Need4Change

Hi everyone

A few months ago I had both a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Both showed minor abnormalities (benign polyps, etc) but the diagnosis on the endoscopy was gastritis. I think the report said something like "gastric mucosa was red, inflamed and friable". I later read that "friable" basically means that the lining of my stomach was sort of sloughing off or at least about to.

Anyway, having said all of that, I am wondering if anyone else here has had a problem with alcohol and gastrointestinal issues (such as gastritis). Yesterday I drank 10 beer and all day today my stomach has had this gnawing, aching, raw, bloated feeling. Sometimes it feel like my stomach is full of fire ants (or tacks).

I was just wondering...Thanks.

Need4Change

tellus

I'm pretty sure that alcohol abuse and GI issues are fairly closely tied. I know I've been having major GI problems for the past couple months. I think it's fairly common.

(Glad you decided to keep posting, btw. )

Dee74

very common I should think. Certainly I experienced it.
Good news is - no more trouble after I quit

D

stone

I would like to thank Dee for that post.

stone

But seriously, I had terrible stomach pains from drinking.

I had an endoscopy and they found I had an inflamed stomach lining, which I know was from drinking.

Need4Change

Thanks people . Well, I think the stomach probs today were enough to make me say "I'm ready to quit" (or at least go down giving it a fighting try). My gastritis has been getting progressively worse with each drinking binge and I can't see being in my right mind and still breaking open a case of frosties tommorow. I'd have to be nuts after what I went through today. Maybe tommorow can be the one day that I'm not coming here posting about how drunk I got and how the hangover hurts sooooo bad...etc...etc.

Need4Change

Autopathography

Hello N4C. I developed gastritis in the last few months of my drinking. It got progressively worse until I went to detox (where I was told that the pain was, in fact, due to gastritis). There wasn't much I could do to relieve it while I was drinking, but it cleared up pretty quickly after I stopped. At the hospital I started taking an over-the-counter acid reducer twice a day; I continued this for a couple of weeks until my stomach lining had healed (I don't think I can post the name/dosage here, but you could ask a doctor or pharmacist). Take care.

Jomey

Hey Need4 - So glad you are still here. As far as the stomach stuff...basically what Dee said. I had stomach pains, pretty much as you described them, and they were pretty much gone within a week of quitting. And I did have a one day relapse in early October, and guess what? Stomach symptoms that lasted 48 hours!!! So, even though I have not had the diagnostic testing you did, I am drawing the obvious conclusion.

I am SO excited to hear that you are going to keep trying....and I hope that you are planning to stay with us here at SR...for your sake, and for mine!

Hillbilly out! Hugs, J

ps - how's our gal Daisy?

ccirider

Hi N4C:

What is your plan for quitting? Are you going to do anything different? Rehab may be a good option for you instead of going it alone.


Peace.

Tazman53

I can attest as others have that the vast majority of the ailments I had while I was drinking simply dissappeared in the months after I quit.

My BMs were always loose and I had many small accidents when I was drinking. I had constant heart burn, I never knew until I quit drinking that I did not go to sleep at night, I passed out! I used to take 10-20 Tums every night and seemed to always feel in a fog every morning. Bloody stools were not unusual at all. My blood pressure was borderline high.

Well within three months after quitting all of that cleared up, I still have some issues, but I am 54 so some are expected, but I am a lot healthier today then I was when I was drinking.

Alcohol attacks every organ in the body, not just the liver, if one is an alcoholic it also changes the way every cell in our body functions!

Robzoloft

Hey- as per your question regarding stomach issues....I've had major problems in this area due to drinking which include:
1. severe gastritis
2. loose stools and constant burning yellow liquid at the same time
3. severe dyspepsia ( this one is really fun as the symptoms mimic a heart attack and you feel like you're going to die)
4. bile duct disease
5. heartburn
6. possible duodenal ulcers
7. sore pancreas - acute alcoholic pancreatitus
8. fatty deposits on the liver

Alcohol will destroy your insides...oh, and lets not forget the ever present possibility of a fatal esophageal hemmorage...drowning in your own blood. Funny thing is...stop drinking it all goes away...go figure. Do I stay stopped...No, because I'm an alcoholic

Tazman53

Need4Change & Robzoloft there is a solution if you are willing to do what ever it takes to stop drinking and stay stopped! The funny thing is it leads to happiness and an easier healthier way of life.

frstnm

been there done that
beware the first symptoms of pancreatitis
if you havent had it - you dont want it - believe me
it is basically your pancreas which produces the enzymes that digest food backing up and if left unchecked it will be extremely painful and you can go into organ shut down, may have to eat from a bag for the rest of your life and possibly die
other than general GI issues you can go into renal failure which can lead to dialisis 3x or more a week
this is in extreme cases and I have been very lucky so far but have gone into organ shutdown twice for shich I was hospitalized
I have finally quit drinking as a result of all the physical health issues

Tazman53

Alcoholism KILLS!!!!!!!!

No need ***** footing around it.

Keep on drinking and you are going to die!!!!!

Usually a slow PAINFUL death!

DaddyWarbucks

Hi,

When I was in college I did a lot of binge drinking which led to vomiting. I ended up with end stage achalasia...a disease of the esophagus. I also had Gerd which I imagine does along with that. I don't drink alcohol anymore. I might if I weren't on Norco, but would definitely not drink to excess.

curliQ

Personally, because I am in the medical field, I have seen too many to count intestinal bypasses ending with colostomies (that's the bag on the outside of your body that catches your feces because your intestines are too eaten up to do it). The recovery for the majority of these patients usually required the meds for detox at the same time. Just my experience.

I know personally I had to take Pepcid every day usually double doses, and my stool was always runny with lots of cramping. I've had none of these problems since I've stopped.

Fishman35

I have Crohn's disease. Alcohol certainly did not help matters. Since I sobered up I do not have the flare ups as much as I used to.

BUT......

I did have an attack for which I had to have a bowel resection done after 2 years sober. Just proof again that just because we put down the bottle, the consequence train may not stop.

Still, it is better than when I drank and the surgery was easier than my last drunk.