Has anybody ever had an ulcer before?

Question

Are you able to keep food down? How do you know if you have one?

Answer 1

YES!!!! i have vomited blood, and ...uhhhhhhhh cra*ed blood. They freakin hurt. You can feel an ulcer bleeding in your stomache. they suckkkkk

Answer 2

Yes, it's painful. but hard to tell exactly where the pain is. Drink a glass of OJ-if you are doubled over in pain then there's a good chance you have an ulcer.

My MD recommended that I take Zantac . I said, great! for how long? He smiled and said "all the time"

That is when I decided I had to find someting myself. I removed the stress from my life, ate better, and took aloe vera juice. The Aloe is really soothing if you are hurting. An ice cold shot of Aloe juice will take care of any reflux you might have.

Answer 3

Staying healthy has much to do with cellular nutrition, metabolism support and plenty of excersize. You might be able to tame your ulcers with a proper diet. Also, talk to a qualified Alternative Physician in your area.

You need to be on a diet this is closer to your cell's actual needs. You need to be getting all the nutrients that foods rich in color have to offer.

**Eat vegetables and fruits.

You need to be on a diet that offers your protein requirements without making your intestinal tract sluggish. Meat invites all kinds of unwanted bacteria into your system.

**Eat beans, tofu, sauteed tempeh, almonds. Don't worry about getting enough, because you are probably getting too much as it is. Most americans go way beyond the recommended amounts and cause any number of disease like heart, kidney, liver, etc....

You need to be on a diet that gives you the proper fat intake. Most people eat way too much saturated fat and Omega 6's like soy and corn oil. These are in chips, dips, fries, some canned and packaged foods.

**Eat Flax Oil twice daily (1 tablespoon in AM and 1 in midafternoon). Everyone needs omega 3's, and it might coat your digestive system. Pour Organic Olive Oil (most others are rancid and cancer causing) on your salads with any seasonings and herbs.

Eat dark green leafies. Eat veges rich in color. Eat watermellon - rich in lycopene. Eat garlic on your foods (if you can tolerate it).

These are your everyday doctors who are supporting the use of vegetarian based diets. Please do something paramount to your health: http://www.pcrm.org/ and click on the health link.

Blessings,
Cheryl

Answer 4

Yes,

my sister had ulcers due to an h. pylori infection.

Answer 5

An ulcer is the result of an imbalance between aggressive and defensive factors. On one hand, too much acid and pepsin can damage the stomach lining and cause ulcers. On the other hand (and more commonly), the damage comes first from some other causes, making the stomach lining susceptible to even an ordinary level of gastric acid.


If a person does not receive treatment for ulcers, it could lead to a bleeding ulcer (the ulcer has eaten into blood vessels and the blood has seeped into the digestive tract), a perforated ulcer (the ulcer has eaten a hole in the wall of the stomach or duodenum and bacteria and partially digested food has spilled into the hole, causing inflammation) or a narrowing and obstruction of the intestinal opening preventing food from leaving the stomach and entering the small intestine.


Causes and Risk Factors of Ulcer
The stomach defends itself from hydrochloric acid and pepsin by creating a mucus coating (that shields stomach tissue), by producing bicarbonate and by circulating blood to the stomach lining to aid in cell renewal and repair. If any of these functions are impaired it can lead to the formation of an ulcer.
NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, Nuprin), naproxen (Naprosyn, Anaprox), or piroxicam (Feldene) interfere with the stomach's ability to produce mucus and bicarbonate (a chemical produced in the stomach that neutralizes and breaks down the hydrochloric acid and pepsin into substances less harmful).


NSAIDs also affect blood flow to the stomach, hinder cell repair and cause the stomach's defense mechanisms to fail.


Lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking caffeine, consuming alcohol and stress are also associated with ulcers.


Smoking slows the healing of ulcers and makes them likely to recur.

Caffeine stimulates acid secretion in the stomach, thus aggravating the pain of an existing ulcer.


Studies on alcohol consumption and ulcers have been less conclusive, although alcoholic cirrhosis has been linked to an increased risk of ulcers, and heavy drinking has been shown to delay the healing of ulcers.


Although emotional stress is no longer thought to be a cause of ulcers, people with ulcers often report that emotional stress increases ulcer pain. However, physical stress increases the risk of developing gastric ulcers.




Symptoms of Ulcer
There may be no symptoms of ulcers or the individual may experience:


A gnawing or burning pain in the abdomen between the breastbone and the navel. The pain is usually worse a couple of hours after a meal or in the middle of the night when the stomach is empty.

Nausea

Vomiting

Loss of appetite

Loss of weight

Tiredness (a symptom of a bleeding ulcer)

Weakness (a symptom of a bleeding ulcer)

Blood in vomit or stool. When blood is in the stool, it appears tarry or black (symptom of a bleeding ulcer). Treatment of Ulcer
Along with reducing stress and modifying lifestyle, doctors treat gastric and duodenal ulcers with several types of medicines, including H2-blockers, proton-pump inhibitors and mucosal protective agents. When treating H. pylori, these medications are used in combination with antibiotics. If medication is ineffective or complications arise, surgery may be required.

Medications

H2-blockers reduce the amount of acid that the stomach makes. These medicines include cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac), famotidine (Pepcid) and nizatidine (Axid). A single bedtime dose starts healing a duodenal ulcer in four weeks and a gastric ulcer in six to eight weeks.


Proton-pump inhibitors modify the stomach's production of acid by stopping the stomach's acid pump - the final step of acid secretion. The recently approved and now available drug, omeprazole (Prilosec), is 10 times more powerful in suppressing stomach acid production than the H2-blockers, able to promote duodenal ulcer healing in two to four weeks. This potent acid-inhibitor can suppress about 95 percent of stomach acid production. It is especially useful for treating people whose ulcers fail to respond to H2-receptor blockers or other medications and those with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.


Mucosal protective agents protect the stomach's mucous lining from acid. The prescription medications are sucralfate (Sulcrate or Carafate) and misoprostol (Cytotec). The non-prescription medications are antacids (such as Tums and Rolaids) and bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol).


Antibiotics. With the discovery of the link between ulcers and H. pylori peptic ulcers can be treated by a short course of combined high dose antibiotic therapy rather than acid-suppression alone. Without antibacterial therapy, there is a 75 percent chance of the ulcer reoccurring. With antibacterial therapy, there is a 1 percent chance of the ulcer reoccurring. There are two types of combination therapies currenly being used: triple therapy and dual therapy.


Triple therapy involves:



Metronidazole (Flagyl)*, an antibiotic taken four times a day

Tetracycline (Achromycin or Sumycin)**, an antibiotic taken four times a day

Pepto-Bismol taken four times a day

This regimen lasts two weeks. This treatment is 90 percent effective in destroying the H. pylori bacteria and in reducing the risk of reoccurrence. (*doctor may substitute amoxicillin (Amoxil or Trimox); **doctor may substitute clarithromycin (Biaxin))


Dual therapy involves:



Amoxicillin two to four times a day or Biaxin three times a day

Prilosec two times a day

This regimen lasts two weeks. This treatment is 80 percent effective in destroying the H. pylori bacteria and in reducing the risk of reoccurrence.