What To Eat If You Have A Stomach Ulcer
Since H. pylori bacteria is now known to be an important cause of ulcer formation, scientists are exploring what foods may have a role in fighting against an infection.
In addition to taking the antibiotics and acid-blocking medications recommended by your doctor for your ulcer treatment, eating these foods may also be helpful against the ulcer-causing bacteria:
for ulcer treatment. These foods, such as miso, sauerkraut, and kimchi, may prevent reinfection.
Turmeric is currently being studied as a potential treatment for ulcers as well.
Garlic, decaffeinated green tea, and licorice round out the list of things you might want to incorporate in your diet.
Also Check: Ulcers In Small Bowel Crohns
Youre More Bloated Than Usual
If you notice your stomach feeling particularly bloated, it may be more serious than a little bit of gasit could be one of the signs of an ulcer. According to RM Healthy, bloating is often one of the earliest ulcer symptoms, with patients especially complaining of pain in their midsection. Of course, bloating can also be caused simply by eating something your body doesnt agree with or not drinking enough water, but when combined with these other symptoms, its worth checking out.
What Are The Symptoms Of Peptic Ulcers
Each persons symptoms may vary. In some cases ulcers dont cause any symptoms.
The most common ulcer symptom is a dull or burning pain in your belly between your breastbone and your belly button . This pain often occurs around meal times and may wake you up at night. It can last from a few minutes to a few hours.
Less common ulcer symptoms may include:
- Feeling full after eating a small amount of food
- Bloody or black stool
Peptic ulcer symptoms may look like other health problems. Always see your healthcare provider to be sure.
Don’t Miss: Carnivore Diet For Ulcerative Colitis
How Do You Get Rid Of An Ulcer
The range of treatment options includes:
Also Check: Fish Oil Good For Ulcerative Colitis
What Tests Will Be Done To Diagnose A Peptic Ulcer
Endoscopy. An upper endoscopy exam is expedient because allows healthcare providers to see inside your digestive tract and also take a tissue sample to analyze in the lab. The test is done by passing a thin tube with a tiny camera attached down your throat and into your stomach and duodenum. Youll have medication to numb your throat and help you relax during the test. Your healthcare provider may use the endoscope to take a tissue sample to test for signs of mucous damage, anemia, H. pylori infection or malignancy. If they take a sample, you wont feel it.
Imaging tests. Imaging tests to look inside the stomach and small intestine include:
- Upper GI series. An upper GI X-ray exam examines the stomach and duodenum through X-rays. Its less invasive than an endoscopy. For the X-ray, youll swallow a chalky fluid called barium, which will coat your esophagus, stomach and duodenum. The barium helps your digestive organs show up better in black and white images.
- CT scan. Your healthcare provider might recommend a CT scan if they need to see your organs in more detail. A CT scan can show complications such as a perforation in the stomach or intestinal wall. For the test, youll lie on a table inside a scanner machine while X-rays are taken. You may drink or have an injection with contrast fluid to make your organs show up better in images.
Tests for H. pylori. Your healthcare provider might want to test you separately for H. pylori infection. Tests may include:
Read Also: What Is Bad For Stomach Ulcers
What Causes Mouth Ulcers
The exact cause of mouth ulcers is unknown. But there are several factors that can contribute to the development of these sores:
- Minor tissue injury from dental work, such as having a cavity filled.
- Accidentally biting your cheek or tongue.
- Allergic reaction to certain bacteria.
- Viral, bacterial or fungal infections.
Read Also: Is Oatmeal Ok To Eat With Ulcerative Colitis
What Are The Symptoms Of A Duodenal Ulcer
If you have a duodenal ulcer, you might:
- have pain in your stomach or abdomen
- have indigestion
- feel very full and bloated after eating
- feel like you might vomit
Your stomach pain may come and go. It can often be relieved by eating or taking an antacid.
Very occasionally, an ulcer can cause serious complications. Go to the emergency department if:
- you have a sharp pain in your stomach that doesn’t go away
- your vomit or stools look bloody or a black colour
If you have these symptoms, call triple zero and ask for an ambulance.
