gastritis

[Smily]

I had an upper endoscopy yesterday and they found I have gastritis. What i'm expecting it's to be diagnosed with ibs and i am hoping not to have any other issue in my tummy - fingers crossed. i still don't know why i have the gastritis but i was wondering if it is normal to have it with ibs. i also have fybromialgia which i presume means that i may always have issues with ibs. Could it be the same with gastritis?

[hairyfairy]

I had similar problems 10 years ago. I also have no idea what caused it, but it often flares up if I eat a lot of bread or crackers & biscuits. I have Ranitidine on prescription which eases the discomfort, maybe that will work for you.

[annekeith]

that is normal 2 hv that has i tk gaviston that settles mine dwn i was told u can get by dietin or not proper eatin x

[kiwimiwi]

Gastritis doesn't present with IBS as they are usually unrelated and separate problems. It is normally down to one of three things:

1) Overproduction of stomach acids - usually chronic, it's treated long term with something like ranitidine or omeprazole.

2) Prolonged use of NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and Diclofenac - short term damage, again treated with ranitidine or omeprazole but taken as a course over a few months to allow the stomach to heal.

3) Helicobacter pylori - a bacterial infection that is treated with a cocktail of antibiotics.

Gastritis when not caused by the above usually occurs with more serious digestive autoimmune illnesses such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis but these are usually ruled out before an endoscopy by blood tests.

You could have IBS but are simply unlucky to have these two separate conditions flare up at the same time like I did! I had a severe case of gastritis and duodenitis a few years back that was partly down to taking ibuprofen persistently for other conditions I have and part caused by excessive acid production. I was vomiting blood and had an endoscopy which found a duodenal ulcer and fibrous nodules in my small intestine and my gastro doc said that they did not affect my IBS in any way and were not caused by my IBS.

The main issue with these sorts of tests like endoscopies and colonoscopies is that IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion, and therefore has no definitive test. Doctors will test for everything they possibly can so that they can rule out other serious conditions but you don't usually get the IBS diagnosis until all other avenues have been investigated. There is a link however between fibromyalgia and IBS and these can present together and IBS is linked to other conditions such as chronic fatigue, migraines and PCOS.

Hopefully you'll get the gastritis sorted out easily and hopefully they'll figure out what's going on inside of you and get you the proper treatments! xx

[Gardener]

Glutamin, which is an amino acid supplement, is recommended for healing the gut lining. It is available from health food shops or supplement firms.