Hi, about 2 months ago I was diagnosed with anemia. I immediately stopped drinking alcohol because they said I might have ulcers or something else wrong with my stomach. About 5 weeks ago I had an endoscopy of my stomach and a colonoscopy. They said they found several small duodenal ulcers (they also did a biopsy and found out later I have celiacs, which they say is what really caused the anemia). Once I found out I had ulcers I actually started drinking a glass or two a wine each day because I read that it might actually help kill H. pylori, but stopped drinking again about 1.5-2 weeks later when the biopsy came back and it turned out I didn't have H. pylori. Since then I haven't had any alcohol except a little bit of whiskey once or twice.
The doctor prescribed me omeprazole and told me not eat anything spicy or drink alcohol for a month and to take the omeprazole for 3 months.
I never thought I had any ulcer symptoms, but looking back I realize what I had always thought was just hunger might actually have been pain from the ulcers. I've had those hunger pains for at least the past year and a half but it's always been mild and gone away as soon as I ate, so I never really thought about it.
What I'm wondering is whether it's okay for me to drink again. It's been 5 weeks since I was diagnosed, one week longer than the doctor told me I needed to wait, but I still get that pain in my abdomen. Does it need to go away completely before I can drink again? Like I said, the pain is mild and doesn't really bother me, but I don't want to do any damage and be forced to take on a more restrictive diet or be in serious pain.
Re: duodenal ulcer, when can I start drinking again?
Over a yr ago I had an Ulcer, result of H.Pylori.
I haven't drank since (my choice). I can actually feel where my Ulcer was as soon as alcohol (wine or spirit) reaches that spot.
If your Dr said 5 wks and that is past then it should be OK. You will know yourself if you get any symptoms after drinking.
Wine causes me a lot of pain and so do some foods. I try to avoid anything that triggers it off as the pain is awful.
Good Luck, Solofelix.
Re: duodenal ulcer, when can I start drinking again?
So I did end up drinking. The first night I didn't notice any pain, the second night I noticed a bit but it was minor, and then the third night there was some noticeable pain. The only thing is I don't think it could be pain from my duodenal ulcers since the pain would happen like 3-5 seconds after I would take a drink, last a few seconds and then go away. The pain was mild but definitely noticeable. Doesn't it take the alcohol longer than that to get to the doudenum? After a couple hours of drinking a persistent mild burning developed that got better when I drank water and ate and finally went away completely when I had some ice cream. Is it possible I could have developer a peptic or esophageal ulcer? I was on doxycycline recently and I read that can give you esophageal ulcers. Or could it just be heartburn? Would maybe taking antacids the next time I drank help?
