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 was diagnosed with mild gastritis/duodenitis about a month qnd half ago after doing a endoscopy. I also did biopsy which didnt show sign of h pylori nor cancer. The doctor prescribed omeprazole for 6 months and ive now completed 1 month so far. I see a bit improvement and my diet has changed. My only problem now is that I feel full after eating but im able to eat more than what I was eating when it just started. Also its as if certain food makes me get an odd feeling which makes my heart beat fast for about 5 minutea or more. Does gastritia affect heart rate? Also will the omeprazole heal the mild gastritis/duodenitis after the 6 months? And my final question ive been having back pain and bone makes cracking sound sometimes. My family doctor said I should start taking bcomplex syrup and I asked the GI doctor and he said it is ok to take. is it really ok? Just want to make sure
After 6 months on omeprazole, you will be used to omeprazole, and will likely have trouble getting off it, due to acid rebound syndrome. It is easier to get off Zantac than a PPI, though it is still hard.
If I were you, I'd switch to ranitidine 150mg every 12 hours. If that is not enough, and you get burning in the stomach, increase the dose to 150mg every 8 hours.
Neither PPIs like omeprazole, nor Zantac, actually HEAL the stomach lining. They just reduce the damage it causes to itself with excess acid.
In order to heal the stomach, you have to supplement with PepZin GI. I recommend 4 capsules per day, spread out between meals.
Slippery Elm can also be useful, if your stomach starts throwing a fit while you're eating, 4-6 capsules will soothe it into continuing to digest the food.
Any medicine that interferes with acid generation seems to alter appetite. You will have to get used to assessing your body's hunger differently.
Omeprazole, and to lesser degree, Zantac, can create vitamin B12 deficiency. B-complex is usually safe to take (at least in pill form/quantities), because it is water-soluble and excess is washed out with urine.
However you may need to take an actual B12 vitamin and see if your cracking sound improves. A study I've come across recently, used Nature's Bounty B12 (cyanobalamin), 1000mcg tablets, sold in Walgreens and such, and found them to be effective in maintaining B12 levels.
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To confuse you further, you have to know that staying on acid suppressors can become a lifelong thing. It is hard to quit.
If you've only been on PPI for a month, you may still be able to do so. You could take a risk, and start taking Gastromend HP as shown on its box (4 capsules per day), which is the strongest stomach healer I've found.
You would still likely experience burning after quitting the PPI, and should avoid having an empty stomach. Farmer's cheese (Tvorog) is a natural antacid that is helpful for keeping the acid down.
You could also try getting Gaviscon Advance (i.e. British Gaviscon) and using that to deal with acid rebound, and eventually quit.
This is already a complicated situation, because you were on omeprazole for a month, but maybe you could come out of this without being saddled with acid suppression medications after all.
Thats why people suffering from gastritis normally go towards the bland diet to make things easier for your stomach to digest and avoid spicy, fatty food that can irritate your stomach.
Pepzin Gi helps in healing of your stomach. You can take that along with zantac or omeprazole.
As doctors, for gastritis, they always prescribe ppis or zantac because they studies show that these help in the recovery of gastritis. However, zantac is lesser stronger than ppis.
All medications come along with side effects. I think maybe for now, it would be good to discuss them with your doctor if you have any concerns and concentrate on healing so that you can get off these medications in no time. Just my two cents :)
Absolutely don't know what to do - getting me down too.
G.