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Is carafate making my gastritis worse?

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Posted 11/7/2014 2:28 AM (GMT 0)
My biggest problem with Carafate is the timing issue. I always forget when I last ate anything so I miss doses and just can't get it scheduled right. So... I quit taking it.
Posted 1/10/2015 10:37 PM (GMT 0)
I developed bad reflux and esophagus problems after 2 1/2 months of being on doxycycline. I Have been suffering with these issues for a month now. The first couple weeks I only ate steamed chicken and broccoli with white rice. I have slowly been adding in other foods. I'm now taking a lot of natural remedies as well. The doc prescribed Carafate a couple weeks ago but I only started taking it a couple days ago because I am very sensitive and was afraid I might have a reaction. I started with a half dose and am working the dosing up but I am not sure if my stomach is being irritated more by it or if it's just a coincidence. I did notice some lightheadedness about an hour after my dose today and was wondering if anyone else has had the same experience?
Posted 1/12/2015 3:22 PM (GMT 0)
I didn't have side effects from Carafate, it just didn't help me. I had the pills and liquid, but I didn't get the relief that it gives most people.
Posted 1/12/2015 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
I think you were over-reacting. Carafate is not a cure all but it is a lifesaver from keeping things from getting worse.
Posted 1/12/2015 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
Its interesting to see my (slightly frantic) ramblings from almost a year ago! I have tried Carafate again at various times, and now I'm pretty sure of it, it always makes my stomach pain worse every time. I don't know if it irritates my stomach, or if it interferes with my PPI but after about a week on it the nausea and stomach pain is noticeably worse, then immediately gets better when I stop. I stopped taking it about 8 months ago and have been better for it.

Also Ruey I have found that white rice makes my stomach problems worse as well. There is something about it, I've read theories that it sticks to stomach lining and weakens it, not sure if it's true but it's definitely a problem for me. Curiously though I can tolerate brown rice so I eat that instead, but stick mainly to potatoes when my stomach's sensitive.

I also find it helpful to have sauces with food, rather than just rice or bread. Even if it increases my fat intake my stomach feels a lot better with it, I think it just gives it a bit of lubrication. Non fatty sauces dont tend to work as well as I guess the water gets sucked out of the stomach first in the digestive process, whereas fat doesn't. I make most of my sauces with a bit of coconut milk as I seem to tolerate that better than any other fatty foods. A bit of that with some mashed potatoes is one of my 'safe' foods and even tastes really nice.

A couple of other pointers I'll give, first is to take it easy on the protein, I used to have quite a bit to try and get my calorie intake up, but I think the extra pepsin in the stomach just makes it irritate the lining all the more, so now I keep protein low (about 50g of chicken per meal max) and increased fat a bit instead, that seems to work much better for me.

Finally - cabbage juice, the stuff is the closest to a 'miracle cure' that I've had, after a couple of days of drinking a little bit every few hours my stomach pain and even nausea were completely gone. It does irritate my stomach a bit when I actually drink it, but afterwards the results are unbelievable.

Post Edited (Andy1986) : 1/12/2015 2:58:26 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/13/2015 3:55 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I did stop taking the Carafate because after only a couple days I didn't notice any benefit and instead thought it could have possibly been irritating my stomach more. I did a little research and found that around 2% of people that take it experience side effects like nauseau, upset stomach or dizziness, so maybe I fall into that group.

It's been a little over a month that I have been experiencing these horrible stomach/reflux issues. I went from really never having any reflux or stomach problems to severe daily distress as a result of the antibiotics I was on for Lyme Disease treatment, which I am hoping was successfully treated.

I have done a tremendous amount of research on reflux & gastritis in a short time. I decided right off the bat after only 2 days on Nexium that I needed to stop using it. From what I read I learned that shutting down your proton pump is actually very bad for your digestive process and could do more harm in the long run than good. So I decided to go with the natural healing remedies. So far I am pretty such I am seeing some improvement but from what I understand it can take 2-4 months to heal the stomach and esophagus totally.

I am seeing a homeopath who has put me on some natural drops. In addition I am now using or have used the following:

Mastic Gum - up to 2000 mg daily on an empty stomach. I always divide the dose depending on how I feel. So far it always seems to offer some relief. I try to take a dose before bedtime so it has time overnight to work when my stomach is empty. This is supposed to help destroy the Pylori bacteria if you have it which will then allow your stomach to begin to heal.

Disgestive Enzymes - I am using the brand "Digest Gold" which says on the label its Americas #1 selling digestive enzyme with the highest efficacy in lab studies. (I try to take this a couple times daily before meals)

Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice - DGL Ultra by Enzymatic Therapy. I purchased this at the Vitamin Shoppe and it has been Extremely helpful. I bought the chocolate flavor, you are supposed to chew one 20 minutes before meals up to 3 daily. It helps to sooth the stomach lining and accelerate protective factors in the digestive tract. (For me it really helps)

Probiotic - Right now I am taking "Raw Probiotics - Ultimate Care 100 Billion". I take once a day usually with breakfast to help replace all the good bacteria that was destroyed as a result of the antibiotics.

