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GERD & Acid Reflux
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Posted 11/19/2012 12:55 AM (GMT 0)
If anyone could weigh in I'd appreciate it. I don't know what's happening no doctor has been able to help! I was drinking heavily for a year and a half. I gradually noticed a pain in my stomach, like an ulcer each time I drank. This got worse until, after my drinking increased, I felt a strange sensation of acid coming up my throat. Finally, in an act of stupidity, I ran about five miles on an empty stomach, skipped lunch and went to a wine festival where I drank for a couple hours. This led to an incredible amount of pain which felt like I'd been stabbed in the stomach with some acid reflux too. The symptoms started just after that, and have been consistent: I have no appetite, I get nauseous two hours after I eat and I burp a lot. I have lost 35 pounds since it started and can't lose much more. I did 80 mgs of nexium for two months with no benefit. Some doctors have said GERD, some have said no. My endoscopy was clear except for a little microscopic esophagitis. The symptoms started instantaneously, during the painful drinking episode. I don't know if you can really develop GERD that quickly or if alcohol can cause it. It seems impossible. Is it possible for your stomach to take four months to recover from that type of abuse? I haven't drunk anything since.
Posted 11/19/2012 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hi chcgomatt,

Welcome to Healing Well! Sorry to hear you're having so much trouble.  I'm glad you've followed up with a doctor.  If I had to guess what's going on, it would be that you've got gastritis, and because of that, some excess reflux migrating into your esophaus.

You can't technically get GERD from drinking, but everyone gets some reflux, and if you're abusing your stomach long enough, it's going to rebel.  If you've got an irritated, over-acidic stomach, you can get some irritation in your esophagus as well.

The answer is yes.  It can take four months to heal from something like that.  I used to get gastritis and esophagitis several times a year, and each time I'd lose over 20 pounds, and it would take at least 3 months to recover, and that is with being extremely careful with what I was eating.  The only thing I could eat comfortably for most of that time was egg custard.

Be careful to avoid acidic, spicy, and rough foods that can cause additional irritation and make your recovery even longer.  Smooth, bland foods will be the best way to baby your stomach. Patience.  It takes a LONG time.

Here's a link about gastritis you might find helpful:

http://symptomchecker.about.com/od/Diagnoses/gastritis.htm

Good luck!  Hope you get feeling better soon.

Denise

Posted 11/19/2012 1:53 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you very much, dencha. You moderate a good forum. Everyone here seems to be nicer than the people were in the alcoholics forum ... I was quite sure that I had gastritis, especially because of the pain I felt early on. But wouldn't that have shown up in my endoscopy? And would I necessarily still be feeling pain? I suspect I had it and it went away since I had taken a lot of nexium when I had my endoscopy and it's just taking a while to recover my appetite and eating habits. When you recovered from gastritis did your stomach and appetite lag behind like this? Do you think long-term GERD could have that type of onset? To me it seems absurd to imagine that I could have developed permanent GERD like this. How could my stomach have been able to run five miles on two pastries and a cup of coffee at 9 am then been unwilling to eat anything by 10 pm if it wasn't from alcohol? Anyway, thanks for your help. This would be easier if I knew something and didn't have to keep imagining the worst.
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