I thought burger & chips were your safe food ;-)

Generally when EVERYTHING hurts... it's not the foods themselves... it's something gone awry with the meds or stomach. When everything hurts me it's generally a rare bad flare up - increased inflammation or ulceration & I have to increase ppi for a month & drink buckets of Gaviscon until it all calms down again.

Some people have a lot of problems & irritation with grains & potatoes. Not sure if you've read GAPS diet, Specific Carbohydrate diet, Fodmaps, Fast tract diet.

Have you had tests for Crohns etc?

Well since the potato thing Ive been avoiding chips. I actually had a burger last night and I felt sooo nauseated about an hour after, and I was up all night with the runs. I think there must have been something about that particular burger because I never usually react like that.

I'll look into the GAPS diet, though at first glance it seems more directed at bowel problems and theres plenty of foods I cant tolerate in there. I seem to feel a bit better when I eat more fibre but then I get heartburn if I have too much. Cant seem to win!

Yeah all those diets need adapting to be gastritis-friendly, however it's more about understanding the principles behind them - exactly how & why grains can cause inflammation.

I think a few of us verged on a discussion around this before because I've definitely started to get a quick 'reaction' (runny nose/sore throat) to certain to certain foods too - particularly fructose & dairy (even lactose free). I think the discussion was 'can ppi's cause food intolerances' & I think the conclusion was when acid is low & inflammation is present then larger than normal food molecules can cross the lining to get in the bloodstream then the immune system tries to attack these molecules which can cause a whole range of symptoms.

Last year I great success with increasing soluble fibre (psyllium husk capsules) for both my IBS & gastritis... but can I tolerate psyllium anymore? Nope... It gives me IBS now. LOL!

I hate how the rules are always changing in this stupid game.

Butternut squash is usually safe for me. Mashed or soup. Plain Salt & shake crisps (omit shaking on the salt!). Granola. Weirdly boring, plain porridge oats have been a bit iffy with me lately, but well-chewed granola with all it's ridiculous sugar & honey is ok.

I really think you should explore your mannitol suspicions further too. I think once you start avoiding key things like that then your inflammation will calm down & you'll make progress.

Yeh I hate how the foods I can eat keep changing.

I've managed to completely eliminate mannitol and sugar alcohols from my diet now, I think in the least they were irritating my stomach though not sure they are the root cause.

Tried some bananas last night and they seem to be ok so think these will have to be my new safe food :)

That's good you've found something to eat.

Bananas were my safest food for about 2 years... until they became a new trigger for my IBS.

Yes definitely good to eliminate any suspected irritants.

Root cause... now that's interesting. My alleged root cause was H pylori... but that's long gone... but the aftermath is permanent.

Yeh the cause is just a complete mystery. 3 years ago I can pinpoint it to alcohol, and a lot of stress. Initially i had no idea what I was doing so diet kept it ongoing, but after a few months I got a handle on the diet and on the PPIs, it seemed to die down. But this last year I just seem to be reacting to more and more foods, with all the things Im taking it should be enough to cure a stomach ulcer several times over yet I'm still plagued with these problems.

I am actually seeing the GI today, I think I will ask for allergy testing as I feel like I must be having a reaction to something, its not normal to be suffering like this while on so much medication for it.

Have you tried probiotics? I've tried many brands over the years. Even the expensive ones like VSL#3 that didn't seem to benefit me at all.

However I'm taking Incite probiotics now. Cheap as chips on amazon & definitely felt their benefit for last few weeks. Just like everything feels less inflamed & digestive system/transit working better.

Also taking Natural Sources Essential Enzymes. I was terrified of enzymes after bad experiences, but Dr Pepshihonage recommended this brand as being mild... & they've been great for me.

yep I've tried various probiotics. I go through phases of taking them and not taking them so never really figured out if they help or not. My bowels dont really give me any symptoms tbh.

I've had bad experiences with digestive enzymes in the past, I bought some pure lipase ones which seem to be ok, I take them when i hav a high fat meal, but I think anything with protease just eats my stomach.

I've been looking a bit more into the Paleo diet, always been afraid to try it given without high fat intake Id worry about my weight, but I think I will try and really reduce my grains intake and increase the veg Im eating, veg makes me nervous because so many of them give me pain, but I actually think avoiding them is doing me more harm than good, the fibre seems to soothe my stomach as long as I avoid the ones I have known issues with.

My Dr wasn't particularly helpful, he at least agreed to refer me for allergen testing but said he didn;t believe in food allergies or intolerances (in so far as they give GI problems but no full on reaction) and said that I simply had to accept that this is how my GI system is and to stop stressing about it. He thinks its all being caused by the stress....hmm not like Ive not heard that before :p

At least he did say that the Dr he's referred me to does actually believe in food allergies and "all that stuff" lol.