jclaxton78 said...
Hi I'm new here. I was just diagnosed with esophagitis and gastritis from a GI scope. I may find out more on my follow-up visit to my GI doctor. I don't know how severe my condition is or what the prognosis for recovering is. This has been very debilitating for me. It radiates across my back, along with obviously the GI tract. I wanted to join this thread in hopes of finding a diet that will not make it worse.
I'm about to try pureed fruits only (no citrus), because anything solid seems to make me flare up. I'm also on Carafate, and Pepcid AND Protonix. I just want this to heal so I can get back to a normal life.
As someone who is going through his second bout of both chronic gastritis and a grade B level of erosive esophagitis, I can completely understand where you are coming from with some of the symptoms you shared. Since you've been diagnosed with both that means there is some level of damage already done to your stomach lining and part of your esophagus. Has the GI doctor told you what grade of esophagitis you have? And does he or she have any ideas on what might have caused it?
In my specific case, years of bad diet, eating late at night before I went to bad, and drinking alcohol caused my acid reflux. I ignored it for years by popping tums and rolaids (these are not good for you btw) and also mixing baking soda with water. My symptoms would go away and I would continue with my poor eating and drinking choices.
I want to chime in on what Alcie wrote because I think it's very important to keep a food journal. Yes, everything I eat right now hurts, but I assign different foods different numbers. For example, if I eat organic baby food the pain in my esophagus goes to a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the worst pain. But if I eat a piece of lean chicken with no skin, the pain goes to a 3 to 4.
So everything I eat right now hurts, but there are different levels of pain. Alcie is also correct about
food allergies and food triggers. Bear in mind that these are two different things and science still does not completely understand why some foods trigger acid reflux over others in some people, while in others they do not. This is why it's still important to keep a food journal.
I am also allergic to sulfites, which is why pizza crust and red wine and certain beers gave me such problems (took me years to figure that one out). I also react negatively to MSG which is why I rarely go out to eat anymore. IF I go out to eat now it's only at a place that serves GMO free, organic food or a sushi bar (I eat raw fish once or twice a week with no ginger or wasabi; it's one of the few foods that my body actually tolerates well).
I'm not sure what your GI doctor has told you, but my doctor told me recently that it may take 1 to 2 months before my symptoms get better and it may take several months or longer for them to go away. But bear in mind that everyone heals at a different rate.
While all foods cause me pain right now there are some foods that I tolerate better than others. For example, organic baby food. Sometimes I will boil some vegetables (think carrots, a small potato or sweet potato) and then mash them up. Home made bone broth is made twice a week (I make a lot of it) and I drink 2 to 4 coffee mugs worth of it almost daily. Why? Because it has the nutrients necessary to help heal your digestive tract and the body tends to tolerate it pretty well. It also helps regulate the flora in your stomach and intestines.1
I also eat a lot of vegetable soup and chicken vegetable soups that I made with the homemade bone broth. I used to eat a lot of steamed white rice because it settled my stomach, but I'm staying away from it for about
30-45 days because those extra carbs are feeding the bad bacteria in my gut, and that is something I want to avoid. If anyone reading this has IBS, then bone broth and a low carb, low sugar diet is absolutely critical, especially for the first month or two.
Though this disgusted me at first, I drink about
1-2 table spoons of organic sauerkraut juice after every meal (though start off with one teaspoon once a day for about
week while your body gets used to it). This helps with 1) settling my stomach 2) giving me the natural probiotics necessary to combat bad flora as well as aiding in digestion. I'm now at the point where I like it.
I will also eat a couple of slices of peeled organic red apple after most of my meals because it also settles my stomach and helps me digest my food. When my symptoms are really bad I will also chew 2 pieces of SPRY gum for 20 to 30 minutes after a meal, that also helps to alleviate my symptoms. Some people have problems with eating apples and some don't.
Everything I suggest here has worked for me and may not work for you, everyone's body is different. This is why it's critical to keep a food journal. Yes, it's extra work but it's extremely invaluable at finding out what foods cause you problems over time. You'll begin to see trends and things after a few weeks that you would not have noticed on your own without a food journal.
The most important thing with these two conditions is to stay away from foods and drinks that will make it worse, so alcohol and caffeine are out of the question. Stay away from gluten, dairy, aspartame, chocolate, and MSG for at least 90 days. After 90 days you can introduce them back into your diet one at a time at a rate of one per week to see how your body reacts. Of course, no fatty foods, spicy foods, or fried foods either.
The second thing is to give your body time to heal. Unfortunately, esophagitis can potentially take a long time to heal, especially if you are having other issues (such as a faulty or weak Lower Esophageal Sphincter). So the pain may last for many weeks or even months. The key is to stay focused, follow a strict nutrition plan, keep the head of your bed elevated at night, eat small meals throughout the day, etc.
I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope you find relief soon.