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 just found this website, and it's wonderful to be part of it (though not wonderful to have the ailment that brought me here).
Brief intro. before I get to the questions: 34 yrs. old, living in Wuhan, China for the past year. Four months after moving here for work I had a sudden and horrific experience like I'd never felt before - and which we all presumably know. The most soul-crushing nausea, spinning head, combined with a panic attack I cannot describe. It lasted for a week, and then, since I'd presumably been starving, it died down enough for me to go the hospital and get an endoscopy. Diagnosis: chronic gastritis.
I tried to treat it with TCM at first, taking things like Vitamin U, and it seemed to work, but I'd do that yo-yo thing - feeling like I'm genuinely getting better for about three to six weeks, and then total crash. Back to square one.
I went home on sick leave for two months to try and get some real medical attention for my condition, and the doctor - not surprisingly - prescribed me Omeprazole 40mg (once per day). I was very resistant to taking Omeperazole because of what I'd read online, and I had also just read about Pepzin GI and I wanted to give that a try. Yet again, I took Doctor's Best Pepzin (2x per day) and I seemed to get better, but I crashed again when I got back to China. Fed up and driven to despair, I caved and started taking the Omeprazole. I've been on it for about 10 days now (doc gave me two months' worth).
Alright - now, I've read some of Shihonage's reflections, and I would like to address some of these questions specifically to him, but without excluding anyone else who would like to chime in.
1) I saw Shihonage recommend Pepzin 4x a day. The only reason I haven't done that already is because I don't know what the possible risks are. Is there any problems Pepzin could cause at that amount? To my knowledge I don't take any zinc-filled supplements (I take Biotin, which is a B-vitamin derivative, I believe, and propecia). Could Shihonage or anyone elaborate just a bit on this matter of Pepzin frequency?
2) With the understanding that "there is no one size fits all," I am still interested in a recommendation from a knowledgeable source that I can modify if it doesn't work for me. In this case, I want to know if I should continue the PPI regimen to the conclusion, or seek to quit as soon as possible in favor of Pepcid or Zantac?
3) I have had kidney stones in the past - is that enough to make Pepcid a no-go for me in favor of Zantac?
4) How much Zantac should I begin with?
5) Any medicine essential to add to Zantac/Pepcid and Pepzin, or are those to *the* essentials (generally speaking)?
6) More specific question: I have had an abscess that required treatment with Bactrim three months ago. I handled it fine when I was just taking Pepzin. Unfortunately, the abscess returned, so I have to take the Bactrim again - this time while I'm on Omeprazole and Pepzin. I read that Bactrim can actually cause gastritis, which was very unnerving news. It can also cause kidney stones - bad.
In any case, on my second day now after starting my new round of Bactrim, I feel acidic and nauseous like I haven't felt since starting Omeprazole. I had my first severe "gastritis attack" in a few months last night. That's what drove me here. Is there some problem Bactrim could cause me while on Omeprazole?
I apologize for the length. I am just so disheartened I find it hard to summon the will to do anything. Gastritis can be a life destroyer - it has materially impacted my ability to function, to network, to do my job. I feel like an invalid. Any hope in the form of new recommendations would be most appreciated. Omeprazole doesn't seem to be working all that well anyway, and I really believed it was my last, best hope.
Thanks.
Brief intro. before I get to the questions: 34 yrs. old, living in Wuhan, China for the past year. Four months after moving here for work I had a sudden and horrific experience like I'd never felt before - and which we all presumably know. The most soul-crushing nausea, spinning head, combined with a panic attack I cannot describe. It lasted for a week, and then, since I'd presumably been starving, it died down enough for me to go the hospital and get an endoscopy. Diagnosis: chronic gastritis.
I tried to treat it with TCM at first, taking things like Vitamin U, and it seemed to work, but I'd do that yo-yo thing - feeling like I'm genuinely getting better for about three to six weeks, and then total crash. Back to square one.
I went home on sick leave for two months to try and get some real medical attention for my condition, and the doctor - not surprisingly - prescribed me Omeprazole 40mg (once per day). I was very resistant to taking Omeperazole because of what I'd read online, and I had also just read about Pepzin GI and I wanted to give that a try. Yet again, I took Doctor's Best Pepzin (2x per day) and I seemed to get better, but I crashed again when I got back to China. Fed up and driven to despair, I caved and started taking the Omeprazole. I've been on it for about 10 days now (doc gave me two months' worth).
Alright - now, I've read some of Shihonage's reflections, and I would like to address some of these questions specifically to him, but without excluding anyone else who would like to chime in.
1) I saw Shihonage recommend Pepzin 4x a day. The only reason I haven't done that already is because I don't know what the possible risks are. Is there any problems Pepzin could cause at that amount? To my knowledge I don't take any zinc-filled supplements (I take Biotin, which is a B-vitamin derivative, I believe, and propecia). Could Shihonage or anyone elaborate just a bit on this matter of Pepzin frequency?
2) With the understanding that "there is no one size fits all," I am still interested in a recommendation from a knowledgeable source that I can modify if it doesn't work for me. In this case, I want to know if I should continue the PPI regimen to the conclusion, or seek to quit as soon as possible in favor of Pepcid or Zantac?
3) I have had kidney stones in the past - is that enough to make Pepcid a no-go for me in favor of Zantac?
4) How much Zantac should I begin with?
5) Any medicine essential to add to Zantac/Pepcid and Pepzin, or are those to *the* essentials (generally speaking)?
