I have had pain, bloating, nausea, and burning in my left side, back, right side...just about everywhere! They found I have chronic gastritis and they believe it has caused all of it. I am now on 4 15mg Prevacid a day. 2 in the morning and 2 at night. It has definately helped. Eating a bland diet has helped also. I'm sure it'll be awhile before I'm healed though. I hope you get better really soon! Did they give you a diet to follow?

Given they did an endo and colonscopy, with biopsies, it sounds like the diagnosis is accurate- no matter what you are feeling symptomatically. The only real concern, is if you develop lower GI pain. That indicates other complications.

I suggest you go back to the GI doctor or call and let him know the medication is not working. Sometimes, it does take time for the medicine to kick in, but in most cases, you may have to try several medications before finding the one that works for you. We all react differently both symptomatically and medically. The carafrate really helped me, but it was in combination with a prescription medication stronger than prilosec. Still it took four tries before we got there.

Hang in there. Keep your stress low. Check out the Dietary Assistance post- it will help a lot. And try to keep your spirits up. The first few weeks or months are the worse- but it does get easier. Hopefully you will find some relief soon.

Thank for your replies k131 and ravenfish,

I appreciate the info and support. This is a very lonely and depressing problem especially when in the back of your mind you are not sure what is really going on and the mind does love to play tricks.
Hope you all are doing well and will continue to get better.
annabb

hi and welcome,
Do hang in there. It is a soul destroying illness no question. Try taking one day at a time. Maybe keep a food and meds diary to see how each thing effects you. I can't speak to the meds as I'm not on any western medicine but I hope you find a solution soon.

So sorry to hear you are in so much pain. The meds made me feel worse and after just two different types my GI specialist said it would probably better better to wean off them as they were not working. Like 'soretum' I am taking a variety of things which have calmed my stomach.

I did find it quite shocking as too how bad the pain was and the simple fact that popping a pill wouldn't make it go away. I changed my diet dramatically and I did investigate other ways of managing the pain.

Hope you feel better soon.

Don't worry too much about this playing games with your mind or feeling down about the whole situation. We all feel that way at first--- and a few more times throughout the healing process. Just focus on the day when you will feel better, and set your sights there. If you stay strong and stay positive, you will get through this much easier than if you let it take over your life.

Best wishes and happy thoughts.

Thank all of you so much. It's so nice to have a place where people understand how you feel. My family is great but they cannot fathom what I'm going through. I would not be able to either until now.

Hope all of you are improving and will be well soon. This is a great support group.

everyone here is so supportive. You're in the right place. Friends and family can be supportive but we can relate to your pain and you can freely vent in here. hang in there.

Hi Annabb and welcome - your symptoms match absolutely exactly to mine - pain under ribs left side, nausea etc, my pain felt like I had a clamp permanently holding onto something under my left breast - The meds from the doc did absolutely nothing for me and made me feel worse. I had this for quite a few months until I looked into how to solve it myself - There are loads of things you can use. I set myself up a daily regime and got rid of the pain along with everything else. Now if I am a bad girl and overindulge in something and I can feel it starting I get back on my little system and it sees it off quickly. My doc was impressed and said to carry on as I was doing as it works for me.
I had the endoscopy and was confirmed the left side pain was chronic gastritis - you will be able to control it - promise. x
Gweny.

Honestly I took the medications and I started with atrophic gastritis that then went to mild and now im gastritis free, but it can always come back because it comes in flares based on if something irritatis it for me NSAID, and antibiotics chemicals etc. If you can find the cause of your gastriits and eliminate that it will start to really heal since you had hpolyri once you do the antibiotics and rid it, your stomach can finally heal. It can take a long time to heal once the hpolyri is out your system. The stomach may be one of the slowest in the body to heal!

if we didn't have to keep eating I'm sure our tummys would heal very quickly. The antibiotics may kill the h-pylori but the inflmmation will take time. I don't know my cause and the best they can offer is viral. I don't have the bacteria and don't fit any other category! I don't think it makes a difference in my healing and I soldier on getting stronger little by little each day. I take one day at a time and never take the good ones for granted.

Chin up and all that jazz! That is for sure the way to face this. Make your name little miss positive and man, it takes the edge off of this whole issue. But patience, as much as it annoys us all, is also key. I wish there was a magic way to take away the pain and still be able to eat- but sadly you just have to solider through and take it one step at a time. No matter whether it is caused by infection, medication or stress- we all suffer the same and it is good to have such a wonderful support group to ask questions about and give you a lift- especially when it all gets to be too much. You are such a strong person Cas- I admire you for that, always.

thanks raven. That's been the gift of this horrid condition. I echo raven. Patience is the key to this illness. Count any blessings you have, and do this each day. Maybe keep a food diary to observe the things that give you problems. You'll be surprised how far you've come in a couple of months. It will get better. I have to believe that.