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 (so almost a year now) with main symptom being nausea. Long story short...I've been on 2 prevacid a day, and also taking zantac, tums and pepto bismol when needed.
Last week I thought I'd try not taking my dinner prevacid and it seemed to be ok. I did that for a couple days...and only took the dinner one once as I was out at a restaurant that night with a friend. And now I'm back to just taking the morning one.
I haven't noticed any difference i.e. the nausea hasn't increased and aside from a touch of heartburn this morning around 2am (which 2 tums quickly made it disappear), I've been ok.
Can rebound happen after a week or should I be ok?
I have been taking Pepsin GI twice a day as well for a few months (including one at dinner) so perhaps it is helping? I still watch my diet and avoid certain things (citris, spice, fried) but try to eat semi-normal.
My issues started last March (so almost a year now) with main symptom being nausea. Long story short...I've been on 2 prevacid a day, and also taking zantac, tums and pepto bismol when needed.
Last week I thought I'd try not taking my dinner prevacid and it seemed to be ok. I did that for a couple days...and only took the dinner one once as I was out at a restaurant that night with a friend. And now I'm back to just taking the morning one.
I haven't noticed any difference i.e. the nausea hasn't increased and aside from a touch of heartburn this morning around 2am (which 2 tums quickly made it disappear), I've been ok.
Can rebound happen after a week or should I be ok?
I have been taking Pepsin GI twice a day as well for a few months (including one at dinner) so perhaps it is helping? I still watch my diet and avoid certain things (citris, spice, fried) but try to eat semi-normal.
We are kind of in the same boat currently. I used to be taking Nexium 40 mg 2 x a day. Now I am cutting back on 1 time a day. I took the morning pill and skipped the evening one. it is also a PPI.
My diagnosis is : if after a week, you don't feel anything, then it is GREAT NEWS! Superb! My doctor told me that it took around 4-5 days for the Nexium medicine to work through the stomach. so if after 1 week there is no symptoms, then good, the stomach is not suffering a rebound!
I have cut back for 10 days now and I do occasionally get a bit of "warm feeling" in my stomach, and some bloatedness. but I persist. like you, I am extremely cautious. I monitor my stomach like a cat watch a mice. Its unhealthy, its crazy, its obsessive I know.
I realise that things are better if I relax and don't brood over it.
My advice to you: continue to do what you do. If you feel the acid level is higher than normal, then take antacid. These are not additive and likely wont have a rebound effect. This is also my doctor (gastro specialist) advice. hopefully, over time, the stomach will adjust itself.
Can I ask you: Pepsin GI - what is it? does it really help? I saw a lot of recommendations for Pepsin GI in this forum.
best of luck!
As for Pepzin GI, it was actually from here that people swore by it. It apparently has no bad side effects so I decided to try it. Well, I still get my nausea but it is less, and as said, I was able to cut it out. So I will continue. I have to order it from the States which adds $ shipping costs, but if it (maybe) is helping, it's worth it.
Thank you...I wish you all the best too
thanks for the advice on Pepsin GI, I will check with my gastro the next time I see him.
I do plan to stop the PPI (nexium) completely. It is my goal and I am determine to succeed. you can too!
But like you, I am extremely cautious. The state of my stomach is on my mind all the time.
I had been successful in the past before on stopping all PPIs completely. The happy "medicine-free" days will last about months (sometimes as much as 6 months) before I do something stupid again. like too stressed up or eat too oily/spicy/too much/whatever.
The fact is : stomach linings do get healed over time. its in all articles, this chat group is full of real success stories, and my gastro told me that too. So, as long as we manage it well : not to aggravate it and to take antacid each time to reduce the acid, we both should be on the path to recovery.
Like you, one of my symptom is nausea. I hate the feeling. Nausea when I am hungry and nausea when I am full. I used to dread waking up feeling nauseated. Now I tell myself :what the heck. I will just pop a anti-nausea pill each time I felt it. I found that domperidone is superb in this. it also pushes the food down and aids in digestion.
so now, I do feel a bit nausea after cutting down on 1 dosage of Nexium. it is not everytime, everyday. I will take domperidone when it happens.
