Gastritis: symptoms and what to do
· 5 min read
Gastritis rarely starts with pain: first heaviness, belching, a coated tongue and a feeling that something is off after meals. We walk through the case of a man who treated himself for six months, and show how the centre looks for the cause
How this usually goes
Askar is 41 and drives long-haul. His morning starts with strong tea, lunch happens on the road, dinner comes late and heavy. The first sign was not pain but heaviness under the ribs and sour belching after fatty food. He decided his stomach was simply «acting up» and started buying whatever the pharmacy counter recommended
For six months the pattern was the same: heaviness — take a pill, relief — forget about it. Baking soda sometimes helped. By spring came a coated tongue, an unpleasant taste in the morning and an odd change — less appetite, while the heaviness began arriving after ordinary meals too
He reached a gastroenterologist because of his wife: she booked the visit herself. The doctor started with questions rather than pills — when, after what, what he had taken, what had changed over six months. Then a gastroscopy the same morning: a look at the mucosa and a sample for the bacterium. By lunchtime he had both the report and an explanation of why the pharmacy routine worked for a day and never touched the cause
Based on the results, a regimen was put together for him. For the six months before that he had been buying whatever the counter suggested
What people come with
People arrive with the same set: heaviness after eating, belching, a taste in the mouth, a coated tongue. Almost everyone has a pharmacy routine behind them — something for acidity, bought on advice or from an ad. Some are sure everybody has gastritis and there is nothing to treat; others fear something serious sits behind the symptoms
If this is you
- Everyone has gastritis — does it even need treating?
- I took omeprazole on my own and it helped — is that fine?
- Do you test for H. pylori here?
How it goes
The visit starts with a conversation: what bothers you, how it relates to food, what you have already taken and with what result. Then the doctor decides what is missing for an answer. With this picture it is usually a gastroscopy with a look at the mucosa and an H. pylori test, sometimes an ultrasound. The centre does them the same day, so the results and prescriptions follow right after the examination, without a second visit
How to prepare
Bring your earlier reports, even old ones, and write down everything you have taken for your stomach: the name, how long, whether it helped. From memory that list usually comes out half complete. If there is a chance of a gastroscopy the same day, come on an empty stomach
What people ask most
Is a gastroscopy required to diagnose gastritis?
The diagnosis is made by looking at the mucosa: inflammation is not visible from the outside. Without a gastroscopy you can only guess, and treatment would be picked blind
Is the helicobacter test done the same day?
The sample is taken during the gastroscopy, so there is no second visit. Blood tests are also taken on site
I am already on acid medication — should I stop it before the appointment?
Do not stop it yourself: tell the doctor what you take and how much. They will decide what to do before the examination so the picture stays clear
