Try following either the fod map diet or the SCD diet (specific carbohydrate diet) I have tried both and fod was good to start with but didn't get rid of pain all that much just the nausea. Now I have been on the scd diet and doing a whole lot better but you have to be very strict on it or pain will return. Protonix for me made things worse as the side effects for me were terrible.

So sorry you are dealing with these issues.
Just wow about your doctor. Are you in the US? Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach- not some general term. I don't know why they would say that.
Any insurance? could you at least visit a GI specialist instead of this other "doctor"? Maybe they can work with you on th endoscopy cost or at least give you some better information and advice.

I'm no doctor but your symptoms sound a lot like my confirmed gastritis symptoms. Protonix didn't help me. Everyone's body is different. See if you can get an h2 blocker instead. Ranitidine helped my pain. I'm trying to wean down now to see if I can get off of it. However I was told a ppi can take up to 4 weeks to get full effectiveness.
My best advice is get to a different doctor if you can!

Thanks stitch, I'm gonna try it. Yes I'm in the U.S. country, backwoods southwest Va. unfortunately. No insurance, tried to get on my wife's from her job but it's closed enrollment til October. We've called a few places about an endoscopy, one charges $5000 (WHAT!?), they could possibly work with me on payments or help, but haven't been there yet, another said if I went to one of their free clinics and got a referral for them they do them for free so we're waiting to hear back from the clinic. I'm not even scared about the procedure, I'm scared because these places are about 30 minutes from me and I tend to get sick as a dog when traveling for whatever reason. I saw the other thread here about Misoprostol and had my wife ask the dr if I could get a prescription and they kinda blew it off like it would be too expensive...my options are limited here and I had to get in somewhere fast, but I'll be finding a new dr when I get insurance lol. Thank you both for the advice!

Ugh- that stinks about the insurance. But October will be here in the blink of an eye. I would hold off on the endoscopy until then and just try to take care of your symptoms the best you can. I know it's hard to deal with- I've been dealing with mine for 8 months now. It sucks. I'm in southern PA- my endoscopy was mostly covered. I think I paid $100-150 out of pocket. Not bad considering. A consultation with a GI specialist might not be too bad out of pocket- maybe $100? I'd make some calls and see if you can't afford a consultation between now and october and just hold off scheduling the actual endoscopy until after your insurance kicks in. I know the GI drs around here are booked up months out, so I'd try to get on a schedule sooner than later.

I will tell you that Protonix and Prilosec didn't help me much either. I was on Protonix for 6 weeks and still was having symptoms. Sometimes they were better, sometimes worse. But what really helped me feel better was 150mg of Ranitidine 2x a day. I've been doing that for 8 weeks and am trying to wean off now. You can buy it reasonably priced OTC. I would give it a shot if you feel the PPI isn't helping. I've also heard good things about Nexium -another PPI but I've known people to say it worked better than others for them.
Best of luck! Here's to hoping we can all feel better soon.

Hi Drekavac!

I'm in a very similar boat.
I actually had an endoscopy done back in March, BEFORE all my issues with Gastritis began (they were actually looking for signs of GERD because I was having issues with my throat, not my stomach, but they did see that I had mild Gastritis). Cost me $3,000 out of pocket, so it's out of the question now..
Anyway, these stomach issues didn't begin until the end of April. My doctor also couldn't figured it out. Went to the E.R. twice and was told MAYBE it was an ulcer that they're not seeing on the imaging. I've taken so many medications, prescribed and over the counter: Carafate, PPI's, anti nausea meds, Hydrocodone for the pain, Mylanta, Tums, Milk of Magnesia.. So much!
I just had a GI appointment yesterday and he's running more blood work, I have to do a fecal test and a breath test, too. He prescribed me Dicyclomine 10mg - I guess they're for spasms; he's thinking maybe something is spasming in there so we're going to give it a shot for a few weeks. I'll be taking my first one tonight.
He also wants to look into IBS, Crohn's disease and Colitis.
In the meantime, I'm trying to stay away from taking too many medications. I still take Mylanta and Tums occasionally, Hydrocodone for the pain (only when really needed); but I've stopped the PPI's because I felt like they were making me feel even worse, which I didn't think was possible.
He also recommended I try to cut Gluten from my diet and see if it helps. When all of this started, I weighed 117lbs, I'm now at 103lbs simply because I'm either too scared to eat or I have no appetite. I'm tired all the time because of the pain I'm feeling. I can't fall asleep easily and I'm up ALWAYS awake by 6:30am, even on the weekends. I feel like a zombie. Even worse than feeling sick.. being told you look sick, because you can't eat or sleep.

I wish you the best of luck! I definitely recommend asking your doctor for a referral to a G.I. and really pushing for them to look into this. Even if you have to be the one to suggest looking for certain things, like I listed above. They probably will highly recommend and endoscopy but nicely tell them you cannot afford it and ask for other options. I see no harm in doing the route I'm currently taking to identify or eliminate. Specific blood tests, fecal test, possibly imaging...endoscopy isn't the ONLY route; although maybe a last resort.

Keep me informed :)