Is Gastritis common in Perimenopause?
Posted , 36 users are following.
Hi ladies, I have just come to the conclusion that I have Gastritis and I'm wondering if it is a common affliction in perimenopause?
Basically, I am almost 51 and my periods have been regular as clockwork except for one that was 3 weeks late last summer, then a hiccup this January / February, when I had 4 normal periods in 2 months. I was ok until my last period which was about 3 weeks late again. Every month I get bloating as part of PMT. I aslo thought I was getting heartburn every month, until I read it's description and realised my burning pain is in my stomach, not my chest.
Last month my bloating and burning pain didn't subside when my period started and I am still suffering it weeks later and wondering when my next period will start!
When I read a description of Gastritis, I realised it was what I may have had for many months, but usually only during the week before my period. The worst symptom is the gnawing, empty, burning pain in my stomach. I feel so uncomfortable and look 10 months pregnant at times! There's also the weird feeling of being empty and hungry within 20 minutes of eating a proper meal and feeling full. This, too, is another pointer to Gastritis, but I'm holding off going to see the doctor.
Anybody else getting this? My other main peri symptom is a sort of hot flush that lasts hours - I overheat far too readily, but not necessarily sweat.
It's all so uncomfortable and does nothing for my self confidence!
5 likes, 45 replies
lina19 madcow1964
Posted
i'm 47 n surely in peri. i had very bad bouts of gastritis. endo n u/s came back normal. i wd get severe stomach n heart burns starting as early as 5:30am. it was bad. lost 3 kilos in 10 days n felt awfully sick all day. oh...n had severe left side back pain! a friend/dieticien suggested thus : soak some cooked rice in water previous afternoon or night n consume this the following morning (preferrably on empty stomach ), chew it well before swallowing. it took some days...but it gradually helped n the best part is that it was all natural. also i changed my diet completely by eating only home cooked meals. mostly only rice n veggies. i wd mix moong dal with brown/white rice n cook it together. the moong dal is high in protein. google "kichidi" for recipes n benefits. i started eating small portions but more frequently. avoided potatoes, egg plants, cabbage, etc., basically all gas producing veggies. doc prescribed rabeprazole, but took it for 5 days n stopped it as this started to work slowly. added yoga stretches too. now i have a handle on my back pain as well as stomach. hope this helps my friends here. if it does then pls reply so that others can try it too. good luck.
lina19
Posted
sorry....forgot to mention that after 2 months, i did stop the rice too...altho its good for anybody. its something that farmers in india wd eat fr strength and to beat the heat. its said to have high amounts of vit B and iron. now im eating everything but healthy meals, including fruits, dairy, nuts, chicken and at times some desserts to help me gain some weight.
katierose madcow1964
Posted
Hi, I am new to this forum. I am post menopause 2 years, and I too have had all the miserable tummy troubles...burning pain in abdomen, trapped gas, belching, etc. Our family eats a plant based diet about 80% of the time. My belly pain and other menopause symptoms had eased up on this diet. However back in August thru the 1st part of October, we changed to a low carb diet adding meat and cheese back into our diet. My weakness is cheese, so I pretty much overdosed on cheese for 2 months. I'm assuming with added hormones back into my body that wasn't there before, my hot flashes have increased along with all the digestive issues. I have been miserable since October.We have been plant based since October, but I'm guessing it will require a little more time to regulate my hormones to help me feel better.Does this make sense?
clair11942 madcow1964
Posted
Your symptoms are what I had, awful heartburn and my stomach was constantly bloated,
When it went on for 2 years and the medication I'd been taking wasn't helping anymore "laporozple" 30mg
I finally managed to make it to see a consultant and he arranged a "endoscopy" which revealed a hiatus hernia 4cm and oesophagitis,
Was given different meds all the time but none worked and I felt worse so within 6 months I had another endoscopy and it revealed my hiatus hernia had gone from 4cm to 7cm,
I'm now awaiting relux surgery,
I've lost nearly all my teeth, because of acid reflux,
God knows what it's done to my insides
I'd tell anyone who experiences heartburn constantly to not get fobbed off with medication as it clearly just masked my problem and so far I've suffered with heartburn and reflux everyday for 4 years and now been told my surgery would be another 2 year wait because of covid, which is understandable,
And then to top it off I start getting all these new symptoms that points to perimenopause but my doctors aren't having any of it, I'm too young (I'm 43) and live in the uk
amanda42462 madcow1964
Edited
Hi i'm new on here and have been having stomach issues for the last couple of years and now putting all symptoms together think its possibly been start of perimenopause. however i hope i might be able to help on the stomach issues. i had gurgling and gas not so much reflux but my stomach felt nervous like a washing machine, burping quite a lot, loose stools. my diet wasnt great which didnt help, however my doctor put me on ranitadine and gaviscon for a couple of months which did help and i cleaned up my diet so lost weight too win win! however i did a lot of research and decided i needed a digestive enzyme. after 2 weeks on this i was back to normal no gas, loose stools, burping etc. on further research i came across low stomach acid. look it up, the symptoms were what i was having esp as i didnt really have reflux. so it looks like my food wasnt digesting properly as i wasnt producing enough stomach acid. unknowingly the digestive enzyme had the hydrocloric acid (HCI i think!) in it. i was reading tonight about perimenopause and digestive problems and came across an article about women over 40 not producing enough hydrocloric acid due to hormones. so the point of this long winded post is to say try it out, if it turns out you have enough stomach acid the worst that can happen is you get indigestion and need to take a Rennie! but the enzyme with the HCI def helped my bowel problems, i'm starting it again as i'm having issues but my diet has been bad again with all these deluscious xmas foods!!
sara97862 amanda42462
Posted
Hi Amanda, your message is very timely for me!! Thank you for updating!!
