How I cured my gastritis
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When I got diagnosed with mild gastritis (but no H. Pylori) and esophagitis, I looked all over the internet to find what to do. I did not find many accounts of people who have cured themselves successfully and how they did it. So I thought I would write my story once I am cured. Here it is. If you have cured yourself from gastritis too, please share your experience below as well.
Many people ask how long it takes to be cured. At first I started on dexilant for a month but I did not see any improvement. After a month I kept taking dexilant and I started the low acid diet in parallel. I got much better in 2-3 days. After two months on dexilant and one month on the diet, I felt completely good. Then I stopped the dexilant cold turkey and got a lot of pain and acidity back in my stomach. Now I regret I did not take the dexilant a little longer as my stomach was obviously not healed and not strong enough to go through the rebound effect of stopping dexilant. I regret also that I did not stop dexilant slowly taking it every other day for a week, then every three days for a week, .... I felt anxious about taking a medication that has so many side effects taken long term and I wanted to stop immediately, which was not reasonable.
Anyway there I was back at the beginning with stomach pain and acidity day and night. I felt pain related to the esophagitis as well which really scared me. I hesitated to take dexilant again but I decided to try to cure myself the natural way. Below I describe what I did. I got cured in approximately two months, getting slowly better week by week. After two months of natural cures I had no stomach pain anymore and no excess acid, I was able to sleep again, felt like a new healthy (and lighter -- I lost a few pounds) person. However after those two months, I felt that I needed to follow the diet another month for my stomach to get strong and be able to handle a less strict diet.
THE CURE
Books
Most of what I did is summarized in two books which I found very useful:
The first book is "Dropping acid: the reflux diet cookbook & cure" by Jamie Koufman. This is the book I based my diet on. The only disagreements I have with the author regard dairy products that I stopped taking as they make the stomach produce more acid (very clear for me), and the use of ginger, manukka honey and aloe vera which I find too irritating and/or acidic (and I don't feel that they help). Also she does not talk about salt which is known to be irritating for the stomach lining in excess, I felt an improvement when I lowered my intake in salt. I will explain the diet more in details below.
The other book is "Ulcer free! Nature's safe & effective remedy for ulcers" by G. Halpern. I know you may have gastritis and no ulcers but the two conditions are related and what cures one usually cures the other too. I used some of the natural supplements recommended in this book. In particular slippery elm (this one is actually not mentioned in the book) and DGL licorice for stomach pain (coat the interior of the stomach lining), Zinc-Carnosine (reduce inflammation and protects stomach lining - I felt a great improvement after starting to take it especially with acid production at night), and cabbage juice (finished my recovery with this one, after two days I had no stomach pain anymore at night). I describe the supplements more below.
What did not work for me
Mastic gum hurts my stomach. It is supposedly helpful against H. Pylori which I knew I did not have (I had been tested).
Prelief removes the acid in food and stomach very efficiently but causes constipation.
Tums works well for 45 minutes but then there is a rebound effect with the stomach producing more acid.
Manukka honey hurts my stomach (Too acidic, Ph level 4, but maybe also because of the tea tree essential oil in it). It is supposedly helpful against H. Pylori.
Aloe Vera is too acidic (around Ph level 4), and I don't feel it is doing anything positive.
Ginger is irritating and I don't feel it is doing anything positive.
Probiotics helps with digestion but not really for the stomach.
Zantac works very well at removing the acidity but makes me feel dizzy and incredibly tired.
PPI worked very well at removing the acidity and pain in my stomach while I was taking it while doing the diet, but I had a bad rebound effect when I stopped (one must stop slowly by taking it every other day for a while). Also having too low acid in the stomach because of PPI might cause problems in the long term (problems with Calcium and B12 absorption, bacterial infection more likely).
39 likes, 3077 replies
ines6375
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matt85910 ines6375
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How much better did you get and how long did you leave ut before re introducing normal foods back into your diet?
