Hello,
It is upsetting to see so many people suffering through these stomach-related illnesses, so I thought I’d give my experience with gastritis since late 2012. Maybe it will benefit someone even in some small way, though each of us is individual, and what helps or hinders one person might do the opposite for another. I am 54 and also suffer from ME/Chronic Fatigue, which adds its own issues, but they are separate to the stomach matter.
Meal-size:
Seven or eight small to medium meals of blandish foods per day is my best way, with six slices of brown bread, 3 hard-boiled eggs, certain beans, peas, pulses, cereals, bananas, a little chicken, water, oat milk, rice cakes, very small amounts of butter etc. Rices and pasta are also worth trying. I aim for the highest calorie foods I can, for gastritis makes gaining enough weight hard for me. Overfilling the stomach worsens gastritis and similar issues by swelling, weighting and over-pressuring the stomach. High-fat foods are bad for me, as are spicy, salty, chocolate, coffee, tea, mint - all of which can irritate tissues and, in the case of the last four items, relax the lower oesophageal sphincter muscle and allow stomach acid to escape easier and cause burn damage. Even minty toothpaste and mouthwashes are bad for me, and even helped bring on the gastritis, along with paracetamol and antibiotics that I had three times over as many months for tooth absesses. I switched to a child’s fruity toothpaste and rinse my mouth very thoroughly after using it. I am also on Fortisip nutrition drinks, for set-backs made me lose weight I’d gained by having to drop some foods that were helping until I overdid them and made the condition worse again.
Meal-times
Mealtimes should be calm and relaxed, with thorough chewing to make digestion easier. No chatting or eating on the fly. And have as good an upright posture during and after eating as possible.
Last Meal of the Day
I’ve seen people recommend not eating from evening till next morning, or not after three hours before bed. Both are utterly wrong for me. To go to bed hungry is a nightmare. I can’t sleep because my stomach is telling me to eat, just like it’s supposed to do, and I end up having hunger pangs, stomach pain, oesophageal and abdominal muscle spasms. I eat at least an hour and a half before lying down and that is much better (My last meal is a second cereal one of two shredded wheat, half a banana and few unheated porridge oats mixed in, with water, not milk, though you might be ok with milk or a milk alternative if you have daily cereal or milk to drink in the day). Unless your lower oesophageal sphincter muscle is slack (a thing surgery might help) I would suggest not going to bed in a hungry or close to hunger state. I also sleep on my right side, which aids the stomach contents being closer to the exit of the stomach rather than the top entrance where I seem most inflamed and where any acid escaping into my oesophagus will naturally worsen matters. (Familiarise yourself with the position and structure of the stomach through online images.) Being raised more on an extra pillow might also help.
Belching
In my experience, to belch later than ten minutes or so after a meal could bring up a degree of stomach acid which would give me yet another painful heartburn damage set-back. To belch swallowed air only for ten minutes or so after a meal is great. Never ever after that until after the next meal. Coughing or sneezing is also avoided where possible, though they won’t necessarily cause acid to squirt up from the stomach like belching can.
Stress
Stress is bad. Being wound-up, hurried, excited, even enthusiastically conversational can worsen matters. To be more like a monk in mental state is far better with this horrible illness.
Exercise
I can’t help but be very inactive through ME, but obviously to do any exercise or activity that causes abdominal muscle tension can impact on the tender, damaged stomach tissues, so they are to be avoided. This includes bending forward and down, which can squash the stomach like a balloon filled with water. Do things gently and with awareness of any possible impact they might have on the stomach.
Medicines
I was given an acid-production suppressant for two months initially, which actually made my oesophagus, throat and mouth worse, with awful dryness. I stopped taking the pills and developed over time the ways I have just detailed, which gradually gave me a better improvement. This is not necessarily what you should do, depending on your case, but even if you are on such medicine, the tips I am giving here could still be worthwhile to you. Great patience and trial and error with foods that help and foods that worsen is required, and that still goes on for me. But I am a bit better than I was and know now what makes things worse and so can avoid them. Any incidents of acid-damage/heartburn can be treated with any of the various antacids and what not, but minimising the times heartburn occurs, hopefully through my suggestions and those of other sufferers, is naturally far better than using antacids over and over.
Doctor
Your doctor is a must with regard to diagnosis and so on, but the matter of trial and error with experimental tries of different foods is a matter for you that can make a good difference in time, even if it doesn’t fully cure the illness. I wish you all well.
and holding any thing directly on my stomach ..like an ipad will immediately start the pain...regardless of when i had last eaten..(I am not overweight...BMI of 19)