Chronic Gastritis but only in Thailand?

[intheheartoftheheart]

Hi all, got a question for you.

 

My wife and I have been travelling the world for near-on 3 years. We've been everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Eat local food. No issues. Live in Thailand now.

 

It is only in Thailand that my wife (Korean) gets chronic gastritis. Cannot eat solid food for days after a bout. Only here. Not Zanzibar or Odisha or Port Moresby or Asuncion or the 100s of other, sketchier, places we've been.

 

The minute we leave and go to, say, Can Tho and eat street food, she recovers within a few days. There seems to be something in Thailand making her sick.

 

She's been scoped twice and they just see the standard inflammation of the stomach lining but nothing else serious. We try to avoid over-use of antibiotics, for what it's worth. But have relied on them in emergencies.

 

Is there something she is eating in Thailand that is different than the rest of the world? Is it the pesticides? The water we use to make coffee? The street fruit? Why here and nowhere else?

 

We just can't figure it out. She has to go on a diet of white rice only for a month to recover. And it is only in Thailand that this happens.

 

[wgdanson]

White rice isn't the healthiest of foods.

[Orton Rd]

Had this for years on and off, don't see the need for anti biotics unless she has HP infection. Is she drinking beer? that does my stomach in as well as chocolate and oats. She should try organic apple cider vinegar, strange that it only affects her here.

[intheheartoftheheart]

It's a good point, @wgdanson.

 

When we convert it into congee/jook, it's literally the only thing she can digest. That or boiled chicken breast.

 

I guess I am just wondering if there's a well known 'trigger' here that affects people. We've lived on and off in Thailand for years and it is only here that she gets gastritis. 

 

We're young and healthy otherwise. It's just perplexing.

[scubascuba3]

I agree, I'm on Omeprazole, most likely gastritis and i think caused by Thailand. The trick is to get the inflammation down and then try to work out what food is causing it. Possible it's a type of bacteria found in the food here, i wondered whether its MSG here. When i eat falang food it seems ok

[intheheartoftheheart]

@Orton Rd no alcohol or coffee. 

We both eat loads of kimchi/fermented stuff during normal times, so we get a lot of probiotics that way. But can certainly try apple cider vinegar, as there's likely a healthy culture in that as well.

[scubascuba3]

Things that bring on gnawing for me (depending how sensitive my stomach is at that point):

Chilli

Coffee

Beer

Milk

Chocolate

Some crisps

Tangerines

Don't forget stress...

 

In moderation the above is often no problem but too much triggers it

[intheheartoftheheart]

It's the weirdest thing. We eat healthy everywhere. Have no stress. Lots of kimchi and fermented stuff. 

 

Two-five days into visiting Thailand, every time, she gets gastritis. Different cities. Different restaurants. Doesn't matter where or how much I spend. There's some weird bacterium that seems to be living within the Thai national boundaries that kills all the healthy bacteria in her stomach! 

[scubascuba3]

2 minutes ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

There's some weird bacterium that seems to be living within the Thai national boundaries that kills all the healthy bacteria in her stomach! 

With regard to stress, often you don't know you are stressed. Are you sure she doesn't feel subconsciously threatened in Thailand with all the ladies here? i imagine both of you would say no.

 

You may be right on the bacteria, I've wondered the same thing. A bacteria they don't know about yet

[wgdanson]

4 minutes ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

It's the weirdest thing. We eat healthy everywhere. Have no stress. Lots of kimchi and fermented stuff. 

 

Two-five days into visiting Thailand, every time, she gets gastritis. Different cities. Different restaurants. Doesn't matter where or how much I spend. There's some weird bacterium that seems to be living within the Thai national boundaries that kills all the healthy bacteria in her stomach! 

Maybe the TM30 bacterium!   LOL

[Pravda]

Filthy air can very much be related to stomach issues. 

[Youlike]

56 minutes ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

Is there something she is eating in Thailand that is different than the rest of the world? Is it the pesticides? The water we use to make coffee? The street fruit? Why here and nowhere else?

 

The thai inject medicines in orange and palmtree's....maybe more tree's i have no idea....

 

Why not try to drink bottled water only?

[Pravda]

To this guy 

 

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190128-how-dirty-air-could-be-affecting-our-gut-health

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3485276/

[FarFlungFalang]

Often it's the water which can be from drinking or from food or plates and stuff being washed with water.Try and be meticulous about eliminating any chance of water being the culprit.I have similar issues and have found this to be the cause,if it passes my lips it's bottled water.We buy it by the 20 litre bottles.

[eezergood]

Thai food in general is acidic - plus most of us eat lots of fruit, also acidic....

 

Local beer is, virtually, all made with fermented rice so thats another trigger

[intheheartoftheheart]

Thanks for all the posts, guys. I think it has to be the water. Specifically the water here.

 

I do cook with non-bottled water, and even when I boil things for her, I am worried the H. Pylori bacterium persists. Maybe she is swallowing tap water when she brushes her teeth? To me, the water is the only reasonable explanation, considering she is fine everywhere else in the world eating everything under the sun. Plus a strong made-in-Korea gut.

 

The air pollution is a new one for me, but makes some sense as well. 

[NancyL]

I always use bottled water for cooking, making tea and coffee, etc.  I even give our cats bottled water.  Admittedly the dishes are washed in tap water, but very hot tap water.  

