In 2019, I had persistent stomach pain that lingered long after my menstrual cycle. It started to get worse by the day, so went to the ER. Didn’t have any imaging done, the ER doctor just told me it was likely Gastritis. She didn’t explain what it was or what could have caused it. Just said it should go away & wasn’t serious enough for an ER visit, gave me a pamphlet, & discharged me. It was never brought to my attention that she wrote me a prescription for Famotidine. Earlier this year, I looked over my paperwork from that visit & discovered that she wrote a prescription in the discharge notes —but she electronically sent it to that Hospital’s pharmacy, automatically assuming that I was a patient there. I was not, which is why once I never picked up the meds , I never got any phone call or follow up about the meds.

In 2020, I went to the same ER since it’s good quality & closer to my home. I was having chest pain. The ER doctor at the time wanted to rule out heart issues , so he ran me through a CT. Incidentally, another health issue was discovered but he said that it had nothing to do with my heart. He never gave me any advice about that chest pain , was just now focused on giving attention to what he incidentally discovered. He gave me an out patient referral to a specialist to see about it , but discharged me otherwise. I didn’t find out then that I had GERD.

In 2021, I was recommended to see a gastroenterologist since I was having chest pain more frequently but cardiac events had been ruled out & my stomach pain had started to return & get worse along with it. It took several months to see someone, but I finally had an endoscopy in September of that year. It revealed GERD, Mild Chronic gastritis, & H. Pylori negative.

I was written a prescription for Pantoprazole 40 mg once a day & Pepcid once a day

Foolishly , & I regret this.. I decided to not take the medication because I was afraid of the side effects. I did research on people’s testimonies who have recommended not taking PPIs because they claimed it caused their condition to get worse , while creating long term side effects. Again , it was stupid for me to focus more on that — rather than the side affects of NOT taking the medication.

I didn’t take any medication until a year later in November 2022. I had tried to control my symptoms on my own by treating it naturally, but that was dumb because I wasn’t as strict or as consistent as I should have been. Once I noticed it wasn’t fully getting better , I buckled down & went to my primary care doctor for a prescription. He was aware that I chose to not take the medication that the GI doctor had previously prescribed. He was okay with me trying a natural method but once I told him my symptoms weren’t well controlled on my own, he was adamant about getting me on a medication to avoid future complications.

I started Pantoprazole in November 2022. He recommended an 8- week course to treat the gastritis & to control the GERD. Once January 2023 came around, he asked how I was doing. I told him not 100%, but that I was better than not taking it. He gave me the option to stop taking it & told me it’s not a medication you want to stay on long term. I was aware of the potential long term side effects, so I chose to stop taking it.

I went off of it for 2 months. I thought I was okay to introduce foods back into my diet , so I started eating normally again. In April , my symptoms got worse. I won’t say that “they came back”, because despite being on the medication, they never fully went away , just improved. But when they got worse in April , I still tried to pull through since the follow up with my primary doctor was in May.

Well, guess what— literally the same morning I had my follow up, just before leaving home, I discovered blood in my stool. Mainly on the paper. I brought it up to my doctor that same morning & we did an anoscopy in office & occult blood test. He couldn’t detect any fissures or hemorrhoids & the test was negative.

The bloody stool continued along with my other stomach symptoms.

I went back to primary care a week later. The occult blood test was positive this time.

So I’m being referred for another endoscopy & also colonoscopy but the referral could take a while ..

In the meantime, I was told to start Pantoprazole again & wait for a referral to see a GI doctor.

It’s been a month since they did the anoscopy & being back on Pantoprazole. The GERD & gastritis symptoms haven’t improved much while being on it. The bloody stool did improve a little but still is evident here & there.

Can cancer develop so quickly? Idk what the risks would be given my situation. It’s alarming to think about but I’m just tired of this constant misery— both physically & mentally. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

TL;DR : Diagnosed with GERD/ Chronic gastritis. After endoscopy, foolishly went a year without taking medication. Now symptoms are worse , more persistent, & bloody stools not due to fissure or hemmrhoids are present —-all despite finally taking medication.