Stomach ulcer

Fairly certain I've an ulcer- stomach pain, gas, bloating and the worst symptom for me is angry hungry feeling, there are other symptoms I'd rather not discuss.


I haven't been to the dr specifically for this, although a dr did an exam and when I said yes my stomach hurts and it always hurts, she just looked at me.
Not a huge fan of going to the dr.

I am aware an ulcer can be caused by Helicobacter pylori or from taking pain relievers.  At one point in time I took 800 mg of ibuprofen 2 to 3 times a day for a couple of years.
I can't remember exactly when the gut pain started but it's been for a very long time.

Either way I would like to heal it naturally if possible and avoid taking more drugs.

There are at least 5 kinds of mint in our garden and I drink teas from them daily.

Cabbage is excellent for ulcer and the info I read said to drink cabbage juiced. I'm not up for juicing but am willing to eat lots of cabbage.

Are there other herbs or foods I could add to my diet or some that need to be avoided ?
Please don't say give up coffee!!!
I am currently gluten free, dairy free (except small amounts of aged cheese occasionally) and soy free.

Watch this and maybe do some more searching there.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-best-diet-for-upset-stomach/

I've had stomach ulcers and managed and healed them naturally.

Acidic foods. You have to give them up. Tomato products were a huge issue for me. Pizza, oh pizza. Unfortunately coffee as well.

I had a lot of dairy products then, mostly milk and ice cream. Helped with the burn.

I had chalk pills. When the pain was more serious I would take one.

The real healer was figuring out what was triggering it and fixing that. For me it was anxiety. Once I fixed that my ulcer went away. Before that I just managed it for years and years.

Bananas and oatmeal should be quite good for you to eat as well as leafy greens. Just avoid spicy/acidic foods.

I was that fool who assumed that my ulcer was a kidney stone, and then suffered through it for months. I never had heartburn and I have had IBS type symptoms my whole life, ulcer was the LAST thing I expected (and only found out when I really assumed I was about to die and went to the doctor).
(turns out I don't have H pylori either)
IBS + ulcer means that gas makes everything worse. You might try taking fennel or simethicone to see if that helps in that department. (you're saying gut pain, so I'm thinking about what helps me). Also, definitely diet changes. For me, that means lots of oatmeal and mint tea. I also take the chalk pills when I feel like it. And I've found that dairy makes everything worse.

but my one piece of advice, if I had to give one, is to go get checked out. You don't have to take any meds you don't want to (i don't normally avoid meds, but I prefer not to take acid reducers. I'd rather change my diet.), but if it turns out to be something else, you'll know what to do. H pylori, for example, can be addressed directly. I felt so stupid to find out that the kidney-stone-level pain was an ulcer, and what I was doing "for kidney stones" was actually making the ulcer worse. My doctor, to her credit, didnt wave the picture of the bleeding ulcer in my face and say "see what happens when you self-medicate". She's a keeper.

(PS, it was anxiety for me. Kid taking college exams, me running two businesses, and an absolutely schismic election season left me a mess. Things are better now.)

I would caution you to go see your doctor about this specific problem. Do everything you can nutritionally to minimise the symptoms if it is only an ulcer, but be aware that one of the mechanisms for stomach cancer is ulcers caused by heliobacter pylori. Stomach cancer also presents with stomach pain and unpleasant symptoms.

Seeking a professional opinion doesn't obviate you seeking natural treatment. Not seeking a professional opinion obviates other, emergency avenues.

-CK

Roy Hinkley wrote:Watch this and maybe do some more searching there.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-best-diet-for-upset-stomach/

I really like nutrition facts. I'll save anyone who's interested the however many minutes: the takeaway is that not only the normal recommendation for smaller meals, but smaller meals with lower fat content are promising (and have yielded results) for reducing symptoms of upset stomach. I know for me that is definitely the case.

Lots for me to process and since this isn't the only thing going on in my life or affecting decisions.

I'm not opposed to going to the dr, a friend recommended one she likes so will give it a try. I do want a proper diagnosis, I'm just hesitant to take a medication if what I'm consuming can address it.

I don't have the articles at my fingertips but repeatedly read that acid reducers contribute to stomach cancer. The acid is to digest food so if it's blocked, what happens to the food?

Proton pump inhibitors is the treatment if the ulcer isnt caused by h pylori.  If it's h pylori and you take the antibiotics, doesn't that open me up  to other issues as do most antibiotics.

Regardless I prefer to use foods and herbs to control my symptoms.
I am capable of eliminating coffee from my diet as I've done it before.

*** I should have watched the video first!  Small meals, always, low fat Haha oops. Ok will work on that asap and cut back on the coffee. Bananas and oatmeal, absolutely eat those now.
Thank you!!!