I was mostly fine for the last year or so, and the Holidays have my gut out of sorts also.
Gonna give this a try, thank you!
teah_usa madcow1964
Posted
I'm turning 51 next month, well into peri, and this just happened to me as well. It came seemingly out of nowhere, as I have always had a stomach of steel. It has been very strange and was really alarming. Had a lot of tests that showed nothing. Endoscopy showed redness and inflammation, negative test for h.pylori. GI prescribed Omeprazole. Naturopath prescribed GlutaShield and Pylori-Plex. I'm about 3-4 weeks into this and on the upswing now. Modifying diet a lot - basically just grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, tofu. Cut out all caffeine at the peak and recently added back in one low-acid coffee k-cup, which has been most welcomed. Wanted to contribute my story, as I was very grateful for this post and forum when I was trying to figure out what was going on. Getting a hormone test next week, but almost certain perimenopause is a big factor in this.
clair11942 madcow1964
Posted
Omg, I'm the exact same, I'm suffering at the moment with bloating acid, but horrific stomach cramps as well,
And my periods have been the exact same as yourself,
And I get hot flush that lasts hours, it always starts late afternoon and can last up to 4-5 hours but no sweating,
I'm so sick of constantly being ill and waiting for a stomach scan x
mary43036 clair11942
Posted
I am almost the same, I am looking for answers, went to ER last July for abdominal pain ultra sound came negative. I am 49 years old, i'm not sure if am going thru peri menapause but I am glad I came across this site, notice that my pain is worst when my period is about to come, was told by my doctor to go to GI had endoscopy, was dx gastritis, given omeprazole, carafate, bentyl and pepcid it help but it keeps coming back, hopefully I eill find the solution soon. no hot flushes yet or so I thought, but sometimes I feel like my abdomen is warm.
Lynne002 madcow1964
Edited
I'm 48 and definitely in full perimenopause. I'm struggling so much with digestive issues and I'm so low with it. I have at least 30 other perimenopausal symptoms but this one has floored me.
I suffer from M.E/CFS and have always had a very sensitive intolerant stomach especially to meds etc but diet wise always been able to eat well and enjoy all food.
Last September had an episode of extreme vomiting and dioreah out of the blue. don't know to this day why? doc said gastroenteritis. this left me with a very bad stomach and took me weeks to be able to tolerate normal food. my tummy always takes weeks to recover when it's been upset by something.
Then it happened again in November. violent vomiting and dioreah. which set my stomach back to square one.
Then I needed antibiotics this Christmas which was the final straw for my poor tummy.
since then, it's been upset 24/7, can't eat any foods except bit of soup or a cracker, it's bloated all the time to varying degrees, very uncomfortable, no appetite, nausea....and basically I've become terrified of food as my stomach hates ANYTHING I eat. in recent weeks belching, gurgling, reflux, constipation and barely eating at all .......which leads me to think it's perimenopausal ?
I'm at my wits end.
I love my food. it was one of my only joys in life due to being so ill with M.E and bedbound. I'm slim and never been overweight.
Now, food is my enemy. I cry every day as I don't know what the hell to do. anything I eat causes so much upset and misery.
Doctor unhelpful. just says it's IBS which it possibly is...but I know IBS really ramps up during perimenopause if you're a sufferer which I am, although mildly since I was young. I've had tests. all normal.
I'm miserable. unfortunately I cannot tolerate supplements or probiotics etc never have been able to.
Worried if I'll ever be able to eat normally again? I haven't eaten a proper meal in so long. if I try I'm in hell. I don't know if it's just because my tummy has had a real battering the last few months and still healing?........or its full on perimenopause causing it all.
It seems other women experience this too in perimenopause. Anyone tell me it gets better or what to do? Thank you for reading x
Southern_Girl madcow1964
Posted
Hi Everyone, I have just read through this conversation and am not surprised by any of it.
I am 53, live in the UK, and have been going through Peri since Oct 2012! Have had soooo many symptoms I can't remember all of them, but this one, stomach/digestion problems is probably top of the list.
Have had bloating, soreness, farting (sorry!) looking like I'm 5 months pregnant (which I never have been!) etc etc. I have also recently worked out that I'm lactose intolerant as every time I had cheese (which I love) it was 10 times worse!
I hate going to the Doctor and I've never been to see him about Peri as I didn't see the point as they rarely seem to understand. I did used to go to a Nurse once a year to have my blood pressure taken when I was on the Pill (I'm now on the mini-Pill so don't have to go). She was very nice and helpful and was pleasantly surprised that I was working out how to look after myself without resorting to HRT.
I did take probiotic Yoghurt at first, which did seem to help with the bloating, but haven't had it since I've worked out I'm lactose intolerant. The Alpro (plant based) ones seem to be okay for me.
I have recently had the most awful bout of stomach issues - bloating again, feeling of soreness inside, lumpy feeling, food not seeming to digest for ages at night etc etc. Having not had this so badly since the beginning of my Peri (around 2013/14) I am wondering if I'm actually getting to the end of Peri - it would be nice! - and that's why I'm going through it again.
Having read someone saying that ginger and fennel help I will certainly try these through drinking tea, which I already have in the house.
If anyone has any other helpful suggestions, that aren't medication from the Doctor, please let me know.
Cheers.