Gastritis & Smoking

I've been recently diagnosed with very mild gastritis. I first noticed this after smoking & eating a ton of spicy sushi soon after which resulted in this build up of pressure right beneath my sternum area that would only get worse. It felt like the food wasn't going down into my stomach and was just sitting there to the point where I had to be constantly moving around just to keep my anxiety down. At first, I thought it was my heart because it was in that upper area so I went to the doctor for an EKG, which came back normal, and then an upper endoscopy confirmed the gastritis, but nothing else. The doctors thought it was GERD/Acid Reflux at first so they put me on Nexium 20mg 2x a day. Interestingly, I only get acid reflux in the middle of the night that would wake me up after I first started the Nexium. It's like a burning/hot sensation in my chest. Since then, it seems to have gotten much better as I am watching what I eat (nothing spicy, greasy, fried, or alcohol), but I still have TONS of gas that I can hear and feel move around in my lower abdomen area. I also burp and feel like I have to burp but can't nonstop all day.

Now, the only thing that seems to set off this pressure/pain in my sternum is smoking! I have tried a bubbler, hand piece, and even bought a vape (crafty) thinking it was the thickness of smoke setting me off. After a few hits on the vape last night, the pressure came back again! It usually lasts 30mins-1hr and I don't even dare of trying to eat right after smoking because the pressure only gets worse. I also noticed some minor acid reflux in the middle of the night as well...the first in a while.

Has anyone ever experienced this and is it the smoke thickness or the temperature of the smoke setting my esophagus off? This is killing me because I work out 7x a week and have pretty much smoked everyday for the past 5+ years and never had any problems before. Any suggestions or solutions I would really appreciate! Thank You!

Update:

I am having mixed success with trying various techniques. I get really bad pressure/reflux just from using a vaporizer (handheld Crafty) as well as a hand held bubbler. When I hit my big bong, which has multiple percolators as well as an ice catcher, the pain isn't as intense. I don't know if it's the amount of smoke causing the pain or the temperature? I'm currently on 20mg Nexium and get alot of gas and bloating which I think it from the medication. I also feel as if I have heavy heart beats/PVCs from the medication as well. I have been on it for ~9 weeks. Anyone with gastritis/ and GERD have similar issues?

Sorry that you have this condition. I have similar symptoms, but probably not the same thing. I cannot eat spicy, greasy, or alcohol. If I overeat or eat some carbs, I burp for quite a while. I am taking omeprazole. I think nexium has some similar compound. Prevacid, tagamet, prilosec, and I think there is one other, help the situation. When my gut hits me real hard, I have to take a hot shower or bath. I have vomiting fits, profuse sweating and diarrhea on the fun occasions.
Have you elevated the head of your bed? That will help w/ the reflux. Keep your torso warm. Keep up w/ the workouts. You really need to find the cause of the symptoms and get that treated. I have been to many doctors, (more than twenty) and they don't know what I have. They only treat the symptoms. It seems like they just want to run their tests, but don't know what their results mean. I use to have great insurance, but since I got sick so much, I got laid off. Now, I go to an Asian herbalist for stuff like ginger, roots and teas, and it helps me much better long term, than western medicine. I don't have to have things put up my ass, I don't get unnecessary x-rays, I don't have to drink any barium crap to make the x-rays show nothing that helps. Plus I don't have to get all hooked up to machines that get in the way and don't help either.
Smoking cannabis doesn't irritate my stomach in any way. I vape, dab, bong, hit joints smoke pipes, and do edibles. The edibles are the only thing that has not helped too much. For strains, I would suggest Harlequin or Jack Herrer, but all of my sativa strains help alleviate the nausea. If it gets bad, I will hit a joint of indica and pass out.

warble said:

