Gastritis..? H.Pylori..? Ulcer..? All in my head..? :(

I'd say (a guess) your problem is Duodenitis (inflammation of the Duodenum). H.Pylori isn't anything some more Lansoprazole and some Antibiotics wont fix

Thanks for responding Do you think Duodenitis might show up in my blood test results..? Also would anti-biotics and more lansoprazole clear this up quickly..?

UC would probably mask any of the subtle / slightly raised Blood changes caused by Duodenitis, yes ideally the H.Pylori would be cleared up in a couple of weeks, then add a couple more weeks just to resettle

Hi Andy sounds like I am currently going through a very similar situation as you. I'm a 31 year old male and suffering with stomach problems. The doctor also gave me Lansaprozole but don't think it is having much affect. I have just finished the course and so need to go back and see what the next step is as I'm fed up with feeling like this. I don't know about you as you didn't mention it but I feel constantly bloated as well as the dull ache/pain. I mean I actually wake up first thing in the morning feeling like I've eaten a 3 course meal!!! When it's been a good 12-14 hours since last eating. Just wondered as it's been a little while since your last post how did you get on? Are you still suffering? Did they find out what the cause was in the end?

All the best.

Tel

Hey Terry, didn't think anyone would reply to this again but thanks.

In short, no they haven't found out what's wrong with me. As is I am still sick. Been ill now for 5 months. I've been getting stomach ache every day now since September and it's getting to be a bit of a joke now. I'm really quite depressed about it. My life is on hold, I haven't seen my friends or even so much as left the house now for a long while. I tried to not let it ruin my Christmas but it spoiled it completely. But my Ulcerative Colitis has stolen the spotlight in the doctor's eyes recently, so ALL their attention has been focused on that. This is part two of my story I guess if your interested:

I actually ended up in Hospital in late November because my Ulcerative Colitis got so bad, I was passing blood INSTEAD of stools, feeling so weak that I was needing to fall asleep for a couple of hours throughout the days. I was eating again but it was just going right through me, I'd become anaemic I think. I was at my Doctors office back in November and she was actually great, she arranged for an ambulance there and then after taking my blood pressure and after seeing how grey my complexion was (also I had to go to the toilet twice when I was with her)

I was in Hospital for just over a week. I was put on a drip of fluids and painkillers and I was stabilized. The doctors took lots of blood out of me and saw that my inflammation levels were really high. I kept bringing up my constant stomach aches, but I've yet to get a straight answer out of anyone. One doctor told me tha it is related to my Ulcerative Colitis (which I don't think is right) One doctor told me that I had a stomach ulcer, but the next one said that I didn't. I'm disappointed with the doctors at my local hospital, I feel like they have just ignored my complaints of stomach aches or just brushed them aside, choosing to focus instead on my Ulcerative Colitis.

When I got to go home I was put on a course of steroid tablets that was supposed to decrease slowly every week starting with 8 tablets a day week 1, 7 tablets a day week 2 and so on. The steroids were supposed to decrease the inflammation in my bowels. However as I entered week 4 when I was supposed to be on 5 tablets a day, I was going to the toilet 10+ times a day, mostly with blood & I was feeling weak and faint again. So I eneded up back in hospital. I think this was about the 18th December. I can assure you I was feeling very festive indeed! *sarcasm*

I was in hospital again for another week where the docs and nurses repeated the process of a drip of fluids and painkillers. According to the blood tests they kept doing I was stabilized again. I was still passing loose and bloody stools though, but it wasn't as extreme as it was before. I got to go home on Christmas Eve, which was nice. I've been at home now since then. I just had to try and ignore my stomach and bowel problems. Its been the worst Christmas ever though, I love eating at Christmas, mums a great cook an she always gets great stuff for us, but this year I couldn't enjoy it.

The difference this time when I got discharged from hospital was that I was on 8 steroids a day for two weeks instead of one. I've been on 7 steroids a day now for a couple of days. My Ulcerative Colitis is still quite bad, but its "under control" if you could call it that. I'm not messing myself like i was before hospital. But I'm scared that when I get up to 5 steroids a day again that they'll wear off again like they did the first time.

