stomach ulcers and drugs and alcohol

[psytaco]

Thought I'd try this one in AUSDD due to no one answering my question in the healthy living section.

I have had a stomahc ulcer since march which was the result of too many NSAID and codeine mixes.

I have seen the doctor about it, and have been prescribed nexium 40mg. It works quite well.

i have not used any drugs whilst having the stomach ulcer except for cigarettes and coffee, and 2 beers one night.

i recently aggreviated it when I got sick and used ibuprofen a few nights in a row. though the symptoms were not as severe as they intially were, I still had some nausea and burping.

At the moment I am still taking Nexium and am basically symptom free with the exception of burping a bit more than usual.

I am about to leave for an 8 month trip overseas and I would like to enjoy myself and drink, and use drugs occassionally.

For a stomach ulcer that does not have severe symptoms, is it safe to use MDMA (in pill form). My girlfriend has bought some pills that are high MDMA and I would love to try some. Will this badly aggrevate the ulcer?

What about mushrooms?

Also, I would like to do some drinking whilst overseas. My doctor didn't say not to drink, and he recommended not drinking spirits. He seemed to think beer would be better. Has anyone had experience with drinking a few times a week with a stomach ulcer?

i would also like to use cocaine, but as it is taken nasally will it still be a problem?

the main thing I am concerned about is getting a perforated stomach. I imagine this isn't easily done, but none the less it is something that I worry about.

Any advice from people who have a stomach ulcer and have used drugs is much appreciated.
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[grugz]

I duno, id just rail everything, pills n coke.

I think the doc says avoid hard alcohol, as alcohol as it can dry out n prevent healing of stomach.

Try to eat before hand before taking stuff, so you dont get hungry and also to use up stomach acid.

Take some antacids so it lowers stomach acid, may help healing, but do this when not eating, and a while after eating to let it digest

 

[psytaco]

cheers mate.

I'm taking nexium at the moment which is a protein pump inhibitor which reduces the amount of stomach acid in the stomach. I take it everyday and it seems to be quite effective in reducing the symptoms.

i just don't want the worst case scenario of the ulcer getting so badly damaged that it leads to a hole in my stomach and I need emergency surgery. I'll be in the US and that kind of surgery would financially cripple me.

yeah, i was thinking of railing the pills and just keeping booze to a minimum (which can be difficult for me - a few beers can easily lead to 10+). unfortunately, when you rail things you still get some in your stomach but the concentration will be much less.

having something to eat, or drinking some milk or juice before hand is a good idea.

anyone else who has had a stomach ulcer got any advice?

 

[headdah]

even when u rail the drugs. a lot still gets thru to your stomache (the drip) so i'd reconmend you to plug everything yo. ^^

stay away from alchy as much as possible???

also drink more milk!

milk is good for stomache


/edit - You should stay clear of coffee too bro!

 

[psytaco]

^ yeah I've been trying to replace coffee with no-doz. but I do love my coffee and will still drink a couple of cups a day.

yeah, I'll try and drink as little as possible. kind of sucks though but at least by doing so I'll save alot of money.

 

[puckboy]

I got 2 small peptic ulcers in my stomach back in 2009 from too much NSAIDs associated with codeine abuse like yourself. I've been on and off nexium ever since though currently I am not taking it.

If you're on the nexium long enough and take care of yourself the ulcers should heal completely from what doctors have told me. I still get stomach pain rarely but that could be completely unrelated. Before taking the nexium I had really bad heart-burn, especially after eating but after staying on the nexium for a while these symptoms went away and haven't returned.

As for other drugs, I used MDMA a few times (orally), lots of d-amp (orally), benzos (orally), a few acid trips and drank quite heavily for much of last year. I also smoked quite alot of weed and continued to use codeine though I switched to paracetamol brands and was extremely thorough with my extractions. Personally I regret all the drug use when I should have been focused on healing, though at the same time at no point did any of this use cause my ulcers to flare up.

I've quit all drugs as I went through some horrendous benzo withdrawals several weeks ago and they are still currently diminishing. But that experience in itself has scared the shit out of me in regard to my physical and mental health. I have pretty bad paranoia each day worrying about long-term physical health problems I may have caused and this motivates me to never go back.

I don't have much advice other than to avoid caffeine, spicy foods but mainly stop using codeine and alcohol. A few beers is probably ok though I wouldn't be getting shit faced. Not sure what else to say, my memory is rather fucked at the moment.

 

[L3inad]

Depending on what your relationship with your GP is like, I'd just be open and ask his thoughts.

They do generally know best

I wouldnt though.. for fear of loosing prescriptions haha. You may not have that issue.

Haven't quite gotten to the stomach ulcer part of my health related learnings but I think its fair to say anything that's notably caustic (basic or acidic I guess) is probably not something to be taken orally in your circumstance.

