Good Evening everyone, for years i was suffering from stomach issues, docs told me it was IBS, symptoms got worse and i started experiencing stomach pains especially in the mornings, and vomiting after eating. october 2018 i had an endoscopy and i had chronic gastritis caused by h.pylori, eradication therapy went ahead and also omeprazole, may 2019 i get urea breath test and it confirmed the helicobacter was gone, my doctor told me i can't be on omeprazole long term so i came off them and i felt back to normal for a month and then suddenly the stomach pains came back and the vomiting etc... my GP put me back on omeprazole and only amount that works and takes the pains away is 40mg per day. My questions is if the helicobacter was causing the gastritis and is now gone how am i still experiencing all the symptoms, is there anything i can do to help myself? and how long can you be on PPI's for, im guessing they do long term damage if my doctor wants to keep taking me off them? thank you very much
I have been on ppis for years, some people have to be. Do you mind me asking what country you are in? I have asked my gp about the dangers of being on ppis longterm and I was told the studies looking into certain risks which have been highlighted in the press recently, are not conclusive and the benefits outweigh the risks. But I have noticed quite a few people here say their doctors advise them not to be on them long term, and I am wondering which countries advise this, I am in the UK and have never been told this. If you are prone to ulcers and have any stomach cancers running in your family, apparently long term ppis are advised to prevent this. This is what I have been told anyway. Every time I cut down my PPIs recently, I get really bad stomach problems. I have tried other medications, but it just doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to put myself at risk for ulcers or cancer so I carry on taking the PPIs but I do worry about the longterm potential side effects.
If you have had h pylori for years with chronic gastritis, my guess is it will take longer to heal. I would try another couple of months on the PPIs on 40mg then cut down to 20mg for another couple of months then try giving up. Ask your doctor what they think. Also try an alkaline diet. If you smoke or drink alcohol, it is really bad for gastritis.
Hi jo93594
H.Pylori can ravage your gut over time. Also, the 3 course antibiotic treatment can also cause damage to your gut and destroy good bacteria in the gut. So in affect you have suffered a double whammy to your stomach and digestive system which will take a good while to heal. You have to make sure the food in your diet is not irritating your gut. Foods such as spicey and fried foods, fizzy drinks and too much sugar. Too much sugary foods will feed the bad bacteria, take probiotics to put good bacteria back into your gut. Avoid very hot drinks, have them, but just warm - hot, also avoid alcohol. Eat bland meals boiled or roast chicken and fish, soups and veggies, cereal, fruit but not citrus. It will be a long journey before your digestive system returns to normal…keep a food diary to see what foods affect your stomach and cause pain. Try and get off the omerprazole. There is light at the end of the tunnel…just hang in there…best wishes…
H pylori and the strong antibiotics can really upset your gut and can leave chronic gastritis behind. The best thing you can do is to keep taking your PPI since it works and eat blandly avoiding rich fatty and spicy foods. Try some soothing probiotic foods like yoghurt which can help to rebuild good gut bacteria stripped out from taking antibiotics and try a food diary to see what foods could be irritating your stomach. Milk is also very good for soothing an irritated stomach so long as you are not lactose intolerant.
You are doing the very best you can; don’t worry.
ive had a very similar experience. M h pylori retest was negative but i have had pain for weeks since treatment/stopping PPI’s. (Ive read there can be significant withdrawal symptoms with PPIS). My doctor doesnt seem to know much about it and told me i just shouldnt have pain anymore so i should have an endoscopy soon if no improvement. She also said a probiotic wont do anything which i feel must be wrong. I feel like my stomach has been through a lot and it just needs me to go easy, try probiotics, and try to manage pain with tums or pepto maybe. This whole thing has also caused me so much stress feeling sick for so long and the idea of an endoscopy and i know stress alone can affect your stomach greatly. I hope to hear from other fellow members about similar experiences! Good luck!
