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duodenal ulcer symptoms

A: PPIs are usually given from 4 to 8 weeks.
If symptoms persist and endoscopy is often performed (a look-see down a fine tube with a light at the end).
H pylori can be detected from a blood, breath, faecal test or from a biopsy taken during endoscopy.
If H pylori present the main part of treatment is to clear the infection and a course of 2 antibiotics plus the PPI are given.
Unless treated the helicobacter pylori is there for life.

Q: Whether to eat or not during IBS/duodenal ulcer?
Hi friends,

My diagnosed condition details can be found here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061211031600AAKWVee&r=w

I only get very painful symptoms when I eat and up to 5 hours afterwards. I guess it takes 5 hours from stomach to bum to go through our digestive system.

Strange thing is that if I don’t eat anything, my symptoms virtually dissapear and I can get my work done, and feel almost normal :-)

I wished we didn’t have to eat LOL ;-)

My latest question is that when my symptoms are at their worst and I can’t face eating anything. Am I best to:

a) Eat nothing for a few days and rest my entire digestive system from stomach to bum.

b) Eat small quality clean snacks (avoiding caffeine, wheat, lactose, etc)

c) Force myself to eat 3 proper meals, clean meals, low in gluten, lactose, etc and put up with the awful pain (so much I can’t work).

Thanks,

Lee.

Lee.

A: If you’re considering the possibility of celiac / gluten intolerance by doing a dietary challenge, all gluten would need to be completely removed from your diet, or you’re not going to be able to tell if it’s the gluten that’s the problem. Low in gluten or avoiding gluten wouldn’t tell you anything.

If you have a gluten problem, it’s an autoimmune reaction, which means that your immune system considers gluten an invader and tries to attack and destroy it. Just as your immune system immediately reacts when a virus invades. Think about how small a virus is, and then think about how much gluten you’re getting if you’re not being very careful. Basically, it takes a fraction of a breadcrumb for someone with a gluten intolerance to get an immune system reaction from it.

For more on how to eat 100% gluten free visit http://www.glutenfreeforum.com . There are nearly 12 thousand registered users there and tons of information.

By the way, lactose intolerance actually goes along with celiac. (Although it is caused by other things too.) When the immune system attacks your body, thinking that gluten is toxic, it destroys the lining of your intestines. It’s the very outer edge of that lining where the enzymes for digesting lactose are made. So it just happens to destroy that along with the rest. Therefore, lactose intolerance is part of celiac. The good news if you’ve got celiac is that chances are once your intestines heal, you can eat dairy again.

I can really relate to what you said about wishing you didn’t have to eat. I had to go in for surgery about five years before I was diagnosed with celiac. I was on an IV for two days. I hadn’t felt better in years. Once I started eating again, I started feeling bad again. Never connected it until after I was diagnosed. I always kind of wished after that that I could just do the IV thing. I also discovered that if I didn’t eat, I was fine. I was so sick for so long. I don’t know how I could have worked during the last few years either. I’m lucky that I’m a stay-at-home mom.

I’m obviously biased toward giving 100% gluten-free a shot because it worked for me, but you’ve got a lot of the symptoms… Enough that it’s worth a shot. Gluten-free is a healthy way to eat anyway, so you’re not hurting anything.

If you’re feeling fine when you don’t eat, but then sick if you do, I’d suspect that your recovery time would be very quick.

After I went gluten-free all my symptoms went away like somebody flipped a switch. After 18 years of GI symptoms I had a full turn-around within just a couple of days of being GF. It still blows my mind how CLOSE I was to not being sick all those years and I had no idea.

So I would suggest option D: 100% gluten free for a time to see if your symptoms improve. I always suggest at least a month because a lot of people take a long time to see improvement. But I’d suspect that if gluten is your problem, you’ll see a difference much quicker than that. If not, you’ll at least know for sure it’s not the gluten and not have to wonder about that anymore.

