Gastritis: Stomach pains for 2 years.

Hi Anna

My word !

Pain making you unconscious for hours?

That cannot be right.

You do not say whether that was a Gastric Ulcer or a Duodenal Ulcer.

And what medication are you taking for relief ?

Do I take it that as a result of your Ulcer you were given an H.pylori test ?

And ulcers caused permanent damage ?

Why - did you have an operation ?

Ana:

I have had stomach/intestinal "issues" for 15 years! My problems began with a choleycystectomy(gall bladder removal). I had hundreds of stones in my bile duct. To make a long story short(er), you might want to research ADHESIONS. Surgeons and doctors are aware of the problem and are not very good at explaining what happens inside the body following surgery.Just as you get a "scar" on your skin following a cut, there are also changes that take place inside. Scar tisssue which is a form of connective tissue forms on the inside. This tissue can actually look similar to a spider web and get wrapped around intestines and other organs. This tissue can actually continue to grow and cause what is known as a "frozen abdomen". I am trying to raise awareness about this problem as so many people have no idea what happens inside their body following surgery. I have a friend who's daughter had similar symptoms. She and I both ended up going to Germany to have the adhesions removed in a way that they would not come back. As one of the problems is with each surgery the adhesions return and multiply......if the procedure is not handled in a manner that the body is helped so that it does not react by forming more adhesions(or scar tissue). The procedure involves instilling ADEPT fluid into the abdominal cavity and having the patient roll from side to side every 30 minutes for three days. This helps disrupt any connective tissue from beginning to form. It makes a lot of sense if you stop and think about it. The surgery is also done without the use of CO2 to blow the patients abdomen up(like a balloon... which makes for easier access for the surgeon) C02 has been found to dry the tissues inside the abdomen and cause the body to react by forming more adhesions.

In 2014, my abdomen was totally frozen and I was sent home bed bound on pain medication and told that there was nothing else that could be done. It has taken much research and advocacy from my Asperger son, who has done much research and actually found my salvation in GERMANY. I am now able to do much more, however, my case was EXTREME as the surgeons had really left quite a mess. Please, check the subject out. So many are suffering and have no idea why they are hurting. Adhesions DO NOT show up on any test. CT scan, MRI, x-ray. They cannot be seen unless you find a surgeon willing to look laproscopically. Then, you must find someone who will not use C02 to do the procedure. 

Hope this helps give you some material to research. Become your own ADVOCATE or try to find someone close who will support you in the research. Suffering daily is a horrible way to exist. It is definetly not LIVING!

Dear Ana:

So sorry to hear you are feeling absolutely wretched, with little or no relief in sight. No wonder you feel as if you're going insane; who wouldn't?!

Have you had a gastro endoscopy, as well as an endoscopy? I am thinking these exams may be helpful to you, particularly the former.

While what has been plaguing me for several years has never resulted in passing out, let alone doing so for hours at a time, I have been quite miserable, my quality of life seriously diminished and getting progressively worse for 25 years now. Used to think my pain was caused by endrometiosis, but an endoscopy found this was not the case. Following this negative finding, nothing else was explored and I simply tried to deal with feeling far less than optimal.

I thought that along with diverticulosis and hypoglycemia (both conditions I've been proven to have) that I also had celiac disease. For three years or more, I figured it was the gluten intolerance that was causing significant stomach issues, aches and pains in joints, sluggishness, crushing fatigue, etc. 

Well, the preparation for the gastro endoscopy proved that gluten was not the culprit. I was a gluten glutton for days and felt fine. Huh?! Then it dawned on me that for several days I had not taken any naproxen or aspirin. Hmmm. Typically, I take one or the other, once or twice a week, usually for headaches, sometimes just to alleviate joint pain in knees.

The scope exam revealed that I have inflammation of the stomach and esophagus; two biopsies were taken, results will be available in approximately three weeks. I have been told I have H pylori. I have done some online research since receiving my diagnosis, learning among other things, that half of the world's population has H pylori.

I am just wondering if perhaps your problem (or at least a measure of it) is similarly caused by over-the-counter pain medication, resulting in H plyori. Something to consider and get medically checked out.

Apparently, the safest over-the-counter pain medication to take is Tylenol. The list of other pain medications that are very hard on the stomach, et al., is quite long. Like legions of others, I had no idea that most nonprescription pain meds were so incredibly harsh to one's system; I believe this misconception is very wide spread.

I hope that you will soon find definitive answers to your illness, that the road to recovery is upon you.

Looking forward to reading further messages from you in the near future.

Hang in there!

Slainte,

Sharon

 

Wow !

NSAIDS including Naproxen are responsible for a very high proportion of the cases of Ulcer damage.You must never take NSAIDS if you have Gastric problems and certainly not over time.

No - you can't get H.pylori from medication.

H. pylori is a bacterium and, without going into the technicalities a very clever little beasty indeed.

Yes there are thousands of people with it who don't apparently suffer. Genetically, and unfortunately, some are born with a higher number of acid producing cells than others. And H.pylori cannot survive in a low acid PH in the stomach.

Fewer and fewer people in the Western world are infected by H.pylori because our standards of hygiene have been so vastly improved.

Gastritis runs in families and most of us are infected by our mothers or from siblings who have also been infected. But medical science has not yet proven this issue.

Hi Sharon

Well it's not unkown for whole families to be infected with H.pylori.

Bit bemused that you say you've got it but don't indicate that you've started Eradication Therapy  (Marlow on Thames)

 

Well at least you've made me laugh. Perhaps it's in my genes 'cos I'm still bemused. Because if you've only taken a PPI, you've taken nothing to eradicate H.pylori i.e.One PPI and two different antibiotics. PPIs might produce a better acidic environment but have no usefulness in eradication.