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
Nevergiveup ines6375
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Nevergiveup
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MartiT Nevergiveup
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jackie32887 ines6375
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Do apart from what didn't work for you, what FOODS were you eating on a daily basis that did not harm your stomach. Thankyou.
Henrinho4 ines6375
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Hello, Ines I see you live in NYC. Me too.. I m still battleing with this gastritis. I follow all your discussions. I see that your schedule in for food was only eating 4 times. With dexilant. I'm doing 5 meals. Now I star having pain in my liver I guess is to much work for him. I drink 7 glases of water. I see you didn't have a snack at 10:30 like I do that is when I feel a little pain in my right side. If you finsih your breakfast at 8am then you have lunch at 12pm With no snack??? .. I lost a lot weight nothing I can do. Please let know I got better but I think eating then drinking then snack then drinking againg then lunch then drinking then my snack 4pm is too much work for my liver.. Never stop working. Between breakfast and lunch what did you use to have ?? Or just water I plan to follow your suggestion thankyou...
ines6375 Henrinho4
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Hi,
It has been a long time I don't remember everything very well but since your diet is very healthy I don't see why your liver would have a problem. Maybe check with your Doctor there is not something else going on?
As for the schedule, I probably followed what I felt. I would eat every time I felt hungry, drink every time I feel thirsty. If I was hungry late morning I probably ate a snack, coconut water or lunch earlier. Sorry I don't remember very well.
MartiT Henrinho4
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What makes you think this is your liver!!!! You have gut pain. Stop drinking water after every snack. Eat steamed rice and chicken soup. Stay away from acidic foods citrus fruits, Coffee tea veggie juices. Use anti acid tabs to chew on. Drink Apple Cidar Vinegar mixed with water. Two teaspoons in glass of water. Don't eat too much or too often. Fermented foods are good. Baking soda 1/2 tsp in small glass of water after a meal can work. There is no such thing as LIVER pain. Check with Dr.
Henrinho4 ines6375
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Thank you ines... And marti I have done 3 times blood test then it has show liver enzymes high for some reason. I star taking caps for my liver and feel better. Then also I don't take dexilant for 2 days i feel better and take dexilant 3 days in a row.. That is when I have pain on the 3 day star again. I just did a endoscopy my stomach got better. Now I skip the snack at 10:30 and feel better no pain just have 8oz of papaya juice instead. I try to keep hydrated and the acid down. For some reason after february I starer having constipation. Now I have to take fiber to use the bathrm. When I don't take dexiland I notice that I don't need to take fiber... This ppi causes problem in a long term use.. Should I try to drink water as I need or just when I feel thirsty. I have lost 50 pounds and is hard to put it back, Any suggestion please...my doctor doctor says I should drink less water and give more space for food... And try to eat 4 times or 5 times a day.appreciateto put healthy calories in my food please any suggestion I will appreciate
ines6375 Henrinho4
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Henrinho4 ines6375
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ines6375 Henrinho4
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scott20738 Henrinho4
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Hello Henrinho4. I'm sorry to hear of your problems.
I have gastritis (though it's very mild now). I had similar problems with constipation and then finally discovered that it can be a symptom of too little food. If you don't eat enough, not only will you lose too much weight (as I did), but your gastrointestinal system will dramatically slow to a crawl, causing constipation and making the reflux worse because the stomach will empty too slowly. Here's what I did several months ago that has cleared up my constipation and reflux:
I eat five meals a day, spaced about three hours apart. Each meal looks like this:
1/2 banana or 150g melon (watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew)
About 10 almonds
120g steamed white rice
65g steamed root veggies (carrots, rutabaga, turnip, parsnip, beets)
40g steamed kale
75g skinless chicken thigh (or canned salmon)
A glass of water (12 - 16oz), with a few shakes of salt stirred in
And whenever I get thirsty in between meals, I have a few sips of water. I eat salmon for one of the meals, and chicken with the other four. So eating that for five meals gives me about 2200 calories a day, which is about enough to maintain my weight.