Since I had 2 out of the 5 days of triple therapy and then the 2 days to reciver from the side effects, I have felt a lot better and have started on Probiotics and Zinc Carnosine Again. I feel a little better every day now and it feels like I am getting a little of my old self back, slowly but surely, TOUCH WOOD. Im thinking that my issue must have been some kind of infection related issue as the change post antibiotics was remarkable even though I on took 2 days worth. Im stocking to the diet I ha e for myseld based on trial and error and to be honest I am eating things that really arent totally the best but ARE the best for me it seems. Im going to leave it until the weekend and see how I feel on Monday, if the improvement continues to slowly improve then Ill stay with it for another month and then look at adding things back in from my old standard diet, and see what happens, question is, how do you know when the time is right to bite the bullet as it were. How long to leave it.....
ines6375 matt85910
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If you are doing triple therapy it is important to do it all the way to kill them all until they are very dead, otherwise the h pilory might come back quickly.
I have reintroduced herbs, a little more salt and I am not counting the amount of olive oil I use. Beside that I am still on a strict diet and plan to stay on it for many more months.
matt85910 ines6375
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I intended to so the whole course but had to stop due to the side effects. After speaking to the doctor today, he had advised reducing the dose of the on that affected me and retrying as all the alternatives are penicillin based which I am very allergic to anyway.
Im going to give it a few days first on the heavy duty pro biotics with zinc carnosine as well and see how I feel this time next week as I need to start thr triple therapy on a Thursday and on the 3rd day is when it usually hits you.
matt85910 ines6375
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ines6375 matt85910
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How long is the triple therapy?
Ginger_Juice ines6375
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§ Abdominal bloating.
§ Abdominal pain.
§ Uncomfortable feeling on the chest
§ Always feel the requirement for burping
§ Difficult to sleep /sit due to above
Medicine prescribed by the GP did not work
Home made remedies.
§ Cheaw ginger or Drink ginger juice with little sugar three times a day in-between meals
§ Have some Oat meals and a banana in between meals
I found above symptoms gone away withing three days of time and felt so comfortable
ines6375 Ginger_Juice
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mermaid62 ines6375
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I have recently come to the conclusion that for some people it must be autoimmune, and I remember you mentioning about your thyroid. I am hypothyroid, which I believe to be autoimmune for most people, and there has been some research that indicates that you can get chronic gastritis with this issue. I think this is what I have anyway. If you are interested I can find the link.
I also have a diagnosis of ME/CFS and have altered my diet a lot to cope with both issues. It is hard to keep this up long term though and I think maybe I have food intolerances too which are not connected to the gastritis. I avoid gluten, most dairy, sugar, processed foods, all fruit at the moment (even banana gives me pain), and most grains. It's v difficult and if I reintroduce some foods the pain returns. I am having a bout now .....
I did start off for 2 yrs on PPIs but am reluctant to return to them as I know long term use can inhibit absorption of other things like B12, plus some other problems. Also you can get rebound acid issues after just a few weeks.
At the moment I am using Slippery Elm, plus the Zinc Carnosine, and this morning have begun to chew the natural licorice sticks that seem to really help (can't do this in public!).
I was doing some research online last night and came across another product that offers relief which I thought I might try. Have you heard of it? It's called Siberian Pine Nut Oil.
ines6375 mermaid62
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I am sorry to hear about your autoimmune problem, it must be hard to deal with. What does the doctor suggests?
The last GI doctor I saw told me that PPI do not affect the levels of B12, even though I read everywhere on the internet that it does, so I am not sure what to think of it. He actually told me that he was taking PPI forever because of a condition he had and that it can be managed if necessary. But I understand your reluctance to take PPI for a long time. It has been a month and a half that I am back on them and I can't wait to stop.
Be careful with the natural licorice sticks. Unlike the DGL licorice, it still contains glycyrrhizin. Glycyrrhizin can cause oedema and all sorts of disturbances of the hormons. It is safer to chew tabs of deglycyrrhizinated (DGL) licorice.
I read a lot about pine nut oil, mostly the reviews on amazon dot com and I did not find them convincing so I did not try. If you try, let us know if it works.
mermaid62 ines6375
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In the last 5 years or so I have done a lot of my own research to try and improve things, and have seen a private Dr who is good in some areas and not so good in others. He has been assuming until recently that my stomach problems were due to bacterial or fungal issues, but recent tests have shown not.
