Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group gastritis pain

I had terrible gastritis, now its largely a thing of the past.

when it first began, that was the worst. I kept a food symptom diary and found that these were the things that made it worse:

not eating
caffeine (even tea)
dairy (milk, yogurt, ice cream, etc)
acidic food (tomato sauce, cranberry sauce, citrus)
underripe fruit.
cooked, dried or canned were the safest, applesauce or canned pears, etc.

and I also wasn't digesting my food at the time and had terrible diarrhea every morning. and no digestion of food, in one end, out the other, pretty much the way it went in. most fruits and veggies were too rough for my GI tract at the time.

what I could eat:

meats
peanut butter
starchy foods like breads, rice, noodles
applesauce, canned pears
well cooked broccoli, yams, coleslaw (something magical about cabbage)

it went on like that for a year

the stomach was a problem for about three years

I needed prilosec. I've continued to need prilosec, though finally maybe not now? The prilosec and diet changes were the two most important things.

short term, double strength cherry creme mylanta (Al(OH)3, Mg(OH)2).
It really put the fire out immediately. I needed it at bed time, when I was awoken by the fire around 5 am, after breakfast before my drive to work. the rest of the day I put the fire out with lots of water and herbal teas and eating every hour.

NO Ca Carbonate! Evil Evil stuff!

ginger is great. dried candied ginger! ginger herbal tea (yogi brand is good or grate your own fresh ginger into hot water, add some honey and vanilla extract and its an excellent tea.

for me, no reflux / GERD, so I could use peppermint. Mint herbal tea. Altoids. Candy canes. Mint really was great at relieving the pain.

fast forward to the last few years:

discovered that I am allergic to the casein protein in cow's milk. Since I stopped all cow's milk dairy, my gastritis has been tons better.

for me, methylpred takes away all gastritis.

and likewise, humira takes away all gastritis.

so long as I also stay away from the dairy.


like you, I was going to try the aloe. and I bought the really good stuff at our all natural foods co-op. But they put a preservative in it that I am allergic to, sodium benzoate I think. and it stunk and tasted icky due to the benzoate, so I didn't do it.

I've heard that juicing cabbage or buying cabbage juice can be really good for gastritis. I never did try it, but I would if I needed to. As I discovered for myself that cabbage and the cruciferous veggies in general are well tolerated when my GI tract is flaring. there is some healing compound that is supposed to be good for an inflamed GI tract. cabbage; who would've thunk it.

Fennel seed is another herb that is supposed to be good. never did try it.

Licorice but get the kind that won't raise the BP. Never tried that but heard it was good.

For me it was the diet, prilosec, mylanta, ginger, and mint that did it initially.

and finally no dairy and humira that has fixed it more permanently.

I can now eat anything on that original do not eat list except dairy. I can even have caffeine / drink all the tea I want, no problem. So long as I avoid dairy and take my humira. and I do still take prilosec.

because prilosec is known to potentially mess with magnesium absorption, I take a magnesium supplement, which has helped my calf and foot cramps. And I'm good about all the vitamins and minerals for my bone health, as prilosec can mess with that as well. but to me, that drug was a blessing, a real life saver.

I had tried the histamine blockers (pepsin, etc) and eating candy would have been just as effective, meaning they were practically useless. Their effect would last maybe a few hours, too short of a time. but prilosec, it worked.