Please help. My daughter may have Gastritis, but so many symptoms I am unsure.

My daughter is 16. Two weeks ago, she started complaining that she felt full after just a couple bites. Then after a few days she said the same, but it also hurt. A few days ago, she didn't want to eat or drink anything because it all hurt. She has constant upper stomach pain. it usually covers the area just under her bra strap, across the front. It occasionally hurts her upper and lower back. She gets occasional left chest pain, just intermittently. She gets easily short of breath. We tried all kinds of different foods and nothing helps. Monday, her PCP started her on Zantac. But, she doesn't have heartburn, gas, burping, nothing reflux or GERD related.... that I am aware of. Because I am not really familiar with these conditions, I don't know. The next day, she took 2 bites of a bagel and hurt like heck. She was short of breath on steps, severe pain. The PCP said we needed to go to ER. They ran tests, everything was fine. H.Pylori will take a week for results. They told her to take Carafate. She ate at 4pm, Zantac at 6pm and Carafate at 830pm. She was miserable the entire night. She barely slept cuz she hurt so bad and was so nauseaus. The next morning she just took Carafate. I told her maybe she couldn't take both meds, plus since there is not an acid issue, we would try without Zantac. She called me because 4 hours after taking Carafate, she was dizzy, lightheaded, nauseaus, upper stomach hurt really bad, lower back hurt and she felt out of it. PCP said to go to ER again. We were there 7 hours. Did Xrays, CT, Ultrasound and more bloodwork. Everything is perfect. While there, the person drawing blood hit a nerve in her left arm, causing numbness and tingling. This was temporary. The past 2 days tho, she gets occasional tingling in both hands. Dont know if this is nutrition related, lack of Vit B or something worse. She has DVT back in April, after knee surgery. This is why her PCP made us go to ER both days. She still has lots of knee pain. For the past 2 months, she has been taking 2400 mg Motrin for 4-5 days a month for cramps and also about 1600 mg another 5-7 days a month for knee pain. They did check for more bloodclots and Pulmonary Embolisms. That was all good too. There is nothing that makes them see anything is wrong. Does this mean its just Gastritis? I am unsure if its from bacteria, NSAIDs or something else. Any advice??? We can't see a Gastro Dr for 3 weeks. She is miserable because she feels weak and is in pain. I started having her take Mastic Gum and Manuka honey yesterday. Hasn't helped yet. But, I don't know what kind of time frame we are looking at. How do I know if its acute or chronic? How do I even know if its only gastritis? She is taking Ultram for the pain. It helps to minimize it, but not eliminate it. I am at a loss!!! Please help!!!

I am sorry to read of your daughters problems.  A couple of comments - Ultram may cause  severe stomach/abdominal pain. Also wondering if any of the Drs. considered she may be having a gallbladder problem. 

RE gastritis

The signs and symptoms of gastritis include:

• A gnawing or burning ache or pain (indigestion) in your upper abdomen that may become either worse or better with eating
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• A feeling of fullness in your upper abdomen after eating

Gastritis doesn't always cause signs and symptoms.

The amount of Motrin she is taking is the one thing I would be most concerned about especially when you add in the fact that she is on Ultram.

Side effects of Motrin:

Constipation; diarrhea; dizziness; gas; headache; heartburn; nausea; stomach pain or upset are common side effects but if they persist do check with the Dr. which you have done.

Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur:

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; trouble breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); bloody or black, tarry stools; change in the amount of urine produced; chest pain; confusion; dark urine; depression; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; mental or mood changes; numbness of an arm or leg; one-sided weakness; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; ringing in the ears; seizures; severe headache or dizziness; severe or persistent stomach pain or nausea; severe vomiting; shortness of breath; stiff neck; sudden or unexplained weight gain; swelling of hands, legs, or feet; unusual bruising or bleeding; unusual joint or muscle pain; unusual tiredness or weakness; vision or speech changes; vomit that looks like coffee grounds; yellowing of the skin or eyes.

Thank you for all the advice and suggestions. I appreciate it. Its helpful to hear from others who understand. This is all good info for me to talk with her DR on Monday.

Thank you again!!!

We went to her family DR and GI. They said to take Prevacaid 30mg once per day, plus Ultram for the pain. Can anyone tell me why, one day she eats something and it doesn't hurt, but the next time she might eat it, it does? No food consistently causes pain. The pain is in upper middle, sometimes across the entire upper, more in the middle and left side tho. Occasionally she gets chest pain. Why the chest pain?

Chest and back pain are common symptoms of reflux. Always good idea to get endo scope and gallbadder test to make what is going on. One of the great problems with gerd is one day no problems and the next day problems but you did nothing different. I take digestive enzymes before I eat to help brake down the food.

The symptoms do sound like gastritis, has your daughter had an endoscopy? that is the only way to confirm diagnosis that Im aware of.

Zantac is a pretty weak ant acid, she should ask to be put on proton pump inhibitors immediately, that will still take a few days for the pain to die down.

Do not take NSAIDS they can make it much worse, they reduce the natural lining of the stomach. Use pain killers that are paracetemol based.

Carafate is good, it creates a physical lining in the stomach, rather than being a drug so shouldnt have any notceable side affects so maybe keep with it. Also take it in the middle of the night, i found that really helped.

empty stomach is also bad, so tell her to try and eat little but often, even if a mouthful. it gives the stomach cotents something to react against instead of the stomach lining.

also try ginger tablets, they help with nausea and are a natural anti inflammatory, you can take them along with the medication.

The reason it hurts after eating is that eating stimulates the stomach to release acid, this irritates the stomach which is already inflamed. Some PPIs should soon solve the eating problem,

Post Edited (Andy1986) : 12/30/2013 8:14:18 AM (GMT-7)