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How I cured my gastritis

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ines6375
ines6375

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).

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  • suzeq1972
    suzeq1972

    Posted

    The first pasta meal was a home made spag bol (with cheese). Second was a shop made chicken and chorizo ravioli with tomato sauce (no cheese). Both times it felt like I had a brick lodged at the bottom of my breast bone, belching, then feeling of dry/burning sensation at back of throat and tongue. It lasts around 1-2 hours and I sometimes feel like there's something trickling down my throat. I feel exhausted afterwards and sometimes need to lie down! I get 'grumbles' in the colon area but nothing too bad.

    I'm going to try gluten free pasta next. I ate a steak the other night and had no problems.....hence concentrating on the pasta! I think you may be right though about the tomatoes, onions etc as well.

    Thank you!!!!! :-)

    • H2theg
      H2theg suzeq1972

      Posted

      I have to bet it is a combination of the foods in the pasta. I can eat red meat, but if I add onion, garlic, or red sauce I will be keeled over for hours. For me, red sauce is an ABSOLUTE NO NO. I cannot eat red sauce ever.
    • lynne1945
      lynne1945 H2theg

      Posted

      Tomato tomato tomato! Never! Actually I avoid the nightshades altogether for my gastritis, IBS and gastric reflux disease. That includes peppers, potatoes and peanuts.

       Onion and garlic are first to have to go as has been said here many times. Anything in a packet is poison.

      Eat fresh, grow a garden, don't use preservatives. Sugar is a disaster and not necessary in any form except some fruit.

      I am going to hint up fermented sauerkraut in my health food store today. I believe it's amazing.

  • musicchick581
    musicchick581

    Posted

    Sounds good. I cut all grains, dairy, pasta, gluten, corn and wheat, high acid foods, high histamine foods and foods that are on my sensitivity list like yeast and almonds and honey and feel better. I drink Evamore water (on sale at our local health food store) and took Manuka honey for a long time until I found I was sensitive to it. I can't do licorice which explains why DGL didn't work for me. I was taking probiotics for a long time and feel better not taking them. Uncertain why. I drink at least 2 oz of distilled aloe vera a day and it helped me tremendously to feel better and soothes my stomach. I couldn't do pasta, even gluten free and grains like rice so I cut them out. I just added potatoes back in and feel ok but heavier on them. I may cut them back again.
    • stomachgirl
      stomachgirl musicchick581

      Posted

      I read that some people have an overgrowth of lacto bacillus acidopholus.  That might be why the probiotics aren't helping, I found the same thing.  Now I take a probiotic without acidopholus.

       

  • JustGreg
    JustGreg

    Posted

    Suze...the acid in the tomato's is the killer for sure. That isn't to say pasta can't present problems for you either but my money is on the red sauce. Very few individuals and even less restaurants truky know how to make a genuine sauce. The key is to mix the sauce, puree, paste and seasonings in a very large thick bottomed pot and bring it to a rolling boil and keep boiling it for at least an hour or two. You'd notice a pinkish froth covering the top...this is the acid. It is periodically laddled off and tossed out. Then a small amount of sugar is added to take the bite out of acid that remains.

    The same can be said for pasta in that everyone makes everything differently. Some use great ingredients and make their own pasta, many use a pre-packaged pasta with Gawd knows what all in it. There's no consistency at all unless you do it yourself.

    And I know a thing or two about the abdominal symptoms you described. Never in all the years I've been battling ulcers have I experienced anything like what I've been feeling the last two weeks. The brick that goes down...and comes back up...just to do it over and over. And the pain while it cycles!!...it's from hell. A weird aspect of GERD (for me) is that the rumblings and churnings feel like hunger one second...and full bloated the next.

    Wishing everyone good digestive health!

