I'm supposed to have a pH meter put in on the 11th, but the doctor insisted I stop all reflux meds (other than tums or gaviscon) for a full 2 weeks beforehand.
Which means I had to come off cold turkey. I was on 2 prilosec plus 2-4 Zantac per day and still having symptoms. And if I miss a dose, I suffer SEVERE rebound, mostly in the form of gastritis. When I tapered off gently, it took 5 months.
I'm trying to be brave here. As long as I eat white starch and nonfat dairy every 2 hours, and never eat anything with fiber, fat or acid in it, the pain isn't too bad, and a person can survive on that diet for 2 weeks without much harm.
Here's the problem, which has only now occurred to me. During the monitoring period, I'm supposed to record symptoms, maybe eat a little trigger food. I don't think I can do it. The gastritis is so bad, I can't tell if I'm refluxing or not. And I'm eating so little and so bland, I don't think I am refluxing anyway.
Did you guys have to go off your meds for a pH study? If so, how did you survive the rebound?
This just seems so unfair. When I wasn't taking Prilosec, no one would take my symptoms seriously. My report that I took it and it didn't help much was worthless. To get attention, I had to get hooked on it again, and, once again, see only minimal improvement after the first few weeks. And the first step once I have the attention? Take it away. Rebound torture. If only the doctor could have done this test when I first asked for it, instead of forcing me to make it harder first!
The following user gives a hug of support to janewhite1: MountainReader (06-30-2011)
I wish I had some good advice to give you. There really isn't a way around it.
The 2 times I had "regular" pH testing, I had to go off of the reflux meds in advance. I'm thinking mine was only a week or 10 days off though.
You really do need to find a way to eat "regular" food on the day of the test so they can see how you react. If not, you won't get true results. Are there any other foods you could try small amounts of? Maybe something you've been craving and haven't let yourself eat for a while? (If you are gonna suffer, might as well enjoy it in my opinion.)
For my 3rd pH test, the doctor had me do it "off label" and stay on my PPI's, Pepcid and Gaviscon that I was routinely using. I think they were more comfortable doing that because they had already confirmed the reflux on the previous tests. Ironically I felt good on the day of the test and even on the meds my results were awful. I'd hate to see what the results would have been off of them.
Do your best to keep your positive state of mind that you won't have severe rebound symptoms this time. I know I've done better some times than I did at others.
I'm glad you are finally moving forward to your next steps for treatment though.
Thanks! For some weird reason, day 2 off of meds was absolute torture, but now at day 4, I'm doing better. Still being very careful, but, like, a normal careful. Plain baked fish and steamed vegetables, rather than the diet appropriate to a 4-month-old infant.
Had the gastric emptying study today. I was supposed to get the results today, but with the holiday, they left early. Perhaps I'll find out next week.
Now, when I actually get the pH monitor... I'm thinking a little pizza. Tomato is the one thing I really can't have that I miss the most.