If you are concerned about symptoms, you can use healthdirect’s online Symptom Checker. This can give you advice on the next appropriate healthcare steps and when to seek medical attention.
Don’t Miss: Medical Card For Ulcerative Colitis
How To Cope With Side Effects Of Pantoprazole
What to do about:
- headaches make sure you rest and drink plenty of fluids. Its best not to drink too much alcohol. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a painkiller. Headaches usually go away after the first week of taking pantoprazole. Talk to your doctor if they last longer than a week or are severe.
- diarrhoea drink plenty of water or squash by having small, frequent sips to avoid dehydration. Signs of dehydration include peeing less than usual or having dark, strong-smelling pee. Do not take any other medicines to treat diarrhoea without speaking to a pharmacist or doctor. If diarrhoea does not get better, talk to your doctor.
You May Like: Can I Die From Ulcerative Colitis
Foods To Help Prevent Symptoms
Gastritis involves inflammation of the stomach lining. For this reason, an anti-inflammatory diet may help some people.
There is no single best anti-inflammatory diet. To combat inflammation, eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods, which are rich in antioxidants. It is also important to avoid processed foods and any containing unhealthful fats and added salt or sugar.
Learn more about an anti-inflammatory diet here.
Dont Miss: Is Burping A Sign Of An Ulcer
Also Check: What Foods Irritate An Ulcer
How Are Peptic Ulcers Treated
Treatment will depend on the type of ulcer you have. Your healthcare provider will create a care plan for you based on what is causing your ulcer.
Treatment can include making lifestyle changes, taking medicines, or in some cases having surgery.
Lifestyle changes may include:
- Not eating certain foods. Avoid any foods that make your symptoms worse.
- Quitting smoking. Smoking can keep your ulcer from healing. It is also linked to ulcers coming back after treatment.
- Limiting alcohol and caffeine. They can make your symptoms worse.
- Not using NSAIDs . These include aspirin and ibuprofen.
Medicines to treat ulcers may include:
- Antibiotics. These bacteria-fighting medicines are used to kill the H. pylori bacteria. Often a mix of antibiotics and other medicines is used to cure the ulcer and get rid of the infection.
- H2-blockers . These reduce the amount of acid your stomach makes by blocking the hormone histamine. Histamine helps to make acid.
- Proton pump inhibitors or PPIs. These lower stomach acid levels and protect the lining of your stomach and duodenum.
- Mucosal protective agents. These medicines protect the stomachs mucus lining from acid damage so that it can heal.
- Antacids. These quickly weaken or neutralize stomach acid to ease your symptoms.
In most cases, medicines can heal ulcers quickly. Once the H. pylori bacteria is removed, most ulcers do not come back.
Recommended Reading: Can You Drink Alcohol If You Have Ulcerative Colitis
How Are Stomach Ulcers Treated
Ulcers can heal if they are given a rest from the factors that created them. Healthcare providers treat uncomplicated ulcers with a combination of medicines to reduce stomach acid, coat and protect the ulcer during healing and kill any bacterial infection that may be involved. Medicines may include:
- Antibiotics. If H. pylori was found in your digestive tract, your healthcare provider will prescribe some combination of antibiotics to kill the bacteria, based on your medical history and condition. Commonly prescribed antibiotics include tetracycline, metronidazole, clarithromycin and amoxicillin.
- Proton pump inhibitors . These drugs help reduce stomach acid and protect your stomach lining. PPIs include esomeprazole,dexlansoprazole,lansoprazole, omeprazole,pantoprazole and rabeprazole.
- Histamine receptor blockers . These reduce stomach acid by blocking the chemical that tells your body to produce it . H2 blockers include famotidine, cimetidine and nizatidine.
- Antacids. These common over-the-counter medicines help to neutralize stomach acid. They may bring some symptom relief, but they arent enough to heal your ulcer. They also might interfere with some antibiotics.
- Cytoprotective agents. These medicines help to coat and protect your stomach lining. They include sucralfate and misoprostol.
