Hi,
Well I made it through it - throat spray and all but I was awake and didn't want to be. Amyways, the doctor said that my throat and stomach and small intestines all look normal. I'm still on 2 PPI's per day, eating bland foods, and not taking the medications that appeared to start my problems.

I'm glad the test was normal but if I eat non bland foods or large bland meals I get the burning and fear I'd have symptoms if I skipped the PPI's. At this point I wonder if some of the nausea and stomach upset are side effects from the PPI. What does anyone think about this? Can the doctor's diagnose GERD or LPR from doing an endoscope or are there additional tests to confirm one of those diagnoses?

i dunno if it can be diagnosed that way, but it may if there's damage. there are other tests, like a ph test, but my ph test came back normal so i wouldn't even trust that...

Thats what I been thinking. My endoscopy was ok but they did a biopsy of duodenum for absorption testing. Not got results yet. With all the symptoms I been getting I was amazed they didnt find a root cause for them. Glad that they didnt find anything awful obviously but its like I feel now "is that it then"? I have been told I have acid reflux but my worst symptom is masses of mucous (upstairs and downstairs!!) I have been on three PPI's and stopped taking them altogether now as the side effects were making me worse. I feel no worse for having stopped them.

I know how you feel though because "acid reflux" seems to passed off as quickly as the word "indigestion". There seems to be growing numbers of people being put on PPI's for acid reflux and I am not sure its entirely a good thing. They stop the stomach producing acid which is not natural.

I dont know if I got GERD or LPR. Just been told acid reflux. I would be interested to hear if a test for the H Pylori bacteria is done as a matter of course during endoscopy or do I have to ask for this? I am in UK.

Hi benzos when you had the endoscopy they should have been able to tell if you had the bug H-Pylori, you can have a blood test to see if you have the bug, be careful not to take any ppI's or indigestions tabs for two weeks before you have the blood test as it could come back with a false reading.
take care ....Mandy

Benzos,
I'd be interested to hear the results of your biopsy. What was your doctor hoping to determine by loking for absorption problems? I read the report from yesterday and they did check for Hpylori which was negative. The blood test for it was also. No biopsies were taken during my endoscopy which now makes me sort of wondering why not, it's an invasive test that I really don't want to repeat and they could have gotten more information.

How long have you been off PPI's? Did you stop all at once? I'm thinking of cutting down to 1x/day to see if my stomach hurts or not.

hi Taape,
I was wondering what your origional symptoms were. I am going for my endoscopy on Monday and I am very nervous that they might find something bad. My Dr. is 99% sure he will not find anything but I am still nervous. I stopped all my meds and I am doing a homeopathic remedy. so far so good but still have to be careful what I eat. I have been adding foods alittle at a time.
My symptoms started with heartburn and them went to a sore throat. the throat has been really good the heartburn is quite minimal right now but like I said if I overdo it I get slight heartburn with a slight burn in my stomach.
How does your Dr. explain everything looks good but you are still suffering?
good luck lynn

Hi taape I stop taking Lansoprazole 30mg two weeks ago, now today I have a pain above my belly bottonin the middle itt about everywhere it all started with a pain near my right rib back in jan, doctors just said it was stress as I lost my dear mum in feb of this year. I went to my doctors a good 40 times over the last 4 months, about 3 weeks ago a blood test come back with a high level of prolactin over a (1000) I also had pain near my kidneys bad headaches missed peroids(not had one since feb) had nausea all this time ,and heartburn you see so many things going on I now am waiting to see a endo at the hospital at the end of this month has the high level of prolactin could mean Aa tumor on the brain, as for all the other pain s in and around my stomach, I cant walk its that bad and all I do is cry, one because I am worried and two I dont know whats going on I said to the doctor I need a Endoscopy he just said there is a long waiting list ....take care ..Mandy sorry for going on !the pain. I have so many health problems going on with my underactive thyroid.

MAD MAZ,
I'm sorry that your having so much pain and are waiting to an Endoscopy. With a positive blood test you would think that it would be a priority to get seen. I waited almost 5 months since my original stomach problems to get in while I took one PPI/day and then two per day. You might want to ask to be put on a waiting list in case someone cancels. I hope you can get some relief soon.

Bless you taape let me know how thing go with you hun.
takecare Mandy

Sorry for late reply, pc on the blink!! I have been off PPI's for about two months. I personally dont notice any difference but dont forget I was on the the PPI's prescribed only about 10 days at a time before dropping them and trying another one. They just dont agree with me. I hate the side effects. I thought it strange that I had a biopsy as my sister has been through the same thing and she didnt have one. Maybe its all because of this really bad mucous problem I have. Mucous-absorption?? I will let you know the outcome. On my report that I got after endoscopy there was no mention of H Pylori.

