Thank you @Fullhealing

I understand you’re going through a tough patch at the moment too?

So kind of you to send such warm wishes and really hope things improve for you soon too 🥰

7 minutes ago, Emsy said:

I was really getting some trad leading under my belt too.

You're so brave! I've led a few easy trad pitches, but I generally find trad too scary and stick to sport climbing and bouldering 😅. Though I've heard that climbing in the UK is pretty intense because you guys don't like to bolt many routes!

9 minutes ago, Emsy said:

I have been in the climbing gym this year during my window which felt so good. I was aware of how out of condition I’d got but I was really enjoying myself!

Climbing's great in that whatever shape you're in you can find something fun and challenging to do. As I age I've been learning to worry less about how hard I can climb and focus more on just enjoying myself. A good life lesson overall I think!

9 minutes ago, Emsy said:

Thank you @Fullhealing

I understand you’re going through a tough patch at the moment too?

So kind of you to send such warm wishes and really hope things improve for you soon too 🥰

Thank you @Emsy 🤍 made some changes so it's expected although certainly not desired but anyways we'll beat this, stay strong, better days will sure come xxx

I’ve been wondering about you @Emsy

I’m so sorry that this process is so cruel.

Just hang on and you’ll get back to those beautiful windows 💗💗

Oh @Finni sweetheart you are so kind and so immensely brave you are in my thoughts often.

I’m so sorry for what you have been dealing with. It’s so cruel and unfair but we will prevail 💪🥰

Well it’s now 2 weeks since I stopped the PPI (omeprazole) after 8 days use and the withdrawal as my mirtazapine levels drop back to the correct levels is just getting worse day by day. It feels like I’m right back at the beginning again and feeling so so unwell.

I’m going to need time off work AGAIN for the 3rd time in a year. I’ve already had 2 lots of 8 weeks sick leave in the last 12 months.

Looking back at my notes I took omeprazole for 6 weeks right when I first went into withdrawal at the beginning of December 2025 and stopped it on the 9th January. I now believe that this was pivotal to how bad things got for me from the end of January until the beginning of March.

Trying to come to terms with the fact that the GPs terrible advice has destabilised me again and I’m not going to bounce back to baseline in a matter of days as I’d hoped.

Feeling very beaten down with all this and I know some of you have been suffering terribly for much longer and I was so lucky to have that wonderful 10 week window where I was 60% better but honestly I’m feeling so sorry for myself right now.

So many gentle plans for the summer down the drain and back to being housebound and isolated. Yep withdrawal brain is not being nice this morning.

Sending hugs to all who need one xx

Edited July 19Jul 19 by Emsy

23 minutes ago, Emsy said:

Feeling very beaten down with all this and I know some of you have been suffering terribly for much longer and I was so lucky to have that wonderful 10 week window where I was 60% better but honestly I’m feeling so sorry for myself right now.

So many gentle plans for the summer down the drain and back to being housebound and isolated. Yep withdrawal brain is not being nice this morning.

Sending hugs to all who need one xx

You will make it out ❣️

Just do whatever you can to occupy yourself, it's possible to occupy yourself even when you are housebound.

2 hours ago, Emsy said:

Feeling very beaten down with all this and I know some of you have been suffering terribly for much longer and I was so lucky to have that wonderful 10 week window where I was 60% better but honestly I’m feeling so sorry for myself right now.

So many gentle plans for the summer down the drain and back to being housebound and isolated. Yep withdrawal brain is not being nice this morning.

Sending hugs to all who need one xx

I’m so sorry @Emsy. It’s so tough to deal with these setbacks but you have made it through once before and you’ll get through it again. Sending strength and healing your way.

2 hours ago, Emsy said:

Well it’s now 2 weeks since I stopped the PPI (omeprazole) after 8 days use and the withdrawal as my mirtazapine levels drop back to the correct levels is just getting worse day by day. It feels like I’m right back at the beginning again and feeling so so unwell.

I’m going to need time off work AGAIN for the 3rd time in a year. I’ve already had 2 lots of 8 weeks sick leave in the last 12 months.