- Bismuth Subsalicylate. This over-the-counter medicine, commonly found as Pepto-Bismol, can help coat and protect your ulcer from stomach acid.
Recommended Reading: What Is Ulcerative Colitis And How Is It Treated
What Are The Symptoms Of Any Complications
Stomach ulcers can cause various complications but these are much less common now because of more effective treatments. However, complications can be very serious and include:
Bleeding from the ulcer
- This can range from a trickle to a life-threatening bleed.
- If there is sudden heavy bleeding then this will cause you to vomit blood and make you feel very faint.
- Less sudden bleeding may cause you to vomit and the vomit looks coffee-coloured because the stomach acid has partly broken down the blood.
- A more gradual trickle of blood will pass through your gut and cause your stools to look very dark in colour or even black .
PerforationThis is the term used to describe the ulcer having gone all the way through the wall of the stomach. Food and acid in the stomach then leak out of the stomach. This usually causes severe pain and makes you very unwell. Stomach perforation is a medical emergency and needs hospital treatment as soon as possible.
Stomach blockageThis is now rare. An ulcer at the end of the stomach can cause the outlet of the stomach to narrow and cause an obstruction. This can cause frequent severe vomiting.
You May Like: Over The Counter Ulcer Medication
What Are The Complications Of Duodenal Ulcers
If left untreated, your duodenal ulcers may get worse. This can cause other complications, such as:
- broken blood vessels
- obstructing food from leaving your stomach
- perforation in the duodenal wall
These complications require emergency treatment, and can cause sharp pain, bloody vomit, or bloody faeces .
Also Check: Hydrocolloid Dressing For Stage 3 Pressure Ulcer
What Should I Do If I Think I Have A Stomach Ulcer
Always seek medical care for a stomach ulcer. While you may be able to manage symptoms temporarily with over-the-counter medications, these wont heal the ulcer. You need to identify and treat the underlying cause. An untreated ulcer can lead to serious complications, even if your symptoms are mild. The major cause of stomach ulcers, H. pylori infection, can also lead to other complications.
How To Treat A Peptic Ulcer
Treatment will depend on the underlying cause of your ulcer. If tests show that you have an H. pylori infection, your doctor will prescribe a combination of medication. Youll have to take the medications for up to two weeks. The medications include antibiotics to help kill infections and proton pump inhibitors to help reduce stomach acid.
You may experience minor side effects like diarrhea or an upset stomach from antibiotic regimens. If these side effects cause significant discomfort or dont get better over time, talk to your doctor.
If your doctor determines that you dont have an H. pylori infection, they may recommend a prescription or over-the-counter PPI for up to eight weeks to reduce stomach acid and help your ulcer heal.
Acid blockers like famotidine can also reduce stomach acid and ulcer pain. These medications are available as a prescription and also over the counter in lower doses.
Your doctor may also prescribe sucralfate which will coat your stomach and reduce symptoms of peptic ulcers.
Read Also: How To Reduce Bloating With Ulcerative Colitis
How Soon After Treatment Will I Feel Better
If you take all medicines as prescribed and avoid irritating the ulcer with NSAIDs, alcohol or smoking, your ulcer should heal well within a few weeks. Surgical cases may take a few weeks more. Your healthcare provider will follow up with you at the end of your course of medication to make sure the ulcer has healed and any infection has cleared. They will probably take follow-up tests, including an upper endoscopy to look at the site of the ulcer and tests for H. pylori, if you had it, to make sure the infection is gone.
What To Do When You Have A Stomach Ulcer
Coffee or caffeine increases the production of stomach acids.
The substance present in caffeine act as a catalyst. Therefore, it boosts the release of acid content in the stomach.
This acid may cause ulcers and can make you discomfort.
Therefore, coffee are some of the types of foods to avoid with ulcers.
Furthermore, It irritates the stomach walls and leaves you with a lot of pain. If you must drink coffee, then it is important to limit it as it can also lead to heartburn.
Read Also: What Is Good For Ulcerative Colitis
Who Is More Likely To Get Ulcers
One in 10 people develops an ulcer. Risk factors that make ulcers more likely include:
- Frequent use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , a group of common pain relievers that includes ibuprofen .
