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Stubborn Gastritis Symptoms - and where to look next

Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
In August 2016 I developed sudden gastric symptoms including nausea, loss of appetite, fullness when eating, bloating, abdominal pain (most frequently after eating; but often lasting 1-2 days after), occasional heartburn. I was put on Lansoprazole, then Ranitidine between August and December but my symptoms didn't respond to either.

I was finally diagnosed with mild gastritis of the lower stomach in December. No cause was given (I suspect natural susceptibility followed by stress and taking iron). H. Pylori and coeliac tests came back negative. They put me on Omeprazole after I said the Lansoprazole and Ranitidine hadn't helped. I started to take probiotics.

In January, relieved I only had gastritis, I made huge changes to my diet which continue to this day - bland, alkaline foods. No dairy, no gluten. And obviously nothing exciting like coffee, alcohol, tomatoes. On my worse days I have liquid/pureed foods such as babyfood, smoothies and juices. I haven't detected any trigger foods. My stomach just seems permanently irritated on some level, and this determines how badly it reacts to foods. Even a few mouthfuls can hurt-I've already switched to trying to eat little and often.

In early February, I was still no better and added in Zinc Carnosine and digestive enzymes.

In late February I was switched to an oro-dispersable Lansoprazole as I'm struggling to swallow pills. I did a two month course, which I didn't respond to (except shocking heartburn for a few days when I came off)

In March, I had made no progress and added an gut-lining support supplement which includes MSM, slippery elm, l-glutamine. I think it initially made a little improvement.

In April, I did a course of mastic gum. No response.

In May, still very unwell, I gave DGL liquorice a trial. No response.

In June, I increased my l-glutamine to about 20g/day. No response.

My bowels are working fine - no constipation, no diarrhoea.

I've lost 22lbs - which is significant weightloss as I'm a very small person already -and the trend is continued slow weightloss. I'm barely eating about 50% days as I feel so ill. A GP tried to dismiss me with IBS-which I don't think is the cause. My bowels are in full working order. This illness has also been steady for 10 months, with not even a week's break.

Is there anything else I've missed? Anything else I could try? Is gastritis really this difficult to recover from?

I finally have my follow up consultation next week so I'm putting together the questions I want to ask and tests to request.

Any advice and suggestions welcome!
 
Messages
366
I don't know anything about the treatment of gasrtitis so I can't give you advice on that. If you are still having complications from the gastritis I wouldn't know.
Because Lansoprazole inhibits stomach acid production it can interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12 and might cause vitamin B12 deficiency.
Are you taking any vitamins? I'm tolerating sublingual hydroxocobalamin rather well at the moment, maybe that'd be worth a try.
 
Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
I don't know anything about the treatment of gasrtitis so I can't give you advice on that. If you are still having complications from the gastritis I wouldn't know.
Because Lansoprazole inhibits stomach acid production it can interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12 and might cause vitamin B12 deficiency.
Are you taking any vitamins? I'm tolerating sublingual hydroxocobalamin rather well at the moment, maybe that'd be worth a try.


Hey, thanks. I currently have B12 injections. I also take a decent multi-vitamin and some other things. I do wonder how much is absorbed with my dodgy stomach.
 
Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
I was checked for parasites, calprotectin and h.pylori about a year ago. I also had an organic acids tests last December, arabinose aside, it didn't suggest high levels of bacteria or yeast.

The UK's state run is not going to run a comprehensive stool sample analysis...but if I can't get any answers from them, it's something I'll have to consider.
 

Learner1

Senior Member
Messages
6,305
Location
Pacific Northwest
You might try a Genova Diagnostics GI Effects test. I was told they have a prepay program in the UK, similar to the one in the US, where I pay $99 up front.

However, it seems like working your way through your digestive system, piece by piece, is in order.

One thing that comes to mind is an infection in your stomach...I know a couple of other patients who've had them with similar symptoms. Do you have some sort of parasite?

Then, how are your gallbladder and pancreas working? Have you tried digestive enzymes or bile stimulants?
 
Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
You might try a Genova Diagnostics GI Effects test. I was told they have a prepay program in the UK, similar to the one in the US, where I pay $99 up front.

However, it seems like working your way through your digestive system, piece by piece, is in order.

One thing that comes to mind is an infection in your stomach...I know a couple of other patients who've had them with similar symptoms. Do you have some sort of parasite?

Then, how are your gallbladder and pancreas working? Have you tried digestive enzymes or bile stimulants?