Bocca, I hope you find some relief. Think about what you`re eating, there are some great resources out there. I know for me, eating anything fried or fatty will have an immediate (and very painful) impact. it`s done wonders for making me feel better though (as, sadly, has cutting out my hot pepper consumption). https://www.healthline.com/health/gastritis-diet#foods-to-avoid

As for the acid reducers (proton pump inhibitors)- they reduce acid production, not eliminate it. You might have a bit of intestinal noise if your stomach acid is not predigesting your food to the same extent, but it`s not like your food is getting past without any digestion at all (after all, even if you had zero stomach acid, digestion starts in your mouth with salivary enzymes). I did take them when prescribed, but I limit taking them to a month because there are already warnings about long-term use (I am particularly concerned about a study I saw linking dementia to long term use, but even more practically, long term use may cause MORE acid production later, which just doesn`t seem like a great situation for me. You may find this interesting. https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/proton-pump-inhibitors-considerations-with-longterm-use )
As for antibiotics- it really depends. If I had a H pylori ulcer, I would take my chances with antibiotics (rather than take my chances with cancer). But everyone has their own priorities.
Hopefully some dietary tweaks will have you feeling better soon.

I've had a couple of stomach ulcers, the most recent time this is what I did to make it go away:

NO

1. No coffee, no tea.
2. No sugar
3. No spicy
4. No alcohol

YES

1. Lots of water
2. Bitters
3. Broccoli, cabbage, fermented foods
4. Chicken and rice
5. Yogurt
6. Proton pump inhibitor (Prilosec)  (don't use more than a few weeks at a time, may cause your stomach to start making MORE acid oddly enough)
7. Good probiotic (Try a health food store for better ones than in grocery store)


I cheated a little bit here and there, but mostlly stuck to this for a few months.

Herbs that have mucilage in them would be worth looking into.  Slippery Elm and Marshmallow are probably the best two I know of to look into.  Mullein also has mucilage and is worth researching from what I recall.  Mountain Rose Herbs has supreme quality herbs that are fresh and effective.

Dr. Morse is a man worth learning from if you fully want to understand how to feel better by detoxing the body and allowing tissue regeneration to happen.  You can find videos of him on youtube.  I would suggest searching his channel for, ulcer, and see what you find.  He has a lot of videos, but it is all essentially the same message, give the body the opportunity and it will regenerate and heal.

Fasting is an excellent way to regain your health.  As the body cleans house during a fast it will also start repairing tissue.  The Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize for his research showing what happens to cells during a fast.  You may want to ease into fasting though with an ulcer.  

I think the smarter way to approach it would be to listen to Dr. Morse, eat fruit and herbs as suggested, then as you're feeling better you can begin fasting to really accelerate the healing.  Avoid acidic fruits for now as well, lemons, limes, oranges, pineapple, etc.  Stick to sub-acid fruit for a while such as mango, papaya, pear, peach, apricot, plum etc.  The acid fruit will aggravate the ulcer, the sub-acid fruit will soothe it.  Mango and papaya would be top choices for soothing the stomach and healing the ulcer.

You can also mono eat fruit meals, eating only one type of fruit for that meal/day/week, which would go a long way to sooth the GI tract, there is a man on youtube, The Mangotarian, who has videos of his experience eating only mangos for 6 months I think it was.  I recall the day 80-something video was pretty good, with info about the process the body takes to heal.

If it's caused by the usual bacteria, the standard treatment is one or two standard antibiotics in combination with a proton pump inhibitor.  You can Google the specifics, and if you don't want to go to a doctor, the antibiotics can be sourced online for "veterinary" use via Amazon or Ebay, while the proton pump inhibitor is available over the counter.

This may sound crazy, but there has been a ton of research in the past 20 years into the benefits of fecal transplants (a trans-poosion, if you will) for the treatment of ulcers.  The digestive track is a microbial biome with billions of microbes.  In healthy people, those microbes are beneficial.  But research has shown that unhealthy people often have a digestive tract filled with the wrong kind of bacteria and those toxic microbes are at the root of a number of digestive disorders, ulcerative colitis being one.  The answer?  A big enema, and then a transplant of healthy fecal matter from a healthy person.  It's been shown again and again to almost instantly and positively impact the person's health.

https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2017/04/fecal-microbiota-transplant-is-safe-and-effective-for-patients-with-ulcerative-colitis

 
 

https://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/ulcerative-colitis/news/20190122/fecal-transplants-may-help-ease-painful-colitis#1


https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2720727


I could link a dozen other studies but they're all finding the same thing: do a shit swap and ulcers go away.  Don't take my word for it—get on the internet and do some research on fecal transplants.  Here is a fantastic podcast from the folks at Freakenomics on the subject: The Power of Poop.

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/freakonomics-radio-the-power-of-poop/

i needed to find somewhere to put this... should have said something earlier because the free preview is time sensitive...
check out gutbrainseries dot com
this series is blowing my mind
try to watch part 4 asap later today it will switch to part 5
i took notes from part 2,3 and 4

It is rather amazing what all has been learned about the gut brain connection, or really just how much our gut health affects our overall health!

My BiL had an ulcer that perforated his stomach. He was in ICU for a week having his intestinal cavity flushed. Had he not gone to the ER that night he would have died a terrible death.

Get it checked!