Stomach or duodenal ulcer what to do?
A stomach or duodenal ulcer can manifest also as a pain in the epigastric cavity or be asymptomatic. An upper digestive endoscopy visualizes the damaged mucosa, and biopsies are performed in cases of gastric ulcer. The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is sought.
What are the symptoms of the stomach or duodenal ulcer ?
A peptic ulcer can make the top and middle of your tummy hurt. It might feel like a cramp or strong hunger pain. This pain often comes one to three hours after you eat, or at night. Eating some food or taking medicine for stomach acid can help the pain go away.
Sometimes, the pain comes and goes for a few weeks, then you might feel fine for a while. You could also feel a little sore under your ribs. For some people, eating doesn’t change the pain at all. Some ulcers don’t hurt at all, so you might not know you have one.
Doctors sometimes find ulcers when they are checking your tummy for other reasons. Remember, not all tummy pain means you have an ulcer.
Many people have stomach aches for other reasons, like acid coming up from the stomach (called reflux), or a sore stomach (called gastritis) that isn’t an ulcer.
If your stomach hurts for more than two weeks, it is important to tell your family doctor. Your doctor can help find out what is wrong. The doctor may suggest tests to check if you have a sore in your stomach or gut, called an ulcer. Getting help early can keep you healthy.
What next? The attending physician asks his patient about his symptoms and looks for contributing factors (e.g.: smoking, taking anti-inflammatories). The doctor palpates the to localize any pain.
If a stomach or duodenal ulcer is suspected, an assessment is then carried out, in collaboration with specialist doctors (gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist, radiologist, etc.).
To know for sure if someone has a stomach or duodenal ulcer, doctors need to do special tests. One important test is called an upper digestive endoscopy. A doctor puts a thin tube with a tiny camera into your mouth. This camera lets the doctor look inside your stomach and the first part of your small intestine. Sometimes, you get medicine to help you feel comfortable during the test. The doctor uses this test to see if there is a sore inside your tummy.
If an ulcer is present in one of these organs, it appears as a crater with regular, raised, red edges. This crater is dug in the Mucosa and reaches deep into the muscular layer.
If the ulcer is gastric, the doctor takes several biopsies of its edges to check that there is no cancerous lesion.
If the ulcer is duodenal, ulcer biopsies are useless: this type of condition never progresses to cancer.
Testing for the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach:
1) With biopsies: The doctor has to check whether the patient has been contaminated by the Helicobacter pylori bacteria. Doctors sometimes need to check for a germ called Helicobacter pylori when you have a stomach ulcer. They do this by taking tiny pieces, called biopsies, from different parts of your stomach during a special test. Usually, they take at least five pieces to look for changes that could lead to cancer, and two more pieces to check for germs. This helps doctors keep you safe and healthy.
It also makes it possible to detect H. pylori infection by a bacteriological examination with culturing of Helicobacter pylori and evaluation of sensitivity to antibiotics.
Sometimes, doctors need to look for a germ called Helicobacter pylori in your blood. This is called a blood test for antibodies. The test is helpful if you have taken medicines that make your stomach less acidic or if you have recently taken antibiotics. These medicines can change other test results, so the blood test gives doctors another way to check for the germ. This helps doctors find out if you have the infection and how to help you feel better.
This technique is not used in cases of risk factors for stomach cancer. Serology is not indicated to monitor H pylori eradication because antibodies persist for months after treatment.
Doctors can also look for signs of sickness by testing your poop for special germs, called antigens. This test helps doctors find out if you have certain tummy problems and if treatment worked. In the United Kingdom, health insurance usually does not pay for this test.
4) Upper digestive endoscopy: This test, often called gastroscopy, consists of observing the esophagus, stomach and duodenum, using a flexible tube fitted with a small camera and performing samples and surgical procedures.
Here is some information to help you get ready for this test.
What is an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy?
This is a test where a doctor looks inside your food pipe, stomach, and the first part of your small intestine.
The doctor uses a thin, bendy tube called an endoscope.
This tube has a tiny camera and a light on it.
The doctor puts the tube in through your mouth or nose.
The endoscope lets the doctor see if there are any problems, like sores or swelling, inside your tummy.
The doctor can also use little tools through the tube to take a small piece of tissue (a biopsy) or remove something stuck, like a bone.
Sometimes, the doctor needs to stop bleeding or take out a lump during this test.
A special doctor called a gastroenterologist does this test.
You might get medicine to help you sleep or feel relaxed, or you might just get a spray to numb your throat.
Sometimes, the doctor uses a special endoscope that can also take pictures using sound waves (ultrasound) to see things even more clearly.
Medications for stomach or duodenal ulcers:
The goal of treatment is to heal the ulcer. A special stomach doctor and your regular doctor work together to help you get better. Treatment does a few things: it stops pain fast, helps the ulcer heal, and keeps the problem from coming back.
There are two main types of medicine for ulcers.The first is called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). PPIs are medicines that lower the acid in your stomach.
Some examples are lansoprazole, omeprazole, and pantoprazole. You take these for 4 to 8 weeks for a stomach ulcer, or 4 weeks for a duodenal ulcer.
If you have a germ called Helicobacter pylori, you need antibiotics too.
Doctors find out which antibiotics work best by testing a tiny piece of your stomach. Usually, you take three medicines for 10 days: a PPI, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin. If clarithromycin doesn’t work, it can be swapped for levofloxacin. If you’re allergic to amoxicillin, you get metronidazole instead.
If the germ doesn’t go away, or if you can’t take some medicines, doctors use a mix of four medicines for 10 to 14 days.
The main goal is to make your tummy feel better and heal the sore inside.
Notice that antibiotic treatment is contraindicated during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Help us:
On Jem-wellness.com, whose niche is health and well-being, you got a lot of products in the Health Care catalogue that will help too. They are not expensive and very easy and good to use.
If you would like to encourage us to continue publishing articles, please buy one product. Many of our products are intended to be used to combat illness or disability.