I would be OK about taking PPIs short term if this bout doesn't ease, but it usually does after a couple of weeks or less. I don't think this Dr you saw really can know for certain about long term risks re PPIs. Certainly if you Google it shows up a number of studies re risk of hip fracture being more likely (I am 62 so would think seriously about that one!). Also it doesn't take a genius to understand that decreasing acid in the stomach as you age is not a great thing, when it's decreasing anyway. Acid is in there for a good reason I believe.
Yes, I know there are some risks using the licorice sticks long term, and I usually just use them when going through a bad bout as now. Luckily I have low BP and am post menopausal so maybe the hormone issue not so bad. I have used the chewable tabs re DGL but finding it hard to find some at the moment that haven't got a lot of unwanted additives.
OK I will give the pine nut oil a go and let everyone know!
I forgot to say in the previous post that I have been tested for Helicobacter Pylori twice now (negative). Also that I have similar food to you and do a veggie smoothie each morning for breakfast. I haven't tried adding cabbage to it yet, but may do so sometimes as I see you are putting it in. I know raw cabbage can inhibit the thyroid action, so tend to use lettuce at the moment. Cabbage however can also be very soothing. I have used raw potato juice when desperate.
ines6375 mermaid62
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I have mixed feeling for cabbage, I keep going back and forth. It causes me gastrointestinal issues too while soothing my stomach so it is definitely not the perfect cure.
I like the brand natural factors for DGL licorice. I find the ingredients relatively straightfoward.
mermaid62 ines6375
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I was interested that you keep cucumber out of your diet as I have always thought that to be non acidic and soothing for the gut. However I just googled it and I see that some people do think it's a problem food, while others suggest that it has a low ph and therefore is OK. Hmm, could be a problem for me at the moment as I have a greenhouse producing cucumbers and only me to eat them!!
ines6375 mermaid62
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I was not sure at first about cucumber. It is not a strong offender. Dr Koufman wrote in her book that some people can't tolerate it, but her book is about acid reflux/silent reflux and not gastritis. One must be more careful with gastritis. Cucumber is indeed very alkaline which is good but it contains something astringent in it. You can feel it in your mouth when you eat it. Anyway I tried it in my juice twice and I did not feel so good afterwards so I avoid it now. It is all trial and error in the end.
ines6375 mermaid62
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mermaid62 ines6375
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I went to the medical herbalist yesterday.
Luckily the acute stage of my gastritis has stopped now, and I am in discomfort rather than very bad pain. I have reintroduced some foods into my smoothie cautiously (a little cooked fruit - my plum tree produced 20 pounds of plums and I couldn't eat any of them until now!), some coconut milk, a little cacao - all can create problems I know. Yesterday I was OK, after just the coconut milk and a teaspoon of cacao, but since the fruit, not so good today, so may have had too much.
The herbalist treats the whole person, and I have immune issues and fatigue, with diagnosed autoimmune conditions, so what she gave me would not be the same for everyone.
She urged me to continue with the Slippery Elm before each meal. She has given me Liquorice Root, (she knows I have low BP but will monitor it), Dandelion Root (this is a bitter herb, but one of the less bitter ones - supposed to help with digestion), Bupleurum and Ashwaganda.
I am seeing her again in 2 weeks where she will monitor me depending on how I am doing, and maybe adjust the mix.
ines6375 mermaid62
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I am glad you are feeling better.
And thank you for sharing what your herbalist prescribed.
It is hard to resist more irritating food when one feels better. I have the same problem. Yesterday I had a few things I am not supposed to and now I feel a slight discomfort. I know it is not going to last more than 24 hours but it reminds me that it would be better if I am careful with what I eat for a few more months.
From what I read licorice that still contains glycyrrhizin increases the blood pressure. I tried it at some point since I have low blood pressure but I did not feel good with it. It gave me water retention, headache and I felt overall weird, probably because it messes up the hormons. I am so grateful for DGL licorice which does not have all these side effects.
I am a bit surprised she prescribed ashwaganda as it might cause stomach upset as a side effect (I looked into it a while ago on webmd). Did she say why she gave it? Anyway you will see how you feel. I hope those herbs help you.