Gastritis

[Patience47]

I was diagnosed with gastritis (inflamation of the stomach lining) last week, and curious to know if anyone else has gastritis and PMR as autoimmune diseases can cause gastritis. Extremely painful! Any response appreciated.

Thank you, Edward

[SheffieldJane]

I know Pred is harsh on the stomach and unless you take it with food or you take Omeprazole you will suffer. I had vomiting in the early days of PMR and for no apparent reason I can get stomach upsets. I have never regarded it as a major symptom though. PMR/GCA don't give us immunity from other diseases unfortunately.

[Patience47 in reply to SheffieldJane]

Thank you for your response. I always eat before taking prednisone and also take Prilosec.

[HeronNS]

Haven't had a problem while on pred, but your post reminded me that many years ago when I complained to my doctor he said I had gastritis. After that I had a few other incidences of it, but nothing for years. I found I had to stop drinking tea for the duration. Can't remember much else about what I did. Did your doctor prescribe anything? I think the secret is to eat carefully, small meals and avoiding acidic food, until you feel better.

[Patience47 in reply to HeronNS]

HeronNS, yes, gastroenterologist prescribed Sucralfate 1 gram tabs. Had heart bypass surgery, so I stick to a healthy diet. Will try more frequent and smaller meals.

Thanks, Edward

[HeronNS in reply to Patience47]

I was just looking up what one can do for gastritis and there is actually a list of foods to avoid (onions?!) and other foods which are good. Bananas for example apparently really do line the stomach and protect it, so if you like them you should eat one before you have a meal, but I expect you already know all this.

[Patience47 in reply to HeronNS]

I eat a banana every morning. Thank goodness I like bananas. ☺

[Panni in reply to HeronNS]

I had gastritis from Prednison. at 5mg. Doctor prescribed PPI (proton pump inhibitor) like Prilosec. My stomach pain was worse than the PMR.

Was taking every day Prilosec, until tapered down for 4mg Prednison.

I am good now. No more stomach pain. Have breakfast at 6am, take the Prednison at 7am. Eat healthy most of the time. exercise so have more energy, still working 4 days a week alternating 3 day a week.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Patience47 in reply to Panni]

Hi Panni, so glad you're doing better and out of pain. Yes, for several weeks my gastritis was much worse than my PMR. Thanks so much for your post. Good luck and best wishes.

Edward

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Are you on pred? That doesn't help.

[Patience47 in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, currently taking 10 mg. Was diagnosed with 2 bleeding esophageal ulcers and soon after that PMR was diagnosed. PMR since 2013. Yes, prednisone isn't helping matters.

Thank you, Edward

[Judyliz in reply to Patience47]

Hello Edward

I too have severe gastritis and even ended up in A&E. It was initially thought I might have a problem with an aortic aneurysm the pain radiated to parts of my body I didn't expect and affected my breathing and heart rate. I feel rather embarrassed about that ...... another story.

I have GCA and PMR and been taking prednisolone for 18+ month's now and for nearly all that time taking omeprazole. I am extremely careful with my diet and have not put on any weight but do have the extra chin and cheeks.

I am a recently retired nurse and am used to reading research documents, but like many with prednisolone head my concentration is poor so it doesn't always compute as I would like.

I have twice had a telephone consultation with a GP I do not know and tried to tell him I would really like the gastro resistant prednisolone and once settled I want to wean off the omeprazole.

What a battle, he has finally agreed, but for a short trial only and quoted all sorts of things at me about research saying there is no difference and yes I too have read that paper. Also wanted me to take a different PPI, harumph.

There are some of us who do all the recommended things and unfortunately still get gastritis to a greater or lesser extent so please see see if your GP will consider a change to the enteric coated, gastro resistant steroids for you.

I don't know if long term this will make a huge difference but so far for me it definitely has.

Quite a few forum members do take this type instead.

Good luck.

Judy

[Zofitmogelijk in reply to Judyliz]

Hi Judyliz and Edward sorry to hear from your painfull gastritis . Why not consider buying empty enteric coated capsules and fill them with Pred yourself. Boots sells the Mill/pilcutter for a few pounds. Takes a bit of time, but I use this method for more then a Year to no .complaints in the stomach what so ever.hoop you feel better soon

[Judyliz in reply to Zofitmogelijk]

Good idea I had thought of doing this sometime ago but promptly forgot about.

I am not aware of any pharmacies that sell them so I shall look on line.

Thanks for the prompt.

[Zofitmogelijk in reply to Judyliz]

Look at Amazon there is also a plexiglas sort of tray to make it easy to fill the capsule and press the halves together, bought a thousand and hope not to finish them all 🤗

[Patience47 in reply to Zofitmogelijk]

Zofitmogelijk, wow, you really do think out of the box. Going to look into this today.

Thank you, Edward

[Zofitmogelijk in reply to Patience47]

Look at cn-10 mini capsule filler. On you tube

[Patience47 in reply to Zofitmogelijk]

Thanks

[Patience47 in reply to Judyliz]

Judy, Sounds like you've been through a lot with gastritis, and so glad you're doing better now. Unfortunately, I live in the United States and you can't get enteric prednisone here. At least, I can't find any.

thanks, Edward

[Judigardener]

I have had gastritis a few times and diverticulitis too. Not fun. J

[Patience47 in reply to Judigardener]

Judigardener, hope you are over it now and feeling well.

Edward

[Judigardener]

PS It may not be related but I saw a consultant gastroenterologist recently about the diverticulitis and she said I might benefit from a lactose free diet. This has helped my tum a lot. I love dairy things and lactose free is very acceptable-- it does not taint foods/tea/coffee like soya etc does. It tastes like milk -- because it is milk-- and I can definitely notice an improvement. May be worth 6 week experiment to see if you are better too.