I'm on SOOO much medication right now. I'll say right now I don't feel 22, I feel 92. I'm on my steroids, theyre called Predisolone, currently on 7 a day, decreasing by one per week. I'm taking Mezavant XL: 4 a day, Omeprazole: 2 a day, Iron Supplement tablets: 3 a day. I was given a few bottles of Gaviscon for my phantom stomach aches and bloody paracetamol too, the most generic painkiller in the world. I have half a mind to go to my doctor's office and start raging. Nothing is working. and I mean NOTHING. It's a joke. My life has been put on hold because I'm so ill. I've never been this poorly before and I've developed a very negative outlook that this is now my normal state, as in I'm never going to feel alright again Whatever the Hells happened to me has become permanent. somehow and will not go away.

I went to my doctor's office last week for a check up just to see how I was doing. That turned out to be pointless. The doctor told me that the steroids can give people stomach aches HOW STUPID IS THAT. I'm such a mess. So the steroids can give me stomach aches, but I've been having stomach aches daily since before I was on the bloody steroids. I haven't felt normal now since August, I haven't felt good for 6 months, I have lost half a year of my life. A small upside is that I have been eating almost like normal despite the Colitis and stomach aches. It's all become so normal now that I don't care anymore, I'm just eating and putting up with it because nothing makes me feel better.

I have been dealing with the same issues for almost a year and they say stress and ibs. I have done every kind of test there is that I can do. I'm only 31 years old and always been real healthy. Did you find anything to help with the stress or make you feel better?

Wow Andy I take it back I'm not currently going through what you are. My god it sounds awful, I really do feel for you mate. I hope things start improving for you and soon. There's nothing worse than the unknowing and it sounds like the doctors really don't have a clue what's wrong with you. Have you thought about going private, I know it can cost a small fortune but as I'm sure you will agree health is more important than money. I have got an appointment for endoscopy in next coupl of weeks but my symptoms seem to have eased off slightly last day or two. I know bit early to say and probably jinx it but maybe it's the new medication I'm on. I've stopped taking Lansoprazole as the course finished and I didn't want another course as I'm worried this would mess up my stomach acid balance. I'm still taking Colofac for stomach cramps and now also donperidone to help with the sick feeling and it is suppose to help food pass through quicker. I'm still losing weight but hopefully find out more after camera test.

I really do hope things improve for you mate. Not fair to have to put everything on hold while they figure it out. Keep me informed if you don't mind sharing.

All the best

Terry

make sure you don't come off ppi's abruptly ie lansoprazole omeprazole etc etc coming off these medication's will put you back in the same state as when you first started taking them!!! coming off ppi's abruptly creates double the acid in the stomach even skipping daily doses could make you sick because of acid backup from the proton pump, taking doses 1 or 2 hours later can also cause problems, wean yourself off ppi's! speak to your doctor about taking smaller doses off ppi's in the morning and a h2 blocker at night ie ranitidine then replace your morning ppi dose with a morning time h2 blocker so you would be taking 2 doses of h2 blocker ranitidine daily this is because h2 blocker acid reduction is not 24 hour effect like lansoprazole and other ppi's, long term ppi usage can cause bone loss, osteoporosis. h2 blockers shouldn't cause these problems "speak to your doctor" also coming off h2 blockers shouldn't create excess acid or as much excess acid as coming off ppi's abruptly "speak to your doctor"

make sure your not being given a placebo which would be putting our health in danger!!! whilst your on ppi's for now take them at the correct time which is 30 to 60 mins before breakfast doing otherwise will reduce lansoprazole's potency by upto 40% typically a 30mg lansoprazole dose 30 mins before breakfast work's best for me although i cheat by ten minutes for me more like 20 minutes before breakfast. cut out orange juice pure or otherwise, tomatoes, black pepper induces acid secretion, you might have problems with gluten and dairy "reduce them and see if your alleviated". i'm going through a bout of suspected gastritis currently dairy bloats and causes nausea until i switched to 1% fat milk although the bloating and nausea have gone down i have a feeling i have a problem with the lactose which there is slightly more of in 1% fat milk. have to go sorry. just one more thing me personally for myself find these experiences G-d puts us through as lessons to be grateful to G-d and remain grateful to G-d, us humans can easily forget the blessings upon us ie enjoying a nice meal without feeling sick or discomfort, i have a feeling some humans not been shown to be grateful would burp off after a meal without any recognition orf G-d's mercy. after suffering from trapped wind through life i have definitely reminded myself to thank G-d after every burp for the relief! don't get me me wrong i'm definitely no saint

but i try to remember to be grateful through reminders. good luck. turn to G-d.

tea and coffee don't have any calories or nutrients but cause acidity in the body and relax the pyloric sphincter causing acid back flow into esophagus, me personally i used to drink tea but when i cut it out my acid reduced by upto 20% and every bit helps.