Rectal admin would be favourable for alot of substances, failing that nasal still keeps most out of your guts.

Party safe.

 

[headdah]

even no doze is no good bro. thats still gonna hurt your stomache too!

also, avoid eating spicey food!

 

[88brenno]

Seems a few people are getting stomach ulcers, did you guys who get them perform C.W.E?

 

[Divine Moments]

i have not used any drugs whilst having the stomach ulcer except for cigarettes and coffee, and 2 beers one night.

All 3 of those are bad for stomach ulcers...

Haven't heard anything about MDMA/cocaine and ulcers though - I assume you've searched for it so I won't bother. I don't see why MDMA would be an issue. Cocaine causes vasoconstriction which may impair healing, but unless you're using it regularly that shouldn't be a big problem either.

 

[psytaco]

damn! thought I was in the clear with the No Doz. the cigarettes I can skip, should give them up anyway. but the caffeine is like my DOC at the moment. working close to full time and studying full time, means i often physically and mentally fatigued - and need caffeine to keep me focused.

Luckily once I start travelling i won't be using much coffee as I cut back on it to next to nothing when I don't have something that requires alot of focus.

The cigarettes and alcohol will no doubt increase though.

88breno: nah this wasn't the result of CWE. i got complacent, and would eat 10 neurofen plus over the course of the day. once or twice a week. one week I did this, then went out and got shit faced on booze. plus had some speed and MD caps which I presume were methylone. after taking the cap I could feel it churning in my stomach. over the next few days I got all the classic symptoms of a stomach ulcer, and then I went to the doctor and he confirmed my suspisions.

Puckboy: its good to hear that despite all that heavy drug use it didn't cause any severe flare ups of the stomach ulcer.
As for the benzos, I have been though that withdrawal, and I feel your pain brother. Don't stress too much about things. to be honest, I doubt you have caused any lasting damage to yourself. after you completely kick the benzos, all the worry and terrible withdrawals will go away and you'll start to feel level headed again. stay strong mate.

BTW, spoke to a pharmacist today and they said keep the booze to a minimum. Also good news was that she said perforated stomachs don't just happen overnight and I would have progressively worse symptoms overtime before it lead to this. So I'll take it easy and just listen to my body. if things get painful again, then I'll cut all the party supplements out.

 

[88brenno]

damn! thought I was in the clear with the No Doz. the cigarettes I can skip, should give them up anyway. but the caffeine is like my DOC at the moment. working close to full time and studying full time, means i often physically and mentally fatigued - and need caffeine to keep me focused.

Luckily once I start travelling i won't be using much coffee as I cut back on it to next to nothing when I don't have something that requires alot of focus.

The cigarettes and alcohol will no doubt increase though.

88breno: nah this wasn't the result of CWE. i got complacent, and would eat 10 neurofen plus over the course of the day. once or twice a week. one week I did this, then went out and got shit faced on booze. plus had some speed and MD caps which I presume were methylone. after taking the cap I could feel it churning in my stomach. over the next few days I got all the classic symptoms of a stomach ulcer, and then I went to the doctor and he confirmed my suspisions.

Puckboy: its good to hear that despite all that heavy drug use it didn't cause any severe flare ups of the stomach ulcer.
As for the benzos, I have been though that withdrawal, and I feel your pain brother. Don't stress too much about things. to be honest, I doubt you have caused any lasting damage to yourself. after you completely kick the benzos, all the worry and terrible withdrawals will go away and you'll start to feel level headed again. stay strong mate.

BTW, spoke to a pharmacist today and they said keep the booze to a minimum. Also good news was that she said perforated stomachs don't just happen overnight and I would have progressively worse symptoms overtime before it lead to this. So I'll take it easy and just listen to my body. if things get painful again, then I'll cut all the party supplements out.

When I perform my C.W.E through a coffee filter I always get tiny particals of binder or paracetamol, and top it off with one 500/15..... sometimes I will use 2 500/15.

I know that feeling i have eaten 2 500/15 on an empty stomach and it kind of feels like your gut is i dunno caving in or something? Should I be worried? I normally do C.W.E once to twice a week and only feel the stomach caving when I eat them on an empty stomach.

After I have a light meal it subsides though.

 

[psytaco]

Though paracetamol is more toxic than ibuprofen (bad for your liver and kidneys) to my knowledge it does not cause stomach ulcers. maybe the codeine is causing you nausea?

probably a good idea to have some milk or something first, that should get rid of the stomahc feelings. Also, learn from my mistakes and keep doing CWE. particularly if your using paracetamol & codeine. too much paracetamol can cause liver and kidney failure. Apparently it is the most common drug overdosed off.

 

[grugz]

even when u rail the drugs. a lot still gets thru to your stomache (the drip) so i'd reconmend you to plug everything yo. ^^

stay away from alchy as much as possible???

also drink more milk!

milk is good for stomache


/edit - You should stay clear of coffee too bro!

