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 have never had any stomach issues before but I was given three days worth of RX NSAIDS and now have gastritis for the last 6 months. I have taken prevacid for 2 months, now Nexium for 2 months not feeling much better. I really do not eat any offending foods and am overall healthy. Had endoscopy, ultra sound, Hida scan nothing showing except some redness, a small erosion and reflux. I am trying accupunture and Chinese Herbs, nothing seems to be getting rid of it. I am worried this is not going to go away. Can anyone share anything similar and how they recovered? Thank you
I wanted to put in my 2 cents and hopefully this can be of help to some people that are really suffering from gastritis. I'm a 25 year old male in great shape besides this so I truly believe if we give our bodies what they want we can recover. Don't give up and keep looking for answers because believe it or not the doctors really only know how to look inside your stomach and write you a prescription for the most part. Please take the time to read this because I was able to cure myself naturally in about 8 weeks. My life has improved so much I can't even describe how happy it makes me feel to feel "normal" again.
That burning daily pain, that stabbing in the middle on of the night that you're ready to go to the ER for. Yeah, I've felt it all and gone through all the emotional roller coasters that go along with it. It's my turn to pay it forward so I thought I would and here's my advice on how I was able to get my life back to normal after about 8 weeks of hell.
1) Once my gastritis got really bad I got myself on Prilosec to cut down on the constant flareups that kept occurring until I could get an endoscopy done to see what really was going on. My endoscopy came back with gastritis and I was told to just stay on it which I did for about 6 weeks. I probably would't have used it for that long but I was desperate for relief.
2) Do not. I repeat DO NOT eat 3-4 hours before bed. This was the cause of my 1 am aching in my stomach that made me to the point of tears at times until it faded out and I could go back to bed. You need to give your stomach time to really empty out before you lay down for the night. I can't stress this enough in terms how it will allow you to sleep through the whole night with no pain waking you up.
3) I drastically dropped down my food and cut out all acidic items, no more coffee, sauce or junk food. I'm a very healthy eater to begin with so it wasn't that hard but you need to only be putting the best quality food in your system during this time. You will need to lower your food intake too because like me you probably will be getting full very quick (very common symptom of gastritis)
4) I did some research on my own because i refused to just take the doctors vauge orders of just taking prilosec and waiting…. Sorry but not buying into it. You need to just take matters into your own hands sometimes folks. Do research, read, listen to success stories by people and actually take the time to read supplement reviews by people too! First hand accounts are always the best information to use.
5) Alright so heres my supplement list of what I really believe sped up the process immensely.
- Slippery elm twice a day between meals.
- Mashmallow ext. twice a day between meals as well
- 75 mg of zinc carnosine twice a day with food *THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST SUPPLEMENT YOU NEED TO BE TAKING FOR THIS* IT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. JUST READ OTHERS REVIEWS ON IT.
- 350 MG OF DGL Licorice once a day
Be patient with these and use them religiously.
Some takeaways and tips…..
1) Sleep. Yes sleep. When you go 12-13 hours without food in your system and actually sleep your stomach really does go to work repairing itself. It is the one time during the day when stress, food and daily life dosent do damage to your stomach. Use it wisely and get at least 8 hours at night. I can't stress this enough. Even if it means putting the work project to the wayside. Your health is way more important anyways.
2) You probabably will or already are on a PPI like prilosec. Just some advice, don't stay on it for more than 4-6 weeks and just be ready for a like pain once you get off of them. Not the same gastritis pain but more of just quick sharp stomach pains. They are manageable though. Try to taper off but taking every other day for a week too. I had these occasional pains for about 2-3 days after I got off of it but it was worth it to get out of the woods with that stuff. It's important to get acid back in your stomach again for digestion when you feel like you are ready to start to ween off of the prilosec.
There ya have it! Please Please Please shoot me an email if anyone wants some advice. Just shoot me an email at Chris.gaudino458@gmail.com and I'd be glad to put in my 2 cents.
Stay strong and you'll get through it. You'll come out of this being able to take on anything.