I'm not familiar with the prepay system - let me find out how this works here.

I can talk to my doctor about possible causes - I was negative for h.pylori-but I don't know much about other bacterias and infections.

Parasites...good question. I believe I was tested for parasites around this time last year - nothing showed up but I doubt it was the comprehensive testing you'd have if paying privately.

I had an Ultrasound on my gallbladder which seems OK-I don't know more specifically how it's working - HIDA tests are no longer done in UK. But my gallbladder, and pancreas, are something to discuss when I see my doctor. I've tried digestive enzymes, to little response. Bile stimulants I'll look into..
 

Learner1

Senior Member
Messages
6,305
Location
Pacific Northwest
I'm not familiar with the prepay system - let me find out how this works here.

I can talk to my doctor about possible causes - I was negative for h.pylori-but I don't know much about other bacterias and infections.

Parasites...good question. I believe I was tested for parasites around this time last year - nothing showed up but I doubt it was the comprehensive testing you'd have if paying privately.

I had an Ultrasound on my gallbladder which seems OK-I don't know more specifically how it's working - HIDA tests are no longer done in UK. But my gallbladder, and pancreas, are something to discuss when I see my doctor. I've tried digestive enzymes, to little response. Bile stimulants I'll look into..
I PM'd you some contact info.

Best of luck...
 

Apple

Senior Member
Messages
217
Location
UK
I've had similar symptoms for a long time and heartburn daily for 4+ years despite taking omeprazole/lansaprazole/esomeprazole/ranitine. My gallbladder is apparently fine and I had an endoscopy which was normal. I haven't found anything that's helped so If you find an answer please share!:bouquet:

There are some obvious dietary triggers for me such as high fodmap / high fructose foods / juices. So it might be worth keeping a food diary to look for any more potential triggers. It could be something tiny that you are consuming every day.

Also have you looked into delayed gastric emptying / gastroparesis as this can present similarly.
 
Messages
2,158
Me too - pretty continuous nausea and stomach ache/heartburn (central, just below the sternum) for quite a few months now.

I had a gastroscopy about a year ago which showed a hiatus hernia and some sign of inflammation in the first bit of the duodenum, which I think was as far as she looked. Stomach sample showed no H Pylori infection. I came out in a rash with omeprazole, so had to stop it - wasn't convinced it was helping anyway.

I tried slippery elm for while, not sure whether it helped. Need to try it again.

I've reached the stage where I think I will have to do a strict exclusion diet to see if it's food related. I'd be grateful for any other suggestions.
 

dangermouse

Senior Member
Messages
430
I have horrible gastric symptoms. Often accompanied by vertigo. Oddly, it gets worse when I suffer (badly) with hayfever.
 

Thinktank

Senior Member
Messages
1,640
Location
Europe
You might want to try a pure (fluid) elemental diet like vivonex to exclude food-induced gastritis. I get gastritis from certain foods that cross-react with pollen.
If the inflammation persists then perhaps it's an infection, bacterial or viral.

When my gastritis was really bad i found relief with mucosta (rebamipide). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebamipide
It's used a lot in Asian countries, especially in Japan.

DGL also worked great for me, but i see you've already tried that. Did you try chewable DGL? Like the one from enzymatic therapy. DGL in capsules doesn't do anything for me either.
 

Snowdrop

Rebel without a biscuit
Messages
2,933
I too don't know anything bout gastritis but had a look and found a few threads that may have some info that could be useful.
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...cacy-and-side-effects-contraindications.9022/

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/gastritis-and-general-gut-health-help-needed.24476/

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...ng-i-try-makes-my-gut-worse-pleae-help.26945/

You may have already perused these threads so apologies if so. And you seem to have tried several things. The best thing possible is to find a MD who can test and deliver an accurate diagnosis so that you can target your treatments. Otherwise you could wind up spending a lot of money without much relief.

Also, since you said you are loosing weight I was wondering if maybe it would be a good idea to take whey protein powder. There are threads here on that too for suggestions of what might be good and acceptable in your situation. It might help stop the weight lose.

I hope you find something that works to resolve your situation.
 

erin

Senior Member
Messages
885
Hi @Booksellercate, I'm dealing with almost identical GI problems at the moment.
I had an endoscopy last Thursday, gastritis inflammation of antrum and corpus. No appetite very nauseous especially on waking. Lost 12 lbs last month. I also have very strange sweating at night, I mean I wake up soaking but not necessarily feeling hot. I have to change 3 times at night. I also feel very flat and bland no zest for life but not depressed. Very lethargic. In the beginning I had to go to A&E and given electyrolites made me feel better, nausea got better that day. It was back a day later.

