Diagnosed with Gastritis from Ibuprofen after Kidney Stone, Month 5.

[[Li...]]

This has been one hell of a month for me. I was actually doing really well and living my life again, hanging out with friends and just generally feeling pretty decent. Physically, I was absolutely fine. Had some mental symptoms and worry, but nothing I couldn't handle.

 

Cue the severe abdominal flank pain in the middle of the night. No idea what it was, just felt like someone was twisting my insides on the left side of my abdomen, the pain was so incredible that I was having a difficult time taking in a breath and felt like I was going to pass out. Went to the ER and had a CT scan, was diagnosed with my first 1-2mm kidney stone, which I guess was causing the pain as it passed from the kidney into the ureter tube. I was given Vicodin for the pain, which I decided against taking and was told that I could take Ibuprofen instead.

I began shoveling down water and taking Ibuprofen every 4 hours or so, as I was given the impression that actually passing the stone would be painful. 2-3 days into taking Ibuprofen like this, I began to develop shortness of breath, massive sweating, became very lightheaded and suddenly became very bloated/full of gas, also noticing tightness and pressure throughout my entire abdomen. My appetite had magically vanished seemingly overnight. This was terrifying, as I had no idea as to the cause of it all, so I went back to the ER. They told me that it might be that I might be having a bad reaction to too much Ibuprofen, but that I should be fine.

 

So I discontinued the Ibuprofen after taking it for about 4-5 days, every 4 hours. The symptoms persisted for about a week or so and my sleep severely declined, I just kept waking up for some reason and couldn't seem to calm my body down enough to get good sleep. I also lost about 15lbs in 2 weeks since all of this began and developed green stool/diarrhea. It seemed like everytime I ate, I would become incredibly bloated and have weird sensations/pain in my stomach and sometimes it would spasm, my shortness of breath would also increase. At this point I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He told me that it was most likely gastritis due to the Ibuprofen usage, especially because I wasn't eating much and was mainly just intaking a ton of water.

 

I was given Omeprazole today to help get rid of some of the acid in my system and have taken the first dose. It's only been about an hour since the first dose, but I was able to eat a peanut butter sandwich and some plain yogurt without any real issues, for the first time since all of this began, so I assume it is helping.

 

It's just really difficult because this entire process brought on so much stress and anxiety, because I had no idea what was going on. With everything my body has been going through, the rough sleep and just general stress, I feel so fatigued and weak and just totally riddled with anxiety. Ontop of that, I had severe stress about the rapid weight loss and inability to eat much, which made me nervous that I would become malnourished and end up in the hospital or something. Either that or the lack of sleep would cause me to go nuts. It also feels like I'm constantly checking my breathing because I've been so afraid of the shortness of breath, that I'm stuck being hyper-aware of it pretty much all the time, which only adds to the anxiety.

 

I apologize for the rant, I just felt like I had to get it all out. If anyone has had any similar experiences with gastritis or any of this, please feel free to chime in. Very much appreciated.

The moral of the story.. Be careful with NSAIDS like Ibuprofen. They CAN screw with your stomach hardcore, even after only being on them for a short time, as verified by my doctor.

 

[[Ho...]]

Hi LiveAboveIt,

 

I'm so sorry that you are experiencing this! I too had gastritis after using an excessive amount of ibuprofen to manage horrible zapping head pains during seroquel withdrawal.

 

I'm glad the omeprazole seems to be helping you. Hang in there! The gastritis pain can be awful. I had to be on a very restrictive diet for months yet it did very slowly get better. I hope you are on the road to healing soon.

[[Li...]]

Hey Hope,

 

It's definitely no fun. Glad to hear that I'm not the only one to experience this, though. Luckily, I have always had a pretty tough stomach and I don't really feel any sharp or serious pain.. Just discomfort and pressure. So hopefully this means it was mild and was clear up pretty quickly. I'm glad to hear that yours is better now! Ibuprofen is nasty stuff and I'm glad that I didn't take it any longer than I did.

[[Ho...]]

Yes, Ibuprofen is nasty stuff! Glad you have a tough stomach, that is a big plus. I have always had a sensitive stomach and I was in the hospital three nights in excruciating pain. That you've had discomfort and pressure instead of sharp and serious pain is a good sign already! 

[[Li...]]

I'm so sorry to hear about that. Sounds like it was an awful experience. :\