[Sheryl]

Gastritis does not come and go that suddenly. Once the gastric lining is inflamed it takes time to heal. I wonder if she perhaps has low grade chronic gastritis to begin with and  it just worsens/become sympotomatic  when she is in thailand in response to the water or the food.

 

Has she been tested for h. pylori?

[scubascuba3]

6 hours ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

Thanks for all the posts, guys. I think it has to be the water. Specifically the water here.

 

I do cook with non-bottled water, and even when I boil things for her, I am worried the H. Pylori bacterium persists. Maybe she is swallowing tap water when she brushes her teeth? To me, the water is the only reasonable explanation, considering she is fine everywhere else in the world eating everything under the sun. Plus a strong made-in-Korea gut.

 

The air pollution is a new one for me, but makes some sense as well. 

What are her symptoms? gnawing?

 

I remember when i thought it was water....one of many things crossed off the list

[Lacessit]

Alcohol and chili would be my two main suspects. Thais put chili in just about every dish. Even when you think it's not there, it is. They mask it with sugar.

I buy water from an RO station, then boil it. Unlikely anything can survive that.

[xylophone]

6 hours ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

Thanks for all the posts, guys. I think it has to be the water. Specifically the water here.

Ever thought that it could be the oil that the food is cooked in – – palm oil springs to mind as do many of the other cheap and nasty oils which are available on the shelves and which are bought in bulk for use in restaurants.

 

I stay away from cheap and refined oils when I am cooking and when I am out at a restaurant, I rarely eat Thai food, mostly because I do seem to be affected by large doses of MSG (yes large doses do affect me, before any discussions start) as well.

 

And as for pesticides/herbicides etc, who knows what and how much is sprayed on crops here?
 

[scubascuba3]

i think H. Pylori is often a red herring, no problem testing for it though except the cost

[IvorBiggun2]

Thailand is awash with Helicobactor Pylori bacteria. Get your wife to do a stool check for it and if present a course of 4 antibiotics are prescribed.

 

 

Quote

 

How does H pylori cause gastritis?

H. pylori bacteria burrow into the cells of the stomach lining and cause gastritis. H. pylori is the most common cause of gastric ulcers and gastritis. Ten percent of those infected with H. pylori may develop an ulcer. Also, those infected have an increased risk of stomach cancer and lymphoma.

 

 

[seajae]

I had the same problem and it was the huge amounts of MSG some of the cooks put into the food, soon as I stopped eating anything with MSG it cleared up

 

[rumak]

9 hours ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

@Orton Rd no alcohol or coffee. 

We both eat loads of kimchi/fermented stuff during normal times, so we get a lot of probiotics that way. But can certainly try apple cider vinegar, as there's likely a healthy culture in that as well.

look on the internet about  BAKING SODA .     mix a teaspoon of it in about 6 ounces of water and drink.     Try it ( as soon as stomach starts to feel uneasy)    

like anything....... too much or often is not good

 

also the obvious :  clean food,  bottled water,  no ice 

[scubascuba3]

32 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Thailand is awash with Helicobactor Pylori bacteria. Get your wife to do a stool check for it and if present a course of 4 antibiotics are prescribed.

 

 

 

They don't seem to do stool tests in Thailand. It's a Breath test or blood test, i did both, i did the blood test because I wasn't confident in the breath test. I don't think the blood test is 100% accurate either

[La Migra]

Like others have suggested - I think the most likely culprit is the tap water.  It seems you travel while in Thailand.  Do you tend to repeat places you stay at? Same cities, hotels, etc? The water treatment and filtration systems vary by location and, if she can make it 'go away' after a LONG 30 days - and stay in Thailand after that .....it might be the water in a specific location that causes the inflammation.

[scubascuba3]

18 hours ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

Thanks for all the posts, guys. I think it has to be the water. Specifically the water here.

 

I do cook with non-bottled water, and even when I boil things for her, I am worried the H. Pylori bacterium persists. Maybe she is swallowing tap water when she brushes her teeth? To me, the water is the only reasonable explanation, considering she is fine everywhere else in the world eating everything under the sun. Plus a strong made-in-Korea gut.

 

The air pollution is a new one for me, but makes some sense as well. 

If you get to the bottom of it let us know on this thread

[BritManToo]

14 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Alcohol and chili would be my two main suspects. Thais put chili in just about every dish. Even when you think it's not there, it is. They mask it with sugar.

I buy water from an RO station, then boil it. Unlikely anything can survive that.

I drink the tap water.

[Nyezhov]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I drink the tap water.

Me too. And Im fat, eat everything I can get my hands on, smear my entire body with dirty palm oil as I wallow in Chili Peppers and cheap synthetic cream injected into 7-11 donuts while walking through sois resplendent with the aroma of freshly laid faeces,  have a Rx of h.pylori, ulcers and hiatel hernia and I get by fine 95% of the time, except right now as I am about to take a train and am debating whether to break out the plug.

 

But Sheryl, the only dude here qualified to render an opinion, has spoken. Theres possibly something lurking in your partners gut, waiting and watching to strike. I would also add you need a doc familiar with the exotics. I came into the US from Alaska once years ago with a screaming case of giardia, went to the NYC doc to get a protozoa killer and he looked at me like I was nuts. Lost 10 pounds. Im going up there this summer for Giardia Fat Camp.

 

Good luck