Hi Caleigh,

What a rough time you are having. I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this like the rest of this group.

I can you that everyone is different here and foods that work for one person may not work for you, but there are some staple foods that sit well for many.

Rice, Yogurt (Not you), Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, Fish, Chicken.

This has been my staple diet for about 6 weeks now.

I think the DGL is a good idea, you can also get pepsin GI which heals the stomach lining. Also, I find the slippery elm lozenges do not really work for the stomach. You need to either get the capsules or the powder. The powder is better... You just mix it in some water and drink it. Also, instead of eating a large breakfast. Just eat a small portion. Then wait an hour and eat again. Its better to stick with small meals more often.

I think Sara (in another post) said it best - In the early stages, just stick to the foods which do not make you any worse.

Feel better soon.

Hi, tummy2!

Thank you so much! Do you find that any vegetables or nuts/nut butters have been soothing?

you are not taking a high enough dosage of the acid blockers.

You also need an ultrasound to rule out anything in the gall bladder.

Considering the long time you have had these symptoms your medical care is inadequate imo. DGL didnt work for me

dont forgo meds from the doctor that work for this other alt med stuff that wont or may not work.
I think u would agree this condition is having a bad impact on you.

slippery elm will partially work to coat the stomach but you need the powder - boil or simmer, cool down and have before meals as per instructions. The tiny bit in those pills will do nothing.

hope u get better : ]

I started off terribly too, and lost 30lbs very quickly. By now I regained the lost weight and can eat many things.

This is what it takes to get better. If you do everything right, you should be feeling much better after a month.

* Control acid sufficiently. If there's too much acid, despite acid suppressor (Omeprazole), all other efforts will be USELESS. You have to develop a "feel" for when your stomach starts burning/gnawing, and at that point it means your current acid suppressor stopped working too early, and adjustment is needed.

* Consider switching from Omeprazole, which is terrible, to Pepcid, which is very very safe. Before it's too late and you develop too much acid rebound to make the switch. Pepcid is weaker so you will need to use the aforementioned feeling to decide how much is enough. I would've survived on Pepcid 20mg every 8 hours (3 times a day), if I didn't develop too much tolerance to previously taken suppressor. As it is now, I take Pepcid 40mg every 12 hours (prescription dose, powerful, and still very safe).

* Take digestive enzymes right before (as in, seconds) you start eating food. I use Source Naturals brand and take at least 4, because they're weak. They help the stomach jumpstart the process of digesting food, and then it starts making its own enzymes as it continues.

* DGL (licorice) only irritated my stomach. I don't recommend it, but mileage may differ. Neither did Aloe help me.

* Take PepZin GI (zinc carnosine). Dr's Best PepZin GI brand works best for me, and it's sold on Amazon. It's not a drug, but rather an artificially created holistic food. It is clinically proven to speed up stomach healing speed by 300% (Google it).This is a KEY INGREDIENT that helped me get better. Without it, I would be very much screwed. Take 4 capsules per day and not 2 as the box says. Preferably between meals, and not during/after.

* When in trouble, step closer to the top on this chain of foods:

White rice
Oatmeal (on water?)
Baked potato/mashed potato
Baked salmon
Boiled plain chicken

Once you get to boiled plain chicken, you're in a semi-okay zone, you know how to get even stronger, etc.

* Eating farmer's cheese (TVOROG) after every meal helped me a lot, but you're lactose intolerant so you can't use this tool.

* Slippery Elm is useful, yes. I take it when I'm eating something and feel the first pang of the stomach going "hmm maybe I don't like this". Take 2 capsules immediately and the stomach gets past its insecurities.

* Forget multivitamins, they can irritate your stomach at this point.

* If it happens that your stomach infection gave you H. Pylori, the doctor may want to put you on a devastating regimen of triple antibiotics which will make you feel even worse. It's the last-resort nuke option, and if you're pushed in that direction, consider taking "Gastromend HP", available on Amazon, 4 capsules a day. It contains mastic gum, which suppresses H. Pylori activity.

* Vitamin B12 is necessary with acid suppressors, yes, however you should take it after food, and not in a gummy (cyanobalamin) form, but methylcobalamin, which dissolves in the mouth. Jarrow makes a quality version with cherry flavor, but you need to crack it with your teeth first, otherwise it takes forever to dissolve.

In fact you may want to postpone B12 until your stomach gets to the "can eat chicken" stage. B12 deficiency doesn't strike THAT fast, and vitamins WILL irritate a sensitive stomach lining.

* Overuse of Tums - can create kidney stones. In short term, it can create more tolerance of your acid suppressor and make it less effective. Try to drop Tums completely and just negotiate a proper acid suppression protocol which works for you.

In my case, although my current dose of Pepcid works well, if I let my stomach get too empty, it will still start to damage itself. Taking PepZin GI in these cases helps to stave off the damage for a short while, but really it means that it's time to eat.

In the first two-four weeks of a proper regimen you should eat small doses every 3 hours.

Yes I know it's a giant bummer that messes up your life and schedules and everything. You will find ways around it, and eventually this interval will stop being so small, and you will eat larger portions with more time between them.

