Anyone know anything about stomach ulcers?

[used2bthin]

This is quite complicated so I can't even go into it all properly but my dd had 3 episodes of vomitting blood last year aged 7-8months. She is now on ranetidine but the hospital never wanted to look inside her she has a lot of medical procedures and they felt that unless she did it again on ranetidine then it was unnecessary to put her through more. She is steroid dependant for a genetic condition and so having steroids on an empty stomach is thought to be what caused it.

Anyway I was fine till just went on her support group website and saw that a 2 yr old had died and from what i gather it was due to an ulcer? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick? Its possible that I have as the condition can be life threatening but the mother was warning to look out for ulcers but I wasn't aware that they could have such serious consequences? Does anyone know if ranetidine would treat the ulcer? I've had to take DD to the dr twice recently with stomach pain which was thought to be from constipation but now I'm really really worried its her ulcer or something worse. Sorry if this is a bit disjointed I'm feeling really panicky.

Bump please anyone I'm really worried

Last attempt

Afraid I don't know anything about stomach ulcers (although a close friend had one). Someone will be along soon who'll know more and big hugs for you and your DD.

bumping for you.

what a worry i started a thread the other day about ulcers and got some helpful replies. But it was for adults not little ones.

Hope someone comes along with advice soon xx

Are caused by a bacteria that attacks the lining of the stomach, cause pain The danger is if the ulcer perforates (goes through the stomach wall to make a hole). Stomach contents (and acid) can leak into the peritoneum and cause sepsis and bleeding. ranitidine is a hydrogen receptor antagonist that heals ulcers by reducing gastric output by blocking the hydrogen receptor. It sounds like they have it under control but she could do with having an endoscopy so that they can see the size and thickness of the ulcer/s.
i knew I should have gone to medical school. Talent wasted.

Thanks all. Avenanap the dr at the hospital was from DD's specialist team so not a gastric doctor but he said so long as she doesn't vomit blood again they won't investigate further. That was last August, I'm wondering if I should insist? Just don't want to put her through something thats not needed as she goes through so much. Otoh obviously I don't want any risks. So vomitting blood means it perforated then do you think or is that a common symptom of ulcers? Is it possible that the little boy died because of a peptic ulcer/ Apparently there were no symptoms as such. The message was a bit unclear so I'm not sure that was the cause of death you see but it seemed to be what they were warning about.

Vomiting blood can mean that the ulcer has gone deep enough to damage the surface of the stomach, hence the vomiting blood. A perforation would cause vomiting of vast quantities. It's highly unlikely that the boy had an ulcer as it takes a long time for the bacteria to attack the lining. If you tell me the details I'll have a look for you.

Thanks it just said he had had a stomach bug for a few days(or at least they thought that was what he had), they dobled his steroids which is what you'd do with kids with their condition or in case of a sick bug or extreme illness they'd need injection and/or drip of steroids. But he stopped breathing and died, on the autopsy report it said peptic ulcer caused by steroids. For the condition the steroids are replacement for what others naturally produce so they shouldnt cause ulcers etc but sometimes do as in dd's case. I'm wondering if he died due to not getting enough of the steroid to cope with the illness the ulcer was causing actually but no way of finding out. It must be rare to die from an ulcer? Would there be more symptoms if dd still had her ulcer? Very reassured to know that ranetidine can get rid o them.

Hmm. Depends on the illness the child had, the type or steroid and dosage. If she's feeling ok and not vomiting blood then it sounds like the medication is doing it's job. See your GP if you are concerned though as I'm not a doctor/nurse.

Thanks I think I will ring DD's specialist tomorrow and bring it up. I hope they don't think I'm just being panicky. Its just I've been feeling really anxious about DD anyway, just the reality of her condition hitting me really so this has hit me quite badly. Thanks for looking it all up I tend to feel wo9rse about this stuff at night when I can't just call the dr/hospital for advice.

You're welcome. I'm a bit medically trained so I didn't do that much. Give them a ring, they won't mind. I really do hope that you get it all sorted.

Sorry one final question, just got a reply from support group chair person saying that was a v rare case etc and that my dd's blood vomitiing prob down to reflux which is what i'd said the doctors said to me(i think, all a bit of a blur) is it possible for reflux to cause vomitting blood?

There's no blood inside the gastro system, reflux is when the muscle that keeps the food/acid in the stomach is lapse so allowing the contents back up again. Stomach acid can corrode the lining of the throat and could cause a small bleed if corrosion is severe but reflux is treated with proton pump inhibitors (omeprazole, can also be used for stomach ulcers) not ranitidine.

Oh they said if she wasn't eating properly soon then they would give omeprozole too. She eats well now though. They said it was irritation to the stomach lining but couldnt rule out an ulcer. She was already on gaviscon as she was such a sicky baby. Actually looking back they've been a bit vague. I was on esomeprazole for years so knew that pain killers like nurofen etc are not good when you already have problems like that but have been told more than once to give her baby neurofen then when i've brought up the stomach problem thing they've said oh yes good plan probably best not to!

I've taken omeprazole, I felt bloated and sick before so they thought it would help. If she's eating then i think her stomach lining should not be irritated. Gaviscon's an antacid so it should have protected her throat from the stomach acid. I was told to avoid ibuprofen (could be why I feel constantly sick??? hmm). If her symptoms are settled it's best to stick with what she's taking now (minus baby nurofen). You're allowed to worry, it's part of the mummy job description.

Tanks Avenanap you really helped last night. I'm less panicky this morning and can see that what happened to the poor little boy must be rare. She does eat normally now and it's been a while since it all happened so I should probably just trust their judgement I know. I thinkI will bring it up at our next consultant appointment in a couple of weeks just to see exactly what they thought happened and why they are satisfied that it is all ok now. Anyway thanks again for reassuring me last night.

You're welcome. I'm not surprised you panicked. The hospital will be happy for you to contact them if you are concerned. I hope all is well.