i feel you linzetta, can be very depressing… i’m not sure if you have ever had an endoscopy but i was the same with worry about having one but its really not that bad, you can choose to be asleep or just a numbing spray! only lasts around 10 minutes at most it is uncomfortable but nothing else. also maybe your doctor means a probiotic won’t do anything until the endoscopy because she is not sure what is causing the gastritis as it is the cause of gastritis that will need treated in order for the gastritis to get better.
but i hope other people share their experiences with you as just talking to someone about the problems makes you feel much better about the situation.
wish you the best of luck.
thank you for this reply it just gets depressing at times, especially when you thought it was over with.
thank you for replying, i felt like i just wanted to speak to someone that had similar experience as it was starting to depress me that im back to the beginning after feeling back to myself for a while.
thank you! are you in the US? They arent very supportive of unsedated endoscopies and im worried if i didnt feel supported i wouldnt be able to tolerate it without sedation. Did you do it with throat numbing or sedation? I have severe panic disorder and OCD so they cancelled my recently scheduled one ive been such a mess.
I’m in the united kingdom, the biggest fear is leading up to an endoscopy and its just the mind playing havoc with thoughts which also causes upset to an already damaged immune system, i had throat numbing when i had mine and the reason behind that is cause i suffer from anxiety and depression, i made myself a bag of nerves the weeks and days leading up to the endoscopy and i wanted to have a few beers afterwards to calm myself and throat numbing is the only option where you are basically in and out without any restrictions. having anxiety and depression i was also scared to get sedated.
I don’t know what its like in the u.s but here in the u.k the medical staff couldn’t be any nicer in reassuring you, i told them i was scared and the male nurse had a seat with me and spoke to me for 10 mins and explained its over in 10 mins it does feel uncomfortable, he also has had it done and suggested the numbing spray as then i can leave the hospital straight away, go home and have a few beers and relax.
i would say it’s defo worth getting if you have never had one and then doctors can give you the right medication and you can start your own road to recovery which is a long road depending on what they find and how severe for example the gastritis is, but as i say the anxiety with thoughts of having it done plays havoc physically and mentally and sometimes it just needs someone to talk to for those thoughts to ease.
you are welcome to message me anytime if you need someone to talk to.
im also from the unite kingdom, my doctors say its because acid fights off bacteria and if i keep takng 40mg then i will be going round in circles and also that 40mg is a big amount to be taking..
they never mentioned any long term effects rather than like most prescription drugs there isn’t enough evidence to suggest if it has or hasn’t any long term health issues related to ppi’s.
they tried to give me 20mg but wasn’t helping the pain, only 40mg helps with the pain. i’m an ex smoker quit around 5 years ago but only because i switched to vaping instead so i do vape and alcohol i would have a few drinks out with mates once every saturday or second saturday.
the things i’ve noticed that can cause a flare up is milk, tomato, lemon, chinese and spicy foods… and i still cant tear myself away from something spicy, i think im doing much better so have something spicy and its all back to vomiting and can’t digest my food and also constipation.
it is hard not going to the football with mates, eating bland foods for months… almost like living life like a monk
I am UK based and had mild gastritis 5 years ago and a course of Lanzoprazole was effective in clearing it. I also had the HBP virus and a course cleared that too. Then last December I had a more severe attack and was put on a phased course of Omeprazole. I followed the instructions but it did not clear completely, then came back with a vengeance. A different doctor put me on 40mg Omeprazole for 6 weeks then phased it down to 20mg for 2 weeks, 10mg for 2 weeks then 10mg every other day for 2 weeks. In other works 3 months, but like other doctors did not want me to stay on it. I was told I could take a 10mg or 20mg tablet if I felt a return of the symptoms, and to eat bland food and drink plenty of water. It has taken 6 months but I am pain free. I get the occasional niggle if I eat acidic or spicy food. I may feel the need of a tablet then, but have now gone a week without. But it has taken time and patience and at times it felt like I would never be pain free.
thank you very much for the detailed description of your experiences.
i think i will try it as you did, my doctor never gave me any time frames but just gave me the prescription when i told him my symptoms have came back with a vengeance.
what types of bland food were u eating if you dont mind me asking… i hate bland food, always need a sauce.
