Anyone taking sucralfate and/or got bile reflux/gastritis?

[AML84]

Hello!

Hoping someone out there can help and give me some advice (pretty please

I've just been diagnosed (after upper and lower endoscopy for abdominal pains) with bile reflux which is causing gastritis and have been put on sucralfate (called Carafate in the US) twice a day.

Is anyone else taking sucralfate for anything? I'm having a hard time with the timing of the medicine - two or three hours after you've eaten and one hour before eating anything more doesn't seem to leave much time for a actually eating if, like me, you're a grazer - any tips?

Also, can you drink alcohol with it?

Acid reflux/GERD seems to get a lot of press but bile reflux not so much - is anyone else suffering? It came out of no where - I know it can be an issue after gall bladder surgery, but (apart from this) I'm physically very healthy, young-ish (32) and have never had surgery or anything wrong with my gall bladder. I read anxiety might be a cause, which I have a bit of a history with - anyone any ideas??

Any info would be so appreciated - thank you!

[sunnyhills]

Oh gosh ,huge sympathies .Bile is the pits .And there seems little info about treatment .

Gaviscon plus might help a little as it forms an alginate barrier over the stomach contents .Sleeping propped up with pillows .

Meds that help food pass out of your stomach more quickly might help ? eg domperidone .Or maybe your stomaxch is emptying too slow;y ? They can do a pyloric stretch if this is the case >

Really hope things improve .

[AML84]

Thanks sunnyhills

And thanks for the tip re: propping myself up at night - I tried it last night and I really think it helped

Now just to work out the timing of the sucralfate...

[PenguinPoser]

There's a long term manufacturing issue with it in the U.K. (To the best of my knowledge) so have been unable to give it to anyone!

[AML84]

That's interesting PenguinPoser - do you know what people have been prescribed instead?

I'm living in the US at the moment but may be moving back to the UK later this year, so it would be good to know...

[PenguinPoser]

Essentially no I don't think there's an equivalent alternative. I recently wrote back to a consultant to ask but haven't had any response yet about if they had any other suggestions!

[lougle]

I've recently seen it given to a patient in the UK, so it must be available here.

How often are you having to take it?

If it is 4 times daily, you could take it at 7am (so breakfast at 8am), 11.30 am (so lunch at 12.30), 3pm (so afternoon snack if you like one at 4 pm), dinner at some point between 7-7.30 pm, then last dose at 10 pm before bed?

[AML84]

Thank you lougle - I'm only on it 2/3 times a day.

My doc reasoned that breakfast is usually bland and light so no need for one in the morning, and so far that seems to be fine.

Then I'm taking one at 11:30am and then 6:15pm, sometimes one before bed if it's been a bad day.

If I brought forward my evening dose from 6:15pm to say 3pm or 4pm - would that still cover me for dinner?

[nooka]

I am in a facebook group for LPR (which is when you only have symptoms in your throat/mouth/ears, not your esophagus, sometimes know as silent relux - can be acid/bile or both) and the main things recommended are losing weight (if you carry any excess), stopping smoking (if you smoke), raising your sleeping position with a wedge or blocks (not pillows ideally), eating smaller meals and not four hours before you sleep. There is some fairly good evidence that these make a difference to symptoms.

Some in the group advocate dietary changes, in particular avoiding alcohol, caffeine, mint, chocolate, fizzy drinks, spicy food, fatty food and acid food. There is very little research evidence that any of these make a difference, but keeping a food diary to see if there are any triggers is definitely worth while. Dietary changes are often but not always suggested by doctors, but I suspect part of the reason is because it is a simple, low risk, low cost suggestion (the only cost is to the individual really as one effect is that people feel it's their fault if they go on feeling bad, they must have broken the rules somehow).

Gaviscon is widely recommended, but not the US version which has a different formulation to the one outside of the US (in fact it's made by a different company).

Alkaline water is the subject of much controversy. Some lab tests have shown it can denature the bile so reducing the damage it causes to the throat, but there are some issues about the validity of the research. It's worth a try though as it's not very expensive, won't cause any harm and might give at least some symptomatic relief.

[lougle]

Sucralfate takes 1-2 hours to work, then lasts 6-8 hours, so if you take it at 3pm, it will start working at around 4 and last until 10pm/ midnight. Bearing in mind that you'll take 6-8 hours or for food to pass through your stomach into your colon to digest your dinner, you might find that it's a bit early.

[AML84]

Wonderful - thanks so much for the info lougle and nooka

[sunnyhills]

I use this site healthunlocked.com/oesophagus ,those of us who've had a resected oesphageous have reflux issues .
This is mainly acid but also bile .You may find some advice posting there with reference to bile reflux .
And endless discussion on how to get comfy in a sitting up postion

[Blinkingbotheration]

Hey @AML84 - I know this thread is eons old but I just wondered if you’re still around, even if under a different username?! Did you get your bile gastritis under control? Need a bit of hope!!🤞