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.

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blh123 07/15/2015

Its been over a year and a half since I have been fighitng this gastritis. I would say my symptoms are mild and their are days that are good and then their are days that I feel a very mild stomach discomfort. I have been taking omoprazole and famotidine daily. I feel I am being cautious at times with my eatting but I do slip at times and partake in small quantities of non bland food. I rarely driink beer. I use to weigh 188 pounds but now I am in the low 160s and holding. I have no other symptioms except for these mild flare ups. With it being over a year and a half my miind starts to be worried that I will now develop stomach cancer from this and that has me scared. I just want to get healed once and for all. I just want to be able to eat like a normal person and enjoy my life with no worries.

Has anyone been fighitng gastritis this long? I am thinking about going to see a different doctor to see what he has to say.

Any input would be greatly apprciated. Having a bad morning!!!! Just so depressed.

shihonage 07/15/2015

I don't remember your exact case but the risk of the disease you mention is reduced if you don't take PPIs. I don't know why you take both a PPI and an H2 blocker...

You're likely better off just dropping H2 blocker and shifting cold-turkey to 40mg famotidine every 12 hours.

Gastritis takes a very long time to heal, considering we all slip.

Don't forget to take PepZin GI. You may also want to try Gastromend HP, which is stronger, but it can pull you out of a plateau onto a higher level of healing.

Stop the beer.

blh123 07/15/2015

Just been fighting mild gastritis.
So PPI's can cause stomach cancer?

blh123 07/15/2015

shihonage --- you said in your response to drop H2 blocker and take PPI twice a day. But you said to just take famotidine, but isnt that the H2 blocker and Omeprazole the PPI???

Please advise.

blh123 07/15/2015

My doctor advised that I can try to H2 blockers twice daily and NOT use the PPI. Advised that I take the H2 blocker twice daily after meals.

shihonage 07/15/2015

You're correct, I made a mistype. These forums just kinda start to blend together at some point. I meant you should drop the PPI.

shihonage 07/15/2015

Quantity of H2 blocker, in your case famotidine, matters. I think that after sitting on the PPI mess, you will not last on standard 20mg famotidine per 12 hours dose.

Therefore I suggest 40mg famotidine every 12 hours. Not tied to your food timings, but tied strictly to a 12-hour timer you set on your phone. Not using a strict equal interval can result in developing tolerance faster. You don't want your tolerance to outpace your healing progress, because then you'll be kind of screwed. H2 blockers are prone to tolerance development, so you should allow yourself to heal faster than its effectiveness diminishes.

And yes there are studies suggesting long-term use of PPIs has higher chance of causing that disease I prefer not to reference, due to the way they interact directly with stomach lining. There's also a recent study indicating they increase risk of heart conditions significantly, while H2 blockers do not.

blh123 07/15/2015

The famotidine is 40MG. So if I wake up in the morning I can take one and then take another 12 hours late no matter when I eat?

How long you been fighting gastritis? I ask because it seems you have a lot of knowledge on it so I am curious why you still have gastritis? How long have you had it?

soretum 07/15/2015

I've lived with gastritis for five years. I guess I struggled with the hideous pains etc for 2-3 years. My diet is pretty much back to normal but certain foods I avoid as they will cause a reaction. Please hang in there it will get better.

shihonage 07/15/2015

Maintain 1hr window of no-food around each intake.30 minutes may work, but also may not be enough.

I've had gastritis for 2.5 years. There was one point where it could've been completely healed in the beginning if I knew about PepZin GI back then. There was another point where I could eat almost anything I wanted again (but stuck on Zantac already), but I binged too much.

There were changes of medication due to a rare side-effect. Lots of other mistakes and setbacks.

Nobody could tell me a lot of nuances that I had to figure out the hard way. A mistake can cost weeks or months of setbacks. Stomach heals very slowly.

I learn from this.

prayinglots 07/17/2015

Yes try the different doctor. I had good luck with a specialist at a research hospital. My husband developed esophageal cancer while under the care of a GI who thought it was perfectly fine to take ppis for the rest of his life. His symptoms never subsided and the disease progressed to cancer. Try pantaprazole with the long term goal of weaning of this stuff. And get a scope done to establish a baseline and rule out anything serious. Good luck and don't give up. Read everything you can find. Two good books, killing me softly from the inside and dropping acid. One more thing, don't give up, you can heal yourself.

blh123 07/18/2015

I had an endocsopy done backi in March 2014 and that is when he diagnosed me with gastrities and esphogatitis. Now I just seem to continue to experience mild feelings of gastritis. Especially if I go on some binge. It never gets to the point where I would call it PAINFUL. More just discomfort. I am scheduled to see the new doctor on Tuesday. I would love to get another endoscopy but damn they are too expensive.

prayinglots 07/19/2015

Mild sounds like an improvement. Keep up the good work. These symptoms require more of a lifestyle change than any of us would like, but that's life.

bleepedybloops 07/26/2015

I developed symptoms in April 2014, and it hit me hard. I thought I was developing heart disease. For me it was my first experience with disease of any kind and I'm still scared. I have been on and off panto since, tried the cabbage juice diet, did Pepzin GI (works very well) never going for more than a two month stretch and I have decided that it's no longer worth the risk. My symptoms right now are sore chest, sore throat, pressure in throat.
I'm reaching the point of acceptance (is this good?, bad?)

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