Looking back at my notes I took omeprazole for 6 weeks right when I first went into withdrawal at the beginning of December 2025 and stopped it on the 9th January. I now believe that this was pivotal to how bad things got for me from the end of January until the beginning of March.

Trying to come to terms with the fact that the GPs terrible advice has destabilised me again and I’m not going to bounce back to baseline in a matter of days as I’d hoped.

Feeling very beaten down with all this and I know some of you have been suffering terribly for much longer and I was so lucky to have that wonderful 10 week window where I was 60% better but honestly I’m feeling so sorry for myself right now.

So many gentle plans for the summer down the drain and back to being housebound and isolated. Yep withdrawal brain is not being nice this morning.

Sending hugs to all who need one xx

I feel you @Emsy wd mind is extra evil especially after a relatively good period but you'll get through it! be gentle with yourself, even if you do much less than you used to that's absolutely ok, things will change for the better and your actions accordingly.

Big hug to you 🩷

Edited July 19Jul 19 by Fullhealing

@Emsy

It feels so cruel after your long window. Just hold onto the knowledge that time settled things before and it will again. All you have to do is get through the days, and you WILL. 💗🩷💗

21 hours ago, Emsy said:

Sending hugs to all who need one xx

Sending hugs back to you @Emsy I am so sorry to hear things are still rough for you. Things settled down before, and they will again. Unfortunately I have lost most of my faith in medicine as a whole. Most of what a Doctor can do it offer a pill and those pills are developed within a system that mainly prioritizes shareholder returns over paitient care. Hate to say it. The good news is the most powerful tool we have is our bodies inbuilt ability to put things right, I am grateful for that. Hang in there, healing is happening. xxxxx

Awful night terrors and nightmares last night and I’m struggling to eat anything.

What a mess. I can’t believe it’s got this bad again.

Ive looked back at my notes on the worst days back early this year and this is on a par if not slightly worse.

I’m scared I’ve made things really bad for myself by upsetting my system like this with the omeprazole and now my nervous system will find it even harder to find its way back a second time.

Hanging on moment to moment as many of us are.

Hugs to all xx

2 hours ago, Emsy said:

Awful night terrors and nightmares last night and I’m struggling to eat anything.

What a mess. I can’t believe it’s got this bad again.

Ive looked back at my notes on the worst days back early this year and this is on a par if not slightly worse.

I’m scared I’ve made things really bad for myself by upsetting my system like this with the omeprazole and now my nervous system will find it even harder to find its way back a second time.

Hanging on moment to moment as many of us are.

Hugs to all xx

So sorry @Emsy. We can’t know how long it will take but your nervous system will find its way back to stability. I don’t know how bad your eating problems are, but please try to keep your strength up — get some high-calorie foods or even meal replacements if you need. We’re here for you 💜.

21 hours ago, Emsy said:

Awful night terrors and nightmares last night and I’m struggling to eat anything.

What a mess. I can’t believe it’s got this bad again.

Ive looked back at my notes on the worst days back early this year and this is on a par if not slightly worse.

I’m scared I’ve made things really bad for myself by upsetting my system like this with the omeprazole and now my nervous system will find it even harder to find its way back a second time.

Hanging on moment to moment as many of us are.

Hugs to all xx

Sending some love @Emsy you will bounce back from this. All we can do is take it one step at a time and accept if things got better before they will get better again. xxxx

I’m in such a mess with my stomach. Not being able to take the omeprazole that usually treats my gastritis very nicely over a few weeks has caused the latest flare up to get really bad and I’m in a lot of pain and discomfort. I’m trying to get small amounts of bland food into me through the nausea and pain but I’m feeling really trapped by not being able to take anything for it.

The GP mentioned Famotidine which is an H2 blocker not a PPI and doesn’t affect liver enzymes but as Mirtazapine is an H1 blocker I’m very wary of trying this. Does anyone have any experience of this? Also other PPIs that don’t affect the liver enzymes quite as strongly as omeprazole.

I’m still in a bad wave on top of all this too and the gastritis is compounding the insomnia and severe anxiety so I’m feeling trapped in a viscous circle.

