Causes Of Gastritis And Changes In The Duodenum

[Renaye]

 I had to get a new gastro and he did an upper and lower gi yesterday.  Everytime someone does these, the results are the same.  I get a handout for h-pylori but my test will end up negative.  It looks like celiac but the biopsy will come back negative too.  I have a positive p anca but my colon is normal.  So I am waiting for this doc to get the results back.  I have a positive ana and have "sicca" now. Not sure what will evolve from that.  What else could be causing the gastritis and inflammation in my duodenum?

 

Scared of answers but wish I had answers.....

 

Renaye

[IrishHeart]

Well, I recently had a post-DX follow up biopsy and while I am healing, I have evidence of gastritis ( but neg for h.Pylori ) and it is my understanding that gastritis can be caused by a number of things: 

• Certain medications, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, when taken over a longer period of time
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Infection of the stomach  with Helicobacter pylori

Less common causes are:

• Open Original Shared Link (such as Open Original Shared Link)
• Backflow of Open Original Shared Link into the stomach (bile reflux)
• Cocaine abuse
• Eating or drinking caustic or corrosive substances (such as poisons)
• Extreme stress
• Viral infection, such as cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus, especially in people with a weak immune system

Trauma or a severe, sudden illness such as major surgery, kidney failure, or being placed on a breathing machine may cause gastritis.

Open Original Shared Link

 

Since I do/have none of those, my guess is I did just sell my house and move 1300 miles away and we're building one right now, so maybe it's stress-related. Not sure, but I quit coffee and wine and took an acid reducer for a week and I feel much better.

 

I hope you can figure out what's going on. 

[mommida]

On my daughter's report after her endoscopy with biopsy there were still signs of gastritis.  She had the testing done to monitor the Celiac and Eosinophilic Esophagitis damage.  Like I said the main reasons for having the testing done for eosinophil activity and the gastritis was not even mentioned by the doctor.  I read it in the report.

[IrishHeart]

yes, my doctor was not even concerned about the gastritis. I read it on the report too and asked him about it.

He was more interested in the intestinal scarring I have from not being

Dxed all my life. He found it "fascinating". 

[nutritionguy]

 I had to get a new gastro and he did an upper and lower gi yesterday.  Everytime someone does these, the results are the same.  I get a handout for h-pylori but my test will end up negative.  It looks like celiac but the biopsy will come back negative too.  I have a positive p anca but my colon is normal.  So I am waiting for this doc to get the results back.  I have a positive ana and have "sicca" now. Not sure what will evolve from that.  What else could be causing the gastritis and inflammation in my duodenum?

 

Scared of answers but wish I had answers.....

 

Renaye

Upper GI and lower GI normal--that's good.  The fact that you have positive p anca, ana, and "sicca" suggests to me that some time of autoimmune phenomenon may be involved here.   Are there any autoimmune diseases in any of your relatives?  Whatever the case, take heart because even if it is some type of autoimmune phenomenon, it is my firm belief that it can be significantly improved through exercise and optimal diet--diet that is rich in healthful substances and which minimizes inflammatory substances.  Without optimal diet and exercise, the immune system will not function in the healthiest fashion.  So have you been diagnosed with any diseases for which you are presently on any medications?  Are you overweight?  Do you know what your fasting blood sugar is?  By the way, when you say that your biopsy "looks like celiac but the biopsy will come back negative too", was the biopsy done after you had been eating a gluten-free diet for a long period of time?

[Renaye]

I am taking plaquenil due to fatigue and mild joint pain.  Obviously the rhuemmy doctor believes I have something.  Upper GI was done a year prior to fatigue and then 6 months after a gluten-free diet.  I am being tested in February for a whole bunch of things like lupus, sjogren's, mixed connective and scleroderma.  It has been negative in the past.  RA runs in the family on my dad's side and gluten intolerance runs on my mom's side.  I am afraid I have something ugly but it hasn't appeared yet.  I eat healthy and walk a mile 3 times a week. I am under weight.  I stay on the gluten-free diet as I feel that it will help with whatever I have.  I have looked at diets to heal the gut because I feel that this is where the problem begins but have no clue where to start at.  I don't want to drink raw milk or eat fermented foods.  Sounds like it will either make me sick or burn up my esophagus.  Who knows...I get GI results sometime this week and then will wait to see what the rhuemmy doctor comes up with in February.