That being said, if you want or need a medical diagnosis of celiac, you have to continue to eat gluten until all of your medical testing is done. Get a full celiac blood panel and ask to be referred to a gastroenterologist. The blood tests detect the antibodies against gluten. If you’re not eating gluten, your blood tests will be negative because no gluten = no anti-gluten antibodies.

If you’re not eating gluten (or enough gluten), your test results can come back negative even though you’ve actually got celiac disease. I stopped eating gluten a month before my tests were done and none of my tests were positive. But by that point, the improvement in my health was so dramatic that my doctor didnt even advise any retesting. Just told me to stay gluten free. She says that she has several other patients just like me who tested negative, but who obviously have celiac reactions based on dietary response.

You feeling fine if you don’t eat is a big sign that SOMETHING that you’re eating isn’t agreeing with you. People are intolerant to all sorts of things.

Geez. Sorry this is so long. I hope you find out what is causing your symptoms, gluten or not. I just know how awful it is to feel that way and I hate to see it happening to other people.

Feel better soon.

Nancy

Q: How to soothe the throat and esophagus?
What is the best remedy for one who has multiple peptic and duodenal ulcers to soothe the symptoms of acid indigestion?

ie..warm milk, over the counter drugs maybe?

A: Honeyed tea has always helped me a lot… just go with a chamomile or other flower tea and add a big spoonful of honey!

Q: what are some causes of ulcers?
I was diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer about 3 weeks ago based off of my symptoms (doctor didn’t perform any tests). My lab test for h. pylori(which causes most ulcers) came back negative and I’m not on any medications that would cause an ulcer. I go back to the doctor in a couple of days but I was just wondering what else could have caused an ulcer?

A: Hi I work for a website called http://icyou.com which has thousands of videos on a wide variety of health topics. Here is a link to a video we created that talks about ulcers, their causes, and treatment options:

http://www.icyou.com/topics/gastroenterology/ulcers+

Hope this helps!!

Q: Peptic Ulcer ( In need of a good medecine)?
My grandmother is 78 years old and she has petic ulcer (duodenal and gastric). She stays in africa and i would like to buy her a medecine that could work well for her. She is in a critical condition.Her symptoms are: vomitting, constipation, dizziness, weakness, borborrygmi, palpitations and feeling of abdominal fullness. She vomits all the time after eating. I think she has an also an obstruction in the digestive tract because she can’t digest what she eats. Please I NEED HELP. Thank you for reading this.

A: Herb and homeopath will not effective for your grandmother (78 years with critical condition).
Her symptoms as u stated : vomiting – buy (1) Maxolon or metoclopramide syrup; constipation – any (2) laxative, dizziness, weakness, borborrygmi, palpitations – any suitable (3) vitamin B Complex; and feeling of abdominal fullness – Maxolon or metoclopramide syrup;. She vomits all the time after eating – Maxolon or metoclopramide syrup; for peptic ulcer – (4) ranitidine / Zantac tab OR lansoprazole / pantoprazole / omeprazole.
I as a chemist advised four medicine for your ailing grandmother. Hopefully, she will fine.
Good luck!

Q: ulcer treatment??any doctor help?
my aunt has an ulcer,dont know stomach or duodenal,but think that it is stomach.we treat ed with lansoprazole 30 mg,metronidazole and amoxycillin 1 g for one week. one month went fine then again symptoms started reappearing.now again started after 3 months.but not as worst symptoms as used to be like vomitting etc.only pain sometimes.what should we do now?shuld we start with just lansoprazole 15 mg per day?coz we cant have permanant treatment as she lives in a very backward village.should lansoprazole be taken routinely or only when pain starts?

A: Before you go back to the medication regimen (or in addition to it–whichever you decide), you may want to suggest that she start eating at least 2 tablespoons of honey every day. Although research is ongoing, there have been promising results from the ingestion of honey and the healing of stomach ulcers. This may also be useful information because your aunt is unable to undergo permanent treatment for this condition.

Q: Can some one describe the gastrointestinal ulcers?
Can some one describe the gastrointestinal ulcer where ever it is (gastric, duodenal, colon… etc) what does the pain feel like? And what are the symptoms?
Would appreciate any help..

