Stomach ulcer

[jaqi1]

Hiya all has anyone had a stomach ulcer due to all the medication and if so what happens

[helixhelix]

I haven't because I take stomach protectors, but I imagine it would be treated just the same as if you didn't have RA. So, swap NSAID type anti-inflammatories for other drugs and the PPI stomach protectors for other ones like ranitidine and wait for it to heal?

[Hidden]

Yes, it's agony and you have my sympathy. I can no longer take naproxen at high doses or I get upper GI pain. I was treated with super high doses of lansoprazole and it went away. It has returned fortunately.

[andyswarbs]

Given a chance the body is a fantastic self-healer. Various stomach problems can be the side effect of medication. So consider changing / reducing your medication in consultation with your doctor. Remember to pack in lots of healthy foods, and given the stomach ulcer I would recommend focusing on alkaline and easily digestible foods.

So consider juicing something like cucumber and celery which is beautifully alkaline. Start each day with one of these! If you have a sweet tooth juice in an apple as well. (I recommend juicing over blending here because by removing the pulp you getter a higher concentration of all the goodness and at the same time make it easier for your stomach to digest.)

Buckwheat pancakes are a fabulous base for savoury or sweet ingredients and (depending on ingredients) should be easily digestible for most people.

Both of these are highly recommended for people with RA. On the other hand reduce fats and oils to a minimum, since these are very difficult for your stomach to digest and, imo, can be tricky for people with RA.

[Cagsie]

I had what they called multiple erosions ( ulcers) over the years, sometimes the pain worse than others. Changes in stomach protectors to Lansoprazole helped, they have returned on occasions. More scopes, increases in Lansoprazole for a short period. All healed to breakdown again. I need my medication so I just need to treat the symptoms. Be aware though if untreated you can develop nasty problems. Be guided by your gastroenterologist doctor. Good luck xx

[xandii]

Hi,

You have my deepest sympathies as i am going through the exact same thing at this very moment ! 😳

I have several other medical conditions apart from my Psoriatic Arthritis so any one of my medications or combinations could have caused the problem for me.

The first thing they do is to establish what is going on through doing a Gastroscopy ( the camera down the throat thing ) to check out what is happening and they will do repeat ones to see if the problem has gone away so try not to get yourself stressed out about having them done okay ?

Currently i have gastrittis of the stomach (inflammation of the stomach wall) and an ulcer that is huge and very stubbourn to get rid of. I have had it for around a year now and the way it is treated is by first of all changing the Naproxen i was taking which made it worse. They repalced that with a drug called Eterocoxib which is a different anti inflammatory drug but a COX 2 drug versus the COX1 drug which Naproxen falls into. Another alternative is Celecoxib which i still have in reserve if this doesnt work out. Lol.

Because i have all sorts of other problems including Cirrhosis of the liver which is non alchoholic related as i dont drink, they have also given me another drug called Ranitidine which hopefully will only be a temporary measure.

The main form of attack on my ulcer and gastrittis is to up the dose of Omeprazole i take which is the drug that you take to protect you from the effects of the others. Lol

I have been taking 40mg a day for years now which is actually what they refer to as the 'healing dose' where as the normal is usually 20 mg per day. Unbelievably they have upped my omeprazole to 80mg a day ( two capsules in the morning and two in the evening) which will only apply while i have the ulcer and gastritis problems and when it is cured this will be dropped back to what i was taking beforehand. My local GP surgery has told me that they have never heard of anyone ever needing to have this sort of dose of Omeprazole so they are totally amazed. Lol.😜

I have been on these doses of medication now for two months and i can feel a difference myself with the way my stomach feels inside so i am sure it is all helping me to return to normal . For how long remains to be seen ! Lol.

I want to assure you that all this really isnt worth getting yourself upset about and mine is an extreme case so you probabaly wont need all this medication anyway, just an increased dose of what you are currently taking to protect you from the effects of the other drugs plus probably changing the anti inflammatories. The gastroscopy is what people get frightened and worked up about and it really isnt a big problem. I always opt for just the throat spray and not the sedation process as my fear has always been to get something stuck in my throat and restrict my breathing in some way. By opting for the throat spray, it is just like going to the dentist and feeling the numbness after the anaesthetic only it is just a spray and the numbness is lower in the throat.

Of course you feel the camera tube going down your throat and when the operator asks you to swallow so that they can get the camera past this point then it just feels like when you swallow something and it gets stuck but only for a second literally !

A tip to make this whole process much easier is to concentrate on your breathing and make sure you regulate it and take your mind off of what is happening with the camera ( which just feels like you would imagine it does which is something moving around in your stomach but not in a bad way at all.) i always use the same method i use with my Pilates breathing when i exercise and i recite my favourite poem ' the Owl And the Pussycat' inside my head so that i breath constantly at one pace and this helps immensely so find yourself a poem or a song you like that has the same sort of rythym and relax and just let it all happen. Lol.

Hope my experiences have been some help to you and you may not have any of these to concern yourself about but this is just my story to give you an idea of an example of someone who is actually doing it all right now okay?

Take care,

XXx

[sueathome]

I've had much the same as others. Been taking the PPI Lansoprazole 20mg for years, and also Domperidone before meals (to help with delayed stomach emptying), to help cope with the Etoricoxib 90mg (brand name is Arcoxia) anti-inflammatory I take daily. I take Tramacet painkillers (tramadol 37.5mg & paracetamol 325mg), about 6-8 daily, and also have 4-weekly infusions of Tocilizumab.

Despite the PPI, I developed gastritis about 6 weeks ago, suspected to be a stomach ulcer, and was prescribed Ranitidine 150mg twice daily (after trying the Lansoprazole twice daily for 5 days which didn't help at all). This started to work after about 2 weeks (I was feeling nauseous, bloated & had bad stomach pain). The nausea gradually reduced & the pain lessened, but the bloating remained for another 3 weeks after that. It's now going slowly, but the Ranitidine is giving me constipation, so I'm now taking more senna & Ortisan cubes to counter that! I was advised to use the Ranitidine for 8 weeks, then to reduce to one daily before stopping it.

I'm glad it seems to be working, as the next step would have been a gastroscopy as described by xandii above. I've had one before, though, many years ago, and was given a mild sedative which meant it didn't really worry me at all!

Hope you get good treatment and find something that works for you. xx