you said a diet eliminating wheat and dairy would be almost impossible but if you replaced a portion or 2 of wheat for potatoes that would still help a lot! if most of your daily complex carbs come from wheat you will get excessive acidity also in the lower gut. i dreaded boiling a potato a day but it's not hard or time consuming ie boil a sliced 200 gram potato "skin intact for fibre" in 10 to 12 mins, this 200 gram potato should replace wheat equivalent of 2 slices of thick bread. definitely do 1 times 200 gram portion daily but and keep a daily limit of 2 times 200 gram portions daily max well it's kinda working for me. obviously the potato should be part of a balanced meal of carbs, protein and a little fat me personally i used to give a good spray of mayo around 15 grams before the gastritis, i find mayo not too acidic compared to other fats.

Thanks for the replies and stuff. I'm not on Lansoprazole I'm on Omeprazole. I'm on two of those a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. I've been taking them AFTER meals because that's how I was given them by my nurses in Hospital & that's how I was directed to take them.

I'm still struggling with stomach aches every day. These Omeprazole PPI's don't seem to help me out a damn bit. What's really pissing me off is the fact that I'm also on steroid treatment for my Ulcerative Colitis & apparently steroid treatment can give stomach aches. I'm taking Prednisone & I've overall been on it now for 8 weeks, I'm currently on 6 tablets a day with food, & I'm slowly going down by one every week, (next week starting Wed i'll be on 5 tablets a day)

Some good news is that my Ulcerative Colitis seems to be very gradually calming down after 4 months of a bad flare up. I've stopped passing blood into the toilet & my cramping has subsided significantly in these last few weeks. I've also put some weight back on. It's likely that its just because of the steroid treatment, but it's still a good thing right? I've been eating like my old self again, albeit a little healthier. I just mean I've been eating AS MUCH as my old self.

So what's really my only BIG problem these days is my constant stomach ache that I'm getting every day. The last time I went to see my doctor, he said that he thinks my stomach aches are because of my Ulcerative Colitis... I'm not a doctor, but I was always told that Colitis ONLY affects the large intestine and rectum and nothing else further up. I've been a little worried that maybe I actually have Crohn's but my doctors don't think that's the case.

I've been told time and again that my stomach ache isn't an ulcer and one doctor when I was in hospital told me that the likelyhood that I have stomach cancer is pretty much impossible, his words were something like, "if you had a malignancy in your stomach for 4 months, you would be in pretty bad shape right now, probably dead". The last doctor I saw which was a couple of weeks ago told me that once my Colitis calms down completely and when I'm off the steroids then my stomach aches will stop too, but that honestly felt like a bit of bedside manner.

To be quite honest I'm at a complete loss as to why my stomach has been broken since September. I've not felt nauseous for a long while now, I'm talking November time now. My stomach just ...hurts. Right under my breastbone a dull ache. It doesn't have me keeling over and it doesn't make me feel sick. I haven't been vomiting. It's very vague, but constant. There are some days/evenings where it seems to not be so bad, almost not there, but it always comes back.

I've got an appointment with a Gastro specialist at my local hospital on the 28th of this month. I think I've got a full hour with the guy & this is the dude who was monitoring me when I was in hospital just before Christmas, so he's someone who knows what's going on with me which is good. I'm gonna have a list of questions as long as my arm when I go see him. I think this doc's gonna decide what to do with me at that point, wether to get me a Colonoscopy or a Gastroscopy (or both for goodness sake.) I'm hoping that my bowels just keep on improving over these next 11 days so much so that he won't find it necassary to get me a Colonoscopy, but whatever I suppose, I've had 2 before, 3rd times a charm and all that right?

I'm going to really push him to give me some solid answers about my stomach though. Because all my doctors and nurses and consultants and GP's have focused ALL their attention on my Colitis over the last 5 months, and my stomach aches have been left on the sidelines, when to be honest that's what's giving me the most grief. I can deal with my Colitis to a point, I've been dealing with it for 4 years, but I've never had a stomach ache that's lasted me 5 months.

By the way, I have experienced coming off PPI's suddenly. When I was first ever given them in September I was on Lansoprazole 1 a day half an hour before breakfast like what you said. And I took them for the whole month of September. After that time I think my stomach felt a little better but for about 3 solid days I had the worst heartburn I've ever had, but I just chugged a load of Gaviscon and it went away. So I'll definately make sure that I ask about slowly tapering off any of my medicines.

I've not been given any H2 blockers, do you think they might help with my stomach aches more than the Omperazole since that doesn't seem to help..?

