Gut health - brand new Q&A with Dr Michael Mosley

I suffered a sudden and severe gastritis in November 2016 and had all the investigations including endoscopy, ultrasound and blood tests. The diagnosis was gastritis caused by long usage of ibuprofen. I have been on 40mg omeprazole daily and diet restriction avoiding acidic, spicy foods and alcohol.

My lovely GP said to try stopping the omeprazole this month and see what happened. Well I did stop and then had three severe episodes within the next week so back on the omeprazole. He has told me to carry on with it for another six months and then try again without it.

I am comfortable regarding side effects (none so far) and reassured that my gastritis is controlled by the omeprazole. My question is, am I likely to have a chronic problem with the damage to my stomach lining or will it heal eventually?

After having been diagnosed as having Osteopaenia (sp), several years ago, I was prescribed AdCal, twice a day, and Alendronic Acid once a week. I stopped the Alendronic Acid, a couple of years ago now, after not liking what I read about it, but now take just one AdCal every day. Then after a heart attack in 2012, I am now on Bisoprolol 5mg, Candestartan 8mg, and Soluble Aspirin 75mg, every day. I was prescribed Simvastatin 40mg, which I have stopped as they caused lots of muscle ache. Omeprazole was given to prevent heart burn, but recently stopped that regularly, and have a Zantac if necessary. Am I doing more harm than good? I get incredibly tired if I overdo things.

I have been taking Omniprozale for a while now for acid reflux but due to problems with bloating stomach cramps and keep having to go to the toilet the doctor has changed the Omniprozale to a different ppi pantoprazole, my question is i also take 75mg of thyroxine daily does taking ppi's affect the use of thyroxine or any other medication and should you take ppi tablets indefinitely

I've not seen my GP about my possible IBS. I have only had problems in the past 3-4 yrs. I have been diagnosed T2 diabetic (7 yrs) and take Metformin and insulin plus statins etc.
I take a precautionary dose of loperamide H if I am going to be away from the house for more than a couple of hours. I can go 3-4 days with no problems then I pass a normal motion sometimes followed 10-15 mins later by an urgent need or a loose motion later in the day, . (never any blood) I have discomfort sometimes even on a good day.
I know a side effect of Metformin can be gut problems. Do you think I should see my GP ?
Thanks

My problem is alternate constipation, lasting two or three days, followed by having to go four or five times a day, no stomach cramps, just loose stools. Saw GP and referred for colonoscopy where polyps were found and removed. Biopsy is clear and hospital suggest symptoms could be due ti IBS.
My question is this, could these symptoms be caused by Gaviscon, prescribed along with Lansoprozil (?) for reflux. Incidentally my only symptom of reflux was a croaky voice and a feeling of phlegm in my upper chest. The bowel symptoms started at about the time I started this medication. My GP says unlikely.

I have me/cfs.Hashimotoes and 5 other autoimmune diseases for the last 23 years.As where i live in the north of england drs no nothing and the help ive recieved as been abismal.So abt 4 years ago i decided to take responseabilty fir my own health .Ive always kept up with all research.
I dumped all but 2 of the meds the drs had me on .Inc statins .Which i was very ill on.I gave up Wheat , grains diary , except goats.I find im intolant to pulses and some green veg.None of my self help made an once of differsnce In fact i becsme worse.I still drink wine not red.I also have candida albicans .So i bake a healthy loaf without wheat or yeast.I have tried killing tge yeasts off with wormwood Pacd.auco ets I take pre and pro botics and have done for years .i cook every thing from scarch and have dumped all processed foods .Help

Last year on Trust me I'm a Doctor a member of the team went to Israel to have her gut analysed. From memory she was told that each gut is unique and a diet that would work well for one person would be useless for another. Is this still the case, and if so how can we work out what to eat, other than perhaps the obvious things such as prebiotics?

I take omeprazole for reflux. I often feel the need to eat something to get rid of the burning feeling in my gullet. How could I get rid of this feeling as it would help with weight loss. Although I never feel hungry I can eat substantial amounts at any time of the day/night.

My daughter and I have started Slimming World and, as you know, it is fruit and vegetable based for maximum weight loss. She has IBS and struggles with the diet as she is so bloated now. We both have a lot of flatulence, no problem for me but she is suffering. She has been tested for gluten intolerance. She isn't intolerant and there is very little wheat in this diet. Is this the best diet for her I wonder?

I'm interested in the issue raised by Aitch - the vagus nerve

It's hardly ever talked about - could you say something about it, please? Particularly its role in digestion?

