Gastritis, Pale skin, Fatigue, Heart Palps

So about a month ago I made the Mistake of taking Aleve a well known NSAID with Alcohol in a very short proximity of time. And surely enough later on that night my stomach felt like it was on fire and i was trying to go to sleep i felt an almost stabbing pain the radiated from my stomach o my back. The pain has been pretty consistant ever sense i have had occasional nausea loss of appitite and black loose stools. My skin has become increasingly pale and i am super fatigued lightheaded and dizzy. Plus i have started to have occasional heart palpitations low blood pressure and high heart rate. Of which an EKG was performed and that was normal

Anyway im uninsured and i broke down and went to the ER. They did an ultrasound of my gullbladder (gallbladder) various blood test and a urainalysis and diagnosed me with Gastritis and prescribed me Prilisac. and some nausea medication and told me to also use OTC Maalox.

My question is are these symptoms normal for gastritis and how long can i expect this to go on?

[Vaibhav Banait, MD]

Dear rsandoval89,

Thanks for the query.

Upper abdominal pain in a person who had taken pain-killers and alcohol can occur because of
1. Gastric/duodenal ulcer
2. Acute pancreatitis.

Your description of pain, black loose stools, tachycardia (rapid heart rate), and pale skin favours the diagnosis of ulcer, which is complicated by bleeding resulting in black stools and pallor, low blood pressure and giddiness.

I am sure, the ER persons has considered this possibility and has therefore recommended you prilisac. As you are providing me history of black stool, dizziness and pale skin, there is possibility of significant bleeding. In such circumstances, upper gastrointenstinal endoscopy needs to be considered.

Upper gastrointenstinal endoscopy will not only rule out actively bleeding ulcer, it will also help rule out other causes, and if biopsy is obtained, helicobacter pylori infection can also be ruled out. I suppose, you are not actively bleeding, as must have judged by ER personnel.

The other diagnosis of pancreatitis can be ruled out by getting serum amylase, and ultrasound abdomen/CT abdomen.

I would like to advise you to avoid any pain-killer, continue prilisac and get in touch with your regular GI(gastrointenstinal) specialist for further work up.

Hope I've answered your query. But if you have any further questions, kindly write back to us. I'll be available for your follow up questions as well.

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Best Regards,
Dr Vaibhav Banait