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
deb59301 ines6375
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ines6375 deb59301
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joy47826 ines6375
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DGL is called a stomach lining tamer.Check it out.
I've changed my diet a LOT and work to keep as alkaine as I can.
Tums are deadly....
ines6375 joy47826
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I took DGL for 7 months almost and it helped me a lot.
Now my doctor is telling me that my thyroid hormons are a bit high, I wonder if this is related to the DGL though. Anybody else noticed the same thing?
donclaudio ines6375
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blood work done with or without fasting? (know they say not needed) and full panel or just 3 and 4? Claudio
ines6375 donclaudio
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donclaudio ines6375
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I've only had the TSH evaluated by 2 labs and both had differences..but nothing alarming. Oh, I get a copy automatically direct from the lab...when Physicians order these tests...the lab request form has a check box indicating "send copy to patient"...both labs have almost identical forms. If the office misses the box...I add the check mark.,
Claudio
ines6375 donclaudio
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My TSH level are a bit high. Still in the normal range mais too high for pregnancy. So it means thyroid hormon levels are too low. I wonder what has caused this. I saw that sensitivity to gluten, which I have, is linked to problems with the thyroid. Cabbage and soy are not recommend, and I ate a lot of them at times. I changed my diet now, I hope it will regularize. Maybe I should take DGL licorice again as supposedly it helps raise the thyroid hormon levels.
donclaudio ines6375
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With your excellent diets and adroit processing of info....I can only consider something blocking production?
Wife too had hypo...we used sea weed/nori from Japan that may have helped boost productiion but that's a big guess..
Also, think Gastritis aftereffects may linger for a while...thus some small amount of dgl could help....a heck of a lot of stomach glands...mico glands may not yet be up to speed.as well. (mucosal healing foods)
But "just re-thinking about why? at this moment....seems something may be blocking or preventing production..
Claudio
ines6375 donclaudio
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donclaudio ines6375
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We used all kinds of bones...sometime the combo of chicken and beef or pork.
We also used baby kale or spinach with the bone...I tried beetroot...but wife did not like the color..said "this is like blood",
but it would have been beneficial...(I don't know if you tolerate any vinegar?) if you can..a teaspoon of a rice unseasoned vinegar might help flavor?.....Claudio
ines6375 donclaudio
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I still avoid vinegar.
donclaudio ines6375
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donclaudio ines6375
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Most recent study was with "males" that showed "No Change" with soy irrespective of iodine?
the Japanese diet is with both and seems soy is not associated with thyroid problems but the ratio of homones...testostrone and progesteron But you should avoid soy but not because of a thyroid...a 2011 study conclusion: " Incorporating ∼19 g soy protein from soy foods for 10 weeks had no significant effect on iron or zinc status, bone resorption or formation, or thyroid hormone status in premenopausal women."...but why try? the ole saying "a measured risk for a measure gain"...gain? not worth the risk...IMO....and yours too.probably..Claudio
lee2685 ines6375
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At birth til I was 6 I had various bowl issues, that cleared up over night...... then I had a relapse of bloating age 21. I am now 29 and in the last 2 years have become very gassy, acid reflux which also causes an irritiating cough.
Ive had endoscopy above and below and appear perfectly normal, to the point where docs scratched their heads and said it msut be IBS..... they tried me on metaclopramide which made me zombie like, and PPIs which dont seem to do much for me at all. At the mo for reflux I take gaviscon double action which soothes quickly but the gas I dont know what to do. If i eat I get gas almsot instantly, if I dont eat, I get gas anyway and cramp. I was suggested the FODMAP diet but tbh thats always been what I eat anyway.... I dont drink alchol or eat badly. My diet consists of grilled meat and salad or veg usually. I drink water and dilute fruit juice. Nothing seems to make me better or worse, so I am at a loose end. Can anyone advise me best... during my gastrscopy i had a small patch of gastritis at my duodenum but the doc said that it wasnt what you would expect it was so small and spicey chip could do more than that! So i am being palmed off essentially and left on my own to figure this out!
