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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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  • MartiT
    MartiT ines6375

    Posted

    I eat sauerkraut regularly. Also lots of soft yoke eggs. Stopped ACV with water in the morning and Kefir yogurt. Made my stomach feel better. Pain free. I take Beano after a meal and OTC acid reducer. I stick eat cheese, very little oil and avoid grains and peanuts. I use cinnamon on foods where possible and take Pre/ProBiotics. One cup coffee per day and small amount of red wine.

    I follow a diet of protein and veggies. Avoid processed foods. I feel so much better. A Doctor put me on Tramadol eight years ago after I complained of stomach pain. Finally I dropped it. Doctors know very little other then to write prescriptions.

  • Sandbelle
    Sandbelle ines6375

    Posted

    I've been on Meds for GERD for several years. I was told my esophagus spinchter isn't closing and I have a hernia that I need surgery. had an endoscopy Thurs and was told I have gastritis and we're awaiting the biopsy results. I'm belching and its out of control 40-82 times daily. The doc increased the Meds I'm already on sulcrafate 3 times daily has been increased to 4 times , protonix 40mg I'm on 3 times daily has been increased to 3 times daily and famotidine 5ml once a day has been increased to two times a day .i've been on the Meds several years and I'm concerned about the long time use..Doc said if I don't have surgery that I'm a candidate for esophagus cancer . The surgeon explain a lot of complications can arise after surgery. Ie...., can''t swallow, flatten ce, can't belch, etc. I don't know what to do. I had open heart surgery in 2006 and he said the damage to my spinchter could have been done during surgery.,I don't want to continue on all these medications , as I know there are side effects . The pain is so bad, the reflux and belching is out of control . Will the 3 medications you talk about help me due to the spinchter not functioning properly ? At my wits end at 61.
    • sean72351
      sean72351 Sandbelle

      Posted

      I have heard of non medication systems.  There is one which is a circle of magnetic beads, they put this around the spinchter and it returns to normal.  The magnets provide just enough force to allow it to open and provide additional force to keep it closed.  It's not major surgery, just keyhole.
    • ines6375
      ines6375 Sandbelle

      Posted

      The medications your doctor prescribed are stronger then the natural supplements so I would just take that if I were you. But I am sure a very strict diet like I describe would help.
    • MartiT
      MartiT Sandbelle

      Posted

      Taking OTC anti acids is not good. It's better to get on to probiotics do some research and I take a little baking soda in water for acid reflux. Go to sites that provide natural nutrition for the gut. Raise your mattress at the head of bed. Don't eat after 6 pm to help avoid reflux. Eat fresh sauerkraut (not canned)! You can buy in cooler area of the store. Find out which foods irritate your stomach. I got diagnosed with a hernia in 1985 but never had to have surgery. Don't smoke for one. Doc told me same thing about cancer. I'm careful what I eat. Eggs soft yoke are excellent. Eat all you want.
  • sean72351
    sean72351 ines6375

    Posted

    Wow what a great discussion.  I have struggled with gut issues for a while and long story short I think it has always been gastritis or mild gastritis.  I was ok for a while but have these flare ups where all food irritates me.  During a flare I am miserable and everything bloats me within 15-20mins.  So my research initially was in IBS (docs said I just have to manage it), but this last flare up built up for weeks.  A bit of bloating and sore stomach then eating bad foods and whoa, 9 months pregnant and sore all the time.  I started IBS diets for weeks (low fodmap, fast tract, scd), nothing helped.  I then stumbled onto gastritis info.  Although I don't have ALL the symptoms I do have several.  It began to make more sense.  Why would a low fodmap food or an 'easy to digest' food on an IBS diet irritate me.  Even bone broth irritated me.  So, I switched to a gastritis diet removing most foods and fats, real basic.  For the last 2 days mainly:

    well steamed carrot, kumara (NZ sweet potato), potatoes, butternut pumpkin (all blended in a vitamix (raw garlic cloves liquefied in the vitamix along with it, no other seasonings), baked chicken breast or poached eggs for meats.  everything plain as can be.  Small portions! well chewed

    inbetween meals -glasses of warm water with a capful of fermented sauerkraut juice added (this juice contains trillions of CFU probiotics), and I eat half a ripe banana with that very slowly.

    So far, following this diet for two days I have just had my 6th meal and for the first time in 3 weeks my stomach is not hurting or bloated after eating.  The difference between how I feel tonight and last night is HUGE.  I feel like I am on the mend and will stick to this for another week and figure out what to do next, probably slowly add foods back in.

    My biggest hurdle now may be the mental one.  I live for food (not crap fastfood), fine cafes, dining, travel.  I want to heal my stomach and strengthen my stomach so that I can enjoy what I love most in life.  I am researching things to reduce risk of getting gastritis again.  I don't have hpylori but do feel when these flares hit that it's an infection of somekind.  Will post back in a few days, cheers.

     

    • ines6375
      ines6375 sean72351

      Posted

      That is great!

      If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you need a bit of healthy fat for you and your baby. Try to have a little bit of raw olive oil and/or nuts.

      Also make sure you get enough calcium.

    • ines6375
      ines6375 sean72351

      Posted

      I think it is possible to eat well on a non-irritating diet. I use lots of fresh herbs and make all the recipes I like minus onion, garlic and citrus and with very little spice. I use high quality ingredients so they taste good by themselves.
    • MartiT
      MartiT sean72351

      Posted

      I suggest no raw oil or nuts. Go with avocado. Great source of natural fat and butter and more butter. Butter is NOT a bad source of fat. I use it and avoid all oils with turn rancid when they hit the air!! Avoid the grains if possible. If oatmeal upsets you after eating don't eat again. Try and find your foods for life. Too many foods are acid but tomatoes can be cooked to remove a lot of it. Search out sites. You will feel great over time as I do. Still have glass of red wine early evening with food.
    • Sandbelle
      Sandbelle MartiT

      Posted

      Hi Marti,

      What do you eat for breakfast, other than oatmeal ?

    • MartiT
      MartiT Sandbelle

      Posted

      Soft cooked eggs. Make sure yoke is soft. Cottage cheese. Yogurt Kefir is best. I don't do cereal too much sugar. I do eat bread on occasion. You can have a steak with eggs if you like. Improvise.
  • Brotherman
    Brotherman ines6375

    Posted

    Hi ines,

    I have been meaning to write to you and thank you for your wonderful natruel cure for the gastritis I suffered due to excessive use of Ibruprofen.

    Everything you mentioned worked!!! Slippery Elm, DGL, then finished off with raw red cabbage freshly pressed juice for 10 days!! After 2-3 weeks of healing I can now eat anything! I tested myself with hot pepper and past the test!!

    I just wanted to say thank you and to give others hope who may come across your suggestion.

    All the best,

    Stanley

    London UK.

    • ines6375
      ines6375 Brotherman

      Posted

      Hi Stanley,

      Thanks for writing!

      I am glad it worked so well for you, well done!

    • Brotherman
      Brotherman ines6375

      Posted

      Could not have done it without you!

      the combination of the Slippery Elm, and Pepsin taken at regular intervals made a huge difference. Then the cabbage juice was magnificent. I could feel the immediate effect and calmness it brought to line my stomache.

      Also, I removed refined sugar from my dieat and others natural sugars during my healing, just to allow the cleanse of my body and allow the other herbs to work without interference. Now I abstain from all unnatural sugars and do not crave sweets things anymore! So hit 2 birds with one stone. ??

      Thanks again for for being supportive to so many people and myself!

      all the best,

      Stanley

       

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