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.
Hi,
My issues started last March with nausea. Was put on tecta which didn't work so well, so we tried prevacid. It was ok, but my GP upped the dosage to 2 PPI/day to help ease the nausea. I also take a zantac 150mg when neeeded and things like tums, pepto bismol, etc. I still deal with nausea daily (e.g. I can feel fine then take 2 bites of something and it returns), but it's more managemable. So now that the holiday season is over, I'm thinking of cutting out the dinner PPI (i.e. so 1x/day).
Do I just stop taking the night time one, or is there somethign else I should do to withdraw (e.g. take a zantac in its place at first)? I'm scared of those withdrawal symptoms people mention.
Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.
My issues started last March with nausea. Was put on tecta which didn't work so well, so we tried prevacid. It was ok, but my GP upped the dosage to 2 PPI/day to help ease the nausea. I also take a zantac 150mg when neeeded and things like tums, pepto bismol, etc. I still deal with nausea daily (e.g. I can feel fine then take 2 bites of something and it returns), but it's more managemable. So now that the holiday season is over, I'm thinking of cutting out the dinner PPI (i.e. so 1x/day).
Do I just stop taking the night time one, or is there somethign else I should do to withdraw (e.g. take a zantac in its place at first)? I'm scared of those withdrawal symptoms people mention.
Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.
If you do not have the symptoms anymore, you can try to reduce the PPI dosage. Don't fear, just give yourself a chance. 2 years ago, when I had my first gastritis attack, the doctor gave me Nexium 20 mg, 2 times a day. After 3-4 weeks, when the symptoms disappear, I stopped the medicine. Without any side effects.
Of course, avoiding all types of trigger food is key to success rate of reducing the medication. I have avoided - for 2 years now - cold drinks, acidic fruits, coffee/tea/milk, anything spicy (which is very difficult for me given that I am from sunny Singapore with heavenly spicy food). Sounds like a lot to give up, but you can create your own "happy meal", once you tried out foods that agree with your stomach.
I also find that porridge helps. In fact, the soupy water from the porridge heals the stomach lining, I have heard.
Oatmeals helped too. I have heard it absorbs the acid in the stomach.
In addition, taking probotics once a day before my lunch helps with the bloatedness.
hope this helps!
I do avoid most trigger foods such as spicy, citrus, tomatoes, greasy foods. My only cheat is coffee (but only 1 cup/day) and chocolate. I do like oatmeal so good to hear. And yeah, I take probiotics, as well as DGL, Pepzin GI and drink coconut water.
That's great that you were able to stop the nexium with no issues.
I have been on the road somewhat similar to yours before, and now I am back again. Although I had successful healed my stomach 2 years ago, a case of wrong Chinese medicine (meant to heal my stomach and strengthened it : but was not suitable for me) and general underlying stress sent me back to the regime of Nexium again now. But I have hope that I will be healed again and I will be off Nexium in good time.
Your nausea symptom is similar to mine. 2 years ago, I also had that symptom. I took Nexium for 3 weeks before the nausea disappeared. That is also a hint that the stomach has healed totally. So my advice is : stop or cut down on Nexium only when you are confident that your stomach has healed ie no more symptoms.
In Chinese medicine terms, nausea is a sign of weak stomach constitution or (in Western medical terms : inflamed stomach). so you should give it time to heal and strengthen your stomach.
Ginger, honey and aloe vera are good for healing the stomach. you can try it now before you cut down on Nexium.
As for oatmeal, my advice is to make it NOT too soupy. It is meant to be a bit dense so that it can soak up the acid and line your stomach. I put dried cranberries and dried blueberries to make it yummy.
If you do intend to cut down on the night Nexium, perhaps you can also take oatmeal at night dinner as a way to absorb all the acid.
My friend took oatmeal up to 3 times a day (a big bowl too) and it eventually cured her of gastritis.
Hang in there! you will be healed!
ravinfish, I should note that right now I am looking at cutting back on the PPI (from 2x/day to 1x/day), and not cutting out. I don't think my stomach is healed as I still get nausea daily...off and on, but I think being on 2 per day is not good.
Sunnyisland, thanks for the tips. The DGL I take has ginger in it, but not sure how else to take it. And I've gotten into coconut water (but have tried aloe vera water as well). So you're doing ok now?
I am doing better now. I just came back from visiting the specialist. You are not alone on having to take Nexium, I am on Nexium 40 mg, 2 times a day for 1 month. (so my dosage is double yours). I have tried 20mg 2 times a day but it did not work for me. (I must add that it was during a period of intense self-imposed work and family stress on myself). I resisted 40 mg for soo soo long as I read from the internet that the maximum dosage is 40 mg per day, not 80 mg. But my doctor told me that it is not true and recommended to increase it to 40 mg 2 times a day.
after 1 month o taking this double dosage, my symptoms reduced by 60-70%.
So today, my doctor recommended to reduce the Nexium to 40 mg, once a day.
He said to try it out for 3 months and report back to him after that.
So now I am on the same path as you (although still double your dosage) in reducing the Nexium dosage.
The key is : avoid all trigger food when you are trying to reduce the dosage.
Have you tried domperidone for your nausea? it is not a prescription medicine and I can get it from pharmacies. Another name for it is motilium (10mg). I find that it works wonders in reducing the nausea feeling. I have been taking it with my Nexium for 1 month now and will stop soon since I don't have the symptom anymore.
this med is not addictive (at least not to me) so you might want to try it.
As for ginger, you can try this way :
option 1 : cut 1 slice of ginger (the size and thickness of a big coin). if you don't mind the spicy feeling: you can then pop 1 piece into your mouth and chew a bit of it. you don't need to keep chewing it as it will get too spicy for you. you can then just leave it in your mouth for a while. Some people in Asia do that to get rid of the nausea feeling.
option 2 : boil some rice with a pot of water and 3 slices of ginger for at least 30 mins to make porridge. wait until the rice is very soft and you get porridge water. you can put carrots in it too as it will sweeten the soup. then drink/slurp it. The porridge soup will heal your stomach and the ginger will ease the nausea. this ginger and carrot porridge has been my remedy for these past years whenever I have the darn symptoms.
good luck and all the best!
I forgot to tell you that coconut water might not be suitable for everyone. once you find out that your symptom does not improve with coconut water, do not continue. I don't know how to explain it in Western food terms, but to us Asians, coconut is a 'cooling fruit". ie, it might not be suitable for people with stomach issues and might worsen the nausea. I avoided everything with coconut in it.