chronic gastritis and severe reflux for over a year....help!

[sue]

I am a 27 year old Canadian woman who has been living and working in Japan for the last 2 1/2 years.  For the last year and a half I've been having a lot of problems with gastritis and reflux and I can't seem to get rid of them.  I first noticed the symptoms last year when I felt a terrible burning in my stomach and had a lot of belching and heartburn after I ate.  I had an upper GI X-ray done and there wasn't anything wrong except for excess acid production.  I was given Zantac to take twice a day (75 mg at a time).  It seemed to help at first, but then a few months later the symptoms got worse.  I had an endoscopy done about 10 months ago and I was diagnosed with having gastris and some acid reflux. I was also tested for H-pylori at that time, and the results were negative. I was given famotidine (20 mg twice a day), but then when that didn't help I was given lansoprazole (30 mg after evening meal).  I took lansoprazole for about 6 months and it seemed to be helping, but in the last couple of months I noticed it wasn't nearly as effective as it had been at first.  The doctor changed my medication to omeprazole (20 mg twice a day), but I found it didn't help anymore than the lansoprazole.  In the last month or so, the symptoms have become very uncomfortable and distressing.  I'm continuing to take lansoprazole along with antacids the doctor recommended(Gaviscon and Maalox), but I still have trouble.  After every meal I have terrible burning pain in my stomach just below my ribs and I feel nauseous but never vomit.  Sometimes I have heartburn all day and my esophagus and throat feel really raw and painful from all the acid.  I am reduced to eating bananas and bread becasue any food with even a little acid or oil causes terrible discomfort. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night from the pain of reflux, and often the pain radiates up into my left shoulder. The doctor here told me that lansoprazole or omeprazole should have cleared things up, but I've been on the medication for more than 6 month and things are worse than ever. The doctor says my problems are caused by stress from my job and life in a foreign country, but I don't feel particularly stressed. I can't understand why none of this medication is helping me.  Can stress be a main cause of gastritis and reflux? Since the discomfort has been getting worse, I've started to worry that maybe I have a more serious condition like gastric cancer. My endoscopy was done about 10 months ago, but do you think I should have another one done? Any advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.  I'm so frustrated with this problem and I can hardly eat anything.  

Thank you!

[wahsee]

I was told this is a tough surgery and can come undone and may not even work.what were u told?the name brand Previcid worked for me for years with Gerd than ins stopped paying for previcide and I went on generic zigarid 2o mg 2 times a day. drs now say I have silent Gerd and still producing terrible amounts of acid my previcid was 30 mg 2 times a day.I wonder if u have once been on name brand whether the generic will work.seems to be my case

[Patty00]

Hello Peggy, where can I find the flora. ***@****

[neelakshi]

Hey sue

I have been hospitalized in bangalore manipal past two weeks wtout any diagnosis.have a hsitory of pancreatitis but ths time tats nt the case.severe gastritis.upper abdomen pain.epigastric region an pain is accompanied by nausea and an urge to throw up.after lots of diagnosis thoh its not final doctors are suuggesting eosinophilic enteritis.it might be a food allergy of some sort.everyone told me its stress but I wasn't particularly stressing either.let me know if it helps.some sorta rare food allergy.on my bad days I can't eat a thng.good days I ve been eating mashed potatoes n boiled rice.good luck.wil try keep you updated

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