February 20th after I finished eating my dinner I became incredibly nauseous but surprisingly never threw up (I still haven't through all of this). The off and on-ness stopped after this date and the nausea was constant, regardless of whether I did or did not eat. During this time I also developed some of the worst heartburn I have ever felt in my life (heartburn has never been a problem for me before this). I slept propped up and Tums offered no relief. For about 2 weeks straight I lived on water, soda crackers, and Gravol. Gradually, I introduced oatmeal and bland chicken noodle soup into my diet, but I still could not eat much as the nausea was unbearable. I saw my GP after about 2 weeks of incessant nausea and he said I could have developed IBS and inflammation in my stomach after an infection and prescribed me Metonia (prokinetic to move food through my system faster) as well as Tecta (proton pump inhibitor). I began taking these medications and they did virtually nothing for me and offered no real relief. I think the Metonia irritated my system or the food moving through my digestive tract faster irritated it, as I noticed that at the start when I took it I would get a little bit of diarrhea and abdominal aches and pains. Over the next month or so, the constant nausea was still present but slightly improved. I had burning in my stomach, gut aches and pains, as well as general body aches and fatigue. My GP ordered a blood test (negative for h. pylori and perfectly normal except for dehydration), a stool test for bacteria and parasites (normal), and I recently had an abdominal ultrasound done and am going to a follow-up appointment this coming Wednesday. If nothing can be learned from that, my doctor told me I will likely have to undergo a gastroscopy to see what's actually going on in my stomach.
While it has been over 3 months now and my nausea has greatly improved, I no longer have abdominal aches and pains, and my bowel movements are virtually normal again, I still have queasiness and stomach trouble. It burns from the inside out sometimes, and eating is still something I am having great difficulty with. I feel hungry off and on, but my stomach feels full and swollen and I can't say I have all that much desire to eat. I force myself to just to get something in me, but eating is more of a chore now. I've stuck to a bland diet of bananas, mangoes, rice, egg whites, oatmeal, cereal bars, pears, bread and peanut butter, etc. and most of the time these foods go down without making me feel worse. I still take the PPI each morning (40 mg) and only use the Metonia when I feel like I need it. Some days are better than others. It was a struggle to finish my final semester of my undergrad not being able to leave the house due to nausea and weakness, but at the mercy of a couple of professors I did it and that's been a big relief. However, I feel I am still too sick to be able to go out and do things like I did before I became ill and I cannot yet look for work. If I do have to leave the house, I try not to eat anything as doing this typically makes my stomach feel less barfy. When I am at home though I try to eat small amount every little while just to have calories and nutrients in me.
My question is, does this sound like chronic gastritis to you guys? Is it likely I developed it due to an infection? Also, how long do you think this irritability/inflammation will last assuming it's residual from an infection?
I'm a 23 year old female fresh out of my undergrad degree. So, in early February my boyfriend and I ate take-out pizza, and either it was bacterial food poisoning or a GI virus but he became violently ill with vomiting and diarrhea for about 2 days starting a few hours after eating it. He ate part of a pizza that I did not touch. Initially, I felt a little "off" stomach-wise, but I didn't develop diarrhea or throw up or anything like that. My immune system is pretty strong, in my opinion. However, a couple days after this incident I noticed I started feeling gross and queasy off and on, and queasiness and general stomach upset is something I never experience. I haven't had a stomach bug that has made me really ill for about 15 years now. Over the next couple of weeks it was the same kind of symptoms, but I started getting nauseous after eating sometimes and felt incredibly full really fast (before this I could basically eat as much of whatever I wanted). On February 20th after I finished eating my dinner I became incredibly nauseous but surprisingly never threw up (I still haven't through all of this). The off and on-ness stopped after this date and the nausea was constant, regardless of whether I did or did not eat. During this time I also developed some of the worst heartburn I have ever felt in my life (heartburn has never been a problem for me before this). I slept propped up and Tums offered no relief. For about 2 weeks straight I lived on water, soda crackers, and Gravol. Gradually, I introduced oatmeal and bland chicken noodle soup into my diet, but I still could not eat much as the nausea was unbearable. I saw my GP after about 2 weeks of incessant nausea and he said I could have developed IBS and inflammation in my stomach after an infection and prescribed me Metonia (prokinetic to move food through my system faster) as well as Tecta (proton pump inhibitor). I began taking these medications and they did virtually nothing for me and offered no real relief. I think the Metonia irritated my system or the food moving through my digestive tract faster irritated it, as I noticed that at the start when I took it I would get a little bit of diarrhea and abdominal aches and pains. Over the next month or so, the constant nausea was still present but slightly improved. I had burning in my stomach, gut aches and pains, as well as general body aches and fatigue. My GP ordered a blood test (negative for h. pylori and perfectly normal except for dehydration), a stool test for bacteria and parasites (normal), and I recently had an abdominal ultrasound done and am going to a follow-up appointment this coming Wednesday. If nothing can be learned from that, my doctor told me I will likely have to undergo a gastroscopy to see what's actually going on in my stomach.
While it has been over 3 months now and my nausea has greatly improved, I no longer have abdominal aches and pains, and my bowel movements are virtually normal again, I still have queasiness and stomach trouble. It burns from the inside out sometimes, and eating is still something I am having great difficulty with. I feel hungry off and on, but my stomach feels full and swollen and I can't say I have all that much desire to eat. I force myself to just to get something in me, but eating is more of a chore now. I've stuck to a bland diet of bananas, mangoes, rice, egg whites, oatmeal, cereal bars, pears, bread and peanut butter, etc. and most of the time these foods go down without making me feel worse. I still take the PPI each morning (40 mg) and only use the Metonia when I feel like I need it. Some days are better than others. It was a struggle to finish my final semester of my undergrad not being able to leave the house due to nausea and weakness, but at the mercy of a couple of professors I did it and that's been a big relief. However, I feel I am still too sick to be able to go out and do things like I did before I became ill and I cannot yet look for work. If I do have to leave the house, I try not to eat anything as doing this typically makes my stomach feel less barfy. When I am at home though I try to eat small amount every little while just to have calories and nutrients in me.
My question is, does this sound like chronic gastritis to you guys? Is it likely I developed it due to an infection? Also, how long do you think this irritability/inflammation will last assuming it's residual from an infection?
Hope you feel better!! :-)
Start taking PepZin GI (zinc carnosine), 4 capsules per day, 1 as you wake, 1 as you go to bed, 2 spread between meals but not immediately before or after them.
Doctors have very little idea of what's going on in this department, while the Japanese invented PepZin GI in the 90s and American doctors have no idea it even exists.
It is a life-saver, and you can get it on Amazon.
Unfortunately, you will, so it will take longer than that. Because the stomach is deceptive in making us feel like things are going GREAT, even though it's still not fully healed, and then one day, when you're gleefully consuming your mayo- and onion- riddled burger, it says "Nuh-huh", and then you're set back by 3 months.
The lesson here is, don't believe your stomach when it starts feeling like its completely healed. You have to go far beyond that, time-wise, before you can start taking any risks whatsoever.