Pluging might be diffcult in some places.

I recomend getting travel insurance dude. I found aami was cheapest for me, but shop around cuz difference in travel time alter costs

 

[psytaco]

hey mate. yeah getting travel insurance and am letting them know about the stomach ulcer so they will cover it if something bad happens. means I have to pay a higher premium though.

At this stage I am just getting 5 months - comes to a whopping $1200!!!! this is without letting them know about the stomach ulcer.

The most fucked thing is that is the US that is driving my health insurance up - latin america isn't as much of an issue.

 

[Mr Blonde]

Alcohol is only really a major issue when there is infection with H. pylori, and even then only increases risk of worsening ulceration moderately.

This study here indicates that either nicotine is not associated with peptic ulcer development or there is some other mechanism behind involvement.

The effects of an intravenous infusion of nicotine at a dose of 2 . 5, 5 . 0, 7 . 5, or 10 . 0 micrograms kg-1h-1 on pentagastrin-stimulated gastric mucosal blood flow and acid secretion were investigated in eight healthy male non-smokers. Each dose was tested in two males. Gastric neutral red clearance served as a measure of mucosal blood flow. Nicotine reduced volume secretion, acid secretion, and neutral red clearance in a dose dependent manner. In five healthy male smokers smoking of five cigarettes per two hours induced similar changes to the intravenous infusion of 5 micrograms kg-1h-1 nicotine. As volume secretion was inhibited more than neutral red clearance, it is concluded that nicotine increases blood supply to the gastric mucosa relatively to the reduced gastric secretion. Nicotine is either not associated with the development of peptic ulcers, or it exerts its ulcerogenic action via other mechanisms than change of acid secretion and gastric mucosal blood flow.

It's interesting that a lot of things that were considered to be causes of peptic ulcers, such as nicotine, alcohol, spicy foods, coffee, etc... are now either no longer considered risk factors or are only risk factors when there is H. pylori infection. And H. pylori infection rates are considerably lower now in the Western world then they once were, due to increased hygiene and living standards.

Also see this thread, in which p_d makes a good post about how MDMA may lower the pH level (make more acidic) of the stomach contents.

 

[Divine Moments]

^ haha dude that nicotine study is from 1982...

I cbf searching articles at the moment, but from a textbook (I know they can be wrong too):

Cigarette smoking is twice as common in patients with chronic peptic ulcer diseaes as in the general population. Its pathogenic role is attributed to increased vagal activity, and its effect on producing relative gastric mucosal ischaemia. Cessation of smoking, however, greatly assists in the healing of peptic ulcers.

It's very well-established that smoking negatively influences healing, so in someone with an established ulcer (such as the OP) it would be detrimental. It's causative role sounds less certain though.


Regarding alcohol (same book):

Alcohol, aspirin and other NSAIDs are all known to induce acute mucosal inflammation directly (acute gastritis). In a susceptible individual, the inflammation may persist, resulting in chronic ulceration. Prolonged heavy alcohol intake is also a recognised risk factor.

Keep in mind not everything on wiki is accurate

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ Ha ha, touche DIVINE MOMENTS, touche. I have the same problem with all my chemistry and pharmacology textbooks being from the early 1970's.

ETA: The study I quoted mentions reduced blood flow to the mucous membranes of the gut, which could then be the cause of increased healing time and increased risk for ulceration.

I use Wiki mainly for the references, and one of the more recent studies (1997) has a note attached that data in the study indicates that nicotine is an aggravating co-factor and not a direct cause of ulceration, though I do not have full access to the article so can't verify that.

Here is an interesting article from Medscape about the topic.

...the balance of evidence suggests that nicotine has a role in peptic ulcer disease, and acts by increasing the aggressive factors and decreasing the defensive factors.

So smoking is bad for healing of the ulcers, but there is no hard evidence that it actively causes peptic ulcers itself.

And I still stand by my statement that a lot of things once assumed to cause ulcers actually do not and instead may just aggravate them or reduce healing times.

 

[Jabberwocky]

lefty?

lmao:D wrong fellow, friend!

 

[puckboy]

Theres a difference between a peptic ulcer and a full on stomach ulcer which is caused by bacteria which those 2 Aussie doctors got the nobel prize for figuring out.

A peptic ulcer is like a graze on the stomach lining and is generally caused by NSAIDs and has nothing to do with bacteria. An actual stomach ulcer on the other hand is caused by the bacteria and requires anti-biotics and is more of a wound on the stomach lining (much worse). If psytaco was not prescribed anti-biotics and probably had a blood test? to verify it wasn't that kind of ulcer (as the bacteria that causes full on stomach ulcers will show up) then I was under the assumption it was a peptic ulcer which should heal in time.