A: Gastrointestinal ulcers are small, open craters or sores that develop in the lining of the stomach or the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine. The symptoms of this varies and includes heartburn, Intense pain, Dark stools, Vomiting, Nausea, Bloated feeling immediately after eating, Feeling full, Indigestion, some times Gastrointestinal bleeding is also appear.
In ulcer sharp pain is felt in digestive tract especially after meal, pain between breastbone and navel is also evident.
As far as help is concern; eating smaller and more frequent meals is highly recommended because the presence of food can help neutralize stomach acid. High fiber diets are recommended for their therapeutic use. Fiber promotes mucin secretion and delays gastric emptying. Dairy products, fatty foods, soda pop, caffeine and alcohol should be avoided. Foods that are recommended include low-fat yogurt, avocados, bananas, squash, yams, steamed broccoli, and carrots.

Q: Stomach disorder diagnosis required?
Hi friends,

I have been diagnosed with a suspected duodenal ulcer. Camera test endoscopy showed only gastric erosions on stomach wall. However, I get no acid reflux, no burning sensation,

just a slight pounding and pain in my lower stomach. H.Pylori test was initially lost then found, and they said it was negative, so I’m not sure what to believe on this one.

2 years I’ve been on and off Omeprazole. My stomach/intestines will be fine for 6 weeks, eating anything I like. Then over a period of 2 weeks my appetite will slowly decrease to

the point where my stomach pain is too much that I can’t risk eating for 2/3 weeks approx. During this last Only the last 3 weeks of an episode do I get very bad IBS type

symptoms, trapped wind, but no diorreaha or bloating. Guessing this could be a result of the ulcer causing food to not be digested properly and being pushed through the

intestine/bowels and causing constipation and things to lock up. But………..
unlike IBS it doesn’t matter what I eat, everything causes the pain from my lower stomach to my lower bowels,

wh. The Omeprazole does reduce the pain in my stomach, but not in the intestines, etc. I think!

When my stomach gets back to normal eventually, I don’t get any IBS type symptoms, I go to toilet properly every day, and I can eat what I like.

I’m a fit person, attend the gym, don’t get colds/flus, don’t smoke, only drink on a Saturday night (2 glasses of wine, 3 pints, 2/3 shots over a period of 6 hours however). I’m a

healthly weight with 9% bodyfat, a stone of extra muscle due to the gym and feel very strong and healthy normally. My diet is usually better than the average person. Salads,

fibre, protein, lower carbs and lower fat than the norm diet. I take multi-vitamins, cod liver oil capsules every other day. Only other medication is Nasonex Nose Spray from

dust/dustmite allergy, which I carefully administer as to not sniff it past my nose. Helps me…..
sleep better.

I’m seeing my GP (who is sympathetic and friendly) to see if I can get a triple pill combination (omep, amoxycillin, etc) to go with my Omeprazole to ensure that H.Pylori is

eradicated.

I had admit myself to hospital (emergency assessment unit) as the pain was getting me down too much and stopped in over night and have some IV painkillers and Buscopan. The

specialist then saw me the next day as he was on general unit duty luckily. However, he told me to come back in 6 weeks to have another camera test! Why not do it then when I have

the worst symptoms???

Just trying to get a more definitive answer on this one, and have made this as detailed as possible. My current specialist is very unsympathetic and can’t wait to get me out the

door when I have an appointment with him. Even though I have weeks of misery waiting to be seen due to NHS waiting lists. I’m taking too much time off work and will lose my job

shortly. Quality of life is very poor…
when I’m ill like this.

Thanks in advance,

Lee.
********************************************
Steve, I wouldn’t say I’m stressed really. I’m not a particulary happy person in general.

Trouble is with this condition is that it could be so many things :-(

Ta,

Lee.

A: I know the problem.

Have had last 20 years up and down with stomach/digestive issues. I went too and fro to the hospitals over 2 extended periods, this that the other test…did show either I had an ulcer forming, or had had ulcers! Otherwise the generalized ‘non-diagnosis’ that it was IBS. Not too helpful.

