Originally Posted by Synnove

Yes, lined in silver, that is so true. Acid reducing meds are to be used only for short time, that is due to the same fact you are mentioning, if coulod prevent certain nutriens to be absorbed in the stomac. That is the reason we have stomac acid, to aid in absorption.
So therefor, during times when a person have severe gastric pain in form of a gastric ulcer, or severe acid reflux, the doctor might prescribe this for short term, to relieve the strain of pain, and to heal the stomac. If the stomac has too much gastric acid, it can produce a gastric ulcer. A gastric ulcer will cause severe gastric pain, like burning you desribed, that only can heal by rest, small frequent meals of a bland diet, and possible a acid reducing med until the sore heals. The sooner it heals, the sooner the acid reducing med can be stopped.
If a person has acid reflux,( sometimes a person does not feel it as a heart burn) the doctor has to find out the reason for the reflux. For a person saying they may have autonomic neuropathy with severe gastric/stomac pain, this could be caused by acid reflux due to the fact that the stomac is not emptying, and squeezing the acid up in esaphagus sometimes causing a pain in the whole chest area.
Sometimes gastric disorders can be caused by stress and it can cause this kind of problems.
For gastric/stomac lining pain like "pain in the gutt". as you discribed it, this is often the first reason one comes to think of. So healing it first.

I would ask the doctor before experimenting with different kind of pain medication before you know what your stomac pain is coming from.
I would stay away from narcotics.
And yes, to answer you on your post, acid reducer meds are recomended only short term, until problem heals,
Good luck

Originally Posted by lined_in_silver

Well, its a little too late-because I've been on narcotics for years now. No one ever listens when I talk about the burning in my guts, and therefore no testing has been done.
This burning in my stomach started in April 2012 and is still the same. Can ulcers stick around that long? I'll try the bland diet and see if that helps
The pain is mostly around the belly button-maybe a few inches above,below,and across.

Thanks for the info. If I had to, I guess I would take the acid reducing meds and just take digestive enzymes. :-)