Thank you, thank you, thank you! And for all the TV programmes - fascinating.

I had a questionaire a few weeks ago about something like this from the "Million Women" study.

Having had IBS for years I was told Ii was .probably gluten intolerant - however it didn't make much difference and I would have what I termed a "colitis" attack far too often
However I now think it's fermented stuff as grapes really upset me as does beer and red wine (not that that's the end of the world) but I have now cut out bread and omg it has made such a difference - I'm beginning to feel normal
Could this be the answer

Does the gut work less efficiently as we get older and, if so, what is the likely impact?

I have had indigestion and heartburn in the past for which I took omeprazole daily. Now I only have heartburn occasionally, taking ranitidine as needed.
I like to avoid taking any medication so I only take the ranitidine if my heartburn is really uncomfortable.
My question is: Could I be risking damaging my oesophagus by not taking it?

With all the research done by Monash University resulting in the Low Fodmap Diet I am concerned that there are some on here with IBS who have not been put on this regime to help them. TheMaggiejane1, for instance, should surely be getting information about what fruit and vegetables she should and shouldn't eat. What is your opinion on the low take-up of this and the lack of dietitian guidance?

After surgery several years ago for a hiatus hernia I was diagnosed as having dumping sydrome. There are several trigger foods that I know to avoid but the classic symptons of nausea, racing pulse, heat and extreme weariness find me having to lie down for over an hour waiting for the symptons to subside can catch me unawares of yet another food that is likely to trigger another "no no" I have lost nearly three stone (not as good as it sounds - think incredible increase in wrinkles etc etc.) Main food no noes are bread, sweet stuff, cream. I'm told this is often a complication of this surgery, damage to the Vagus(spelling?) nerve. I take, on a daily basis, Kefir grains in milk and this does seem to reduce the flare ups but not eliminate them. Any other advice would be much appreciated.

My son has I.B.D. He has been told by doctor that we have two 'brains' our normal one and one in our gut. Is this a theory with which you concur? And if so how can we align the two 'body clocks'? Also son cannot eat fibre what can be done about G.P 's who think this is the solution for all I.B.S sufferers?

I hope you will define precisely what you mean by junk food. The expression is used far too much about food that is not junk at all.

I heard about a woman (don't ask me who, where or when!) whose gut was very ill after antibiotics and (not sure but possibly) chemotherapy. She was bedridden and hardly able to function. She had a healthy poo transplant (I think her son was the donor) and her life was transformed. What do you think about poo transplants and are they available here? (My gut is pretty good on 5:2 fasting and plenty of fibre! I was sorry to hear, on your programme about insomnia, that you hate butter beans! Try this? It's so good and we've tweaked it to yield about 1cal/g. www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gigantes_with_tomatoes_47546 or search Rick Stein Gigantes.)

'Healthy' eating all seems to be based on lots of fruit, vegetables, fibre and probiotics these days, I suffer from IBS and can only manage 1 small piece of fruit every few days, 2 servings of vegetables, I have to be very careful with all pulses, brown rice and whole grain pasta. Probiotics seem to be dairy based which I also can't eat. If I diverge from this I get a very upset stomach. I'd love to be able to eat more healthily, any suggestions?

Thank you for your wonderful programmes and I am going to buy the book. Medication is a problem particularly AMITRIPTYLINE. I am annoying my lovely doctor by refusing to take it regularly for pain control. He has my sympathy but I have to live with the consequences on my gut. They want me to lose weight as well. Hmmm. Can you suggest a better solution please. Thank you.

I know that taking antibiotics can affect the balance of various things (and cause thrush etc which is why lots of people take live yogurt or probiotics when they take a course)

But setting aside overuse of antibiotics - of course there will be times when they are absolutely necessary. So what do you suggest to avoid them doing damage as well as good? Is it really as simple as the yogurt thing?

Please could you tell me whether menopause can be affected by gut health and if so what I could do to help improve my symptoms?

when I was growing up no one seemed to have allergies and now they are so common. is there a reason for this? and is there anything that can be done? My 7 year old granddaughter has a type 2 (gastro intestinal) allergy that is very acute - at first she was told to take tiny amounts of the substances she was allergic to (wheat and tomatoes) in order for her body to learn to tolerate them but when she continued to be unwell they told her to avoid them altogether and this has been helpful. But is she destined to be like this forever? Might she grow out of them? And would changing the microbes in her gut make any difference? She eats a healthy balanced diet and takes a probiotic every morning

My question follows on from the one about weightloss. I assume that what is good for one gut isn't necessarily good for another so how do we programme our own guts to optimise being able to lose weight?