The typical Western medicine approach of treating the symptom rather than the cause is why you take acid-suppressants and your gut walls heal for a while…but then you go through the cycle agiain…because after all you have not cured or treated the major cause if the problem. True treatment of the underlying problem usually requires a certain change of lifestyle. This is because as someone mentions a major causative trigger can relate to lifestyle based stress…But the other major ‘kind of stress’ the gut in particular endures, is through the diet…Digesting food is one of the most traumatic and testing (and AGING!) things the body goes through and has to cope with daily.

Constantly, or at least regularly, assaulting your delicate digestive system with a wide array of chemicals and additives used in foods today – it is becoming apparent – is a major cause of ongoing digestive problems for more and more people…AND…The ‘indigestion’ cures market is a multi-million dollar industry in itself for pharmaceutical companies…they are happy enough to encourage us to ‘pop a pill’ to ‘cure’ indigestion…because they know we will soon come back for more!!! Beacuse it DOES NOT cure the problem behind the indigestion! (Its a great cash cow for them!)

The reality seems to be that there is a combination of factors that are affecting many of us in the way our diets have been ‘perverted’ by today’s big food manufacturers. In general (in the West – US/UK and much of Europe, at least) we eat far too much chemically laden, highly procesed foods that also include synthetics that our bodies were never evolved to handle.

On top of this there is an underlying yet widespread low level sensitivity to certain natural ingredients for many people. We just keep eating the foods because we have been brought up to think of them as ‘good for you’… or OK at the very least. The BIG culprits here are lactose (in milk and dairy) and gluten (in wheat based products liek bread).

But maybe more important – well at least this is what I found having had many similar ’symptoms’ to yourself over the years – is the acknowledgment in recent time that maybe 80% – 90% of people on a typical Western diet have severely impaired digetstive/gut environments.

This means that the balance of gut bacteria has been upset by various negative influences – e.g coffee and alcohol both kill good bacteria! Or maybe you have had to take anti-biotics sometime which completely devastates the gut bacteria good and bad! – and we end up with a ratio of say 80% bad -20% good acteria instead of the opposite as it should be. This does not get right by itself – and it does mean that conditions for ulceration to occur can persist.

The nett result is that without some serious support the ‘good bacteria’ cannot get back into a dominant position. This is why more doctors are getting to think that one of the ONLY real supplements we might need is a good quality ‘probiotic’.

Probiotics (if they are of a good quality) should contain the spectrum of Lactobacillus bacteria as these are the ones that can make it through the stomach acid to get to the intestines where they need to thrive. A good probiotic also needs to have the basic foodstuff in its mix for the good bacteria to get the recolonization off to a good start.

There is an useful extended article here:

http://www.gonando.com/probiotics.html

I have not only experienced the benefits myself (in fact I have been pretty amazed at the difference after 20 years of digestive chaos) but have several friends and contacts who have had the same positive experience using a particularly good certified organic brand of probiotic – which means there are NO chemicals or synthetics used even in growing the ingredients that support the bacteria!

With the symptoms you have described – I would also recommend – that when as you say you have a period that ‘you can eat what you want’…you DO NOT do this – but remain conscious of the type, amount and range of things you consume. For example:
(1) Do not overload your system by eating to large meals
(2) Avoid highly spiced foods
(3) Avoid anything but very moderate intake of alcohol
(4) DO eat plenty of green vegetables especially things like broccolli and leafy vegetable
(5) Consume plenty of salad and raw vegetable when possible
(6) Try to avoid processed foods of any kind as far as possible (this include all raedy made meals, all fast food, all frozen meals, all jars of sauces…etc etc…yes…basically stick to fresh foods only..and freshly prepared foods, and as much organic as possible..
hope this helps.

Q: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Virus or BOTH ? Is there a doctor or sufferer in the house?
Patient is a 14 year old female 5′ 4″ in height weighing 63kg/138.5 pounds.

14 year old female has recurrent headaches in the forehead area with associated fever, dizziness and nausea every 3 to 6 weeks for past 2 years.

