Gastritis anyone?

[finallyadx]

Hello all, I was wondering how many of you have been diagnosed with gastritis and how do you deal with the intense pain you can have from it?  I was having severe stomach distress and went to the ER this morning...after bloodwork and poking and proding, the ER dr diagnosed me with gastritis.  Told me to get Pepcid complete, drink water, rest and no caffeine...is this all you can do for it?  The pain is quite troubling...

Thank you.

[Carolina]

You can Google gastritis.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gastritis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355813

I get gastritis from regular use of NAIDS (Aleve, Ibuprofen, etc). 

Some people also have hiatal hernias (I do)  that allow stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) to come up into the esophagus.

https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/hiatal-hernia#1

Raising the head of your bed may help.  As may sleeping on a wedge pillow.

https://www.healthline.com/health/gerd/wedge-pillows#1

https://www.healthcentral.com/article/acid-reflux-elevating-the-head-of-the-bed-can-help

I've done all of these things, and also took Omeprazole for 20 years.

Eating in the evening can also cause problems.

Best Wishes,  Elaine

[Skylar]

Carolina provided you with a wonderful answer.

The only thing I would add is consider your diet - I discovered gluten was an important irritant in causing my gastritis and removing it along with some other irritants allowed me to go off my medications. Trying an elimination diet is the gold standard to discover what foods cause you problems.

[irish]

I had more gastritis than you could shake a stick at over the years. This was before I even knew I had autoimmune. Started with the gastritis in the mid 1960's and got diagnosed with Sjogrens in 2003. I was on antibiotics a lot for it plus the Zantac and then the proton pump inhibitors.

I had a few times with bad cramps and diarrhea and ER visit with IVs, etc sent home with something to slow down my colon. Slept a few hours and would be back in to ER again. They finally figured out that I needed an antibiotic plus Flagyl which is an antibiotic that covers anerobic bacterial infections. These are the bacteria that grow in absence of air or oxygen. I got to the point where I could pretty well tell when I needed that combination of drugs.

I have been on something for Reflux for at least35 years....started off and on and is daily for years now. Recently I had a change in my bowel regime and just was impacting my life. I kept thinking that   I was having some lack of pancreatic enzymes. This is something that they have recently discovered to be a problem for sjoggies. With this issue a person will have increase in stools and stools will be more oily and odorous. A  malabsorption problem developes that is enough to make you miserable but not always enough to cause the bells to ring on the stool testing.

I had blood work etc and was found to have low pancreatic enzymes. I was to take Creon per prescription as pancreatic replacement but it was so expensive. I found a digestive enzyme replacement at Walmart for 7$ a bottle and my doc said I could take that and it helps.

I would advise anyone with chronic stomach issues, diarrhea, etc abd pain to see a GI doc and be tested. This is an an easy fix for a miserable issue. Also, it is something that doctors haven't caught up to yet. We have to remember that with Sjogrens our secreting glands are being destroyed. THe pancreas is the organ that secretes these digestive enzymes and this is so easy to miss. I would bet a lot of times the symptoms are misdiagnosed as gallbladder. Good luck. Irish

[Livia]

yes i also have gastritis....I was diagnosed 7 years ago..but my case was due to H. pylori virus & not autoimmune....it was b4 any autoimmune symptoms showed up....I also developed gerd with it & now its gotten way worse...it has also affected my throat & esophagus...i think this my main issue now...cuz my throat is soar every single day especially in morning...i also gotta clear my throat more often now....but oh well...good luck to u...

[SjoGirl]

Yep, diagnosed years ago with that, along with intestinal metaplaysia (a precancerous condition) and Barrett's esophagus.  I've been taking a Proton pump inhibitor for years. I know it can cause bone thinning but I can't live without it. So far my bone density readings have remained good.

At least thanks to other meds for my arthritis I seem to be able to take a pretty low daily dose of the PPI. If I need I can use Tums or something like that for breakthrough issues. As well, the metaplaysia resolved as did the Barrett's.

FYI each of us have different triggers, I have learned to avoid citrus, it causes terrible reflux.