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 - New to the board. About 3 weeks ago I started feeling very ill. Within a day or two I realized that my abdomen was distended..this might have occurred before that but I'm a big guy so it was hard to tell. Anyway, I started getting cases of heartburn which I never had before along with constipation and always feeling full.
I broke my leg in January and have been hammering ibuprofin since I don't do painkillers and such. I also drink 1-2 a week which usually amounts to 3-4 strong adult beverages. I eat lots of veggies but other then that my diet sucked. Plus, had a pretty good amount of stress in the last couple of months...broken leg, etc
So, for 3 weeks now I've been off the ibuprofin, off the alcohol, stuffing my face with good foods whenever I can, relaxing like a champ, and taking 40 mg of prilosic (not a fan).
The prilosic makes me a little dizzy and has my ears ringing a bit. Other then that it's fine.
I've lost about 20 lbs but that's slowing down a little as I've learned what and when to eat.
So, my questions(s).
My stomach is smaller but still rock hard and distended. Normal I assume?
My constipation is still present. Thinking about just taking a stool softener. Sound right?
Occassional sharp pains from stomach area to lower abdominal - not much and not real bad. Probably runs about a 2 on a scale of 10. Normal right?
When I lay on my back and push my stomach out, i get a bubble running north to south right in the middle of my belly (belly just meaning the entire area below my ribs to my waistline). I'm assuming thats gas/air some other generally normal thing that will go away with time. Sound right?
No vomiting, no blood coming out of any place that I can tell.
After x-rays, blood work, sonogram, ER doc says gastritis and tells me to follow up with a gastric doc. That was a week ago. I'm feeling better so I thought I would go to my regular doc (happens to do internal medicine) and have her check out the work, x-rays etc before my next move. Sound right?
Great forum here. Very helpful posts.
Thanks!
MDB
I broke my leg in January and have been hammering ibuprofin since I don't do painkillers and such. I also drink 1-2 a week which usually amounts to 3-4 strong adult beverages. I eat lots of veggies but other then that my diet sucked. Plus, had a pretty good amount of stress in the last couple of months...broken leg, etc
So, for 3 weeks now I've been off the ibuprofin, off the alcohol, stuffing my face with good foods whenever I can, relaxing like a champ, and taking 40 mg of prilosic (not a fan).
The prilosic makes me a little dizzy and has my ears ringing a bit. Other then that it's fine.
I've lost about 20 lbs but that's slowing down a little as I've learned what and when to eat.
So, my questions(s).
My stomach is smaller but still rock hard and distended. Normal I assume?
My constipation is still present. Thinking about just taking a stool softener. Sound right?
Occassional sharp pains from stomach area to lower abdominal - not much and not real bad. Probably runs about a 2 on a scale of 10. Normal right?
When I lay on my back and push my stomach out, i get a bubble running north to south right in the middle of my belly (belly just meaning the entire area below my ribs to my waistline). I'm assuming thats gas/air some other generally normal thing that will go away with time. Sound right?
No vomiting, no blood coming out of any place that I can tell.
After x-rays, blood work, sonogram, ER doc says gastritis and tells me to follow up with a gastric doc. That was a week ago. I'm feeling better so I thought I would go to my regular doc (happens to do internal medicine) and have her check out the work, x-rays etc before my next move. Sound right?
Great forum here. Very helpful posts.
Thanks!
MDB
I can say that Ive encountered all your symptoms except for the constipation and the odd bubble you describe when you push your belly out. Since it requires some air to deliberately bloat then I assume it could be that. You are on the right track with proceeding to see your MD. Keep in mind that gastiris symptoms vary between individuals and most people have symptoms that are unique to themselves. You have described some of the common ones. Here is a list of others. Trapped gas in upper abdomen(enough to cause pain). Burning in tummy. Loose stools. Pain in back, ribs and sides. (can occur at once or separately. Other stomach pain. Just to name a few.
Jim
Taking 40mg of prilosic and some pepzid gi is coming in the mail.
Hoping that does the trick! Will report back.
Other then looking for cancer (which is incredibly rare but possible of course), I'm not clear on the value of going to a GI at this point.
Thoughts on that?
I ate a banana with peanut butter for breakfast, a nice bowl of collards for lunch, a salad around 2, and a decent portion of strawberry shortcake at 3:30. Done for the day and feeling full but no real ill feelings and haven't had any reflux or heartburn in over a week now.
I had a triple break of my leg in January and that was very inconvenient and not very painful so hopefully this continues on the right path too.
Crossing my fingers and full steam ahead.