Stomach ulcer

[movingtables]

Just to be clear i am not asking for medical advice but only people
who can share their ulcer journey from onset to recovery.

I'll keep my story as short as possible:

It's actually my Dad who currently has one (aged 74)
It all started with a bit of back and stomach pain. this went on for a month
so he popped to the Doctors and they diagnosed him with " Shingles " without a rash

anyway he also had a blood test and they said " ohh it's as if you have lost half a pint of blood "
so they gave him some iron tablets to be bring his blood count back up which did work.

fast forward 2 weeks and i noticed my dad going quite down hill one night so i phoned an ambulance
and they dispatched help, but before they got to us he had already started (in terrible pain) vomiting lots of blood

they finally arrived and the vomiting had stopped but they took him in and long story short they popped a scope down his throat and there was a 1cm stomach ulcer which had nicked a blood vessel hence the bleeding. with the scope they injected the area with an adrenalin agent to stop the bleeding.
although the bleeding had stopped 3 days later whilst in hospital he threw up lots and lots of old blood and he also had to have a 2 blood transfusion.

he is home now some 3 weeks later but still suffering in pain (as you do with a sore in your stomach).
he is on omeprazole for about 4 weeks so reduce stomach acid to allow the ulcer to heal.

(as i said no medical advice please )

has anyone here suffered with one and what was your story from discovery to recovery ?

 

[Marky]

I got my thread closed for asking for dental experiences a couple of months back...

Just wanted to know what to expect.

Not a helpful comment, I understand

 

[movingtables]

yeah my original post got deleted 2 weeks ago yet the thread on
ulcerative colitis is still up and running after 400 odd pages lol.

 

[Marky]

yeah my original post got deleted 2 weeks ago yet the thread on
ulcerative colitis is still up and running after 400 odd pages lol.

Standard

I’m fortunate enough to say I’ve never experienced such a thing - but I’ve heard they’re terrible.

I wish you father all the best with his recovery.

 

[movingtables]

Standard

I’m fortunate enough to say I’ve never experienced such a thing - but I’ve heard they’re terrible.

I wish you father all the best with his recovery.

thanks buddy

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

I had a perforated ulcer 5 years ago. Lots of stomach pain like bad indigestion for about 3 weeks. Typical bloke just powered on with Rennie thinking little of it. Was visiting friend in south London one morning and boom! The worst stomach cramps you could dream of. Doubled me over on the floor and my friend rang an ambulance thinking I was having a heart attack even though I said it was from my stomach area. Got rushed in, docs thought at first it was a gallstone but went for x-ray and one of the tests is you have one standing up (I know this as the senior radiographer was training the junior and told her) to see if there is air under the diaphragm signalling a perforated ulcer. Bingo there is the air. Few hours of morphine bliss waiting for surgery. I had keyhole which failed so they opened me up, 10cm incision and 6 days in hospital. Three weeks on the sofa. Lots of tramadol and soft foods, nothing acidic!!! Then I eased back into work. Went for a scope after 8 weeks and was the only one there who instead on being sedated, why wouldn't you?? I was blissfully unaware. The two before me sounded horrific. Several minutes of gagging and wrenching and being wheeled out looking grey and like PTSD was now their friend, why didn't they insist in sedation?? Given the all clear and have been fine since. Mine was caused by bacteria which I believe is the main cause of ulcers. Lucky mine didn't hit a blood vessel like your fathers. Hope he recovers soon. I was 43 and fairly fit so recovery was pretty easy.

 

[Diddums]

Move less tables.

 

[movingtables]

I had a perforated ulcer 5 years ago. Lots of stomach pain like bad indigestion for about 3 weeks. Typical bloke just powered on with Rennie thinking little of it. Was visiting friend in south London one morning and boom! The worst stomach cramps you could dream of. Doubled me over on the floor and my friend rang an ambulance thinking I was having a heart attack even though I said it was from my stomach area. Got rushed in, docs thought at first it was a gallstone but went for x-ray and one of the tests is you have one standing up (I know this as the senior radiographer was training the junior and told her) to see if there is air under the diaphragm signalling a perforated ulcer. Bingo there is the air. Few hours of morphine bliss waiting for surgery. I had keyhole which failed so they opened me up, 10cm incision and 6 days in hospital. Three weeks on the sofa. Lots of tramadol and soft foods, nothing acidic!!! Then I eased back into work. Went for a scope after 8 weeks and was the only one there who instead on being sedated, why wouldn't you?? I was blissfully unaware. The two before me sounded horrific. Several minutes of gagging and wrenching and being wheeled out looking grey and like PTSD was now their friend, why didn't they insist in sedation?? Given the all clear and have been fine since. Mine was caused by bacteria which I believe is the main cause of ulcers. Lucky mine didn't hit a blood vessel like your fathers. Hope he recovers soon. I was 43 and fairly fit so recovery was pretty easy.

crikey.
i forgot to mention my dads ulcer was believed to be caused by NSAI (ibuprofen naproxen etc)
thanks for the well wish's

 

[movingtables]

t

Move less tables.

that's me not him

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

crikey.
i forgot to mention my dads ulcer was believed to be caused by NSAI (ibuprofen naproxen etc)
thanks for the well wish's

Yeah longterm they can be very bad for the stomach. I'm not meant to take them but have with food and have been fine. I remember taking a couple when I was in pain before surgery and it turned it up to a 10! Don't know why stomach ulcer didn't occur to me, I'm normally pretty good on this stuff.