The diet is low fat, but not extremely so. There's plenty of fat from the almonds and chicken thighs, as well as the salmon. Sometimes, like once or twice a week, I will eat ice cream -- usually plan vanilla or strawberry.
I have noticed that olive oil and other fatty foods will tend to make me constipated. I know this for a fact, through much experimentation.
I have a history of anxiety. Some researchers believe that there's a link between anxiety and eating disorders, and perhaps reflux as well. I started taking a probiotic supplement twice a day, and it has helped. Probiotics are known to be anxiolytic (they reduce anxiety). I also read a couple of books that have been VERY helpful to reduce my anxiety: The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, by Edmund Bourne; and The Panic Attacks Workbook, by David Carbonell. Very good books that I highly recommend, especially the one by Carbonell. I feel much calmer nowadays. Perhaps that's another reason why my stomach problems are very mild now.
Last year, I had an endoscopy and was diagnosed with gastritis. My ex-wife had the same diagnosis. When we were living together, we both began experiencing symptoms of silent reflux around the same time (about four years ago). I think it was some kind of infection that we picked up. Perhaps bacterial.
Best of luck to you!
Scott
eric49486 scott20738
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Had very similar experience with Scott.
Limited food consumption, both in quantity and varity, will cause more problem to your body, since this causes nutrition defeciency. My mild gastritis/reflux extended to IBS (constipation) and lost about 30 lbs, becuase I had 8 months strick diet. My primary doctor ws mad at me and asked me to eat five meals a day, and eat everything, certainly I avoided trigger foods. Now I got back about half weight I lost.
Add more calories as both ines and scott said. My only difference to Scott's menu is, I eat sauted vegs instead of steamed, I used to each steamed carrots with every meal to fight constipation, I eat chicken breast and a medium size avocado every day, spinach/chicken broth/egg drop soup with lunch and dinner.
Anxiety/stress relief. This is very important not just for people with gastritis. I am a futures day trader, I face stress situation everyday. Joga, meditation, and taiji are very helpful to relieve my stress.
Henrinho4 scott20738
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Hello scott
The my digestive system get slow because of the ppi dexilant. If I don't take that for two days It become faster then I can eat more but the silent reflux can damage the the stomach lining so I have to take the ppi again for 3 days. Besides that if I eat more than supposed to then there is no way I can drink water because the ppi slow down the system. Eating too little is a struggle.. Not enough nutrient for our body to heal and gets weak... And sometimes I we get affraid to eat fats because we can go back to step one again.. I have not try avocado to see if I'm better I remember having pain 10 month ago when I got. This gastritis. We just have to be patience
Henrinho4 eric49486
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Thank you for the advice
I wish I can do the 5 meals now I do 4
8am then lunch at 12 in between I have papaya juice and water in the morning between meals for the afternoon at 230 I drink cocunot juice and water and 4pm papaya then at 630 dinner. My plan is to add more carbohydrates.. Little more rice. I use only drops of olive oil.. Maybe I should add more??? I'm afraid to eat more fats then go back to step one... Because of the ppi we cannot eat too much then the food stay too long to digest and have no space for water.. I learn how it works this but for now is just I dont want to keep losing weight...do you think glutten free white bread is good for breakfast
Henrinho4
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I got your message before is was deleted. Thats is true about the food. Have variety. I eat papaya because is soft on my stomach. And I try not overfill my stomach. And you are right with with ppi your stomach always feel are full not unless eat too little. My gastritis is mild and some inflamation below my ribs as I never have reflux just stomach problem. The GI said I should still keep 60gm dexilant take 1 day and skip 1 day.Do you think maybe I should eat some almonds in snack in moderation maybe 5 with papaya juice and 5 at 4pm snack..
eric49486 Henrinho4
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Henrinho4 eric49486
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Which brand of digestive enzymes did you use?,,