Help would be appreciated and thanks for all being here!
ines6375 lee2685
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lady14 lee2685
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I recently visited Cleveland Clinic which is supposed to be the second best hospital in Gastroenterology in USA. I did this because I was tired of months of taking PPI's with no results aparently. Briefly my story is the following: was diagnosed with acute gastritis on november last year, since then I've been taking PPIs, I had endoscopy twice. Biopsy results negative. By the end of May I finished a 3 month treatment of Omeprazole 40 mg twice a day. I tried the diet described in the acid reflux book that Ines mentions at the begining of this forum. I kept on eating only foods with ph above 5.5. After the 3 month period, I kept having lots of belching and pain under esternon, right under left breast and also in the region where estomach meets esophagus. My physician recommended me to continue taking PPIs. I had to change lots of habits as well. Months later, I kept feeling pain when bending, had lots of belching and was having reflux in absurd situations, like when drinking water right after meals, or when eating boiled carrots with beets between meals. Also belching when drinking chamomile tea or eating crackers. At some point my throat started hurting real bad, and was feeling nauseas after meals. At that point I decided to look for a second opinion and made an appointment at Cleveland Clinic. There several tests were performed and it was found bacterial overgrowth only. No signs of gastroparesis or problems in liver or other organs. After some reading I understood the reason, PPIs inhibit production of acids in stomach, bacteria are controlled with acid. If there's no acid, they just grow. As Lee2685, I began FODMAP diet for one month only (gluten free, lactose free, many types sugars free and low fat) followed by pills with large amounts of vitamin D (had lots of malnutrition issues as well) and 10 days antibiotics. Pain almost disapeared but still there's lots of belching. A lot, very uncomfortable. I decided to pay attention to what I'm eating, belching is stronger when having something sweet or with foods containing corn starch. I kept reading about bcterial overgrowth and found out that some other foods should be avoided as well, like all starches....Anyways belching is still there. I guess that the problem is that bacteria continue growing because acid in my stomach is low due to PPIs. I'm taking now 20 mg Omeprazole (half amount I have been taking), recommended by my gastroenterologist. I decided to try to restore normal funcioning of my estomach. I'm having 3-4 tbsp lactose free low fat yogurt or kefir between meals. I cannot tell whether it is helping or not. I'm still having lots of belching. I've read that sometimes one has to take antibiotics again. The problem is that antibiotics not only kills bacteria in gut but also good bacteria in other organs, so now I'm facing other issues because of this (i.e candida overgrowth, yeast infection)...I'm not sure I want to get exposed again to antibiotics. I'll have an appointment soon to discuss this with primary health care provider and I'll be visiting soon nutritionist to discuss strategies to introduce slowly other foods I can't eat at the moment (Low FODMAP food diet should be done for 1-2 months max). I guess that my estomach is a mess because of the long exposure to PPIs and I just need to follow an estrategy to help it go back to normal functioning, this is something I'll discuss with my primary health care provider as well.
donclaudio lady14
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area I've used variious studies from Kings College, Standford, Wash U in St. Louis, and the Shanghai Nutritional Lab.
Re Inulin mentioned earlier...since its used in food products..I would wager its "synthetic"...therefore to be avoided.
I think you've come a long way towards resolving your problems...and I'm confident you'll succeed...hopefully quickly.
I've had success with your symptoms using diet and some supplementation...getting to the underlying cause as you well know is the key for resolving most disorders.
I'f you continue to belch quickly after a meal...this is swallowing too much air (doubtful in your case) or you have fermatation within your stomach. Sometimes this is left over chyme and smetimes a bacteria
that is resistent to antibiotics/or a viral type infection (less likely)
The IBS cure protocol that Maurice used can work for you as well...I'd avoid the antibiotic. My method is more intensive and it has worked too.
The basics....probiotics "big time"..L glutamine 10grm L Glutamine is used for the nasty stomach side effects of Chemo...and is now a standard for surgery recovery. Please keep us posted and get well soon...claudio
Dreaming lady14
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How are you coming with getting your gut back to balance?