Ulcer anyone?

[Mermaid02]

That's what they think I have and I have been pretty miserable for a week. They put me on Protonix but I still just feel BLAH! At least I'm not in the pain I was last week, but every day I feel crappy.

Any suggestions??

 

[Jockaroo]

Sorry you feel crappy, but hopefully you'll get to feeling better soon. I have had stomach issues (diagnosed as gastritis since I didn't want to take the tests), but never taken your medication. The ones I did take made me feel pretty bad too. Hate to say it, but it took several weeks to not feel crappy.

I was told not to eat black pepper or mint flavored anything. These are bad for the tummy. Also, try eating several 5-7 small meals rather than 3 large ones. When my stomach got empty, I felt awful. And for some reason yogurt made with live cultures seemed to help me. It works to rebalance your stomach bacteria somehow. Also, avoid carbonated beverages and caffine if you can.

Hugs though--I understand how bad you are feeling. I would break down and cry every few days because I just felt so bad. Know that you are on the way to feeling better.

 

[mtblujeans]

I think for this one it is real important that you follow your doctor's advice to the letter. Bleeding ulcers are just so dangerous! I hope you feel much better soon, though!

 

[trip]

Did your Dr. test for H. pylori ? My husband suffered with ulcers for over 20 years before he was tested for this. Two weeks of antibiotics and he was cured. Ulcer free for over 10 years!

 

[Pop Daddy]

dont ya hate it when people tell ya to "dont worry"

 

[happybratpack]

That's what they think I have and I have been pretty miserable for a week. They put me on Protonix but I still just feel BLAH! At least I'm not in the pain I was last week, but every day I feel crappy.

Any suggestions??

Fellow sufferer here, since I was in junior high.

I have really found that the best thing is to control my diet and the kinds of foods I eat. (no fun I know) Carbonated drinks really do a number on me and it took me ages to figure this out. It was kind of a testing time to figure out what made them act up and what didn't, it didn't always follow what the known triggers are.

If I start getting really stressed for a period of time (where I can almost feel the stomach acids going) or if I eat badly I'll get bouts of bleeding. I've been on 4 or 5 different meds for it, I'm really trying to keep them under control because the next step is surgery which I don't want.

Not much help, but thought I'd throw my .02 in.

 

[bengalbelle]

I had a bleeding ulcer at 13 that took 3 years to fully heal. I was told no black pepper, Aspirin, Advil, Motrin, Aleve, and no Anaprox since that's what gave me the ulcer. I just recently started taking aspirin and Advil again (I'm 33 now) and I do use black pepper again. Motrin still causes pain. I've had the beginnings of an ulcer several times since then, but since I've been on Prilosec/Nexium I've had no problems.

to you.

If I start getting really stressed for a period of time (where I can almost feel the stomach acids going) or if I eat badly I'll get bouts of bleeding.

I know the feeling

 

[Mermaid02]

Thanks everyone. Life here is very stressful right now. Lots of behavior issues with our 8 year old. When he gets going I can just feel the acids starting in- I swear!

I love my diet Pepsi, but I guess I'll watch it.

 

[Marseeya]

I got my first ulcer in my early 20s and one of the biggies my doc told me was to cut out caffeine (along with what others here have mentioned). I started drinking things like Sprite and caffeine-free Pepsi. I've been pretty much caffeine free since 1990, although I'm not as vigilant about it as I used to be.

Did you have an endoscopy? I really don't want to scare you, but this is something you should take seriously even after the pain is gone. After mine "healed" all those years ago, I quit my treatments and ended up with Barrett's esophagus (a pre-cancerous condition) from acid reflux. I've been taking Nexium/Priolosec ever since just to make sure it doesn't get any worse.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[Christine]

Do you actually have an ulcer or simple acid reflux? I think it is important to know. While the treatments are similar, there are specific reason that one would get an ulcer and I think you need to figure that out. H.Pylori bacteria will cause ulcers and the ulcerations will not stop until you are treated specifically for H. Pylori. They used to think "stress" caused ulcers but they pretty much have ruled that out. But stress will definitely give you acid reflux.

Do you have problems with Motrin, Aleve, etc? Lots of people can take these and NEVER have a problem (I am one of them) and some people will get an ulcer after a few weeks.

 

[grinningghost]

I think for this one it is real important that you follow your doctor's advice to the letter. Bleeding ulcers are just so dangerous! I hope you feel much better soon, though!

Not to scare anyone, because this happened in 1952 - but my Dad's father died from a peptic ulcer. He bled to death in his home. I actually just found this out when doing my genealogy research. My Dad was 9 and he said he remembers blood seeping out from under the bathroom door. Horrific stuff. I'm glad modern medicine has come a long way. Take care of those ulcers people!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That's what they think I have and I have been pretty miserable for a week. They put me on Protonix but I still just feel BLAH! At least I'm not in the pain I was last week, but every day I feel crappy.