  • ines6375
    ines6375

    Posted

    Evamor water is, to my knowledge, the natural water with the highest Ph level, this is the water Dr Jamie Koufman did some research on and she published a few papers (you can find them on the internet). Which means that everything they found applies to that water and they don't know what happens if you use another water or increase the Ph of your water artificially. It is possible that a water with a higher Ph level works better, or that a water with a lower Ph level works as well. The best thing to do is to test what you have on yourself, see if it feels good. Evamor water helped me soothe my throat and esophagitis at the beginning when it was hurting. Also I liked to wash my mouth with it when I had to much acid. After a while the sore throat went away and I kept the drinking the water as a habit but I am not sure it does anything for the stomach (a glass of evamor helped a little if I had it immediately after I ate or drank something too acidic).
  • awe
    awe ines6375

    Posted

    Hi ines

    I had commented on your cabbage cure post about a week ago about me having ulcers. Im just wondering what brands you took for slippery elm, dgl, and pepzin gi. Ive tried manuka and mastic as well and find they irritate me too, make me feel weak and just not like im healing.

    Thank you again

    • ines6375
      ines6375 awe

      Posted

      Hi Awe,

      For slippery Elm, I use Nature's way. It is the one they had at the store. It works well.

      For DGL licorice, I use natural factors. I like the ingredients, they are pretty straighforward. Some other brand had some sugar in -ol in it which is harder to digest according to Dr Robillard (whose diet I don't really follow). The natural factors tabs taste good.

      For pepzin GI, I use Swanson ultra. From what I read Swanson has a good reputation. Some other brands suggest you take twice (around 150 mg/day) the dose Swanson suggests (around 75 mg/day) but according to the studies the results are pretty similar if you double the 70 mg/day dose or not. Moreover the 70 mg dose/day is closer to the recommended amount of Zinc/day, so that is what I take. The reviews are good for Doctor's best too, I have not tried it.

      I read many reviews on internet and particularly on amazon before chosing these products and I have been happy with them.

      Did you try the cabbage cure? How are you feeling?

    • awe
      awe ines6375

      Posted

      Thank you. Thank you very much.

      I haven't yet. I need to.order the juicer. Hopefully ill have everything i need to try and finally help myself heal by the end of the week.

      How long do you think i should take these supplements?

      How long before you started noticing they helped alot?

      Thank you again. Youre honestly making this seem alot more manageable

    • ines6375
      ines6375 awe

      Posted

      You should take Pepzin GI for two months. I think it is the most important. It helps heal the ulcers and the stomach lining in an acidic environment.

      One box of DGL licorice last a month if you take one before each meal, so you can begin with that and see how you feel. I did not take slippery elm regularly, only when my stomach hurt between meals or at night.

      Beside the cabbage juice, I did not notice anything helping a lot in a short time. DGL licorice and slippery Elm helped a lot immediately with the pain, but for the recovery it was very slow. It took two months before the pain and excess acid disappeard. Sometimes I was discouraged as from one week to the next I would not notice much improvement. After two months I felt good at last but I still needed the diet for a few more months to stay good and have my stomach get stronger and stronger and tolerate more and more foods.

      According to the book "Ulcer Free" you can cure your ulcers in one week with the cabbage juice, but it is really hard to do because of the effect on the thyroid.

      Also according the book ulcer free, medication like PPI give quicker results than natural supplements, but they don't always last as well. The acid in the stomach prevents the stomach to heal, so reducing the acid with the PPI is very helpful. PPI cause problems long term, but for a short term like two months the side effects are small. The main problem is rebound when one stops that can be managed with natural supplements, and reducing the medication slowly. If you choose to take some medication like PPI, I still believe the diet is essential for a long term recovery, and the supplements might be helpful after you stop the medication.

       

    • ines6375
      ines6375 awe

      Posted

      Hi awe,

      Please keep in mind that I had gastritis but no ulcer. I believe the treatments are similar but I don't have any experience with ulcers.

      I hope you get better soon.

    • daniela99184
      daniela99184 awe

      Posted

      Hi Awe,

      You could try fresh raw potato juice, only red skined ones, 1/2 a glass three times a day for 3weeks or so.

