Gastritis

[Guest DawterAod]

Does anyone have or have had gastritis before being diagnosed with celiac?

Are they related at all?

I've had gastritis for the past 4 years, and have been to countless amounts of doctors but none of them can fix it...

Its hard to tell if i'm actually celiac (i am not diagnosed) or if i just cant handle gluten and dairy becuase my gastro is in such an ill state.

Ooh!

[judy05]

Dawter,

I must urge you to see a gastroenterologist. I had "gastritis" for

years. It turned out to be severe acid reflux and Barrett's ring

around the esophagus. I have to have a scope every year

because they can turn into cancer. Also acid reflux is often

the first symptom of Celiac's. The Dr can do a biopsy of your

small intestine and check the villi to see if they are damaged.

Luckily mine weren't damaged and the biopsy was neg. However

I did have positive blood work and have been gluten-free for more

than a year. The acid reflux started to get better the first couple

of weeks. good luck to you!

[Guest DawterAod]

Judy, thanks for your reply.

I have been to about 4 different gastroenterologists over the past 4 years and all of them still cant help me, i've had 2 endoscopy's and one colonoscopy and both of them show up fine cept for the inflamed area around the top of my stomach.

I have been put on sooooo many medications and nothing seems to work.

I have been gluten free for about 2 years (i was advised to do this without even getting tested, and i was unaware of the disease at the time so i took the advice).

I am just curious to as of how you finally got rid of your gastritis??

Thanks.

[judy05]

My Dr. put me on Nexxium and I went gluten free. Why didn't

they give yousomething to reduce the acid ? If you are inflamed

at the top of the stomach that usually means that you have a weak

muscle and the acid is splashing into that area. Hope you find answers.

Have you tried going dairy-free? Try keeping a daily journal of what you

eat to try to zero in on the culprit that is upsetting you. Another

thought, are you under a lot of stress?

[Guest DawterAod]

I have tried acid blockers and things along those lines but nothing seems to work.

I don't eat dairy or gluten, as they seem to cause a flare up in my symtpoms, same with like chilli, garlic, sulphites.

Anyway, thanks alot for your help.

P.s do you know if it would be possible for myslef to react badly because my gastro is in an ill state and when it returns to normal (hopefully it will) i will be able to introduce gluten again.. or if you become intolerant to gluten somehow you always will be??

Thanks again.

[judy05]

It depends, did they test you for celiac when they did the scope?

If they did it must have been neg since you said it was neg except

for the inflamed area. Were you tested by bloodwork for celiac?

If I were you I would stay away from gluten until you are healed.

Something you are eating is causing this (IMH opinion). Do you

eat a lot of acidic type foods, orange juice, tomatoes? My dr.

told me not to stop tomatoes, needed for Vitamin C, but to drink

a lot of water when I consume them. Do you drink a lot of water?

I hope you find answers to this problem.

[lbsteenwyk]

DawterAod:

You are probably already avoiding caffeine, but I just thought I would mention it in case you aren't. Coffee itself (both regular AND decaf) as well as caffeine are gastric stimulants and can irritate your stomach lining further when you have gastritis. Be sure your are avoiding all sources of caffeine, coffee, alcohol, black pepper, cloves, garlic, and peppermints.

[Guest DawterAod]

Thanks..

I have been avoiding all those caffeine containing foods for quite a while now actually, and all other acidic foods.

But my major problem is healing.. even though i avoid all foods that give me trouble i am still ill and i dont think i've healed at all..

Anything to help heal gastritis?.. noting that i have tried just about everything already.

[Maggie1956]

I recently found out I have reactive gastritis when I had my endoscopy done.

Wow! It's scary to think that it can turn cancerous. I just assumed it was not too important, but like a pre-curser to celiac disease.

Thanks for this thread.

[cdford]

After an accidental gluten incident, I had gastritis so badly it took a dose of IV demerol to control the pain after eating mashed potatoes. The GI doc had me drop back to a clear liquid diet and pain medication for a couple of days. They then had me gradually move up the ladder to soft diet then onto regular foods. If I ran into a problem, I was to drop back a level again. You sound like you already know what things upset your system with acids and such. Your stomach may be like mine and need a real rest in order to heal.