Evening Primrose Oil - 1300mg once daily. This my homeopath told me to take it helps by reducing inflammation in the body.

NAC - N Acetyl L Cysteine - 600mg once a day. If you google it, there seems to have been much research on it aiding in destroying the H Pylori bacteria associated with reflux. The optimum dose seems to be 1200mg daily, will probably up my dose and see how it goes.

D-Limonene - 1g daily - I took this for about 2 weeks but then one day my stomach took a turn for the worse and I wasn't sure if this could have contributed to it or not. For the time being I have put this on hold, but tons of people swear by it.

Bubbies pickles - I know this sounds funny but I read that naturally fermented foods are very good for healing your stomach. I am allergic to cabbage so I couldn't have sour kraut, but Bubbies brand makes pickles that are naturally fermented. A few times when the reflux was particularly bad I ate a pickle and took a swig of the pickle juice and to my surprise it really helped settle the reflux down within a short time.

Magnesium - I just started adding this to my regime. I read Magnesium is essential to all bodily functions and in addition since all the rice I was eating was having a bit of a binding effect Magnesium can naturally aide in keeping your bowels moving.

Ginger - I found 100% natural ginger candy at Wholefoods. I only suck on a small piece occasionally and it has offered some relief to the reflux, but from what I understand too much can be irritating, so only use it in small amounts.

As for eating, at the suggestion of my homeopath I have begun to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet. He advised me not to eat any red meats, processed foods or fried foods.

I usually start the day with a vege omelette (spinich, kale, brocolli) Yesterday a friend made me a smoothie with only fresh fruit and a little spinich thrown in. At first I wasn't sure if it would be irritating but I gave it a try and it was surprisingly very easy to digest. I have started adding oatmeal to my diet, but not the instant kind, only the type you actually have to cook on the stove. For lunch, usually a mixed green salad with a little EVOO, salt and apple cider vinegar. ACV is supposed to help neutralize the acids in the stomach. Also, baked potatoes seem okay, but I don't eat the skins of them even though they are rich in vitamins I find the skins are a little harder to digest. On my potatoes, I only use real butter from grassfed cattle, minimally processed. I like the brand Kerry Gold. Dinner, steamed or grilled chicken breast(small portion) with more green veges, brocolli, spinich...etc.

I probably forgot to list a few smaller items. I think I still have a way to go but am feeling about 50% better so far. Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Posted 1/13/2015 4:22 PM (GMT 0)
Ruey

You are throwing a lot at your stomach there and I would be surprised if something there isn't prolonging your misery, that's what I found when I did a similar thing in a desperate attempt to make myself better. Trying to sort it out without PPIs is probably wise if you can put up with it, because you sort of grow to be dependent on them after a while and getting off them is tough.

Mastic Gum is particularly tough on the stomach, it is supposed to kill h.pylori, but if you've just come off antibiotics it isn't likely you need it. The first time I took it I woke up in the night with searing pain in my stomach, suffice to say that it is very irritating so I'd avoid it.

Same with ginger, can help nausea and inflammation but easily irritates the stomach.

DGL is a good one, though I try to avoid ones with added sugar as they seem to make me feel worse.

I'd be careful of Digestive enzymes too, enzymes are not supposed to be in the stomach, so can easily start digesting your stomach lining. I read protease is the main one to avoid, others like lipase should be ok.

I'd also go easy on the veg, especially raw, as it is the most difficult thing for the stomach to break down and will lead to slower gastric emptying. I use my slow cooker a lot for veg and it is so soft and easy on the stomach after that. For fresh nutrients I use my juicer to get rid of all the tough fibre.
Posted 1/14/2015 2:32 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Andy-

I haven't had a problem with the Mastic Gum. Actually for me I think it is one of the things that is helping most. I only take it on an empty stomach and have to make sure I drink plenty of water with it.

Overuse of antibiotics kill the good bacteria which can give the H Pylori an opportunity to take over. I know I was on the Doxycycline way too long. (2 1/2 months) I should have listened to what my body was telling me instead of the doctor who insisted I stay on it.

I agree about the ginger, but like I said I only use it in very small amounts. The candies I purchased at Whole Foods are jellylike. They are pretty small and even so I break them in half and slowly dissolve one half in my mouth. I don't have more than one a day and only if really needed.

Thanks for the info on the digestive enzymes. I think mine has a combo, maybe I will back down off of that and see how I do.

I went out and purchased a magic bullet juicer yesterday, so I can start adding smoothies to my diet. They seem to be easy on the stomach so far.

Yesterday was a pretty good day for me...hopefully it will continue to get better.
Posted 1/28/2015 11:40 PM (GMT 0)
Hi All.

It's been about 6 weeks and it has been up and down hill with my Gerd symptoms. Last week I was doing very well and for unknown reasons my symptoms have gotten a bit worse again.