[Patience47 in reply to Judigardener]

Will give it a try.

Thanks, Edward

[Skodadet]

Yes, I developed gastritis not long after I decided erroneously to stop taking my PPI. I had to learn which foods I could tolerate. I think it's different for everyone but my safe foods were bananas, eggs, almond milk and camomile tea. It was rough for several months but I recovered well and stayed well for over a year. Unfortunately it recurred this year, I think prompted by a mild case of food poisoning but it's not so bad. I think I'll always be a bit susceptible now. I now realise the importance of "healthy eating" and exercise for me and improving much more quickly the second time around. Treat your stomach gently with bland foods you can tolerate for a while and go for some gentle walks and I'm sure you will heal. Good luck!

[Patience47 in reply to Skodadet]

Scodadet, sounds like good advice. Hopefully, I can do as well as you.

Thanks, Edward

[GerriMc]

This may not be related at all but I had a very bad bout of diverticulitis about a month before being diagnosed with PMR so nothing to do with taking pred. I have trouble digesting green vegetables which makes the whole healthy eating thing a bit of a challenge.

I often wonder if the diverticulitis was triggered by the autoimmune deterioration that eventually led to PMR. In the few months before diagnosis, I had a lot of minor health problems. I hadn’t seen my doc since my annual check up the year before and suddenly I was seeing him every week.

Anyway, I just wonder, like you, if it’s possible that it’s just part of PMR’s rich tapestry.

[Patience47 in reply to GerriMc]

GerriMc, I certainly believe my PMR was bought on by my esophageal ulcers. Guess we will really never know for sure what brings PMR/GCA to life. I too have diverticulitis, and know how painful it can be. Hope you are feeling well now and not experiencing any pain.

Thank you for your response.

Edward

[GerriMc in reply to Patience47]

Thank you Edward. I’m not too bad. I think I have the diverticulitis under control , now for the PMR! 😏

You take care! Gerri.

[Patience47 in reply to GerriMc]

👍

[yogabonnie]

I have diverticulitis and find that drinking smoothies if I feel the tiniest bit of a diverticula flare..works wonders. AND it might be a way to get those greens. (spinach with bananas and blueberries/straberries whirled up in a blender with water or whatever liquid and protein powder) is just the ticket!

[GerriMc in reply to yogabonnie]

Yogabonnie, that’s s great idea. I’ve been trying to chew everything to s pulp before swallowing, which is difficult with greens.

Time to dust off the blender. Thank you!

Gerri.

[yogabonnie in reply to GerriMc]

I use one like this.. similar. single serving. then not all the bother to clean etc. easy and quick. that's half the battle. amazon.co.uk/Aicok-Smoothie...

[Patience47 in reply to yogabonnie]

Yogabonnie, I need to get a blender. Great idea.

Thank you, Edward

[May10]

I had gastritis a few years before I was diagnosed with PMR. I found Prednisolone made it worse. Couldn't sleep a lot of times. Now am on the enteric coated Pred and find that they are helping.

[Patience47 in reply to May10]

May10, so very glad you are getting some relief. Don't know why we don't have enteric prednisone here in the US.

Take care, Edward

[Zofitmogelijk in reply to Patience47]

Have you searched for Rayos?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zofitmogelijk]

Rayos/Lodotra isn't enteric coated - it has a coating yes, but it breaks down suddenly after 4 hours in the right conditions in the stomach. The only difference from ordinary pred is that it delivers 4 hours later - and it must still be in the stomach or it doesn't work reliably.

[Zofitmogelijk in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you for correcting, I did not realise the capsule would still be in the stomach after 4 hours.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Zofitmogelijk]

I had assumed it would be further down too - but I happened to get hold of documentation from the company where they were very insistent about the way it is to be taken: within 3 hours of a meal or together with a substantial snack of bread with cheese or ham being suggested as ideal (normal German evening meal really). And the reasoning was so the passage of the tablet was delayed and still in the stomach when it broke down.

[Patience47 in reply to PMRpro]

PMRpro, that is exactly what my rheumatologist told me the last time I saw her. Wish there was some way I could get enteric prednisone from Europe. Thankfully, The med Carafate seems to be helping with the gastritis.

Thank you for your informative post as it was spot on.

Edward

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Patience47]

There are a few people on the forums who have obtained empty gastroresistant capsules and put their pred in them - result, no gastric problems. All that happens is it takes a bit longer for the onset of action - and if you take them at night that deals with that problem: they are working by the morning!

Someone has mentioned it further up the thread - have you seen that?

[Patience47 in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, I have seen them and viewed the you tube videos as well. Going to place order as soon as I decide on which one would be best. Certainly going to give it a try as I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Thanks so very much.

Edward

[Carrollee]

Hi Edward. Sorry to hear you are suffering. I had gastritis many years ago and it was excruciating and lasted for several days each month so you have my utmost sympathy. I was diagnosed after an endoscopy and prescribed some gunk to take everyday which I wasn't keen on as I didn't have it everyday. Anyway long story short I didn't take it and not long after was diagnosed with Graves' disease (autoimmune) and after a month of treatment for that it dissapeared and has never returned and let's hope it stays that way. Had I done it their way I would still be taking the gunk 🙄. Fortunately it hasn't returned with GCA/pmr. All the best cc

[Patience47 in reply to Carrollee]

Carrollee, so glad you're doing well now. I will certainly look into Graves' disease. Thank you for your reply.