It may be that I have to try medication for the gastritis knowing it will compound the wave but I can’t risk the gastritis not healing and forming an ulcer.

Has anyone else had to deal with something like this?

Hugs to everyone xx

1 hour ago, Emsy said:

I’m in such a mess with my stomach. Not being able to take the omeprazole that usually treats my gastritis very nicely over a few weeks has caused the latest flare up to get really bad and I’m in a lot of pain and discomfort. I’m trying to get small amounts of bland food into me through the nausea and pain but I’m feeling really trapped by not being able to take anything for it.

The GP mentioned Famotidine which is an H2 blocker not a PPI and doesn’t affect liver enzymes but as Mirtazapine is an H1 blocker I’m very wary of trying this. Does anyone have any experience of this? Also other PPIs that don’t affect the liver enzymes quite as strongly as omeprazole.

I’m still in a bad wave on top of all this too and the gastritis is compounding the insomnia and severe anxiety so I’m feeling trapped in a viscous circle.

It may be that I have to try medication for the gastritis knowing it will compound the wave but I can’t risk the gastritis not healing and forming an ulcer.

Has anyone else had to deal with something like this?

Hugs to everyone xx

Hey Emsy, I have not heard of anyone trying this. My advice as ever is to stay clear of these things, I think they just add fuel to the fire personally. Obviously you have to weigh up the risk of it worsening you with the potential benefit you hope to gain. Generally I have witnessed attempts to treat things often go badly in WD. I wish things were easier for you now, they will be, your system is working hard for you. xxxx

Thanks @Chippy I thought that would be the case. The wave and the gastritis are unfortunately feeding each other and making symptoms worse and I don’t think one will heal without the other healing first. The wave can’t lift because of the severe gastritis symptoms and the gastritis can’t lift because of the wave symptoms. Catch 22 xx

@Emsy You may want to look into supplements and diet changes, supplements are a bit more tricky as you don't know if a supplement can interact with your nervous system and cause issues that way, I had stomach pains personally with wd, and I'm taking daily aloe vera supplement in the morning, I didn't have much issues with it (except it giving me insomnia if i take it too late which is wierd, hence why i take it first thing in the morning).

There are supplements that are better for gastritis but again I have no clue on possible nervous system effects.

2 hours ago, Emsy said:

Thanks @Chippy I thought that would be the case. The wave and the gastritis are unfortunately feeding each other and making symptoms worse and I don’t think one will heal without the other healing first. The wave can’t lift because of the severe gastritis symptoms and the gastritis can’t lift because of the wave symptoms. Catch 22 xx

I am sorry Emsy. Awful. I do hope and believe even though it doesn’t feel like it your system will settle eventually. It can feel endless when in the midst of it all.

2 hours ago, Lighty said:

@Emsy You may want to look into supplements and diet changes, supplements are a bit more tricky as you don't know if a supplement can interact with your nervous system and cause issues that way, I had stomach pains personally with wd, and I'm taking daily aloe vera supplement in the morning, I didn't have much issues with it (except it giving me insomnia if i take it too late which is wierd, hence why i take it first thing in the morning).

There are supplements that are better for gastritis but again I have no clue on possible nervous system effects.

Thanks @Lighty gastritis has been something I’ve had episodes of over the last several years, always triggered by stress and more latterly withdrawal waves, so I’d done a nutrition course, lots of gut healing protocols, my diet is super clean (no dairy, soy, seed oils, sugar) no upf, I’d been gastritis free for 6 months so really thought I’d cracked it! I tried everything in the past, aloe Vera, slippery elm, marshmallow, DGL, but the only thing that seems to allow it to heal once stress flares it is the PPI reducing my stomach acid for a few weeks to give it space to recover.

I know I need a better way going forward but this feels like a lifeline has been removed for me.

I have some gaviscon which I’ll try and I’ll make sure I give it a good 4 hours either side of my mirtazapine dose to be safe.

@Emsy I've been dealing with gastritis for years. If you'd like, I'd be happy to share some honest thoughts and my own experience with it. You want it?

@The Dust hey, yes please, it’s always good to hear others experiences.