I was wondering if anyone has had success using Melatonin? I saw there have been some published studies showing great success. See article below:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/717460_5

The studies say you need to stay on it for 8 weeks to resolve the Gerd. I think I may give it a try. I really don't want to start on the ppis and this looks like it could be promising. Any thoughts?

Ruey
Posted 4/28/2015 10:16 PM (GMT 0)
My doc put me on Carafate. After 2 days I had an extreme reaction of severe stomach pain and had to stop taking it. Then I was reading what foods to eat that help your stomach. Bananas were suggested as they contain chemicals found in Carafate. Oddly, I had started eating bananas regularly before all my stomach problems started. Finally I was able to put 2 and 2 together. I have an intolerance to bananas. That intolerance causes bloating, gas, stomach upset, irritation of the stomach lining, etc. Come to find out many people have this intolerance - even my gastro doctor! I had been eating bananas not only a few weeks before all my problems began, but almost every other day once all my problems started! Carafate was like eating a big dose of bananas! No Carafate or bananas for me.
Posted 4/29/2015 10:08 AM (GMT 0)
Interesting what you say about bananas, what chemical is that you hurts you?

I actually started having a few bananas a day last week, and all hell broke loose, my stomach is now worse than it has been in a long time. I don't think I have any intolerance though, everything these days can set me off.

Over a year now since it first flared up and I'm still having problems :(((((( My pain at the moment feels less in my stomach, and more in my side, almost likes its my spleen. But I think it is just referred pain from my stomach, because it is very effected by my eating, and also if I press lightly on my stomach it hurts.

I recently discovered Mannitol was giving me issues, a relative or Sorbitol, it was in one of my medicines and is also in sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and mushrooms. I've cut them all out, but recently even potatoes have been giving me stomach pains. I dont understand why, but its made things incredibly difficult because I am running out of things that I can eat. White rice makes me feel sick to my stomach for some reason, brown rice is better but is rough and I can barely move without pain after eating it. Oats are the same, too rough, and pasta I cant chew into a smooth enough consistency so again there's some roughness issue.

I am basically living off bread at the moment but even that doesn't make my stomach feel ok, and seems to make this "spleen" pain much worse.
Posted 4/29/2015 10:49 AM (GMT 0)
Hi-

I was having problems digesting all types of breads, grains...etc and pretty much cut them out of my diet which made a world of difference. Just a suggestion, but maybe try eliminating all grains for 2 weeks and see how you feel and if it makes a difference.
Posted 4/29/2015 11:00 AM (GMT 0)
Just wanted to post an update. It has been about 4 1/2 months now since my GERD hit. Between my modified diet and supplements, today I feel I am about 90% better. I think the problem for me was/is that my LES was damaged from the antibiotics I was on.

I have tried a number of things some really helped and some didn't. Currently I start the day with a fruit smoothie, have a salad for lunch along with some protein and veges and then eat a normal dinner. I do avoid all greasy or fried foods as they still seem to flare the Gerd and all milk products. Once in a while I will have cheese which doesn't seem to be an issue.

I take the following supplements daily(with dinner):

Probiotic
digestive enzymes
Evening primrose oil (for inflammation)
Fish Oil 1200mg
1000mg Bioflavinoid
Vitamin D 5000iu
Tumeric
Magnesium oxide 800mg (to prevent constipation)
Posted 4/29/2015 12:33 PM (GMT 0)

Ruey said...
Hi-

I was having problems digesting all types of breads, grains...etc and pretty much cut them out of my diet which made a world of difference. Just a suggestion, but maybe try eliminating all grains for 2 weeks and see how you feel and if it makes a difference.

Yeh I tried that for a few days last week, I was in a world of pain. The problem is the only alternative is fruits, veg, meat or fat. All of them cause me issues, fruits and veg are hard to digest and most irritate my stomach. Meat and fat just feel like they burn a hole in my stomach after a while. So I quickly reverted to the grains and felt much better. Long term going off grains may indeed help me, but my stomach just cant tolerate the alternatives at the moment.
Posted 8/31/2015 6:20 PM (GMT 0)
THANK YOU so much, I am a person who had Barretts Syndrome and after the nissen surgery many years ago was doing fine. Unfortunately went for a colonoscopy and the doctor insisted on doing an endoscopy although I had had one a year before and was fine. After the endoscopy the pain started and neither that doctor or my regular doctor could figure why now I had a gastritis. The problem is terrible but your comments have helped a lot. After been given Nexiun in April, I had terrible burning in my esofagus, even water burned so I went back and my regular doctor who gave me carafate two weeks ago. My problem has been that I have to eat "baby food like"meals. I cook chicken tenders and put them in the food processor adding broth, pasta and avocado for taste and so its not thick. That works. I also made the custard and its been good as well as vanila ice cream. At least now it does not come back so often the way it did before. I do not tolerate most other things and sometimes if I eat other things I go back a little. In reading the posts I realize vacation or not I have to take care and it takes time but I would love suggestions. I made watermelon juice and maybe it did not go so well. It gets me down and that never happens to me. I read it takes a couple months. Do I have to stay on baby food that long? Any suggestions will help. Thanks again.
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