# Ulcers; general information?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ulcers-general-information/396974>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 22, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ulcers-general-information/396974 "2007-03-22T03:08:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![enigm4tic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@enigm4tic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigm4tic)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ulcers-general-information/396974/1 "2007-03-22T03:08:11Z")

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After a week of, well, heavy drinking including my 21st birthday, I shortly (Tuesdayish) thereafter developed symptoms that fit in to the category of a peptic ulcer. Namely  
[li]abdominal pain - can’t tell yet whether meals excarbate or help, but the pain definately ebbs and flows, sometimes severely[/li]  
[li]vomiting[/li]  
[lidiahrrea[/li]  
neither of the above contain blood

I’m looking for (especially first-hand knowledge, if possible) for information regarding  
[li]onset of symptoms (is this too fast to be an ulcer? I suppose it could have been there for a while)[/li]  
[li]treatment, including short-term relief and long-term[/li]  
(in particular, there seems to be some disagreement about cause, and whether or not antacids are a good idea, in particular the bottle of Pepto-Bismol says not to take it with Ulcers, but pretty much every website says that’s the most common immediate treatment)  
[li]diagnosis - there seems to be a breath test for the presence of H. Pylori; in some cases does this decrease the need for endoscopy? How long do I have to have symptoms before getting an endoscopy?[/li]  
[li]what other diseases/issues could this be besides an ulcer?[/li]

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**Author:** ![enigm4tic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@enigm4tic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigm4tic)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ulcers-general-information/396974/2 "2007-03-22T03:09:27Z")

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also, PIMF, and I need to learn how to list things… :rolleyes: