On Friday night, my fiance started vomiting an enormous quantity of blood. I rushed him to the emergency room (of course) and he was pretty quickly diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer. He was fitted with a lovely NG tube to drain the blood (and stop the vomiting) but he politely declined the offer of a catheter.
The specialist saw him bright and early on Saturday morning and confirmed that, yup he has a bleeding ulcer. It was still bleeding so heavily that they couldn’t cauterize it. After another 24 hours and lots of IV medicine to stop the bleeding, they were finally able to cauterize.
He’s still in ICU but will hopefully get a regular room today.
My questions is: What do we have to look forward to now? I don’t know anyone with this condition. I intend to do some research but, personal experience from Dopers would be much appreciated.
Thanks all.
Wow.
I recently had my second hospital stay for an ulcer, but both times the bleeding had stopped before I discovered it–I vomited black blood, not red.
So I have no insight into the management of an actively bleeding ulcer, but if you want to know what it’s like living with a stomach that hold the threat of a bleeder over your head (eww: what an image) at all times, I’d be happy to respond.
probably a period of observation to make sure he’s stable, and that the bleeding stays stopped. Then triple therapy with two antibiotics and a strong acid blocker for 10-14 days to knock out H. Pylori bacteria, which tends to cause the ulcers. Then back to normal life, with a caution to avoid caffiene, alcohol, and meds like aspirin and ibuprofen.
That’s just my guess. I don’t know specifics about the case, so take it with a shaker of salt.
QtM, MD
lissener, I’m sorry to hear this is a recurring problem for you. I almost hated to start this thread because I knew I’d be hearing horror stories from fellow Dopers.
I’m really interested in hearing how your ulcer is treated, though. Are you using medication (I understand Prilosec is really good for ulcer treatment)? Special foods all the time or just for a period after a flare-up?
Do you have H. pylori? Or (like my fiance) have you overused NSAIDS? He suffers from migraines and will try Excedrin before using the Maxalt, because sometimes it works.
Thanks for responding.
Oh, and don’t forget to duck. 
**Qadgop[\b], that’s pretty much what I’m finding out. We haven’t heard whether or not H.pylori is present but, he has definitely abused NSAIDS since he was a kid because of the headaches.