6) More specific question: I have had an abscess that required treatment with Bactrim three months ago. I handled it fine when I was just taking Pepzin. Unfortunately, the abscess returned, so I have to take the Bactrim again - this time while I'm on Omeprazole and Pepzin. I read that Bactrim can actually cause gastritis, which was very unnerving news. It can also cause kidney stones - bad.
In any case, on my second day now after starting my new round of Bactrim, I feel acidic and nauseous like I haven't felt since starting Omeprazole. I had my first severe "gastritis attack" in a few months last night. That's what drove me here. Is there some problem Bactrim could cause me while on Omeprazole?
I apologize for the length. I am just so disheartened I find it hard to summon the will to do anything. Gastritis can be a life destroyer - it has materially impacted my ability to function, to network, to do my job. I feel like an invalid. Any hope in the form of new recommendations would be most appreciated. Omeprazole doesn't seem to be working all that well anyway, and I really believed it was my last, best hope.
Thanks.
So, taking PepZin GI without acid suppression wasn't going to do anything for you, and it didn't. Taking Omeprazole by itself wasn't going to do much either.
The amount of zinc in 4 capsules of PepZin GI is only 32mg, well below the most conservative limits. Technically 8 capsules would be safe for most people, but I chose 4 for increased safety. There are zinc supplements out there which one is supposed to take daily, which have the equivalent of 10 capsules' worth zinc in them.
At this point I prefer Zantac to Pepcid, regardless of previous conditions. Asides from less kidney loading, it seems to wear out slower.
I'm not aware of effects or interactions of propecia, but I take Biotin as well. It's water-soluble and doesn't pose risks asides from potential water retention and/or zits at dosages exceeding 1000mcg.
Standard regimen of acid suppression which was used before PPIs, is Zantac 150 at the am and the pm, or as I prefer it, on a timer, every 12 hours.
Zantac and PepZin are my main go-to supplements - key to healing, but I also use digestive enzymes by Source Naturals (taken seconds before every food intake), and I used Chlorella for a few months to stabilize colon/bowel environment with beneficial flora.
Bactrim is an antibiotic. When taking any antibiotic, one should also take a probiotic to maintain the stomach flora, otherwise conditions such as gastritis are possible.
PPIs like Omeprazole are too effective. Unlike Zantac and Pepcid, which remove ~70% stomach acid, they remove nearly all of it. Absence of acid, which serves a protective function, opens the stomach lining to opportunistic infection and increases the chance of creating new food allergies.
When using a PPI and antibiotic at the same time, it's CRUCIAL to have beneficial bacteria in the gut. I keep pimping tvorog (Russian word), known in America usually as farmer's cheese or quark, because its a natural probiotic, among other things. The best forms of it are sold in Russian grocery stores.
But there are effective probiotics sold out there. Unfortunately it's hard to gauge which are more effective than others.
Yes, I know how gastritis can feel. It can be debilitating and destroy your life. But it's possible to get back to functional level and even achieve normalcy, as long as the healing progress is unimpeded, strict regimens are kept, and then later, when stomach is stronger, you simply blacklist a bunch of no-no foods.
There are many lists of gastritis no-no foods out there. Among them Coca Cola, ketchup, and many other things of high acidity or erosive effect.
You could try fresh cabbage juice, as it has lots of glutamine and vitamin U which you said helped in the past. Cabbage juice seems to really help me personally.
With the omeprazole, taking it correctly is vital to feel its benefits. Always take it on an empty stomach and eat 30-60 mins after, a meal with some protein. If you dont stimulate acid production after taking it then it doesn't get in to block the acid pumps.
I really didn't want to take PPIs either. For some reason, Nexium doesn't seem to be working for me anymore, even though I've only been taking it for two weeks. Zantac does help, so I'm looking at taking it 3x per day instead (per advice from here).
I will say that this all started for me after taking 2.5 rounds of antibiotics (not Bactrim, but amoxicillin and Biaxin). So, be careful with them - I know it's a Catch-22, because you can't not take the antibiotics if you need them either. You may need to up your dose of Omeprazole, at least temporarily.
Getting the RIGHT acid suppressor or combination is important.
Lansoprazole, Nexium or Zantac all work much better for me.
So let me boil down shihonage's advice: pepzin 4x, Zantac 150mg 2x (every 12 hours), digestive enzymes (is source naturals a brand or a type of enzyme?).
Would you recommend switching to Zantac immediately or pushing through with the regimen of Omeprazole?
Andy - thanks for the tip on the cabbage juice. So you think vitamin u may have actually done me some good? My only reason I stopped with it is because they put aluminum in it and it supposedly damages your kidneys if you use it too much. So you take it for two weeks or
Something and then have to stop. I liked it though. It's big in China, anyway. Half the country has gastritis (a strictly anecdotal statistic).
Pyrrha - I really don't know what caused mine. I had an h pylori test and a barium swallow and all they ever came up with was acid reflux. My American doctor's guess was stress and diet, mostly stress. I was indeed on antidepressants for many years (though very weak - 25mg Zoloft, and I made sure I never went stronger). My fiance passed away a few years ago and that surely added to my stress - outright trauma really. And then in late 2013 I got the stomach flu (first time
I'd been stomach sick in 20 years). I was never quite the same after that last incident, though I have no idea if it's causally related to my chronic gastritis.
Being in China is basically the worst place I could be going through this. The medical system is rather scary to deal with (I got my endoscopy here... No comment). There are no personal doctors. It's very hard to get any specialized attention at all unless you're already sick enough to be staying at the hospital.
Anyway, now that I'm here I feel I at least have people who understand this cross we bear, and have the knowledge to actually help.