I am waiting for a result of a biopsy of the endoscopy, I was prescribed nexium 40 mg in the morning and tranco buscas at night. I have to say I felt not too bad today. See how I spend the night, early hour of the morning is very problematic nowadays.
 

confetti11

Senior Member
Messages
279
I've had problems with this off and on, after a bad bout for months earlier this year before I knew what it was. It was likely either an ulcer or bad gastritis. (I'm actually dealing with it today.) The one easy thing that I think helps a lot is drinking cabbage juice. A couple of cups a day when it flares.
 
Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
I've had similar symptoms for a long time and heartburn daily for 4+ years despite taking omeprazole/lansaprazole/esomeprazole/ranitine. My gallbladder is apparently fine and I had an endoscopy which was normal. I haven't found anything that's helped so If you find an answer please share!:bouquet:

There are some obvious dietary triggers for me such as high fodmap / high fructose foods / juices. So it might be worth keeping a food diary to look for any more potential triggers. It could be something tiny that you are consuming every day.

Also have you looked into delayed gastric emptying / gastroparesis as this can present similarly.

Gastric emptying test is on my 'wish list'. I'm being referred for autonomic nervous system testing-so I might be able to get this one.

I haven't found any triggers. Sometimes water or watermelon irritate me. I eat a really limited number of foods due to such poor appetite. It feels like my stomach lining gets irritated everytime I put food into it. I'm limiting the fruit. I guess in an ideal world you'd take a PPI and not eat for a month, let your stomach heal...

If I get better, I will come back and update. I've read hundreds of threads that I would like to know the ending to...
 
Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
Me too - pretty continuous nausea and stomach ache/heartburn (central, just below the sternum) for quite a few months now.

I had a gastroscopy about a year ago which showed a hiatus hernia and some sign of inflammation in the first bit of the duodenum, which I think was as far as she looked. Stomach sample showed no H Pylori infection. I came out in a rash with omeprazole, so had to stop it - wasn't convinced it was helping anyway.

I tried slippery elm for while, not sure whether it helped. Need to try it again.

I've reached the stage where I think I will have to do a strict exclusion diet to see if it's food related. I'd be grateful for any other suggestions.


Inflammation can cause quite nasty symptoms in some people. Have you tried everything I mentioned? None worked for me - but I know many in other groups who have been helped. Zinc carnosine combined with bland diet seems a good bet (better still if you can secure a prescription for Carafate)
 
Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
You might want to try a pure (fluid) elemental diet like vivonex to exclude food-induced gastritis. I get gastritis from certain foods that cross-react with pollen.
If the inflammation persists then perhaps it's an infection, bacterial or viral.

When my gastritis was really bad i found relief with mucosta (rebamipide). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebamipide
It's used a lot in Asian countries, especially in Japan.

DGL also worked great for me, but i see you've already tried that. Did you try chewable DGL? Like the one from enzymatic therapy. DGL in capsules doesn't do anything for me either.

Thanks for your suggestions and for highlighting some things which are new to me -the drug I've never come across.
Vivonex could be useful if I decide to give my stomach a proper break - everything I put in seems to be causing irritation. I think solid(ish) objects are just irritating the lining.

The possibility of an infection, bacteria or virus is something worth discussing with my doctor next week.
 
Messages
83
Location
Kent, England
I too don't know anything bout gastritis but had a look and found a few threads that may have some info that could be useful.
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...cacy-and-side-effects-contraindications.9022/

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/gastritis-and-general-gut-health-help-needed.24476/

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...ng-i-try-makes-my-gut-worse-pleae-help.26945/

You may have already perused these threads so apologies if so. And you seem to have tried several things. The best thing possible is to find a MD who can test and deliver an accurate diagnosis so that you can target your treatments. Otherwise you could wind up spending a lot of money without much relief.

Also, since you said you are loosing weight I was wondering if maybe it would be a good idea to take whey protein powder. There are threads here on that too for suggestions of what might be good and acceptable in your situation. It might help stop the weight lose.

I hope you find something that works to resolve your situation.

Thank you for the threads-I'll have a read through these, see if I can glean some more ideas...and hope!

I take a little protein powder but I need to review the amount-I need more calories one way or another