 

Renaye 

[nutritionguy]

I am taking plaquenil due to fatigue and mild joint pain.  Obviously the rhuemmy doctor believes I have something.  Upper GI was done a year prior to fatigue and then 6 months after a gluten-free diet.  I am being tested in February for a whole bunch of things like lupus, sjogren's, mixed connective and scleroderma.  It has been negative in the past.  RA runs in the family on my dad's side and gluten intolerance runs on my mom's side.  I am afraid I have something ugly but it hasn't appeared yet.  I eat healthy and walk a mile 3 times a week. I am under weight.  I stay on the gluten-free diet as I feel that it will help with whatever I have.  I have looked at diets to heal the gut because I feel that this is where the problem begins but have no clue where to start at.  I don't want to drink raw milk or eat fermented foods.  Sounds like it will either make me sick or burn up my esophagus.  Who knows...I get GI results sometime this week and then will wait to see what the rhuemmy doctor comes up with in February.

 

Renaye 

 

The key here is to optimize the function of your immune system.  And although you think you eat healthy, the fact is that most Americans do not because they are not sufficiently knowledgeable about nutrition and how the foods they eat can help or hinder.  An excellent book that I highly recommend was written by a physician who developed brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme), went through surgery and chemotherapy, had his brain cancer recur, and subsequently kept the cancer in check for the next 10 years by applying the latest discoveries in nutritional research to guide his diet.  For this type of cancer, this was quite extraordinary.  Unfortunately, he recently passed away from the cancer.  His name was David Servan-Schreiber, M.D, PhD, and the title of the book was Anticancer--A New Way of Life.  (The book can easily be found using Google and entering the word "anticancer"; it will be right at the top of the list of web pages selected.)  In the book, he makes some of the following recommendations:  Eat whole foods and keep away from foods containing added sugars.  Avoid grain fed cattle, chickens, and eggs as these are very high in omega-6 fatty acids which promote growth of cancer cells and promote inflammation, the latter of which is not good for people with autoimmune diseases in my opinion.  In the US, you will not be able to find 100% grass fed chickens or their eggs, and you will have to look around hard to find cows that are 100% grass fed.  Just to give you an illustration of what grain feeding does to chickens, studies have shown that eggs from grass fed chickens have an omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acid ratio of about 1 to 1, whereas eggs from grain fed chickens (even if it is organic) is about 20-30 to 1.  The conclusion is obvious.  As for "farm raised" fish which are also raised on grains (like tilapia), the problem is the same: high in omega 6 fatty acids.  On the other hand, wild caught fish do not have this problem.  As for an ideal diet, most carbohydrate should be complex carbohydrate--not simple sugars that are found in fruits.  I, myself, am a type 1 diabetic for almost 40 years, only on insulin and no other medications, and have absolutely no complications from my diabetes because I diligently control my blood sugars through optimal diet and daily exercise.  I also follow many of the recommendations in Servan-Schreiber's book.  I agree with you that healing the gut is key.  Is your diet high is simple sugars or fruits?  Do you know what your fasting blood sugar is?

[kareng]

I am taking plaquenil due to fatigue and mild joint pain.  Obviously the rhuemmy doctor believes I have something.  Upper GI was done a year prior to fatigue and then 6 months after a gluten-free diet.  I am being tested in February for a whole bunch of things like lupus, sjogren's, mixed connective and scleroderma.  It has been negative in the past.  RA runs in the family on my dad's side and gluten intolerance runs on my mom's side.  I am afraid I have something ugly but it hasn't appeared yet.  I eat healthy and walk a mile 3 times a week. I am under weight.  I stay on the gluten-free diet as I feel that it will help with whatever I have.  I have looked at diets to heal the gut because I feel that this is where the problem begins but have no clue where to start at.  I don't want to drink raw milk or eat fermented foods.  Sounds like it will either make me sick or burn up my esophagus.  Who knows...I get GI results sometime this week and then will wait to see what the rhuemmy doctor comes up with in February.

 

Renaye

Waiting for the GI results sounds wise. Maybe you could see if you could get an appointment with the Rheummy doc sooner?

[Renaye]

All biopsies came back negative....good news but it doesn't explain intestinal damage and constipation.  I think my blood sugar is within normal levels.  I don't eat much fruit or sugar. 

 

Renaye

[kareng]

All biopsies came back negative....good news but it doesn't explain intestinal damage and constipation. I think my blood sugar is within normal levels. I don't eat much fruit or sugar.

Renaye

If the biopsies were negative - what intestinal damage? I think I missed something.... Oh...I see..they see inflammation but the biopsies are negative?

[GFinDC]

Hi Renaye,

 

Biopsies should come back negative for villi damage if you have been eating gluten-free for a while.  That would be normal.  Testing for celiac disease should always be done before going gluten-free, as the immune response decreases after the gluten is removed.