 

[Mobius 1]

I had peptic/stomach ulcer problems for nearly 3 years due to taking ibuprofen. (I don’t touch this stuff anymore) seriously, anybody that takes this stuff, never do so on an empty stomach. Edit, I suffered so long because the doctors were having trouble diagnosing what it actually was

It was in no way as serious as your dads case.

I had a gnawing/burning pain in the stomach area, usually after eating. I lost a lot of weight due to it too (it was roughly 20kg in 3 ish months)

I was put on a month or so course of omeprazole, and it seemed to clear up pretty well. It took nearly a year to fully heal and for me to start putting weight back on though.

 

[movingtables]

ahh my poor dads been back in hospital all day.
terrible pain in his stomach back and chest with fatigue.
I've sat with him for 8hours from 8am until 4pm.
he's not on a ward yet (A&E cubicle) but they have really looked after him.

he had a blood test and his blood count hasn't dropped so this would suggest no re-bleeding.
he's had a chest X-ray and that was clear.
he's had a CT scan to look at this ulcer in more depth (waiting on results).
he may also have a possible water infection.

hopefully he'll get on a ward over night.

just had a bath and a nice cup of tea

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

Sorry to hear that. Hope the can find the problem soon.

 

[movingtables]

Sorry to hear that. Hope the can find the problem soon.

cheers

 

[Pho]

My Dad had one rupture whilst he was in hospital. I can't remember the exact details but I think they were aware of it, but it wasn't causing a problem.

Next minute he's surrounded by 6 doctors/nurses whilst they're frantically trying to pump blood into him. They had to give him 14 units of blood (the body holds ~12 units) and get him into emergency surgery to patch it up.

That was one of the most stressful days I've ever had to deal with. Sitting in a waiting room whilst someone's in emergency surgery for several hours is awful.

 

[movingtables]

My Dad had one rupture whilst he was in hospital. I can't remember the exact details but I think they were aware of it, but it wasn't causing a problem.

Next minute he's surrounded by 6 doctors/nurses whilst they're frantically trying to pump blood into him. They had to give him 14 units of blood (the body holds ~12 units) and get him into emergency surgery to patch it up.

That was one of the most stressful days I've ever had to deal with. Sitting in a waiting room whilst someone's in emergency surgery for several hours is awful.

sounds a nightmare.. i watched my dad vomit lost of blood up, scary times.

 

[movingtables]

he is staying in an acute medical ward over night for
observation, fingers crossed he improves soon

 

[GravyMonster]

My dad also had stomach ulcers back in the early 80s, when he was in his early 30s. I don't know the exact details of what happened as I was very young at the time, but I do know he ended up vomiting blood and requiring several transfusions too. He also required surgery three times; the first time to remove the ulcers, the second one to remove additional ulcers which the first operation missed, and a third operation to correct the complete mess the second surgeon made when reconnecting the duodenum.

The second operation was so bad that he literally couldn't keep any form of food or water down as there was no flow through to the small intestine. In the course of 2 months he went from a healthy 13 stone to a little under 6. Bearing in mind he's 6'2, you can imagine what he looked like. He's told me many times that he deeply regrets not suing for malpractice, but he just wasn't strong enough to go through it at the time, whilst also worrying about having a young baby, a new job and having to pay bills. It took him over 15 years before he could eat what you'd consider a full-sized meal, and even now he's struggles to maintain a weight of just about 10 stone. In addition to all that he's spent the last 35 years on various tablets to deal with having reduced digestive capacity, and to deal with reflux etc.

I wish your dad all the best with this. I'm not sure what the modern treatment is, but hopefully if he does require surgery it all goes well for him.

 

[movingtables]

My dad also had stomach ulcers back in the early 80s, when he was in his early 30s. I don't know the exact details of what happened as I was very young at the time, but I do know he ended up vomiting blood and requiring several transfusions too. He also required surgery three times; the first time to remove the ulcers, the second one to remove additional ulcers which the first operation missed, and a third operation to correct the complete mess the second surgeon made when reconnecting the duodenum.

The second operation was so bad that he literally couldn't keep any form of food or water down as there was no flow through to the small intestine. In the course of 2 months he went from a healthy 13 stone to a little under 6. Bearing in mind he's 6'2, you can imagine what he looked like. He's told me many times that he deeply regrets not suing for malpractice, but he just wasn't strong enough to go through it at the time, whilst also worrying about having a young baby, a new job and having to pay bills. It took him over 15 years before he could eat what you'd consider a full-sized meal, and even now he's struggles to maintain a weight of just about 10 stone. In addition to all that he's spent the last 35 years on various tablets to deal with having reduced digestive capacity, and to deal with reflux etc.

I wish your dad all the best with this. I'm not sure what the modern treatment is, but hopefully if he does require surgery it all goes well for him.

well that's quite the ordeal.
i dont think people realise how serious it is until it happens to them or a loved one.

his CT scan came back today all clear.
i think before the consider releasing him they are deciding if to do another scope down the throat to double check how it's healing.
the nightmare continues lol.

 

[movingtables]

just a little update on my dad.
we were told today that there is "evidence" of cancer cells on the stomach ulcer. (endoscope biopsy).
the good news is after having every scan available on the planet the cancer has been caught early and it has not spread.
they are having a meeting next Tuesday to discuss a treatment plan.
So in a strange way when the ulcer 6 weeks ago nicked a blood vessel (vomited blood) is was a blessing in disguise
as we probably wouldn't have known due to endoscope investigations so soon there was an issue as we didn't even know he had an ulcer.

although it's not the best news it strangely feels a relief to have some answers as being in Limbo was awful and i say with caution it could have been much worse news.

thanks for listening