Patient has a 12 month history of recurrent gastrointestinal pain every 3 – 6 weeks described as aching in the abdominal area located between rib cage directly under sternum.

Patient describes feeling ” like a rock is sitting in her stomach” every 3 – 6 weeks and symptoms sometimes relieved by vomiting or passing wind. No history of recurrent diarrhea, constipation or weight loss.

Both Viral and IBS symptoms can appear together and/or separately.

Possibilities?

New Virus contracted every six weeks.
Recurrent Viral infection……eg. Mononucleosis.
Irritable bowel syndrome/disease.
Other.

14 year old females mother has a history of Duodenal Ulcer at 13 years of age and Crohn’s Disease at 25 years of age.

14 year old females test results for Gastrointestinal Ulcer and Full Blood Count will be received this Monday.

In the meantime, your thoughts on these symptoms running at times separately and at other times in conjunction with each other would be appreciated.

A: I’m going to vote for ‘other.’

20 different new infections in 2 years in the absence of an immune disorder is not a reasonable diagnosis. Nor are 20 recurrences of the same infection.

As for irritable bowel syndrome, I don’t see how this could be a likely diagnosis in the absence of the key symptoms of diarrhea or constipation.

Your question leaves out a lot, though, so I don’t really have a candidate to be the ‘other’ that I can point to.

It seems to me that with a 2 year history of recurrent headaches with nausea and dizziness, the child should have seen a neurologist for evaluation.

And a year long history of GI trouble with a family history of Crohn’s should probably have triggered a visit to a gastroenterologist.

And if you are sure that she is having infections every few weeks, has she seen an immunologist to ensure she doesn’t have an immune system dysfunction?

If none of these turned up anything, then I would guess evaluations by either or both psychiatrists or psychologists would be warranted.

So has the patient seen any of these specialists?

With regards to the neurology, it is unlikely, but the headaches, nausea, and dizziness could all result from some problem in the brain or brainstem – a tumor or vascular malformation. Consulting with a neurologist could at least eliminate the most likely neuro issues.

Similarly, a family history of Crohn’s should cause a gastroenterologist to screen the patient for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Crohn’s, and Celiac Disease. Without diarrhea or absorption problems leading to vitamin deficiencies and weight loss or growth failure, the inflammatory problems seem unlikely, however. Food allergies and intolerances would also be discussed. Gastric ulcers are typically caused by Helicobacter pylori infections, and are usually treated quickly and effectively by antibiotics – it is surprising to me that it has taken a year to get around to checking for an ulcer, but that should be resolved in the next few days, right?

If there really are recurrent infections, an immunologist should work to exclude causes like AIDS and chronic granulomatous disease.

And then, if nothing turns up after those work ups, it is possible that the issues are psychological. Perhaps the patient has an undiagnosed eating disorder, anxiety, depression, Munchausen syndrome, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, or even is engaging in self harm by swallowing strange items. A psychiatrist or clinical psychologist experienced with teenage patients might diagnose and help resolve underlying issues and the overt symptoms.

From your write up, it isn’t possible to see if these things have been done, or are in the offing. Nor can we see what has been excluded through prior tests.

Something that might be very helpful, to the doctors and to the family, in figuring out what is up is a careful diary tracking the symptoms. Has the patient reached menarche yet? If so, the diary should record the menstrual cycles as well as the symptoms. Additionally, food allergies or intolerances could also cause many of the symptoms mentioned. Carefully recording each day’s food and drink in the diary will allow some opportunity to watch for dietary influences like caffeine, wheat, lactose, tomatoes, etc.

Without a precise diary, any attempts to track and link the symptoms will start with guesses; with a diary, perhaps clear patterns will emerge.

In fact, I think my best guess is that there is some sort of dietary intolerance. Something like that could cause the headaches, fever, dizziness, nausea, GI pain, vomiting, and even the wind. Plus, it would show up intermittently if the triggering foods were not consumed daily.

