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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donicarose 01/13/2016

It seems to drip off like every day, too. I'm trying not to freak out about it, because I know in the past that it stabilizes. But man, it is VERY unnerving. This latest attack came about as yet ANOTHER colonoscopy (three this year) in December. I have tried to feel better and get my stomach back on track, but it's tough. Everyday the weight is down. How is this even possible? Thank GOD I am overweight, otherwise, I'd drop. By the way, I had three this year because the first one was not clear enough and had a HUGE polyp, which needed the expertise of another GI doctor. Number TWO was to operate on the polyp and this last one in December was a followup. Each time I had an attack and each time I lost weight. I am getting pretty damn tired of it!

fusion85fc 01/13/2016

Sorry if this is a dumb question but what about a colonoscopy makes you flare?

donicarose 01/13/2016

Hi..not a dumb question at all. I've had to do two day preps, and the prep itself makes me very ill. Seems to trigger my gastritis..

joham 01/14/2016

Yes,many people with gastritis say that the colono prep makes it flare.Thats why I decided not to do any colonoscopy.For me even the upper GI endoscopy made my gastritis flare even though there is basically no prep.I believe the procedure itself is kind of invasive,it can definitely irritate the stomach and the esophagus especially if there is already inflammation involved.As for colonoscopy I believe the drink that is prescribed for the prep is the culprit.

donicarose 01/14/2016

For sure! And three times this year! The weight, though, is really unnerving to me. Everyday it seems like it's two or three pounds. I have a really old digital scale, which regularly takes off twenty to thirty pounds, so I will allow it's that as well. But I do know I am down at least ten pounds since Dec. 23.

joham 01/14/2016

I was just thinking that the weightloss is perhaps due to the loss of water from your system when you do the colono prep.It makes you really dehydrated,doesnt it?Just a thought.
Obviously with gastritis you loose weight like crazy.I was loosing over 10lb a week at my worst!

donicarose 01/14/2016

Yes, when I would do the prep, the weight came off in a second. But I would always gain that initial weight back. The sensitivity in my stomach, however, would linger, like now. Did you really lose that much when you would have an attack? wow!

joham 01/15/2016

Yes.The first time I was ever diagnosed with gastritis exactly one year ago.I was so miserable I made 5 consecutive ER trips in one month.My inflammation was so bad that my throat was closing and made it unable for me to eat or even breathe normally.I just had bad gastritis and esophagitis which was later diagnosed via endoscopy.The thing is I was new to all this so I initialy had no idea what was going on with me and I seriously thought I was going to die when I lost 10lb in a week and I was so weak I couldn't get out of bed for a month.

fusion85fc 01/15/2016

Hmmm. When I had my colonoscopy (think I was 16), that was the only day I never had stomach pain. Oddly enough.

They recommend that pill in addition to the stuff you pour in your drink but I was able to do just the powder and only required one day prep.

But I can't agree more with the weight loss. When I was 16, I was no more than 120lbs at 6ft tall (I got up to a healthy weight of 155lbs over the course of the next year and am now back to 135lbs because of the gastritis--went all the way down to 125lbs).

Going two days w/o eating would be extra tough. Couldn't imagine how much I'd lose. Hell, I lose like 5lbs in one day if I don't eat more than 1500 calories!

joham 01/15/2016

Yep,I also try hard to do 1500 calories daily.It seems impossible to do more than that with 5-6 small meals a day.

donicarose 01/15/2016

Unfortunately, the first colonoscopy with the one day prep yielded cloudy results. But, it was enough to see a HUGE polyp. The GI was not able to get it, and recommended that her colleague, who operates on complex polyps all the time, take on the case. That's when they told me the second colonoscopy had to be clear. It was a two day prep with fasting and I was completely miserable. Plus, shocked that I had lost about eight pounds. Those eventually came back on in a week, but the lingering gastritis symptoms made me miserable. Then, I had to do the followup with another two day prep in December. Thus, my present gastritis flair up. I can almost sense today that the weight has stabilized, so I am happy about that..

shihonage 01/16/2016

I know we talked before, but have you tried taking mastic gum? Take 1000mg before bed, along with a PepZin Gi according to my other schedules (see website in my profile).

I find it handy in situations when I manage to re-inflame the stomach.

shihonage 01/16/2016

P.S. (broken cell wall) Chlorella is useful for colon/bowel problems.

4 capsules taken (eaten) for over 2 weeks, it can heal some cases of having blood in stool due to colon or bowel environment disruption, which can be created by severe gastritis.

It will also turn your poop green, which is merely a cosmetic effect.

But in parallel of course you have to soothe your gastritis as well.

donicarose 01/16/2016

Thank you Shihonage. I will try those suggestions. I lost more weight yet AGAIN today.

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