You were very wise to op for a throat spray endoscopy. Sedation causes anxiety and depression and I was not warned about this and when I flagged it after I had gone through three weeks of post endoscopy depression, I was fobbed off and informed that seemed to have tolerated the procedure was was not true because I felt panic when I felt the tube going down and wanted to scream but couldn’t because I was sedated. I was told the reaction was unusual which was also untrue because I later read that this side effect is quite common. The annoying thing was I had a private appointment to avoid complications so good money was wasted! I suspect doctors prefer doing sedation endoscopies because they earn them more money because of the drugs used.
i have crazy thoughts because of anxiety, of things like that happening while being sedated especially during an operation… thats why i opted for the throat spray, im glad i did now! that sounds horrible, maybe that information could help someone who can’t decide if they should get sedated or numbing spray.
thank you
I only had the endoscopy because I had heard it usually got done with a numbing spray as was the case with a friend. I also thought I would get a choice which I didn’t. I couldn’t pull out of the procedure because I was only told I was getting sedation once i was being taken down for the procedure so I feel I wasn’t really looked after properly in this respect. I should have been told much earlier so I could have given informed consent. It just goes to show that a private appointment isn’t much better than an NHS one. The only real difference is the shorter waiting times. I had the procedure over the weekend to give me time to recover before my university week began should I have a reaction. I ended up having to work through the depression while attending lectures which was hard going, but being kept busy and among fellow students helped me not to be alone with my thoughts.
I talked myself into believing that I would be ok because I was given conscious sedation rather than a GA which makes me vomit and get anxiety and depression. I now know that any sedation at all should be avoided in my case.
When I suggested milk, I didn’t realise it was one of your trigger foods.
that is crazy to hear especially it being private, i got mine done through the NHS and was sat down with the nurse before giving consent i was giving the option of sedation or the spray, at that time i had no idea what i wanted… infact i didn’t want the procedure in all honesty! it was my second time there as first time i made an excuse to leave.
the second time the male nurse sat me down and spoke to me like i was his mate, explaining he has had it done in the past and is only uncomfortable with the numbing spray and no restrictions, i could leave straight after it and said if i was him i would get the numbing spray like he did i could go straight home and have a few beers to settle the nerves and be glad its over as i was taking panic attacks about having it done and was a friday night, so thats what i did. it was uncomfortable, eyes watering and boaking as if you are putting your fingers down your throat but no pain during or after, if i was to get it again i think i would get numbing spray again as i know what to expect.
but that is crazy to hear that you never got that option especially when you went private that should be one of the luxuries of going private, waiting times and everything done the way you want.
was there a reason why you never got the option on how you wanted it done? how old are you if you don’t mind me asking
I had things like mashed potato, steamed fish, grilled chicken, vegetable puree (carrot, swede, potato, parsnip), boiled rice, blended home made soup of veggies and stock with herbs but not spices, meal replacement drinks, plain white sauce, white bread without crusts, porridge (basically mainly white pap which slipped down easily). I ate to live, and avoided heavily flavoured foods like curries, spicy chutneys, tomato or brown sauce, sweet/sour sauce, vinegar, acidic fruit like raspberries, grapefruit. Once the symptoms subsided I would have foods with more flavour, but in small quantities and thinned down at first.
My GP only prescribed 20mg tablets, but you can buy 10mg tablets over the counter from the most well known UK high street pharmacy.
thank you for this, its exactly what i needed, was struggling for things to eat… i did buy a weight gainer as i lost 2 stone in the matter of months, what would be a plain white sauce? i live in a small seaside town and our supermarket ain’t very big they sell white sauce but has added ingredients for example white wine and parsley white sauce