      I am doing it at the moment, I can not drink cabbage juice because of my thyroid gland. You need to drink the first glass on an empty stomach. You can not add anything else to it, it does not taste good but raw potato is rather famous for curing any stomach problems, ulcers, gastrits etc.

      Take care,

    • awe
      awe ines6375

      Posted

      Thank you ines,

      I got most of the stuff so far. DGL, the swanson zinc carnosine, and the slippery elm. I dont have a juicer yet tho. I tried the DGL and noticed it does help with pain pretty quickly, which is good since after an irritating meal the pain sets in and I start to feel weak and down. The DGL helps get rid of that unless the meal was really horrible I notice, like junk food, then the DGL doesnt help nearly as much.

      The slippery elm feels like it's not doing much of anything. Im thinking maybe I should open the capsules and let it sit in water. I have a blender bottle I take around with me. Maybe I should just dump the slippery elm powder into it and then try it? 

      The zinc carnosine I feel immediately after I take it. The sensitive spots I feel in my stomach (ulcers probably) feel really sensitive after I take the zinc carnosine. Im not sure if I should take it so soon in since it feels a lil irritating and I do feel weak after. Maybe I should take a lil bit of it at first and ease into it?

      Even tho I don't have a juicer yet I do have a nice enough blender that can puree veggies so I tried blending cabbage with it. I add a lil water and blend. I can't use alot of the cabbage this way tho since there's alot more volume in a blended cabage drink where a juiced cabbage all the volume from the pulp is tossed aside. I basically peel off layers from the cabbage and toss it in the blender. A few layers from a small cabbage (like 1/4 of an entire small cabbage) makes a full glass' worth, like about 470ml. Im trying it tho and its really smooth with my blender. The other night I came home from work after feeling alot of pain in my stomach and weak and down. I avoided eating anything when I got home and just blended cabbage with a lil water and drank it. About 30 minutes after the pain calmed down alot and I didnt feel weak. Im gonna try and manage so I take about 450ml of blended cabbage drink morning, noon, and night each. Or just morning and night when I have work. Since it's blended and not juiced I might have to take it longer im guessing? I can't drink a regular medium sized cabbage in a day since Im blending it tho. Maybe Ill toughen up with the taste and manage but Im worried about the thyroid as well. I did feel weak yesterday morning after I drank the cabbage and went to class to take one of my finals. I feel like it's helping tho but Im not sure yet.

      I talked to a friend about ulcers and she told me she had to take nexium for an entire year before it finally healed. So im worried about going that route but Im so tired of feeling this way and managing this. My bmi is about 16.6 and with this pain and weakness it's really hard.

      Im wondering if this is the exact juicer you got

      http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BJE200XL-Fountain-700-Watt-Extractor/dp/B000MDHH06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400821653&sr=8-1&keywords=breville+compact

      You mentioned it was the compact one in your cabbage cure post.

      Thank you again ines. You're really helpful and Im very grateful.

    • awe
      awe daniela99184

      Posted

      Hi Daniela,

      I just typed a really long post about the supplements that ines recommended and that Im trying the cabbage (blended right now since I dont have a juicer yet) but it looks like it has to be moderated first before it posts.

      How are you feeling from juicing the raw red potatoes? What juicer are you using?

      Hope you're doing well

    • daniela99184
      daniela99184 awe

      Posted

      I am fine, thanks! If you can do have cabbage, give it a try! Raw potaoto juce is bad in taste, but I drink it and think of England! I read a book recently, and in both wars, the first and second one, soldiers ate raw potatoes and those who had and digestive problems cured themselves.

      I know about the long list Ines recommeds!

      You need to try things for yourself, see what suits you and what can cause pain. If it hurts you, then stop take it!

      I have three juicers and use them all, and blender too.

