Hi all,

The reason i'm posting on this forum is to hopefully get another opinion on my medical condition. Forgive me if the post is long, but I want you to have all the necessary details

It all started a couple of years ago, I was 19 years old and had acid probs, severe heartburns as they say... Because my father grandfather have the same prob :p I went to the hospital and made an appoint for a gastroscopy.

They saw my "cardia" (dont know what it is, if you could enligten me please) was slightly red and possibly infected.
Treatment : take omeprazole for 3 weeks (20mg)...
About omeprazole... It's a miracle medicine, for me that is... If I start taking it, 3 days later my acid problem is gone.

So I discovered this medicine that fixed my acid problem... cool.
from my 19 years - 24 years, I had to regularly take it for 2-3 weeks (couple of times a year), and it always fixed my prob.

Oh.. the stomach sample after the gastro : "NO helicobacter pilori"
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Part 2 :p

3 months ago I started feeling the following :
- when I wake up in the morning, empty stomach --> pain (feeling like having air pumped into your stomach)
- when I eat --> pain is gone, 2 hours later pain starts again

So, I went to the hospital again, explained them the above symptoms...
Doc asked me to stop taking omeprazole for 2 weeks and come back for a gastro so he could see what was going on... So I did.

those 2 weeks were hell for me :p, I had that acid problem all day long for 2 weeks, couldn't sleep well at night etc... But I didnt touch meds, cause I knew the only one who would be cheated was me !

To make a long story... well longer, after the 2nd gastro (5 years later) the doc diagnosed me with the following problem :

- 3 very small ulcers with infected tissue around, so small they looked like scars the doc told me, he also took a sample of the infected tissue, just to see "how infected" it was...
- and again the famous "cardia", but this time he told me I had a "gaping cardia"... whatever that means, he didnt explain me a thing...
- He did an echo, of my kidney's, liver and all other organs round my stomach, they were all A OK
- The doctors also took a blood sample to check the "gastrine hormone level" (what does this hormone regulate ?), didnt get the results on this one yet.
- Stomach tissue sample for the helicobacter pilori test was negative

* He basically told me I had 2 probs now, gaping cardia & small ulcers
The doctor prescribed me omeprazole, again, told me to take it 3 weeks, 20mg a day and further "as necessary" ???!!! ...

3 days later my acid problem was solved , but not the pain...
It's been 2,5 weeks now, I still have the same pain symptoms in my stomach like I described above, I have to admit the rib cage pain is gone, but the pain in the morning and 2 hours after eating isnt gone yet...

important info 'bout me :
- I dont smoke, drink coffe/alcohol or eat spicy food (after 5 years of having an acid prob you learn to live with it and you just avoid those things).

Well I suppose my small ulcers are not fully healed yet ?
How long does it take for them to heal ?
Is 20mg of omeprazole a day enough ? Could I take another type of medicine to put a coating on the ulcers or something (obviously during the night your stomach is allmost empty I suppose...)

I would love to have some advice on mediaction and how to proceed with my problem... lots of people 'round me say I'm too young to start having ulcer probs... And to be honest I'm tired of feeling that pain, it's starting to weigh mentally on me, getting a bit depressed, loosing weight (60kg now)...

thx ! and sorry for the long post