- A family history of ulcers.
- Illness such as liver, kidney or lung disease.
- Regularly drinking alcohol.
How Common Are Stomach Ulcers
It’s not known exactly how common stomach ulcers are. They have become much less common since the 1980s because of much more effective treatments. So people with stomach ulcers now usually get better much more quickly.
The term ‘peptic ulcer’ is used to describe ulcers that are caused by too much acid in the stomach. This includes stomach ulcers and also ulcers in the first part of the gut known as the duodenum. Stomach ulcers are less common than duodenal ulcers.
You May Like: How Can You Get Ulcers In Your Stomach
When To Seek Medical Advice
You should visit your GP if you think you may have a stomach ulcer.
Contact your GP or NHS 111 immediately if:
- you are passing dark, sticky, tar-like stools
- you have a sudden, sharp pain in your tummy that gets steadily worse
Go to your nearest accident and emergency department or call 999 if:
- you are vomiting blood the blood can appear bright red or have a dark brown, grainy appearance, similar to coffee grounds
These could be a sign of a serious complication, such as internal bleeding.
Treating The Causes Of Peptic Ulcers
Niruja HealthTech” alt=”Peptic Ulcer: a Painful Ulceration in the Stomach > Niruja HealthTech”> Doctors treat the underlying causes of peptic ulcers to help the ulcers heal and prevent them from coming back.
Helicobacter pylori infection
Doctors treat H. pylori infection with a combination of medicines. These medicines most often include
- two or more antibiotics
- in some cases, bismuth subsalicylate
Your doctor may avoid prescribing antibiotics youve taken in the past because the H. pylori bacteria may have developed antibiotic resistance to those antibiotics.
If you are given medicines, take all doses exactly as your doctor prescribes. If you stop taking your medicine early, some bacteria may survive and persist in your stomach. In other words, H. pylori bacteria may develop antibiotic resistance.
To find out if the medicines worked, your health care professional may recommend testing you for H. pylori at least 4 weeks after youve finished taking the antibiotics.2 If you still have an H. pylori infection, your doctor may prescribe a different combination of antibiotics and other medicines to treat the infection. Making sure that all of the H. pylori bacteria have been killed is important.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
If you have a peptic ulcer caused by taking NSAIDs, your doctor may recommend changing your medicines. Depending on the reason you have been taking NSAIDs, your doctor may suggest stopping NSAIDs, taking a different NSAID, taking a lower-dose NSAID, or taking a different medicine for pain.
Other causes
You May Like: Best Fiber For Ulcerative Colitis
Outlook For Peptic Ulcers
With proper treatment, most peptic ulcers heal. However, you may not heal if you stop taking your medication early or continue to use tobacco, alcohol, and nonsteroidal pain relievers during treatment. Your doctor will schedule a follow-up appointment after your initial treatment to evaluate your recovery.
Some ulcers, called refractory ulcers, dont heal with treatment. If your ulcer doesnt heal with the initial treatment, this can indicate:
- an excessive production of stomach acid
- presence of bacteria other than H. pylori in the stomach
- another disease, such as stomach cancer or Crohns disease
Your doctor may offer a different method of treatment or run additional tests to rule out stomach cancer and other gastrointestinal diseases.
Common Symptoms Of Peptic Ulcer And When To Seek Medical Help
The very mention of the word ulcer is likely to cause an internal, evidently physical discomfort. Thats exactly what peptic ulcers do. They cause a difficult-to-ignore burning pain in your stomach, sometimes in the dead of night, capable of stirring you awake. Misjudging this pain to be a simple case of indigestion may be your natural reaction. However, if this has been happening frequently, do not carelessly dismiss it because pain is your bodys way of signaling you to take care of yourself.
To make some sense and understand where the malfunction lies, we first need to understand what peptic ulcers are.
Also Check: How You Get Rid Of Gas In Your Stomach
Recommended Reading: What Foods To Eat When You Have Ulcerative Colitis