How I cured my gastritis

Hi Muftovaya,

I am glad if it can help.

I wanted to post an update though. I thought I was cured after three months of the regimen I described as I was feeling good, had no pain, no excess acid. So I stopped taking everything and I felt fine for a while, still sensitive to what I ate though, so I stayed on the diet. Then I was invited to a big dinner with garlic, acidic food, fried food, ... and I ate a little bit of everything. I got so sick afterward! For a week I was in pain. So I decided to give another try to mastic gum as the reviews are so good on amazon. I took it for 4 days and it made me worse, it really increased my stomach pain, gave me cramps, ... Then I did two days of cabbage juice, and while it was soothing it made me feel so tired (the effect on the thyroid I suppose), I just don't think cabbage juice is worth it anymore.

So I am back on my old regimen with the few supplements I can feel really work: pepzin GI, DGL licorice, evamore water and slippery elm from time to time. The diet is the most important even though I relaxed some of my rules: I seem to tolerate a reasonable amount of healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, nuts. Herbs seem ok too in small quantities like thyme, rosemary, ... I actually found a website where they describe which spices/herbs are irritating, if you type: "Things Used in Food that May Eat You Up, By Milton G. Crane, M.D. and Barbara G. Crane, R.D. of Weimar Institute" in google you will find it. I feel better already but I must say I am a bit distressed at the time it is taking to recover completely. It is hard to stick to the diet and every mistake leads to pain for more or less a week. I wonder if I should give the PPI another try or just be patient. I asked my GI doctor and he advised to be patient for now. Apparently it is not uncommon for stomach problems to take a long time to get better.

 

Hi Olga,

I just wanted to give an update. I have been taking pepzin GI for two days and I feel almost normal again. The pain is mostly gone, I can sleep. Of course the diet has a part in it but Pepzin GI seems to make a real difference. If  you have stomach pain and you were to take only one supplement, this is the one I would recommend. I checked the reviews on amazon and it seems to have helped many other people too. After having been constantly in pain for so long, it almost feels like a miracle.

Hi Benedicte,

I am not sure what to advise you but I can tell you my experience.

Following the recommendation of my GI doctor, I took dexilant (PPI) for two months at the beginning just to give a chance to my oesophagus to heal and make sure I am not on the road to Barrett's oesophagus and risk of cancer. Unfortunately it was not enough for my stomach to heal completely, even though my stomach felt good at the end of the two months taking dexilant. 

As I did not want to continue with the PPI for too long, I switched to natural treatments. I had a little bit of a relapse when I stopped the PPI, probably the rebound and/or the fact that my stomach was not completely healed. The natural treatments help for sure but the progress is very slow, and I had a relapse every time I ate some food that is not recommended. Now I feel ok, my stomach does not really hurt anymore or rarely, but it feels a bit sore and I have a little bit of a sore throat that does not go away. 

To be honest with you, I wonder if I should take the PPI another two months. I tolerated it very well the first time and I hope the lack of acid in the stomach in addition to the diet would heal my stomach more quickly and completely. Also the complete disappearance of symptoms due to the lack of acid felt good the first time. I just worry about the rebound effect when I would stop it. I asked my GI doctor who said to not take the PPI and wait another few months for reevaluation.

I have been reading about SIBO recently, you might have seen the posts on the forum. I am not sure what to think of it or if I have it but as a precaution, and because I have IBS too, I am taking a mix of probiotics and glutamine in addition of the rest now. It seems to help with my digestion as it makes my stools darker and firmer. Sorry for the TMI details.

Whatever you decide, I would love to stay in touch and help each other with our experiences. Don't hesitate to PM me too.

To give you a short answer, if I was to do it again, I would take over the counter antacids (zantac if you can tolerate it) or a PPi again first to be safe for my oesophagus. You can start the diet at the same time, I find it essential for the recovery. PPI are more or less safe as long as they are not taken for too long. Two months is completely ok. Beside the low risk of getting a bad bacteria, the problems with absorption of calcium and B12 are problematic only if you take it for a very long time.

I had an extremely bad reaction to the PPis.  I had numbness in my limbs, chest palpitations, shortness of breath, anxiety, and insomnia.  It took me a while to make the connection between the meds and the symptoms though.  I finally put two and two together.  Stopped taking them & I was fine.  The dr. gave me a different PPi, and the symptoms came back. So be careful.

