VERY VERY WORRIED :( PLEASE HELP

Digestive health
1

Hello all,

I'm really quite worried right now. My doctor told me I had Gastritis after I went to see her a month ago about how I wasn't eating and I was feeling sick a lot. She did no tests on me, just listened to what I had to say & she told me it was Gastritis. I was freaking out I had an ulcer or even stomach cancer, even though I'm only 22! Stupid I know sad

Anyway, I was on a pill called Lansoprazole(?) for 28 days, they seemed to help a little, but my appetite was still damaged and I was still nervous about vomiting, if something more severe was wrong with me etc. I went back to the doctor after a week (not really long enough for any really change to occur perhaps) and told her that I had been eating a little more but my heavy stomach sensation was still present. My doc told me to simply finish my course of Lansoprazole & I should feel better.

Well its been a week this morning since my last Lansoprazole & if anything I feel worse. I had a bit of a panic on Monday morning when I had quite a severe stomach pain, so I went to my doc again that afternoon. I brought her up to speed. I said that I had been eating more than I was doing, which I have (although its still not as much as I used to) but my stomach has still been heavy and I've been nauseous. I can't seem to notice a pattern, say if its because I've eaten something or not.

By the way I don't eat spicy food ever, I never drink alcohol & I have smoked a grand total of 3 cigarettes in my life. All these I am aware are common causes of this Gastritis. I am a VERY stressed out person however, I get stressed out over anything, especially illnesses. My diet over the last couple of years has not been amazing, but at the same time I wouldn't say it was terrible. I know that stress and a poor diet CAN result in Gastritis however, so maybe that's it..?

Anyway my doctor had me booked in for some blood tests that were taken yesterday, I'm not entirely sure what they will be looking for in my blood, can Gastritis show up in a blood test? Something that's worrying me is that I don't know for sure what's wrong with me. My Doc says she thinks this has ALL started because I'm a very stressed out person. Meaning that I was stressing a couple months ago, so I stopped eating, feeling nauseous etc, therefore making me more stressed out and not wanting to eat. A vicious circle in short.

It sounds very plausible since I was quite the hypochondriac in my early teens. In fact I am pretty sure that what kicked it all off was the stress, however that was almost 2 months ago and now I feel as though I am genuinely ill.

I've sometimes found myself reading the internet for what could be wrong with me, which I know full well is a stupid thing to do, especially for someone like me. I've read about something called H.Pylori bacteria? Its something my doctor mentioned in passing which could potentially lead to my loss of appetite and nausea.

My doctor said my blood test results should get back in about a weeks time, so now its a horrrible waiting game. Would either Gastritis or this H.Pylori show up in a complete blood count or a similar blood test? Because my docs will be looking at my liver function, Iron levels and a couple of other things. I asked my doctor whether I should try changing my diet, cut out dairy or gluten and she said "no you need to eat".

To make things feel worse today I felt ridiculously bad heartburn in my chest. I don't think I've ever really had it before, could that be yet another stress effect..? Maybe it is. I'm worried that my doctor didn't do any real tests when I went to her first, so perhaps my problem might have lingered and developed over this last month and become worse. I don't think those Lansoprazole did much for me REALLY.

I'm worried that I might feel like this for a long time, I've read on the internet people saying that they have suffered from Gastritis/H.Pylori for years at a time. I'm worried this might become an ulcer & I will vomit blood, or even that my stomach will become so damaged that I will get cancerous tissue in there sad I don't want to end up in hospital, but I don't know what to do with myself either. I can't seem to calm myself down and just forget about it. My doctor said if I don't improve in a week or two she will refer me to have an endoscope sad That terrifies me.

I'm feeling sick every day, I don't want to go out, I have to make myself eat. I miss being happy and eating without fear of vomiting and nausea, I miss feeling good.

Any advice would be VERY MUCH appreciated, perhaps if anyone has had a similar story to me? Or maybe if anyone else has experienced something like what's happening to me right now? Or even just kind words of encouragement

thank you very much for reading,

Andrew

2

If you had truly raging H.Pylori / Gastritis / Stomach Ulcer you'd be pondering whether you should get on your toes to the Hospital because it'd be hurting so much lol redface Yes if it's raging bad it can easily put you in Hospital but (not meaning to minimize how you are feeling / your worry) you've got nothing like smile

3

Sorry I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at just how diabolical feeling a raging case would be, yeah pretty terrible cheesygrin

4

Hello again lol

I've calmed down a little since posting this. Your right I think I would know if it was really bad, next time I go to the doctors I think I'll ask for help with my stress and anxiety.

Are there things my doctor would be able to do? Or could she refer me to someone who could help out? I've never really thought of properly addressing my nervous disposition before, i mean its kind of embarrasing for a 22 year old guy freaking out so much over nothing rolleyes

5

You'll be waiting months for counseling but yes it's worth a go, worry about what is under your control not what isn't smile Believe me, you can worry, be in agony, cry your eyes out and wish you would die and it all has absolutely no influence over your situation cheesygrin

6

My opinion is that you shouldn't give so much of importance (and definitely not feeling so embarrassed) to the fact that you are generally a stressful person. That would relieve you from a big part of your stress anywaysmile

"Freaking out so much over nothing" is a common behavior of many people. it originates from the instinct of survival and has been partly responsible for our evolution as a kind. It's called something like the "kitchen smoke detector" referring to the people who panic the 99 times for no reason but1 for something actually real. For example these were the people who saved the tribes from fires or animal attacks or whatever.

However it is definitely a difficult / unpleasant condition that can be the source of many other symptoms i.e gastritis. My advice is that at the same time of your treatment and in accordance with your doctor, you should look for some more holistic approach. That is to relate all different symptoms and particularities of you and create an overall image. My expertise is on shiatsu massage treatment, which is based mostly on the framework of chinese medicine, and I believe you could be helped (of course this is a general comment). But Im sure there are many other practices you could try.

7

Hello Andy...I read your original post, and I just wanted to recommend that you get tested for celiac disease. Your symptoms sound a lot like what I was going through right before I was diagnosed. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that is triggered by gluten, wheat, rye, barley, and oats. There are many different symptoms, and sometimes can be very hard to pin point. Good luck, I know that this post was written a while ago, I hope you are feeling better.

8

how r u doing now andrew??what was your diagnosis?

9

Andrew you have just decribed me