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.
Well, there we have it. I went to my GI specialist, and the final diagnosis is that I most likely have visceral hypersensitivity of my stomach. This would explain why my upper endoscopy shows nothing out of order, yet my pain perception suggests it's still ripped to shreds in there...
From what I understand, vh can happen *after* gastritis, or any inflammation, or infection - it's a nerve issue where the nerves are hypersenstive (here she flails her hands up to demonstrate my nerves went "nuts")
She told me this is very common - half of her scopes turn out with perfectly healthy looking stomachs, all while the patients perceive extreme pain. Meanwhile, people can have ulcers that nearly perforate the wall of the stomach and they feel nothing!
So yeah... That's just great. So now I'm stuck with this, and I have no idea when and if it will resolve. Good news is that from what I've read, it DOES go away eventually, but it might explain why many people on the boards seem to have "gastritis" forever. There's no clear answer as to "when", and it depends on the individual. The most encouraging answer I found is that it's "long lasting", which at least lets me know it's not forever... (what is "long lasting?")
Apparently, there is treatment available with very low dose antidepressants, which don't alter the mood, but have a soothing effect on the nerve communication between the stomach and the brain. If this doesn't get better by spring I'll try that as a last resort.
I'm on Dexilant, and it DOES help. Doesn't miraculously take away all symptoms, but I can have a more or less normal life these days (but without coffee or anything spicy). I'm petrified once it comes time to tapering down...
I'm writing this in the morning and without coffee... I just want to have coffee one day.. i don't even care about the spicy food...
Thoughts? Good vibes?
Hope everyone is feeling okay today.
From what I understand, vh can happen *after* gastritis, or any inflammation, or infection - it's a nerve issue where the nerves are hypersenstive (here she flails her hands up to demonstrate my nerves went "nuts")
She told me this is very common - half of her scopes turn out with perfectly healthy looking stomachs, all while the patients perceive extreme pain. Meanwhile, people can have ulcers that nearly perforate the wall of the stomach and they feel nothing!
So yeah... That's just great. So now I'm stuck with this, and I have no idea when and if it will resolve. Good news is that from what I've read, it DOES go away eventually, but it might explain why many people on the boards seem to have "gastritis" forever. There's no clear answer as to "when", and it depends on the individual. The most encouraging answer I found is that it's "long lasting", which at least lets me know it's not forever... (what is "long lasting?")
Apparently, there is treatment available with very low dose antidepressants, which don't alter the mood, but have a soothing effect on the nerve communication between the stomach and the brain. If this doesn't get better by spring I'll try that as a last resort.
I'm on Dexilant, and it DOES help. Doesn't miraculously take away all symptoms, but I can have a more or less normal life these days (but without coffee or anything spicy). I'm petrified once it comes time to tapering down...
I'm writing this in the morning and without coffee... I just want to have coffee one day.. i don't even care about the spicy food...
Thoughts? Good vibes?
Hope everyone is feeling okay today.
What's the drug called? The dr suggested for you.
I have read this board inside and out and that Visceral Hypersensitivity makes perfect sense. This condition tears up your stomach lining, that is point A. Your stomach mends but it is still going to be raw, point B. your stomach mends but certain foods might always irritate it, point C.
I read stories where people said that while the gastritis was gone by 7-9 months of being diagnosed. Their stomach was sensitive for another 3-6 months.
I think what you should try to do, this is just my amateur opinion, is try small bites of unsafe food. Push yourself, but not too hard, and most importantly, I am sure you already know, no over-eating.
tx for the coffee suggestion, I tried a low acid coffee though and it still destroyed me...
I will start trying more foods by the end of the year.. i have a month to go before my big trip and I'm just trying to coast on the safe stuff.. my diet is now significantly better than a month ago - red peppers are ok now, pickles, soya sauce, etc.. and the amazing part - I can eat wasabi no problem. wasabi, but not a pinch of chili. so crazy!!
I know there are low acid coffees out there, and I've tried them and they hurt me too, so I researched and found this product, it's 100% acid free done naturally and organic and decaf! I've use it! but i make sure I have it with toast with avocado! not on an empty stomach?It's very expensive because the process Is costly. Even though it's decaf it still tastes good.
I had my first tomato today in months :p it was delicious. I actually almost cried.
Mine relented after about 27 months. I'm 3 months into a remission or perhaps (dare I hope) a cure. I still get sensitive and I can tell when I have eaten something that might mess with me (like grains) but if I keep to my basic foods I have little pain and just a little nausea.
I drink 1 cup of caffeinated coffee a day but it's that general foods premixed international coffee. I just plain don't like the other stuff, never did. I also drink about 6 cups of decaf tea a day, some herbal some black. I stopped taking any ppi meds in June and not so coincidentally I think the pain stopped soon after when my acid level balanced. I take an herbal stomach med called KiosDs twice a day. Its the bark of a brazilian pepper tree. I also put ginger in my tea twice a day. At this point it's not such a big deal, finally, unless I mess up and eat a trigger food, or have bad anxiety. thanks again for posting your story and giving us another diagnosis to discuss with our own gastro docs.
I've been noticing small encouraging improvements, and I hope it will start to resolve in the coming months.. maybe a year.. I just don't know.
I also have Gastroparesis with gastritis, so want one is good for one it may be bad for the other.
I'm glad your getting on the road to recovery.