Sounds like this warrants further work up since it was a guess whether you had an ulcer in the first place and you're still not feeling right. They should run basic bloodwork but also may want to rule out HPylori and celiac sprue (the latter if you're of Irish heritage). A "GI workup" usually starts with an Upper GI series which is a fairly simple XRay that can show whether you have an ulcer or not. If it's not clear, they may send you on to endoscopy. In the meantime, if you do have an ulcer, the protonix will help to heal it as well as lessen the pain. There are, however, lots of other things besides ulcers that can cause pain in the abdomen so you really need to let your doctor know you're not feeling better (they assume you are if they don't hear back from you).


Good luck. I've been down this road as well and it can be frustrating when they can't see anything that's causing the pain.

Also, Marseeya is totally correct about Barrett's Esophagus. Longterm acid reflux can cause precancerous changes to the espohagus from the acid exposure but taking a PPI like protonix or nexium can reduce this risk.

Peptic Ulcer Disease

Barrett's Esophagus

 

[Mermaid02]

I had this problem 2 years ago and the Protonix took care of it- I don't remember how quickly though. At that time I tested negative for the H.Pylori bacteria. They did a bunch of blood work week before last, and said every thing turned out fine. My ultrasound said liver, kidneys, gallbladder and pancreas were all normal. I think I'm going to ask for a barium swallow and if that doesn't show anything definate, an upper GI. I'd like to know for sure and how large it is and exactly where it is.


I feel pretty good today.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think I'm going to ask for a barium swallow and if that doesn't show anything definate, an upper GI.

These are essentially the same test and not completely definitive at that (it's just an XRay). If you want a definitive answer you should ask for an endoscopy where they look directly into your stomach with a scope.

 

[Mermaid02]

These are essentially the same test and not completely definitive at that (it's just an XRay). If you want a definitive answer you should ask for an endoscopy where they look directly into your stomach with a scope.

I thought the upper GI series was with a scope- my mistake.

 

[bengalbelle]

Not to scare anyone, because this happened in 1952 - but my Dad's father died from a peptic ulcer. He bled to death in his home. I actually just found this out when doing my genealogy research. My Dad was 9 and he said he remembers blood seeping out from under the bathroom door. Horrific stuff. I'm glad modern medicine has come a long way. Take care of those ulcers people!

I'm not in the medical field so I don't know if this is true in all cases, but in mine when I vomited blood it looked like coffee grounds. I was very young and had no idea that's what was happening to me and I almost bled to death. I was mis-diagnosed in the ER and didn't get a final determination until my mother saw what I was vomiting and took me back. They did the gastroscope and discovered the ulcer.
I'm not trying to be gross or too graphic, but I didn't know if this was common knowledge or not.

 

[bengalbelle]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but to those of you who have had ulcers, do you now have acid reflux? I've tried controlling the acid reflux by diet, but if I don't take the Prilosec/Nexium I'm in serious pain. Just wondering how many of us have gone on to have other problems.

Mermaid, I hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[grinningghost]

I'm not in the medical field so I don't know if this is true in all cases, but in mine when I vomited blood it looked like coffee grounds. I was very young and had no idea that's what was happening to me and I almost bled to death. I was mis-diagnosed in the ER and didn't get a final determination until my mother saw what I was vomiting and took me back. They did the gastroscope and discovered the ulcer.
I'm not trying to be gross or too graphic, but I didn't know if this was common knowledge or not.

I don't think it is common knowledge. I really never knew much about ulcers at all, except that my dad had one in the 70's that put him in the hospital. I remember him being very sick, but that's all.

I guess it can get pretty ugly if not taken care of, huh?

 

[bengalbelle]

I don't think it is common knowledge. I really never knew much about ulcers at all, except that my dad had one in the 70's that put him in the hospital. I remember him being very sick, but that's all.

I guess it can get pretty ugly if not taken care of, huh?

Yep. All I can say now is thank God for the purple pill. I was told (and I hope it's true) that you can't get an ulcer on Prilosec or Nexium.

 

[grinningghost]

Yep. All I can say now is thank God for the purple pill. I was told (and I hope it's true) that you can't get an ulcer on Prilosec or Nexium.

I really want to learn as much as I can about ulcers. My dad had one, his dad DIED from one, and HIS dad was found to have a gastric ulcer during an operation he had the day before he died. It's amazing what you find out when you start hunting down death certificates of family members.

Definitely a genetic tendency there. I don't want one, but it looks like it could happen anyway.