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Chronic Gastritis but only in Thailand?


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If you're eating street food, you're eating extremely reused cooking oil. Vegetable oils have a low smoke point and are extremely inflammatory. Reused vegetable oils have multiples of the inflammatory byproducts that fresh oil does. Get off fried street foods for a bit and see how that goes. My 2 baht.

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On 11/12/2019 at 8:49 AM, scubascuba3 said:

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

Chili, coffee, and alcohol must be eliminated or restricted in order for the inflammation to go away. This takes months or even years depending on the severity and length of time that one has had this condition. Omeprazole can relieve symptoms, but not take the inflammation away permanently. Antibiotics are useless. 

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On 11/12/2019 at 9:04 AM, 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! 

It's not easy to avoid eating Thai food in Thailand, but I would severely limit it if I were you. When one is sensitive to it, even a casual meal of padthai can trigger the inflammation. Recently, I ate at Bolan, one of the most expensive restaurants in BKK. I could feel the irritation taking place right away and sure enough, it sent me into a spin for 2 weeks. You can't avoid the chili eating Thai. Not spicy doesn't mean no spice in Thai food. It's just unheard of. Many Thais suffer from gastric problems. You are not alone. 

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I agree with those putting forward MSG, I have stopped eating most of my wife's cooking now as I can't seem to get her to stop using the stuff.

 

Another possible culprit in Thai food is sugar in extreme amounts. As a diet controlled type 2 diabetic I have taken glucose readings before and after I eat many times to see what I tolerate and what I don't. The worst reading after a meal on my meter ever was 240, my morning fasting reading is around 100 which is not too bad. After a meal it should be about 140. This one portion of Pad Thai holds the record so far (closely followed by deep fried bananas in batter).

 

Also after 5 years of pretty much permanent diarrhea in Cambodia, I have now had 3 years of normality so i agree many things are country-dependant. We buy water from the osmosis machine and use it for everything other than washing the dishes and boiling eggs.

 

Hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

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On 11/12/2019 at 2:50 AM, eezergood said:

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

Thailand has a high use of MSG which is banned in many countries, it is used liberally by Thai street Vendors.  

 

In addition you should be as a priority checked out for Helicobacter Pylori which is a common stomach irritation / infection eventually causing stomach ulcers and possible cancer, look it up!  Fortunately it can be easily cured in many cases by a course of specific antibiotics.

 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/h-pylori/symptoms-causes/syc-20356171

 

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11 minutes ago, intheheartoftheheart said:

Thanks again everyone. The amount of sugar in everything here is insane. Worse than Malaysia, even. I do not understand how they are all so thin. 

Went out to eat today, as usual we give them the mai waan mai khem instruction, no sugar or salt.

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On 11/12/2019 at 1:49 AM, scubascuba3 said:

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

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/h-pylori/symptoms-causes/syc-20356171

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On 11/12/2019 at 2:04 AM, 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! 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/h-pylori/symptoms-causes/syc-20356171

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On 11/12/2019 at 11:09 AM, intheheartoftheheart said:

Maybe she is swallowing tap water when she brushes her teeth?

Since countless bacteria can exist on a pin head, if you suspect water, brush teeth without and rinse with bottle water or mouthwash.

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The osmosis water machines here in Thailand are terrible. It is expensive to properly clean and replace the filters on a regular basis. I had the same problems with the machine downstairs on the ground floor...every time I used the water from that machine I had stomach problems. If you do not use bottled water from stores then boil it if it comes out of any osmosis machine or any machine for that matter. After I started boiling the water the problem stopped completely.

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3 minutes ago, DividendGuy said:

The osmosis water machines here in Thailand are terrible. It is expensive to properly clean and replace the filters on a regular basis. I had the same problems with the machine downstairs on the ground floor...every time I used the water from that machine I had stomach problems. If you do not use bottled water from stores then boil it if it comes out of any osmosis machine or any machine for that matter. After I started boiling the water the problem stopped completely.

What symptoms did you have? Diarrhea is very different to gastritis symptoms usually

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Hi Maybe it is the local Kimchi?? I eat it a fair bit and some of it is vile

Best I have found is TOPS original but hard to find in all the TOPS outlets

Make it at home as im sure she would know that its very easy to do

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Just saw this and want to say that I spent 3 days in the hospital for coughing and dehydration do to this issue. Been taking prevacid usually at night before dinner which helps with the drainage and coughing. I'm finding out this is a more common occurrence than I thought. The doctors thought I was from and combination of alcohol (beer), bad air and spicy foods. Have since eliminated 2 of those so waiting to see the long term effects.

 

I will be traveling to the USA in January so it will be interesting to see what the effects are during that stay.

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I lived in South Korea for the past 15 years prior to moving to Thailand this past year.  My stomach is pretty much iron clad when it comes to most things.  That said, in all my travels to Thailand over the years, there is one thing that I have positively isolated that gives me gastritis, San Mig Lite.  I drink beer all the time, found SML to be refreshing, (although not much flavor), in the heat of Thailand, and after a few days of drinking SML for beer it hits me.  Discovered this issue a few years ago and have since had zero issues even with all the shady looking Thai food my wife cooks.

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Don’t drink tap water or for cooking. Lay off the chilis. Eat at home for a while see if that helps., wash fruit and veg. Don’t eat off the street stands. Or maybe your wife has developed an allergy.? I’m much better since avoiding milk. Tho I eat yogurts and kefir. 

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On 11/12/2019 at 8:49 AM, intheheartoftheheart said:

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.

This screams Allergy. Could also be a chemical in the environment or a plant pollen. Food & drink can't be ruled out. It'll likely be unique to her. 

I'm sensitive to TMA in raw fish & allergic to lavender. 

Check for an allergy doctor but its a difficult thing to diagnose. 

 

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@pest Bibigo brand is the only acceptable one for Koreans, but they actually make it in SEA! They add cilantro to it, which is hilarious. Since we are here long term, I actually make it for my wife (with bottled water) so that is helping her a bit. But she's been on a straight-up boiled chicken and bone broth diet for 4 weeks now. It's driving her mad! 

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