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Ghastly Gastritis

Ghastly Gastritis

Hypothyroidism and Gastritis

Well well well… If it’s not one thing, it’s something else.

A selfie of Rachel taken in her dressing gown

In my never-ending trips to the doctors, I was told yesterday that I have gastritis, caused by acid reflux/too much acid. Which is just marvellous.

With yet more time off work, I’m sat here wondering if I’ll ever be able to just function like a regular adult. Will my life stop revolving around the twists and turns of my rubbish body? Like, ever?

Whilst I agree that I have gastritis, possibly with some complications, since for the past week or so I’ve had uncomfortable bloating whenever I eat, the strange sensation of feeling hungry but quickly feeling overwhelmingly full after just a few bites of food, nausea for hours after I’ve eaten and a general feeling of being unwell (fatigue, pain throughout the body), it’s not as easy as just getting a diagnosis and popping some pills.

Just yesterday, all I managed to eat all day was a few spoons of high protein yoghurt for breakfast, followed by two bites of cheese and a bite of a banana for lunch, then just three spoons of a boiled egg for dinner. Just those few bites alone each time would make me feel so full, that it felt as if I’d eaten four whole Christmas dinners right there! This was followed by horrendous bloating and feeling very uncomfortable, the intense feeling that I was going to be sick, unable to think straight and feeling not all with it. I’ve had this every day since Sunday.

A photo of Rachel taken from the side showing bloating

After a trip to the doctors, the nurse said that I likely have too much acid which can lead on to stomach ulcers and complications, so to take Omeprazole to reduce the acid. In the meantime, I also need to adopt a diet of only meat and non-acidic fruit and vegetables to let my stomach heal and the inflammation go down. Also drinking plain water and water only. She said to follow this for one to three weeks and slowly reintroduce food groups again to see what my stomach could handle.

However, this perhaps doesn’t address what has caused the gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) in the first place. H Pylori is apparently the most common cause, accounting for around 8 in 10 cases of gastritis, and with an overgrowth of H Pylori in autoimmune thyroid disease patients (like myself) being common, this is probably the cause. So diet alone may not fix the gastritis and I may need to go back for antibiotics. Although not penicillin because we all know what that did to me before!

Other causes, which it can’t be for me, include cocaine use, too much alcohol (I like a drink once or twice a month but not to the point of gastritis!) and taking aspirin or ibuprofen too often (I’m very wary of taking painkillers).

Interestingly, it’s possible though less common for it to be caused by an autoimmune reaction, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own cells and tissues, which in this case is the stomach lining. And we already know that having one autoimmune disease, i.e. Hashimoto’s in my case, puts you at a higher risk for developing another.

But my money is on H Pylori or Candida, as I’ve read a lot about Candida and Hashimoto’s in the past.

A UK test for Candida can be found here and a US test here.

So, after a sleepless night of tossing and turning with both hunger from having tiny amounts of food these past few days, as well as holding my painful, bloated stomach as I try to get comfortable, I’m sat at home trying to stomach some chicken at 8:30am in the morning.

Taking my blood sugar level, it’s low, which isn’t surprising since my stomach won’t let me eat properly and I feel very faint and stiff. I’m also wondering if the inflammation in my stomach is affecting my ability to process and absorb all my thyroid medication since I have hypothyroid symptoms returning – weakness in muscles, pains throughout the body, very low mood, dry and itchy skin and intense fatigue.

I am royally fed up. But I’ll let you know how I get on.

At least my skin is the clearest it’s been in ages…

Have you had gut issues? Comment below. 

Update: I later did confirm a leaky gut and Candida. Read more here.

You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information given.

About Author

Rachel Hill is the highly ranked and multi-award winning thyroid patient advocate, writer, speaker and author behind The Invisible Hypothyroidism. Her thyroid advocacy work includes writing articles, authoring books, producing her Thyroid Family email newsletters and speaking on podcasts and at events about the many aspects thyroid disease affects and how to overcome these. She is well-recognised as a crucial and influential contributor to the thyroid community and has a large social media presence. Her bestselling books include "Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate" and "You, Me and Hypothyroidism".

9 Comments

  • Moyra Marshall
    August 22, 2020 at 8:17 am

    Gastritis is a pain I have had gastric issues all my life ( now 75) but was only told it was gastritis in 2007 when I was hospitalised because of the symptoms . Since then I have been working with an Homeopath to try to control the symptoms . Some patients who have underactive Thyroid actually have low stomach acid which can give simular symptoms . If this is the case the PPI treatment will make your gastric issues worse . An alkaline diet seems to help with the issues I have but this won’t work for everyone

    Reply
  • Anon
    May 16, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    I have Hashimoto’s and have had gastritis for the past year. The burning pain with an empty stomach occurs from my stomach to the top of my esophagus, partially relieved by small amounts of food which, like you, cause me to feel bloated and 9 months pregnant. I take desiccated thyroid, but have heard that a different form of my easily absorbed thyroid medication needs to be taken for gastritis sufferers. Also, gastritis severely decreases B12 absorption, so it’s essential to take higher doses of liquid sublingual B12 to keep one’s energy up, and iron if tolerated. I will try eating keto with meat and vegetables to see if that helps. Also, I discovered by accident that chamomile tea helps soothe the gastritis, as do highly alkaline foods and water.

    Reply
  • Garvi
    April 10, 2020 at 6:17 am

    How is your gastritis now?…how long did it take to heal,going though the same thing hypothyroidism and gastritis☹️

    Reply
  • Fitz
    December 17, 2018 at 6:02 am

    My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find almost all of your post’s to be precisely what we’re looking for.

    Reply
  • Nishant
    February 4, 2018 at 6:12 am

    Often, people who experience these side effects simply stop taking their levothyroxine medicine, a common reason for undesirably high TSH levels and a return of thyroid disease symptoms.

    Reply
  • Invisibly Me
    April 20, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    I had a hydrogen breath test before which came back clear but was told it could still be a lower bacterial overgrowth as that only checks for the upper area/stomach. I do hope you’re feeling a little brighter soon, I understand the feeling miserable and bloated and ill all too well. Sending a hug.xx

    Reply
  • lynne
    April 20, 2017 at 11:58 am

    Going through the same thing now for a year. Only I can’t take PPI’s. So it’s going to be surgery for me. Good luck with it all!

    Reply

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