      Take care,

       

    • ines6375
      ines6375 awe

      Posted

      Hi awe,

      This the juicer I use. There is basically two major families of juicer, one much more expensive that crush the vegetable and let you juice leaves better (they look more annoying to clean) and one family containing the breville that rotate fast. This model is small and let you make a big glass at the time, I don't have much space so it is good for me, I think they have a bigger model if you prefer.

      You can buy a cheese clothe, put the pulp of cabbage in it and twist the clothe to extract the juice while waiting for your juicer.

      If you have exams, it is not the right time to do the cabbage juice, it will make you feel tired. Also you should not take it for too long either, the longest I read was a week-10 days. I did it every now and then for two to three days.

      The tingling in your stomach with pepzin GI is the ulcers healing from what I read. You should take it with your meal: one at breakfast, one at dinner. It is the most important supplement since it is the one that heals you. If you feel something, it is working.

      Have you tried slippery elm 2 caps between meals with one or two big glasses of lukewarm water? Not everything works for everyone. On the bottle they recommend 4 caps, but for some reason that was not working for me, only 2 caps worked well. Also I did not take it at first, I took DGL for a month than it was not working as well anymore and I started slippery elm which seems to work better then, so I took both.

      Whatever you do, medication or natural supplements, it is going to take a while. But you are going to feel slowly better and better. I have not had pain or excess acid for a while but I feel my stomach is still recovering slowly as with time I tolerate more and more types of foods. I started trying to cure myself at the beginning of the year.

      Medication might be easier for you now. By preventing your stomach to produce acid, it will heal more easily. I really don't like medication, it makes me anxious to take it because I am afraid of sides effect but sometimes it is the best way to go. As long as you don't stay on it forever, it should be fine. If you do that, the diet is important anyway to speed up things and stay well. Have you seen a doctor? If you don't take the medication, pepzin gi is the only thing that really helps cure your stomach in an acidic environment.

    • daniela99184
      daniela99184 awe

      Posted

      Hi Awe,

      I have three juicers, centrifugal one which I use a lot, then I have a masticating juicer, works on a lower speed and I also have twin gear(triturating) juicer, it extracts not only the juice but all the enzimes and nutrients.

      I did not buy them all at once, I got them as I found them and acording to my needs. They can be pricey, but you need to shop around, there are pleanty of them on the market.

       

    • stomachgirl
      stomachgirl ines6375

      Posted

      By the way, I take the Carmel flavored DGL, and it is absolutely delicious--Like candy.
    • donna41649
      donna41649 stomachgirl

      Posted

      Hi stomachgirl

      i had the same problems. i had every reaction to PPI.  the headache, nause, heart palpitatation, feeling foggy and lip quivering.  i started on vinegar and water combo, that seemed to work but still had the pain .  so now after reading everyones stories, i am taking aloe vera, and DGL and i can say i am having some relief. i did order the pepzin gi and i am waiting for that to come in to get on as well.  i thought i was the only person who had reactions to ppi.  i was starting to think what is wrong with me i cant even take prevacid without having a problem.  good luck to you

    • Dreaming
      Dreaming ines6375

      Posted

      Ines375

      You mentioned and compared Pepsi GI  to zinc.... Are they similar?

    • ines6375
      ines6375 Dreaming

      Posted

      Pepzin Gi is made of zinc + one amino acid. From what I remember zinc has healing properties, but with that amino acid the action last longer, something like that.
    • donclaudio
      donclaudio ines6375

      Posted

      Slippery Elm and PepzinGI differ in action on the stomach lining

      Slippery Elm

      is a demulcent an agent that forms a soothing film over a mucous membrane, relieving minor pain and inflammation of the membrane.

      PepzinGI

      is a 1:1 molecular amalgamation of Zinc and L-carnosine (ß-Alanyl-L-Histidine).

      It may help to enhance the integrity of the stomach lining. , demonstrates antioxidant effects which prevents cellular damages due to (ROS).reactive oxygen species

      Claudio

    • carolyn10679
      carolyn10679 daniela99184

      Posted

      Hi can you let me know how you get on with this this, it sounds like a good idea.

      X

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