Gastritis for years - anyone?

sniffingchimp

Hey all,

I’ve been suffering with gastritis – burning in stomach, heartburn, hunger pains, pain under ribs and into chest, sickness in mornings for years now, several endoscopies confirming gastritis and some reflux…. Have taken acid reducers (everything you can think of) for ages but have not cured only helped the heartburn somewhat but still left the gastritis so am at wits end. I have had a feeling smoking has been the cause but gave up entirely for 3 weeks and noticed very little improvement so was disheartened and stressed and started smoking again. Anyone had similar issues? I know I should stop smoking regardless but to give me some hope would it take longer than 3 weeks for improvement? If anyone has had a similar experience would love any feedback.

Thanks guys J

MASTER...of the bra

sniffingchimp wrote: »

Hey all,

I’ve been suffering with gastritis – burning in stomach, heartburn, hunger pains, pain under ribs and into chest, sickness in mornings for years now, several endoscopies confirming gastritis and some reflux…. Have taken acid reducers (everything you can think of) for ages but have not cured only helped the heartburn somewhat but still left the gastritis so am at wits end. I have had a feeling smoking has been the cause but gave up entirely for 3 weeks and noticed very little improvement so was disheartened and stressed and started smoking again. Anyone had similar issues? I know I should stop smoking regardless but to give me some hope would it take longer than 3 weeks for improvement? If anyone has had a similar experience would love any feedback.

Thanks guys J

It's your diet most likely. There's a few threads on this.

This diet will work if you give it a chance, 12 weeks ideally. Give it 8 at least and start reintroducing your normal foods bit by bit. No Alcohol, spicy foods, cigs.

Get tested for this bacteria, Helicobacter pylori. Can be a cause.

Start taking Apple cider vinegar, get one in a health shop with the bits (the mother) still in it. Braggs is a great one if you can get it.

This thread.

emzolita

I had it for 2 years when I was 16, I literally just remember vomiting for those two years, they put me on Zoton and Nexium to settle the acid. I honestly don't know if they worked or if it just faded out itself.
I was left unable to stomach certain foods without vomiting, like Garlic, and curry etc, but that even seems to be fading now. only stopped taking the Zoton the last 2 months, (i'm 24 now)

good luck OP, it's horrible.

MASTER...of the bra

emzolita wrote: »

I had it for 2 years when I was 16, I literally just remember vomiting for those two years, they put me on Zoton and Nexium to settle the acid. I honestly don't know if they worked or if it just faded out itself.
I was left unable to stomach certain foods without vomiting, like Garlic, and curry etc, but that even seems to be fading now. only stopped taking the Zoton the last 2 months, (i'm 24 now)

good luck OP, it's horrible.

You took Zoton for 8 years...:eek:, lucky you didn't end up with bad poisoning from undigested food.

sniffingchimp

Thanks for the replies guys

Yeah, I've been on and off Zoton for 5 years now but they generally make me feel like crap - get rid of the heartburn but seem to only slow down digestion and give me stomach ache. Doctors dont care, they dont listen to me when I say the side effects are awful, seems to be their only solution.

I'll try that candida diet and give up the smokes/booze for a couple months, wont be easy especially on weekends but if I notice improvement then that'll help keep the spirits up.

Cheers

jocotty

Has anyone tried manuka honey for gastritis?

Do you know if you need to take it toast, or something like that, or can you just take it from the spoon?

And how much should be taken?

lorebringer

OP - my OH smoked for nearly 10 years and for the last year/18 months or so he lived on antiacid meds, swollowed them like smarties (particularly at night). He gave up smoking and a few months later he realised that he was hardly using antiacid meds any more. It did take a while but now (a year later) he very rarely has to take anything (and it's usually after a big curry or something). It did take a while, maybe 3/4 months, to work but it really did and has made quite an impact to his general well being, his health has really been impacted (in a good way). Perhaps trying to give up smoking again will help you, you may not have given it long enough to have an impact the first time, so sticking at it a bit longer would help you more to know if it is the smoking (and it's good for your health in general!).

Dermighty

I had it for a couple of years. I never knew what it was until it got really bad and went to the doctor. I was prescribed Nexium, which I took for 2 months. I realised that my diet was the problem and I reduced my intake of certain foods (tomatoes mainly, but also certain spices) and slightly reduced the amount of caffeine I was ingesting (2 cups a day rather than 4 or 5).

At the moment I can eat almost anything and I'm fine, including jalapeno chilis etc. The problem, I find, occurs when I eat processed products, an example would be sauces or spices from a packet, eg: schwartz brand piri piri sprinkle powder stuff, it rapes my stomach!

the key is to keep track of what you eat and pay attention to when your gastritis flares up. For me it used to be an hour or two later I'd experience symptoms, but now it's usually the next day, so I'll eat something for lunch (with something that will cause it to flare up) and when I wake up the next day I can feel it affecting me.




Regards what a poster said about Candida: it sounds similar enough to some problems I have, I don't eat a lot of chocolate or things like that, but I do like honey, and honey would be my main source of sweetness in my diet, I'd go through a regular jar every 10 days. I, recently, have been eating more bread, but the vast, vast majority of my carbs come from rice and pasta (pasta containing wheat, like bread).

madmaggie

Have you been checked for coeliac disease? Just asking as I was told I had IBS, but persisted till they tested for coeliac, and it was positive.

*eadaoin

jocotty wrote: »

Has anyone tried manuka honey for gastritis?

Do you know if you need to take it toast, or something like that, or can you just take it from the spoon?

And how much should be taken?

Hey jo, I've used manuka honey and aloe vera juice in combination and have to say that they really helped my gastritis! I was eating a fairly good diet too though, staying away from anything that would make the gastritis flare up.

I used a really high quality honey, it was expensive but worth it for me. The shop assistant told me to take a teaspoon full twice a day on an empty stomach - I didn't eat it on anything, I just swallowed it down whole. I also took a teaspoon full of aloe vera juice before taking the honey (not after). Take them both about 20 mins before eating.

I found them so soothing and it seemed to clear up my problem.

I had a h pylori infection, but the first round of triple drug therapy didn't work. They wanted to do a second round of the drugs but I tried the diet and manuka honey first (manuka honey is said to kill the h pylori bacteria, I read about it extensively before making this decision). After a couple of weeks the problems went away - I haven't gone back for my breath test yet, so I don't know if the h pylori is gone but I feel a lot better so I hope it is.

I find now that it only flares up if I'm extremely stressed or if I go to town on a bad diet

sniffingchimp it would be worth asking your doctor about the h pylori, especially if you've been having trouble for this long. I also saw recently that you can get a home testing kit in the chemist to try it for yourself - the pharmacist told me that obviously getting the test done through the hospital is the most idea thing, but a home test can be helpful.

Paddy1951

Did the triple therapy twice did not kill the h cob actor manuka the higher number the better think it is better cure I take on empty stomack only on it short time I think all those tablets kill all bacteria natural yogurt and manuka 18 will see how things go take piece of cristilesed ginger settles stomack best of luckjo