There is no magic ulcer cure

Not until I developed a stomach ulcer that I got to know that the disease is more common than I thought, although the symptoms seem to vary from one individual to another and depending on the type of ulcer (gastric, duodenal, or esophageal). As far as the severity of my symptoms is concerned, there was a time when I started planning my burial. I could picture myself lying dead and being placed in the grave. It was so terrible that I gave myself a maximum of a month to live.

Alas! Here I am today, making a post about ulcers. How did I survive, or lemme say, how am I surviving? When I started picturing myself being buried, it wasn't because I left the ulcer untended. I was actively taking drugs against the symptoms but instead of the drugs mitigating these symptoms, they started getting worse. Even though I started taking omeprazole, metronidazole, and ampicillin based on the presumptive diagnosis of a Pharmacist, there was no change of approach when I eventually chose to see a competent doctor.

Until today, no confirmatory diagnosis has been conducted to ascertain an ulcer or the type of ulcer I'm nursing. However, the symptoms show beyond reasonable doubt that it is an ulcer. When I got tired of taking conventional drugs without any noticeable mitigation of symptoms, I decided to go the alternate route. I spent quite another fortune on alternative medicinal products, all of which claim to be ulcer cures. Still, there were no real changes that can attest to their effectiveness. I gave up and decided to watch what aggravates the symptoms and what doesn't, especially as it relates to what goes into my stomach.

^{By BruceBlaus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0}

Whenever I consume something or engage in physical activities that make my symptoms worse, I tick it off my list as something to stay away from. Interestingly, my symptoms started improving. The sleepless nights I used to have started becoming a thing of the past. Occasionally I backslide into consuming or engaging in activities that I'm supposed to stay away from and this takes me back to square one. I had to call myself to order - if I can't exercise discipline in my food and physical activities, this ulcer might be the end of me.

For a while now, I have been feeling good health-wise. The last time I took any ulcer-related drug was about 5 to 6 months ago. This whole experience has taught me one thing - there is no single magic cure for ulcers. If you take recommended drugs and your ulcer disappears, it is purely due to chance and a host of other factors that you probably have no knowledge of. Better still, maybe if the symptoms are just mild. With chronic ulcers, the ultimate solution is to be disciplined in food consumption and physical activities.

One important thing though, stomach acid aggravates ulcers. Thus, in addition to staying away from acidic and hard-to-digest foods, having anti-acids at hand could help. Occasionally, I still experience heartburns which make me move around with anti-acids. In summary, ulcers are like open wounds. If you treat an open wound but keep getting injured at the same part of the body, irrespective of the treatment, the wound will not heal.