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I Suspect I May Have A Stomach Ulcer . I
Question: I suspect I may have a stomach ulcer. I have never had issues in the past with this. I have been under a lot of stress the last year. My symptoms include burning pain under my ribline and above my belly button, some intermittant nausea, feeling full/bloated, general discomfort. I have had the symptoms for about a week. I eliminated caffeine, chocolate, fatty/fried foods, and carbonated drinks from my diet the last 5 days and have been taking Zantac 1-2 times per day based on need. I am drinking a ton of water.
Is this something I need to go to urgent care for right away or can I make an appointment with a gastroenterologist on Monday? I feel like I can wait, but I want another opinion.
Is this something I need to go to urgent care for right away or can I make an appointment with a gastroenterologist on Monday? I feel like I can wait, but I want another opinion.
Brief Answer:
small meals, additional medications
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
It is understandable to be concerned re any new symptoms.
Luckily, it is not likely to be an ulcer since the symptoms have been only persisting for a week.
An ulcer takes a long time to develop.
The symptoms are consistent with gastritis (irritation of the stomach) and/or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux).
You have eliminated the right foods, you can consider eliminating tomato, mint, citrus fruits. Also look at the fruits and vegetables that cause bloating eg broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, beans
Other life style measures for GERD or gastritis include: (1) using small meals frequently instead of large meals to reduce acid production
(2)wait 2 hours after eating before laying down
The PPI (proton pump inhibitor) family of reflux medications work best to decrease acid production in the stomach. They cannot get rid of the acid already there but they stop/reduce future acid production.
Eg prilosec, prevacid, nexium etc
You may want to consider one of these, either on their own or along with the zantac
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
small meals, additional medications
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
It is understandable to be concerned re any new symptoms.
Luckily, it is not likely to be an ulcer since the symptoms have been only persisting for a week.
An ulcer takes a long time to develop.
The symptoms are consistent with gastritis (irritation of the stomach) and/or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux).
You have eliminated the right foods, you can consider eliminating tomato, mint, citrus fruits. Also look at the fruits and vegetables that cause bloating eg broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, beans
Other life style measures for GERD or gastritis include: (1) using small meals frequently instead of large meals to reduce acid production
(2)wait 2 hours after eating before laying down
The PPI (proton pump inhibitor) family of reflux medications work best to decrease acid production in the stomach. They cannot get rid of the acid already there but they stop/reduce future acid production.
Eg prilosec, prevacid, nexium etc
You may want to consider one of these, either on their own or along with the zantac
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: For further follow up on digestive issues share your reports here and Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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