Mine is always, always, triggered by anxiety/stress. If I’m calm and happy, no stomach issues!

Ok, when my gastritis was seen on gastroscopy I actually didn't feel or expect anything. No burning sensations at all. I had bloating and brain fog I suspected Small intentional bacterial overgrowth that time. (One year later I did tested it and was positive. I was right according to that, but symthoms like bloating were/are probably also caused by gastritis and not just by gases produced by sibo.) I wanted to say that according to symthoms it's hard to make any conclusions, because someone can have bloating and not burning sensation, someone else can have just the opposite. Even me I had no burning sensation at first, but later it was unbearable. later I reduced burning sensation by prolong fasting, so now I have almost no burning sensation, but I have painful cramping on empty stomach and discomfort. So, symthoms can be unspecific and can vary from person to person. Just being free from burning sensation doesn't show much.

I want to ask you what else do you feel? Are you bloated?

I wonder what kind of opinion you made if you read gastritis stories. I see that people are staying on gastritis diet plus taking PPI and some of them are disappointed, because they are not healed, the other say they were healed but later their gastritis supposedly came back because they ate something wrong. Or was it just still there...?

You said that your gastritis was already healed, but the problem is that if you doesn't feel anything for a short while and then gastritis come back it is more likely that it was never healed. It was still there all the time... Same shit with stress. I can totally believe you that you fell gastritis more intense when you are anxious, but don't you think that stress just reveal gastritis and not cause it (again)? Or, maybe, you feel more anxious when you feel burns?

PPI and gastritis diet, as I see, was not even there to heal anything. Some gastroenterologists are clear saying gastritis is incurable and everything you can do is to reduce the pain by PPI, frequent smaller meals and diet... It's sad, but they are somehow right, because this disease is persistent and nobody doesn't really know how to heal it. Nobody doesn't know even why does it appear. Saying that one type of food is causing it, is quite a myth, we can say that non-steroid antiinflammatory drugs and smoking are the cause, but everyone with gastritis doesn't smoke or take aspirin...

Can you share with me, please if you have form any opinion about everything?

@The Dust i think you’re right that the gastritis never goes away, it’s been there my whole life, and stress and anxiety just flare the symptoms.

For many years these flares were infrequent and didn’t last long but once I hit menopause and my 50’s they have become much more frequent and long lived, partly I believe to the thinning of the stomach lining as we get older.

I don’t get reflux, or burning really, I get the very painful gnawing feeling under my sternum as if someone is repeatedly punching me in that area and it’s absolutely made worse if I am not eating 3 regular meals a day. The longer my stomach stays empty the more painful it becomes.

The PPI only ‘heal’ the symptoms by keeping the acid away long enough for the damaged area to heal enough that the pain goes away. If I get a flare again and more acid due to stress, the sensitive area quickly becomes damaged again and then the pain starts.

I don’t believe that diet heals gastritis but if we have gastritis then there are foods that can make it worse.

PPIs are not the answer and have many issues and I know many people my age who take them continuously to ‘manage’ reflux and gastritis symptoms.

I don’t know what the answer is and at some point I will arrange a gastroscope but right now I’m not really functioning in this wave and can’t take any sedatives for the procedure due to my mirtazapine taper.

@Emsy, thank you a lot for your help by sharing your story and opinion! i'm glad that we agree about the things. If you have gastritis so long i think it would be meaningful to have gastroscopy at some point. You mentioned ulcer, but as I know your gastritis could be less dangerous if it's "just" an inflammation (hyperemic gastric mucosa) and not an erosive gastritis. Probably it's not the latter and your lining stays ok... You are afraid of sedatives, but you know, you don't need to have it, i didn't have it. I had just local anesthetic (throat) and that was it.

Can you help me, by answering another question? You know, I have painful cramping just under my sternum, or right under my ribs. I have a feeling that this cramps are pulling me together and I can't ignore them? I am always wandering if it's because of stomach or somewhere else, but i am sure that cramping is more intense, if my stomach become empty it become worse. When I eat something I see that everything relaxes somehow? You said you know people with gastritis. Are they mentioning painful cramping on their empty stomach? Discomfort?