Sorry that you have this condition. I have similar symptoms, but probably not the same thing. I cannot eat spicy, greasy, or alcohol. If I overeat or eat some carbs, I burp for quite a while. I am taking omeprazole. I think nexium has some similar compound. Prevacid, tagamet, prilosec, and I think there is one other, help the situation. When my gut hits me real hard, I have to take a hot shower or bath. I have vomiting fits, profuse sweating and diarrhea on the fun occasions.
Have you elevated the head of your bed? That will help w/ the reflux. Keep your torso warm. Keep up w/ the workouts. You really need to find the cause of the symptoms and get that treated. I have been to many doctors, (more than twenty) and they don't know what I have. They only treat the symptoms. It seems like they just want to run their tests, but don't know what their results mean. I use to have great insurance, but since I got sick so much, I got laid off. Now, I go to an Asian herbalist for stuff like ginger, roots and teas, and it helps me much better long term, than western medicine. I don't have to have things put up my ass, I don't get unnecessary x-rays, I don't have to drink any barium crap to make the x-rays show nothing that helps. Plus I don't have to get all hooked up to machines that get in the way and don't help either.
Smoking cannabis doesn't irritate my stomach in any way. I vape, dab, bong, hit joints smoke pipes, and do edibles. The edibles are the only thing that has not helped too much. For strains, I would suggest Harlequin or Jack Herrer, but all of my sativa strains help alleviate the nausea. If it gets bad, I will hit a joint of indica and pass out.

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The Chinese stuff is helping for sure babe! So happy to see you getting better a little more day by day. I love you ever so...

Try Flor-essence maybe? It's a mild detox blend tea containing Essiac and other beneficails. The powder is cheap. I heard it does wonders for acid reflux and other stomach isues. You can eat regular food while taking the tea; just try to eat as healthy as possible. Other herbal rememdies may help.

warble said:

Sorry that you have this condition. I have similar symptoms, but probably not the same thing. I cannot eat spicy, greasy, or alcohol. If I overeat or eat some carbs, I burp for quite a while. I am taking omeprazole. I think nexium has some similar compound. Prevacid, tagamet, prilosec, and I think there is one other, help the situation. When my gut hits me real hard, I have to take a hot shower or bath. I have vomiting fits, profuse sweating and diarrhea on the fun occasions.
Have you elevated the head of your bed? That will help w/ the reflux. Keep your torso warm. Keep up w/ the workouts. You really need to find the cause of the symptoms and get that treated. I have been to many doctors, (more than twenty) and they don't know what I have. They only treat the symptoms. It seems like they just want to run their tests, but don't know what their results mean. I use to have great insurance, but since I got sick so much, I got laid off. Now, I go to an Asian herbalist for stuff like ginger, roots and teas, and it helps me much better long term, than western medicine. I don't have to have things put up my ass, I don't get unnecessary x-rays, I don't have to drink any barium crap to make the x-rays show nothing that helps. Plus I don't have to get all hooked up to machines that get in the way and don't help either.
Smoking cannabis doesn't irritate my stomach in any way. I vape, dab, bong, hit joints smoke pipes, and do edibles. The edibles are the only thing that has not helped too much. For strains, I would suggest Harlequin or Jack Herrer, but all of my sativa strains help alleviate the nausea. If it gets bad, I will hit a joint of indica and pass out.

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Thanks for the reply! Yes, I'm in the same boat as to what the cause is. It all started one Sunday when I was smoking and eating Papa John's spicy sausage pizza. Something just didn't feel right so I had to stop. That whole week I felt a little off as well and immediately thought it was my heart because it was in that area. During that week, I would be sitting on the couch (it's the type you sink into) and I would feel this uneasiness come on to the point where I'd have to get up and walk around. The following Friday I ate alot of spicy sushi and about an hour I felt this sudden onset of pressure building right below my breastbone and I couldn't sit still. This is when I knew it was something GI.

I went to my primary and she did an EKG and chest XRay and everything came back normal so she prescribed me Nexium. I then had an endoscopy done a week later and a very mild gastritis was confirmed. The weird thing is the only time I got acid reflux was the week before when I was asleep in the middle of the night. Every other time it was just that building pressure. I have since cut down on what I eat and I haven't had any crazy episodes since. However, now when I smoke I notice this pressure/burning in the middle of my chest like in between my pec muscles. The doctors response is that smoke relaxes the esophagus which leads to reflux.

I guess I'm just really frustrated because I can't figure it out!

Try doubling up on the Nexium for a month and not smoking for a week. The prescription level is 45mg per pill and you are taking the over the counter dose. I would take two 22.5's in the morning and two more at night. You should be able to smoke again after everything gets calmed down. Nibble on some edibles for now.