As far as my diet goes, I was told my my doctors that diet doesn't really affect Ulcerative Colitis, & that I should just try to have a healthy balanced diet like any doctor will tell anyone. However I have shuffled things a little for myself. I have cut down on fibre, as in none at all, and I've stopped having so much pasta, I normally eat quite a lot of it. I never drink tea or coffee, & I haven't had an alcoholic drink since 2011, so I didn't really have that to worry about. But despite all this nothing seems to relieve my stomach aches, so I'm not sure that there's a point in experimenting with what I'm eating.

I know my posts are always quite lengthy but I really appreciate the people who end up reading this crap & responding to it. It;s nice to know that there are nice people out there who have have similar experiences to me, so thanks again.

good job i come back to edit my post otherwise i'd not have seen your reply seen as i don't think i got any email alerts but maybe you need to log into patient.info to retrieve replies, although i haven't thoroughly checked my email's either i still doubt i would have seen any replies. anyway the reason i came back is ive gave you some serious misinformation regarding eating potatoes including potato skins infact i could be misrepresenting my symptoms as gastritis or maybe ive got gastritis induced by eating potato skins with potato! my symptoms started over a month ago nausea, lack of appetite pain in between the middle breastbone area especially when lying down even 5 hours 30 minutes after final meal but 6 weeks or longer ago i remember also getting crampy stomach and lose stools not diarrhoea but almost! now regarding potatoes, potato juice or potato without skin is actually used in the treatment of peptic ulcers as i read and found out last night! but the potato skins which contain most of the fibre and even more of all the minerals and vitamins that are found in the potato flesh but still potato skins contain toxic poisonous glycoalkaloids like solanine, In potatoes 30–80% of the solanine develops in and close to the skin i think the solanine started gastritis off for me or i misdiagnosed my symptoms because solanine poisoning has the exact same symptoms ie, nausea, cramps, diarrhoea etc etc also because i didn't know what i know now ie potatoes exposed to sunlight "cause green in potato skins" or potatoes growing shoots because of emplacement in complete darkness both double triple or create even more solanine in potatoes, 6 weeks ago when i went crampy! i eat a green skinned potato including skin which set of a long chain of events! yesterday and today i peeled my potato well and got good results even within 2 days and instantly infact! nausea has decreased, wind which increases gastritis symptoms has decreased as well as annoying stomach acid and back flow of undigested food "probably potato skin fibre" i think i still have gastritis but hopefully "G-d willing" it will go much faster, ive read of many cases in the past fortnight of people with gastritis lasting 6 months plus "G-d forbid". back to fibre i have concerns i could end up a little constipated! if so i would definitely look for another source of fibre ie possibly and rarely french cut green beans which actually promoted alkalinity in my stomach when i tried them a couple of days ago but too early to tell and ive ditched them until gastritis ends because excess fibre and gastritis definitely don't mix, you need to research insoluble and soluble fibre especially with your condition, research leaky gut! which affects intestines, read up on healing foods for your conditions. i disagree with your doctor regarding free food consumption! many would also disagree! my belief would be along the lines of moderation in all foods! a good balance of foods. many will also agree to eliminate trigger foods trust me most people have them! ie citrus fruits especially oranges, tomatoes, coffee, tea, dairy, gluten etc etc, now i can tolerate gluten and dairy in moderation if i replaced my potatoes with wheat which would mean all my complex carbs would come from wheat, i would get increased stomach acid, breathing difficulty from acid backflow into lungs, increased acne, but moderation and decreased wheat gluten has helped reduce symptoms for me. i have a feeling you could be getting too many complex carbs especially from wheat which is one of the main ignored causes of acid reflux problems. sounds like your on the path to healing "G-d willing" i think decreasing fibre possibly helped you but like i said research insoluble and soluble fibre both have different important roles and some fibre is needed to prevent problems but realise fibre is hard to digest for that reason the stomach generates more stomach acid to break it down and i just remembered too much fibre creates more lower intestinal acid which would inevitably cause your symptoms infact i think that's your main problem excess fibre inducing lower intestinal acid and irritation! research on it, the excess acid might be passing easier into your intestines because fibre would become a spongy conduit for acid!!! there's definitely a connection between fibre and lower intestinal acid increase!!! i just read about it the other day. good luck and get well soon no need to reply i wont be back here infact i only created an account to reply on this issue. it's a shame someone who doesn't drink or smoke should have to go through such an ordeal get well soon fella and try some patient faith in the one G-d creator of all things.