* There are relaxing videos on Youtube of various oceans and palm trees which go on for hours. I found them very useful during the "panic" stages of dealing with this. Stomach reacts to our stress.

* Also... Abraham-Hicks, their mobile app with "Physical well-being" meditation track, I used to fall asleep listening to it.

Good luck. Hope you get better soon.

Clarification: about H. Pylori and antibiotics. I meant that if you are forced to take them by the doctor, try Gastromend HP first. If it doesn't help, then you can use the "nuke option" that is antibiotics.

Shihonage, is Pepcid a prescription that I have to get from my doctor? Also, do they sell the digestive enzymes on regular drug stores or will I have to go to the health foods store? Also, yeah, I heard about PepZin GI. I'll have to ask my parents if I can buy it. Also, I have been taking multivitamins to help me get the nutrients that I'm missing for months now and they don't bother me, just the opposite. The DGL I think is working. It helps keep my food down. I take three a day, one before lunch and two before dinner. Also, I know you're supposed to eat small amounts every couple hours. What technically is a small amount? I eat just enough at a time so I won't get nausea/indigestion/acid reflux/heartburn. Also, so it's a good thing I stopped taking the Omeprazole? I read that causes really bad side effects also, so that's also why I stopped taking it.

Thanks! :)

No, Pepcid (or generic Famotidine) is something you can buy in Walgreens. The 20mg version is the correct one. If it becomes necessary, you can get 40mg version by prescription from your physician.

I don't buy much in stores anymore so I don't know. I order the enzymes here:
http://www.amazon.com/Source-Naturals-Essential-Enzymes-Capsules/dp/B000GFSVPU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420184650&sr=8-1

Much like everything else, really.

You getting off Omeprazole could be good, or it could be bad. It depends on whether you actually needed to suppress stomach acid, and on whether you plan to switch to Pepcid or just quit cold-turkey.

The safety protocol here usually is to continue suppressing stomach acid to allow it to heal, which is why I suggested changing from former to the latter. You don't want stomach acid to keep making the damaged lining worse and worse.

If after quitting Omeprazole you become prone to a burning feeling in your stomach combined with nausea/dizziness, you need to start Pepcid NOW, and start figuring out correct dosage as described in my previous post.

If your parents won't let you buy PepZin GI, uh... get someone else to buy it for you. It is key.

I don't know if I need to suppress stomach acid, I guess so. I have been off of it for I think 5 days now, and the burning isn't worse..actually, maybe a little better. Since I won't have Pepcid until possibly later today, I have been using the DGL Licorice, which says on the bottle that "soothes the stomach lining." I guess that's been helping somewhat. I usually have the worst acid reflux (like, bad to the point that it goes into my lower my lower throat) at night, and that's only sometimes. The burning in my stomach comes and goes throughout the day, and sometimes I can go for an entire day with out it! The nausea is usually the worst after I eat or drink that doesn't sit right with me. My nausea was really bad on Wednesday because I tried a fruit and vegetable smoothie that didn't sit right. Also, if I eat too much at once. I don't know if I need to start taking Pepcid immediately. What do you suggest?

There is a test for H Pylori bacteria. you breathe into something after drinking a liquid.
I see Pepcin GI has zinc in it which is anti bacterial. If U dont have a bacterial infection i dont see this as being effective.

Hope they figuire this out after your Jan 6 visit.

keep us posted.

Hello!
I was supposed to have my endoscopy on Monday but it was sowing bad and it made the roads slippery (I live in New York), so we had to postpone it until next Monday. I haven't been too bad the past week or so. I only had two or three bad nausea situations. The first was because I think I ate a little too much lunch. Then, yesterday I either I either ate my breakfast too fast and it caused me extreme nausea and indigestion or it may be that I've been eating too much sunflower seed butter at once. I was told to eat sunflower seed butter to help me gain and also because it is a little more easily digestible than peanut butter. It hasn't seemed too bad but maybe I'm eating a little too much at time and it's causing me issues. Has anyone else had issues with sunflower seed butter? Also, I got Pepzin GI in the mail yesterday and took one before bed. I was told to take it twice and wait an hour before and/or after I eat. Also, has anyone found relief with coconut water?
Thank you!
Caleigh :)

Coconut water isn't the best thing to drink at this stage. It didn't help me, and was slightly acidic.

Take 4 capsules of PepZin GI per day, not 2. There are Zinc supplements out there which have the equivalent of zinc from 10 PepZin GI capsules, which you take once a day, so 4 capsules is very reasonable and safe.

2 capsules is... minimal.

If you survived for 5 days without terrible worsening, maybe you don't need acid suppression and maybe PepZin GI can pull you through.

In early stages I was also greatly helped by Gastromend HP, even more so than PepZin GI, however I always recommend the latter because its 100% safe and it's hard to make mistakes with it.

Gastromend includes mastic gum, which can help greatly, but its also a localized antibiotic, so you shouldn't take it in close intervals to food, and you should start taking probiotics with food to compensate.

Once again, try the digestive enzymes I mentioned. They can help the stomach with processing food. I live on them.

How about sunflower seed butter? Have you tried it? When do you take Pepzin GI? I was told to take it an hour before or after a meal.
Thank you! :)