Bugeye said:

Try doubling up on the Nexium for a month and not smoking for a week. The prescription level is 45mg per pill and you are taking the over the counter dose. I would take two 22.5's in the morning and two more at night. You should be able to smoke again after everything gets calmed down. Nibble on some edibles for now.

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I've been on nexium for about 8 weeks. Most of that time it's been 1 20mg twice a day. I've since gone down to 1 a day. Recently, I've been having alot of bloating and it seems like heavy heartbeats as well. Yesterday I was eating and got up to refill my water and felt the heavy beats but this time I had a couple palpations before it went back to the normal beat but still heavy. That scared the crap out of me. I don't know if it's the nexium or the bad posture of sitting on the couch but it was enough for me to try to wean off the nexium by supplementing Zantac.other than that, I work out 7x a week, don't smoke cigs, and don't drink, and take multivitamins and Fish oil with alot of water.

Bugeye said:

Try doubling up on the Nexium for a month and not smoking for a week. The prescription level is 45mg per pill and you are taking the over the counter dose. I would take two 22.5's in the morning and two more at night. You should be able to smoke again after everything gets calmed down. Nibble on some edibles for now.

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I'm still getting the buildup of pain/pressure in my sternum after taking a few hits. It's not instant, but usually builds about 10 mins after a couple hits to the point where it's uncomfortable. It's like a dull, fullness feeling right in the middle of the chest. I tried edibles ( a chocolate chip cookie and then a piece of wheat bread with cannabutter) and same thing, expect an hour later because you have to let the butter go to work. I'm just so confused as to why the cannabis is setting me off all of a sudden....I'm feeling hopeless...

tested for any food allergies? Lactose or wheat intolerant? any discussions about IBS?

Try to cut some stress out of your life or meditate it away, the nexium/zantac will reduce the acid secretion, but stress impairs healing processes (due to elevated corticosteroid hormones) and also increases gastric acid secretion. In intensive care units people can get stomach ulcers just cos their bodies' are under so much stress, so they get nexium as a preventative.

I had the same trouble a few years back, I had to stop smoking for about 3 months and the problem only really went away when I changed jobs and chilled out a bit, gave my stomach some time to heal.

I have gastroenteritis and IBS caused by staphylococcus so I know how you feel sorta. You really gotta look at your diet when you get these symptoms and watch the food you eat when smoking. Don't eat fried foods or limit them, limit alcohol, caffeine ect. Ever since I got staph infection I get severe nausea/acid reflux after drinking alcohol/caffeine or heavily fried foods and even tomatoes . I eat mainly gluten free foods and take digestive enzymes and probiotics everyday. I highly recommend these two products they will be good for your stomach - http://www.renewlife.com/buddy-bear-digest.html (these allow me to eat fried foods without issues!!) and these for your whole body - http://www.renewlife.com/ultimate-flora-kids-probiotic.html it contains 3 billion live cultures. When i take these my symptoms almost disappear but when i dont take them for awhile i start to notice my symptoms slowly coming back. 3 billion is a miniscule amount for teens and higher but I take em and they help me out a lot. my mom takes 350 billion live culture probiotics and she feels great. I would recommend starting at 3 billion though you can always take more than one. I will say these products are expensive but for me and my symptoms they are worth it and i hope they help you if you decide to try them . Oh yea just like chester said manage ur stress levels make a thyme tea and put a tsp of honey and lemon in it and put on some Indian tribal tunes. Also try getting a hold of a high cbd strain the medicinal properties of cbd are vast!

Late to the party here so I hope you see this. I have been having relatively similar issue the past 6 months or so. Every time I smoke I’m getting an irritated feeling in the same area. Wondering if you found a solution other than giving up smoking. I can’t go without my night caps especially since I quit drinking a few years ago.

Dave-O said:

Late to the party here so I hope you see this. I have been having relatively similar issue the past 6 months or so. Every time I smoke I’m getting an irritated feeling in the same area. Wondering if you found a solution other than giving up smoking. I can’t go without my night caps especially since I quit drinking a few years ago.

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Thanks for dragging up a 6 year old thread. NOT!

Don't worry about that feeling. It's probably just an esophageal tumour like what killed my old man. Be over soon.