Does taking medications cause gastrointestinal symptoms?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a 22-year-old female who used to consume a lot of self-prescribed vitamins and mineral pills (vitamin D, Magnesium regularly 400 units, vitamin B complex, B12, vitamin E, iron, and calcium) over a period of six to eight months. I have currently stopped every artificial supplement and switched over to natural ways. For the last two months, I have had pain and discomfort in the entire gastrointestinal tract, feeling of heartburn, abdominal cramping, and epigastric pain. I regret consuming the pills without supervision, but now these symptoms are consistent for the last two months, reduced a bit for a while when I was taking homeopathic treatment for two weeks but relapsed again. I have no diarrhea or constipation. I was asked to undergo H pylori treatment which I did, without endoscopy as the doctor said it was a very common infection.

Is this going to be a permanent problem?
Are there any ulcers?
Can I consume alcohol with this occasionally?
I know it is not a regular case but how long do patients take to recover from such problems caused by unprescribed medicines?
Does high doses of Magnesium cause such a side effect and is it long-term?

Kindly suggest.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thank you for your consultation with icliniq.com. I have reviewed your case history in detail. Answering your questions one by one.

1) I do not think this would be a permanent problem but do not take any medicine without a doctor's suggestions next time.

2) This seems to be more like gastritis, rather than an ulcer, it should improve with taking simple medication like Pantoprazole 20 mg half an hour before breakfast for two weeks.

3) Try to avoid alcohol till the complete resolution of your symptoms.

4) Depending upon your history, you have only taken supplements and multivitamins, I feel you should get better within a few weeks. Nothing alarming in your history so far. Add probiotics like yogurt to your diet regularly for two to four weeks.

5) You can check your electrolytes and serum magnesium levels, usually it does not cause such symptoms.

6) Avoid taking unnecessary medicine, including homeopathy. Give some rest to your liver and body, you will be fine.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

1) This is acid reflux. Avoid filling your stomach at once, take frequent small meals, do not sit or lie down immediately after meals, and take dinner two to three hours before going to bed.

2) Continue with acid-suppressive medicine for a couple of weeks.

3) It usually heals itself with the support of acid-suppressive medicine.

4) for evaluation, endoscopy would be the best test to consider.

I wish you good health.

Thank you.