Hi Joelish,

It seems that the diet is important for you, like it is for me. With the diet and the omeprazole, you should feel better very quickly, in a few weeks with constant improvements.

Can you cook at school? I know it is hard to keep the diet. I noticed that I if I get too hungry, I can't controle myself as well so I eat regularly and especially before I go out so I don't get too tempted.

I have the same sensitivity to dairy, I started getting significantly better the day I completely stopped having my daily morning greek yoghourt (which I loved!). I can't stand alcohol either, it makes me so sick.

About the length of a complete recovery, I wish I knew. I wonder the same thing. I guess it depends what you mean about going back to normal. If you mean going back to you can eat whatever you want, I don't know. If there is an obvious cause to your problem you can address, this is one thing. If you are like me and there is no obvious cause, you might have a sensitive stomach and have to do it for a long time, and you might have to be somewhat careful forever. I thought I was cured after two months on the PPI as I felt good, but when I stopped I had a lot of pain and a relapse, then I thought I was cured after three months taking the natural supplemenas as I felt good, but I had a relapse two weeks after I stopped taking all the supplements and had one bad dinner. Now I am back on the supplements and the strict diet, feeling better and planning to stay on it for a long time. I talked to some people taking the pepzin GI on amazon, and some of them stay on it forever. I read about stories of people being treated by Jamie Koufman, their recovery took anywhere between 2 weeks and 18 months on the diet. Some of them relapse when they feel better and start having more and more bad habits (by bad habits I mean eating irritating foods or drinks).

When you get better, please share your experience here to benefit others. There are a lot of sick people on the forums, and not enough sharing what they did to reach a successfull recovery.

Hi ines. Diet is definitely important at the moment. However some meals will make me sick one night, then the exact same meal will be fine another night. I'm thinking that, while diet is important and some foods definitely set off gastro faster than others, I think the biggest factor for me is how much I eat and how fast.

The  Omeprazole hasn't been doing a lot to help. But I'm starting to learn the signs of when symptoms are coming on. Usually happens 3/4 through a meal. It's weird socially not finishing a meal. But it's so much better when not feeling too sick afterwards.

Yeah dairy is definitely huge. Been better since going Soy milk.

Who knows about when I might get better. Some days I think it's gone but it always comes back in force after a time. I'm optimistic that I can get rid of it fully since I've been fine all my life up until these last few months. Hopefully it will go as quickly as it came on. Bit worrying that the meds aren't working either.What is PPI? Will definitely share if I find some miraculous cure. So far however just a whole lotta questions

Omeprazole comes under PPI(proton pump inhibitors).It blocks acid.

Hi Joelish,

I completely agree with you that the amount of food per meal matters as well. My lower oesophagus is damaged and I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I eat a lot sometimes when I get too hungry. I feel that I should eat approximately three cups of food at the time to feel good. I try to eat 1 cup of vegetables, 1 cup of rice or potatoes and a cell phone of meat.

Hi Emma,

I am sorry you have had problems for 18 years, this is a very long time. What did you try that helped and what did you try that did not help?

I am planning to make some smoothies when I get back from vacation. I will try rice milk and banana, I could add a touch of kale. Coconut water, papaya and banana must be good. I meant to try watermelon juice too.

What did you try juicing before? I trust only carrot, celery, spinach and fennel so far. Your smoothie sounds interesting, what do you put in it?

I noticed too that the earlier and the lighter the last meal is, the best I feel. Ideally if I eat a light dinner around 6 pm, I have no LPR at all at night. If I eat a more heavy dinner (bigger quantities, more fat) around 8 pm, my throat is sore the next morning.

Hi Innes. My problem started 18 years ago with sinusitits. I was put on antibiotics and was told to take as many painkillers as I wanted, which was up to 20 a day. I then ended up with h.pylori and a natural practitioner put me on a strong dose of oregano to kill this but it ended up doing a lot of damage to my stomach lining.

I have tried many things over the years, I tried the pepzin you recommended, dgl licorice, mastic gum, colostrum and loads of other things but they all make my stomach burn and just make the lining raw.

The one good thing I tried a few years ago was homeopath. I got really well and was quite good for five years until four years ago when we were

burgled and the stress of this just brought everything back.