I will see my gastro next few weeks. is there anything that you wanted me to ask him? He is sensible doctor and with a heart. While he does not believe in natural remedies (I tune him out when he said all that), his advice has thus far been acceptable to a cynical (of doctors), desperate, "over-think" me.
all the best to you!
do share your journey. There could be something that i can learn from you. like i learn from Soretum that Italian herbs are good for us..
One thing I will say is that it's been almost 1 year since this all started.
At the time, my GI said 'I am optimistic this will go soon' and at the same time completely dismissed me and I haven't seen him since. And it has only been recently that it seems better...and the only change is the pepzin gi. So I do believe it is doing something.
I know what you mean as it sucks how we have to constantly watch and think about what we are eating, and cannot indulge and just eat as others do. I don't completely cut myself out though...on day to day I am really careful and know what to avoid. But when I go out with friends, or even on Saturday nights we often have pizza (which is ok if the tomato sauce is thin and simple toppings) and sometimes dessert. When needed, I'll take that extra zantac 150mg, as I don't believe in completely depriving myself for the rest of my life 24/7. And I even manage 1 coffee daily.
That's great that you have such a caring good dr...and even a specialist, as I said, mine just dropped me (so my GP gives me the meds, etc). I guess my question would be about the pepzin gi, but suppose if he's not into the natural thing, he may not know much about it or think highly of it.
How long have you been suffering? I have nausea pills but it only works if the nausea is light.
I will ask the doc about pepsin GI, since I wanted to know about it too. I tried to buy it today at my local pharmacy but they do not have it. (was a bit disappointed since you and most pp rave about it).
I had my first symptom of nausea in late 2011. I thought it was stomach flu. A few more bouts of It over 2011 and early 2012 and I suspect maybe it was something else. The general doctor thought I was colic. (ha!). it was always after a stressful event - like my kids got sick. Finally I did endoscopy and colonscopy and found it was gastritis. And its been a "I am healed- opps I am not" rollercoaster since then.
This time, it dragged on for 6 months. Since last August, I have been on Nexium. I have never been taking Nexium for so long so I am not feeling too good abt my situation.
So, I speak from experience when I said that you are able to cut down on your medicine without much side effects as I have done it 4-5 times in the past 2 years. There are times when I am symptom-free for 6 months.
Thanks for sharing your journey and all the best!
I'm sorry you've been suffering since 2011. I realize now that this is not going away. But it's good that you can be symptom free for months at a time. If you're like me, I'm guessing you have no idea why some times are bad and others are ok?
I spoke to soon as I am very nauseous today (started feeling it last night around dinner). And I ate nothing different than I normally do. So, perhaps it is my body saying it needs the meds again. Tonight I did take a strong zantac, but if the nausea keeps up at this strength, then I'll just go back...as I'd rather be on meds and feel 'so so' than very nauseous. WIll see over the next few days.
I've heard good things about nexium but haven't tried that one myself. But I have tried tecta, dexilant and prevacid (current PPI).
For the Pepzin Gi, I had to order it (but I'm in Canada). Amazon has it, but it was cheaper for me to order from Lucky Vitamin so have been going with them...actually, I'm due for another order very soon.
Let me know if you end up trying it.
I am sorry to hear that you feel nauseous again, but I wanted to encourage you to not to feel down. I did too - once last week when I was on the 1st week of cutting down on PPI (nexium). That was last week when I was communicating with you. I felt moody and down and wondered for the whole day if I should go back up to 2 times a day dosage. like what you were thinking. Like you, I did nothing wrong the dinner before. Ate the same thing, even went cycling with friends and had a happy time. And then I felt nauseous the next morning. (Darn! where did that come from?) I persisted in keeping the nausea at bay with meds (for nausea) for 3 days. but I still stuck to only half dose of PPI.
Maybe you can try this trick : when you feel nausea, push the thought out of your mind. Or chew on ginger sweets/ginger slices. or get busy. I know it is not easy. Keep on trying other remedies and solutions and you will succeed! (I exercised (lightly) with an extremely bloated stomach yesterday afternoon) to keep my mind off my stomach and all the symptoms.