does this sound like gastritis or something else?

[AmalFish]

Hi everyone,
Between October and January I had two ‘flare ups’ where I wake up (after eating an oily/heavy meal at night) with severe stomach pain, so severe that the first time I went to A+e. The pain was so bad I couldn’t breath, lying down made it worse, the only thing that made it somewhat bearable is leaning forward. First time this happened I was on holiday and the doctors at a+e decided it could be gastritis (after doing a scan to rule out gallbladder) and sent me off with omeprazole…i felt sore for about 10 days after and then back to normal. In January this happened again, this time I took the omeprazole myself snd again felt better…since I’ve stopped the omeprazole i’ve had a dull ache in my upper left side that is there most of the day. I’m very bloated burp non stop everytime i eat anything! My appetite has dropped too. I’ve even been referred to a gastroenterologist but I’m still waiting. H.pylori test came back negative. I have health anxiety and i’m worried it could be something else, like pancreatitis or colon issues. Does it sound like gastritis? Perhaps IBS? I’ve had bad reflux in the past that was due to stress.

Any stories/ experience of this kind of pain would be appreciated!

Yes sounds quite like my symptoms. It was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. I felt like I had a car tire around my chest/upper stomach that was getting smaller and smaller, crushing me to death.

I took a course of omeprazole and was strict on my food. I drank bone broth, followed a pretty bland diet, ate small amount 5 times a day. There’s a section on Reddit (I think r/gastritis or something?), but I found loads of helpful tips on there, ideas of suitable things to eat.

I also went for acupuncture and I don’t know how the hell or why, but I believe it worked! Can’t explain it though. I went in skeptical but willing to be proved wrong. I started at 2 times a week, tapered to once a week. Did about 10 sessions altogether I think.

I slowly introduced things back into my diet, I’ve not had pain since but I do eat smaller portions and can’t binge/overeat like I used to. I’ve also not gone back to certain spicy things I used to love - spicy rice crackers, spicy Mexican food. Just not worth the fear!

I really do feel for you, it’s terribly painful. There’s no relief and you truly feel like you can’t breathe. Bone broth, small bland portions, more omaprezole, stress management. Can you go back to GP in case there’s something else they can prescribe?

@loropianalover what bone broth do you buy or do you make it?

I feel like my daughter has been going through this, we found fairness causing the stomach pain but also she was suffering constipation- I didn’t expect it because she was going every day and sometimes multiple times a day- but it’s called constipation over flow, pain was behind her navel and it was debilitating for her- I also took her to a&e no one suggested it could be constipation apart from a. Freind