I would be interested to hear, by e-mail or something, what you get back from the upcoming tests and what the eventual diagnosis is.

Q: whar is the Helicobacter virus?
It apparently is a virus that is not easily detectable but gives the same symptoms as a stomach ulcer – both gastric and duodenal.

A: Helicobacter pylori is a spiral shaped bacterium that lives in the stomach. It has a unique way of adapting to the harsh, acidic environment. Since its discovery back in 1983, it has been studied rather extensively and believed by many in the allopathic medical community to play an important role in the development of gastritis and peptic ulcers. Consequently, there has been a fundamental shift in mainstream ulcer care from the widespread use of antacids (which temporarily alleviated some symptoms, but did nothing to address the root cause of the problem) to the “treatment” of gastritis and ulcers with potent antibiotics intended to kill H. pylori. The results of this approach, however, have been mixed.

H. pylori and its effects on the human body are still very poorly understood. While promoting the use of a combination of two or more strong antibiotics to get rid of H. pylori, the pharmaceutical industry and mainstream medical science still cannot explain why only a small portion of those “infected” with these bacteria ever develop even a single peptic ulcer, while the vast majority of these “infected” individuals fail to develop any symptoms whatsoever. In some countries, as many as 90 percent of the population are “infected” with H. pylori, yet the frequency of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease in these countries is rather limited. The mechanisms of H. pylori transmission and spreading have not been ascertained, either. Nobody seems to know for sure how these bacteria spread from one person to the next.

Q: serious stomach pain for a year, what could it be?
For over a year now I’ve had some serious stomach pains and have gone to the doctors numerous times to figure out what’s wrong but have gotten no solutions.
First they tested me and said that I have severe GERD, which should have solved everything so they put me on prescription acid relievers, I have tried several kinds but none have helped at all. They occasionally can sort of relieve a few of the symptoms but not all of them.
So at first, the pain was symptoms of acid reflux, I get bad heartburn and burning in my upper stomach. It used to be only a couple of times a week but now it is literally everyday about every minute with no relief, just different degrees of pain and severity. But nothing helped that.
Then I started to have other stomach sickness daily, like I get full much faster and after I eat I feel pressure in my upper stomach.
I am often nauseas in the mornings when I wake up, not like pregnancy morning sickness it’s been for nearly a year and I am not pregnant.
My upper stomach is almost always burning.
I also have bathroom issues, like a lot of times I go from constipation to diarrhea instead of just normal, and I have to pee ALL the time to the point where it wakes me up or if I have just one sip of water I have to pee in five minutes extremely bad. I’ve had a UTI and a kidney infection before so I thought this was another one, but my doctor tested me about a month ago and said it’s not related to my bladder, kidney, or urinary tract. She seemed to think that this meant it was not a problem, but I am sick of waking up five times a night to pee.
Finally, there is a relatively new pain, started about two or three months ago, in my upper stomach, it’s like a gnawing. It is the worst pain I have ever felt and I cannot stand it to the point where I can’t get off the floor sometimes because it hurts so bad.
The gastro doctor said he thinks my pain is mostly unrelated to my GERD now and I am getting an endoscopy on Tues. He said they probably won’t find anything, but is checking to make sure I don’t have duodenal ulcers or anything.

IBS has been ruled out, GERD as the cause of all of this has been ruled out, as has anything kidney related. I’m only 19 years old so I’m pretty sure it’s nothing serious, but it something that needs to be found and gotten rid of so I can live like a normal 19 year old again.

Any ideas as to what these symptoms could mean? I would like some ideas to ask to be tested for, because it seems otherwise my doctors don’t bother. They didn’t test me for a UTI when I had one until I asked for it, despite the fact that I told them my symptoms.
Also, I get dizzy spells a lot lately and feel weak and not in the shape I am for a 95lb 19year old. I am relatively healthy so there is no reason for this.

A: I went through something very similar. Turned out the stomach problems were caused by stress and trauma! Who’d have thunk! Sometimes when the mind is under extreme pressure it can manifest in the body. Are you dealing with a lot at the moment?

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