Hello all,

This past Spring I began having stomachs problems which continued and worsened until I was forced to go to the emergency room and schedule multiple appointments. They have so far diagnosed me with Gastritis (Which you can learn all the lovely facts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastritis) though I am still waiting to be seen by a specialist to see exactly the extent of the illness.

Though the real reason I'm posting this thread is because I need some help. Due to the intense stomach pain, nausea and vomiting I have began to develop an eating disorder. My body relates food so much to pain that I literally have to force myself to eat and swallow food. My stomach has shrunk and I've lost around 25 pounds since July; the constant gnawing pain of hunger combined with my near inability to eat has given me multiple panic attacks and has made me impossible to be around because the pain makes me 'snap' at people with little to no real reason.

I am wondering if any of you people here on the Forums have gone through this before and if they could offer tips and help.

Thank you

No offence, but have you visited your doctor for that ??? You shouldn't take it lightly !!!

My weight went under 7 stone (height five foot eight so it was pretty serious) due to gastritis brought on by aspirin based painkillers. I wouldn't have looked out of place in Belsen, it was pretty scary. I managed to stabilize the weight loss and reverse it a bit by getting calories in drink form - Maxijoule from my GP (but only by directly asking for it, she seemed happy enough to stand by while I starved without suggesting anything) and Complan (a fortified drink for convalescents). Some time later I got to see a nutritionist who basically said it was necessary to force myself to eat more, gradually building up the amount. It was very painful and unfortunately led to bad acid reflux which need daily medication. But at least I'm normal weight again though still have a very dodgy stomach and can't eat anything tasty as it sets things off again. Bland boring food all the way.

I'd try and get your doctor to refer you to a nutritionist. Soon. One tip someone gave me - make sure to have some solid food if all you're doing is having liquids as it helps to reduce painful wind. Oh, and apparently stomachs don't physically shrink, it's just that they get less able to process food.

I didn't look at the link, but if it has to do with digestive problems, there is a tea called roasted dandelion tea by traditional medicinals I tried and it's good. I also try keeping my drinking separate from my eating, because it can interfere with digestion. It makes a difference.

No offence taken, yes I've been about 4-6 times in about 4-5 months. I'm heading there again today as I was unable to do just about anything this weekend due to the pain.

Wow man I feel for you, my weight hasn't gone down that much (height is 6'3" so I look like slenderman now). Similar to you currently the theory is I've developed it after taking a prescribed acne fighting medicine; most likely after taking it daily for about 2 or so years it killed off the good bacteria in my stomach. Combine that with a lot of stress (This summer has not only been a transitional one but also one that keeps piling on the heartache) and thats where we think it came from.

I'll ask my doctor about Maxijoule and Complan, currently they only have me on only [censored] Zantac; a goddam over the counter acid reducer that doesn't do [censored]. Before that one of the doctors was convinced it was constipation that the pain was coming from so we gave me miralax. Yeah great move doctor give the starving person something that makes them [censored] faster, not like I'm losing pounds every week or anything.

If I may ask how long ago did you go through this and how has the time been since then. You said you can't eat tasty food, is this because of pain after eating it? Or is it just impossible to eat without throwing up and/or gagging?

Thank you a lot for the advice and tips, its comforting in a way knowing that someone out there is familiar with the pain. I wish you all the luck

Thank you I'll look into the tea, couldn't hurt.

It all started 18 years ago and I finally got help that actually helped about 8 or 9 years ago. My stomach is just really sensitive now - anything acidic has to be avoided, nothing even remotely spicy. No garlic, no pepper - even oregano can cause problems if it's not had cooking reduce the flavour enough. No mint or ginger. Nothing too fatty. Potatoes cause too much wind now so no chips (french fries). Most fruit is too acidic including apples. Bananas are the only fruit that don't cause problems. Also have to avoid wholemeal bread. Otherwise it's like my stomach seizes up with massive and painful bloating and acid burn. My appetite vanishes so don't start vomiting or anything.

I'm on a daily dose of omeprazole 20mg which helps keeps things stable, was on Zantac for a while but it was pretty useless. If my stomach starts playing up I use weak chamomile tea but what really helps in that case is a small amount of ground licorice root added to milk a few times a day. It acts as a demulcent and puts a coating on the lining of the stomach, too much though can cause even more bloating so it takes some experimentation to get the dose right.

Just looked up dandelion in my herbal book and it has diuretic properties and can act as a laxative. Nightmirror is right about drinking while eating as it dilutes the stomach acids reducing the ability to digest.

Strong emotions - anxiety, fear, exitement, infatuation etc - can mess the stomach up pretty quickly too and overcome all the medications listed above. Relaxation and meditation techniques etc can help but life can and does throw a lot at you at times.

I had a read from your link that sounds just horrible, from the quick look I had on another site it appears coffee isn't all that nice on the stomach. Don't know if it helps but I would get occasional stomach issues and after consulting Dr Google for a completely different issue I started taking vitamin C and I have noticed my stomach a lot calmer. One thing I've found out is stress can cause you to chew through lots of your vitamin C, and if your digestion is in such a mess your most likely not absorbing all the vitamins you need so maybe a blood test to check most of them might help.

If it's any help you can get probiotic capsules and yogurt can be helpful for good stomach bugs, also bananas are very gentle on the stomach.

Hope some of that is a help to you.

Wow, that sounds terrible. I can somewhat relate. I have an extremely bad case of acid reflux disease, but I've been able to control it with the help of a good gastroenterologist and medication. Gastritis is worse and more difficult to control, though. One of the worst parts of having digestive issues is that most people don't seem to understand how horrible they can be. I feel for you.

Trouble is, most of it never gets past the stomach and into the intestine. Which is why https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy was developed.

It is indeed crappy but, looking on the bright side, at least it isn't Crohns disease. Oh god, I'd hate to have that.

I only happened upon that in a science magazine a few weeks back and my thoughts were WTF.

I hadn't thought about vitamin C, I'll have to look into it. I have started taking probiotics and they've helped a bit, though its hard to tell as the pain comes and goes.

Thank you for the sympathy and suggestions.

Yeah finding sympathy is hard, especially because you sound like a child complaining about a stomach ache. Though my family has been very supportive and I've been able to talk to my father about some it. He is a US Ranger and can relate to pain caused by extreme hunger from Ranger school. Because for anyone who hasn't actually starved, food is ALL you can think about.

Well after heading to the emergency room today I managed to get some progress finally. Three prescriptions

- Prozac for my stress and depression (Going to hold off taking this until I see the effects of the other medications as I'm not sure if my heightened stress and depression is cause for stomach pain or a symptom of it)

- Caraphem (Spelling?) Its a massive bullet sized pill I need to take before meals and sleep to coat my stomach.

- Protonix: Once a day in the morning to help with it all.

I have an appointment with a behavioral health specialist in two weeks and on Monday I'll be heading up to Bethesda to see a gastroenterologist, so hopefully these will put me on the road to recovery.

EDIT:

Jesus Christ man I can only imagine the anguish you have suffered over these years. Kudos to you that you kept going, it can is be extremelty depressing having only bland food to eat. Zantac is useless I can agree with you there.

The chamomile tea and licorice root milk may be consumed soon, thank you for your suggestion and sympathy. If you don't mind may I ask how much you weigh now?

No offense to your general physician, but you probably won't get the answers you seek until you see the gastroenterologist in 2 weeks.