How long does it take for digestive disorders to return to normal

There is no unified recovery timetable. Most mild patients who have just developed symptoms and have no organic diseases can be significantly relieved or even completely returned to normal within 1 to 4 weeks. If the symptoms have been delayed for months or even years, mucosal damage such as gastritis and enteritis has occurred, or are accompanied by obvious anxiety, insomnia and other emotional problems, it often requires 3 to 6 months or even longer. If the triggers such as staying up late at night, overeating, and dietary stimulation cannot be eliminated, there may be repeated attacks and delayed recovery.

Last week I met a little girl who was a junior in college. She stayed up for seven days during the final week to study for papers. She only had ice milk tea and fried skewers. After she recovered from the acute gastroenteritis, she started to suffer from acid reflux and bloating after eating something cold for half a month. After a gastroscopy, there were no problems. It was a typical digestive disorder. I prescribed some basic probiotics for her, and told her to try to eat hot and soft foods for three meals a day, to take 20 minutes a day to walk twice on the playground, and not to stay up late. After only 10 days, she sent me a message saying that she felt no discomfort even after having a mildly spicy hotpot with her friends over the weekend, and that she recovered faster than expected.

But don’t think that everyone can get better so smoothly. Last year, a salesperson in his 40s came to see me. He had been suffering from abdominal bloating and acid reflux for three years. Before, the pain was so severe that he took omeprazole on his own. He had never properly taken care of it. At the time of the check-up, he already had mild atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia. In addition, he inevitably had to socialize and drink while running business, and his diet and rest schedule could not be completely regular. After almost 5 months of adjustment, he finally no longer had to carry stomach medicine with him, and he would not feel nauseated when eating normally.

There is quite a controversy about this issue on the Internet. Some people say that digestive disorders can be cured by taking probiotics for half a month, while others say that this is an "immortal cancer" that will never be cured in a lifetime. In fact, both opinions are too extreme. To put it bluntly, the stomach is like a little brother who works with you. You are usually good to it, feed it three meals on time, and do not stuff it with spicy wine and other difficult-to-digest things. It will be fine if it has a little temper every week or two.

There are still many people who ignore the impact of emotions on the gastrointestinal tract. I once had a menopausal aunt who suffered from gastric bloating for more than half a year. After a thorough examination of her digestive tract, no problem was found. After careful questioning, she found out that she suffered from insomnia every day. Her mind was filled with things about her son getting married and her daughter looking for a job. She was so anxious that she couldn't even eat. Later, in addition to regular conditioning drugs, she also added some anti-anxiety supplements, and she also started to dance in the square. Within two months, she said that most of her gastric bloating problems disappeared.

Don’t panic if you really encounter a digestive disorder. Stop drinking cold drinks and staying up late. If it still doesn’t improve after a week or two of adjustment, go for a checkup as soon as possible to rule out organic problems. Don’t let a minor problem turn into a chronic disease, which will be difficult to treat again.