I only have probiotics now but they dont really help my stomach and my green smoothies. I have bought a nutribullet from Amazon and put in it

raw brocoli, spinach, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, romaine lettuce and avocado topped up with bottled water.  Since I have been doing this I definitely feel less acidic and have more energy. I think if I could stick to the same diet you did for a few months it would probably heal, as good as it could. The only trouble is it is such a restrictive diet and I get bored so I cheat and it just makes it worse again.

I eat a banana pancake for breakfast, salmon for lunch and prawns for dinner nearly every night. Meat is hard to digest. My stomach is a lot stronger at lunchtime so I tend to have more to eat then and a light dinner. I also have a lot of problems digesting anything fatty or greasy

as my liver is struggling down to too many toxins leaking through my gut wall. I have also found the blander and lighter the meal is, the better I feel.

I dont go to the drs anymore. I had a camera put in my tummy years ago and it didnt show anything so I am just told I have non ulcer dyspepsia.

I hope you get yours sorted soon. You sound like you are a lot stricter than me with your diet so hopefully you will crack it soon.

Hi Emma,

I just want to give some info.Did you try acupuncture and chinese medicine ?  In my research It's best and fast treatment for digestive problems.

Hi there. Yes I tried acupuncture but it didnt help at all. My stomach is so very sensitive that i wouldnt want to risk any sorts of medicine, it wont even let me try homeopath which worked last time. Everything makes it sore and burn. Thanks for your suggestion tho.

Hi Sary,

I tried acupuncture and it did nothing for my stomach. Afterwards I read on info dot charlatan dot com that acupuncture has no more effect than placebo. The only measured effect is a release of endorphins due to the pain of the needles. 

The nhs will pay for acupuncture sometimes. And different sites have different opinions it does not prove they are right because they put it in writing on their site. If your problem is something like the lining of the stomach being in a state then it is obvious that needles being inserted for a few minutes wont change it.

Hi Ines. Can I just ask what caused your gastritis and how long have

you had it? Do you think it is possible for your stomach lining to ever be totally healed or do you think that once its been damaged, you will aways have to be careful with your diet. I try and stay positive but it is hard when you have suffered for so long. Thanks, Emma.

Hi Emma,

I had a sensitive stomach for a few years, maybe two or three. But I did not know it was my stomach that caused problems. I noticed I was sensitive to certain foods, excess fat, etc. Then last fall/winter, I got very ill and I went to the doctor. I had stomach pain, acid in my mouth, etc, in one word gastritis. The doctor ordered an endoscopy and colonoscopy. The endoscopy showed that my stomach was enflammed and my lower oesophagus had some small lesions. Beside that all the other tests were good: no allergies, no h.pilory, nothing wrong. My doctor could not tell me what caused my gastritis. I suspect it was a mix of intense stress these last years, and a lot of changes in my food habits last year: lots of tomatoes (my mother in laws grows tomatoes), indian food (my husband loves it with lots of spices), and my french cooking classes (I started cooking with wine, lemon, butter). I was taking a multi-vitamins every morning and I noticed it was irritating. And finally I was also eating more fibers and sometimes a fiber supplement to control my weight. I suspect all these recent changes caused my sensitivity to turn into gastritis. 

I don't know if I will ever be completely cured but I hope so. I talked to a lot of people who had gastritis and it is not uncommon that it takes more or less than a year to cure (a friend just told me that her sister had gastritis and got cured in one year with diet and medication). As I started trying to cure myself 6 months ago, and as there had been an improvement (beside my digestion that has slowed down, and an increased appetite, I feel more or less fine with the PPI right now), I have good hopes.

Once I will be cured, hopefully it happens eventually, I am planning to be careful forever to not get sick again, which means that I will avoid spices, garlic, onions, excess fat, vitamins, excess fibers forever, and eat a reasonable amount of cheese per meal. I read a lot about patients of Dr Jamie Koufman who treats LPR. I am not sure how much LPR is related to gastritis but I suspect it is. And it seems that the patients who go back to bad habits get sick again, while the ones who stay careful/reasonable forever (not as strict as when you try to cure yourself but still) don't get sick again. Anyway as a relaxed diet that is good for the stomach is healthy, there is not problem for me to stick to it forever.

I saw that you put cucumber in your green smoothie, I read that for some people it might be irritating. Just something to keep in mind if you notice a bad reaction. I hope you can muster the courage to keep the diet for a few months, if you can stick to it, it can only be good. Except these two weeks of vacation which are not easy to manage, I don't eat out anymore to not be subject to temptation. Every time I eat something I should not (more fat, spices, garlic, onions), I have pain during the night and I feel that it sets back my recovery. I am not sure what to think of salmon. Salmon is fatty and the smoke process can make it irritating, but I eat it sometimes and it seems to be ok. I am not sure what to think of cheese either. I don't think it is good but I can't resist and put a small amount every now and then on my vegetables or on bread and it seems to be ok. I used to not tolerate any fat, I guess the fact that I tolerate a small amount of salmon and cheese now is a sign that I am getting better but I hope it is not delaying my recovery.

Hi Ines. Thanks for your reply. It is good to talk to someone with the same problems, it is a very hard illness to cope with especially when you feel you are the only one suffering and people dont really understand it. My husband is very supportive but the rest of my family think because I look okay, that a lot of its in my mind.

We have just come back from our holiday and I find it so hard, we have to plan our day around my eating as it is so hard to eat out. I so want to sort it out but as soon as I start to feel better, I start introducing foods back in that I shouldnt. Im really going to try this time.

I eat salmon for lunch nearly every day and dont have a problem with it but I know I couldnt eat it at dinnertime. My digestion is a lot better at lunchtime and it seems to be what I eat as the last meal that affects my nights sleep.  Fat really does affect me and makes my stomach so acidy.

Sugar is no good and dairy makes me so sick. I now get sinusitis with wheat and dairy now as my stomach is now leaking.

I do find the better you start to feel, the more you can tolerate. When you say you were eating more fibres, was that fruit and vegetables? Ive just started to put a few fruits into my smoothies but not sure if that is a good thing really. Started going to the loo more!

My 20 year old son started taking these high protein shakes to build himself up a year or so ago and he has left himself with similar stomach problems to me. It seems such an easy problem to create but its really hard to mend. Have you ever tried homeopath? I found it very useful in the past but cant have it now?

Regarding cheese, I think if its not doing you any good, you know.

We used to have a chinese every Saturday night and on a Sunday morning, I always felt ill. I should have stopped doing this because this was what has started my leaky gut. Take care, Emma.

Hi Emma,

I just came back from holiday and I know what you mean. I am so glad to be home again and not stress about finding food for myself that is ok with my diet.

You are right about cheese, I will stop for a while.

Have you tried white fish like cod? I think it is good to variate because salmon comes with some problems: first it is fatty so it is not easy on the stomach, but also they are often polluted. Half the salmons sold at the supermarket contain PCB and farmed salmon might contain high level of heavy metals as they are often fed a diet rich in meat of fish high in the food chain. I don't remember all the details but you can find them in the book of Marion Nestle "What to eat". 

Before I got sick I followed a diet in which I was eating a lot of big salads and a fiber supplements "raw food". I think now that it was too irritating and maybe contributed to my gastritis. Now I am trying to avoid fibers, I feel that they are slightly irritating. So I am juicing my vegetables or cooking them.

I don't believe in homeopathy, I did some research online about it and I found out that the elements in it are is so small quantities that they don't have any effect. Apparentely a lot of studies have been done that show that homeopathy has no more effect than a placebo.

I take every now and then a protein shake based on almond milk and whey proteins sold at whole foods. I seem to tolerate it well. 

 

How did you find out that you have leaky gut?

I had a test done on my stool about 14 years ago and it came back that I had intestinal permeability which is another word for leaky gut. It didnt mean much back then and doctors dont recognise its existence. Its very similar to gastritis, i.e. burning, acid indigestion, sickness but I also get sinusitis if I eat dairy, sugar, wheat and numerous other things. I dont get acid reflux as it is lower down around my navel whereas gastritis is further up in the stomach. I have been given ppis to try but they had too many side effects and most supplements I try make my gut burn and sore. I need to have the same diet as gastritis sufferers, the easier the food is to digest, the better but I just seem to be losing so much weight. Im very thin and very tearful at the moment. Im trying to get better but not getting very far. At the moment, my sinusitis is worse than my stomach.