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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littlemart 02/14/2016

Okay.. sorry for forgetting the answers I read before. What is with this pain in the ribs ( left side mostly ) that come even without any GERD or typical gastritis symptoms?

What causes this type of pain? Is it just nerve stuff, gas ( don't feel gassy ) or something else? Also getting a bunch of terrible pain in my back ( left side ) that makes me think of kidney something. Not sure.

Thanks again and forgive me for not remembering.

jane1986 02/14/2016

If it's coming without gerd or gastritis symptoms it may be a nerve issue. That's what my doctor believes my issue is

littlemart 02/14/2016

jane1986 I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is nerve pain. I have MS and a host of autoimmune problems, aside from the gastritis. It's just so hard to get a doctor to really listen. They like to guess a lot. That doesn't help us does it? I need reassurance from my doctors. Thanks.

metbooks 02/16/2016

I saw my primary care PA-C this morning. I am slowly getting better but had many questions particularly about the back and rib pain. She indicated it is referred pain from the gastritis. She mentioned something about pain in the thoracic spine that gall bladder patients are prone to get. I think she said under the right shoulder blade. Even though I had no pain in the "gut" per se, the inflammation radiated to my back and side. I have read here that others have suffered from this. For me, the back ache means I am not out of the woods gastritis wise.

I also told my PA-C that my endoscopy and gastric emptying tests were "normal" but I am very symptomatic. It was disheartening to get those results in one respect but a relief that I don't have stomach cancer, Barrett's esophagus or an ulcer. She also told me that esophageal spasms can cause a lot of pain and not show up on a test. I think that by the time I had the g/i tests, my stomach was showing recovery.

I do know that this episode has been one of the worst medical conditions of my life and I had polio as a baby and now rheumatoid arthritis. This is totally disabling on some days. The back ache and jabs in the rib added insult to the situation. I am an avid reader and couldn't even read on the worst days. I watched television until I couldn't stand it.

Anyway, I made this longer than intended but just to say that the back and rib pain should be more understood by g/i practitioners as it is certainly common enough.

littlemart 02/16/2016

Metbrooks I was just on my way to send my GI surgeon a message about this subject when I saw your post. Thanks so much. Sorry you are among the walking wounded.

metbooks 02/16/2016

littlemart, I will be glad to hear what your g/i says about the referred pain. I was so pleased that my PA-C didn't think it was out of the question and understood what I meant. I have scoliosis from polio but I know this is not a backache from that front. MET

gordyfortyone 03/18/2016

i have left side flank pain, mostly on my lower back. Its like a dull ache that is always there and gets worse after I eat.

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