I am also eating a bit of everything. Maybe I am not such a bad case I dont know but I'll be darned if I am bogged down with a totally bland diet. I am careful...ie low fat stuff and no greasy foods but I will attempt most things. I have a bit of curry once a week. I find if I dont overload my tummy too much most things seem to be fine. BUT I dont get bad heartburn very often. Maybe once a week. I cant eat fatty foods because that increases the mucous (anything milky). I have lost so much weight though and trying to put it back on isnt easy. Sad thing is the best way to help put weight on is to eat late at night so you're not burning it off which isnt wise with acid probs.

I am still a littel confused between the symptoms of gerd and LPR. I think I have the latter but until I have my follow up I wont know.

My guess is that at my follow up they will want me to try yet another PPI but I probably wont take it. I know what I can hack and I cant hack the awful side effects. Apparently they take up to 6 months to work efficiently and I am not going to be worse for six months so I will feel better. Maybe you all think I am a fool for thinking this way but I have a young family to look after and its jusy not worth the hassle.


MANDY - if you are in the UK ring up the endoscopy department. I did and got mine brought forward. I was crying and desparate.
Hope you are all ok.
Benzos

taape~
I had a lot of side effects from the ppi's. I found my reflux was about 50% better off the meds. My reflux is still constant but I am better of the meds until they come up with one that is poison to my system.

Katt

Kattjo, what side effects from the meds did you have? I'm pretty sure I have GAD... but I swear some of my symptoms that I thought were from GAD were from the protonix I was on. They included strange hot surges and lightning feelings through my body... anxiety, muscle aches, shakiness... thing is, once I stopped taking them, the symptoms got better... but my reflux got alot worse :rolleyes: ... though my general outlook got better too and my anxiety dropped, so I don't know if the PPI's were causing the symptoms or because I stopped being so anxious that the symptoms went away. I also felt a little more energetic, I know some PPI's list lowered iron uptake as a side effect.

Benzos,
I don't really have the symptoms of GERD or LPR while on these PPI's, and now the endoscopy shows that my esophagus, stomach, and small intestines are normal. My original symptoms were heart burn and stomach upset so I was started on PPI's in case I had an ulcer from other medication I took. When I do have some heart burn or stomach upset now I'm thinking it might be side effects to the PPI's since everything looked fine inside.

I guess I'll just have to try to get off at least one PPI per day to start and see what happens. If I had an ulcer (not GERD or LPR) which healed in the last five months then shouldn't I be heartburn, stomach upset free after getting off the PPI's? I'm just concerned that an influx of increased acid all at once may irritate my stomach when it's apparently not irritated according to the endoscopy.

How long were you on the PPI's before you had ensdcoscopy?? If what I am told is right and it takes six months, then if you hadnt been on them that long it shouldnt have affected your result. There again I dont know about how long they take to help an ulcer.
How are you with eating? What symptoms do you get now and are these on a daily basis? I have acid reflux and honestly its the mucous that drives me mad. Its there all the time. PPI's might help this given long enough to work but they just dont suit me. My sister has GERD and a hiatus hernia and has been on PPI's for about a year. She still has very bad weeks and then a good spell and so on. She religiously takes her PPI's (nexium) and is careful about what she eats etc. I think thats proof in itself that they are not a total cure. Then you hear the odd story of someone who has had great relief after a few months on them. Maybe its varying levels of severity of a persons symptoms?

Because peoples symptoms seem to vary so much I think treatment wise some of it is a grey area. If I had been given another diagnosis besides "acid reflux" maybe I might take the whole thing a lot more seriously but as I said its played down quite a lot. Despite my diagnosis no one has advised me what to eat or what not to eat........does this mean its not that imperative? Neither have I been advised to prop myself up at night and raise my bed or not eat for X amount of hours before i lie down. I have had to do all the reserach myself. All the docs seem to want to do to me is stick me on PPI's which leaves me somewhat lacking in treatment with the reactions I've had.
I juts use my common sense. Something upsets me I wont eat it again.

Have you actually asked if there are any other tests? When do you have a follow up appointment? Mine is fast approaching now and I aim to ask a lot of questions. Who prescribed your PPI' and arranged your endoscopy? Could you not go back to them and just ask if your testing is conclusive? Are you saying that you have no symptoms now? If thats the case try coming off the pPI's, you might find you actually feel better. You can always start them again.
Benzos

Moe~
My side effects ran the spectrum on all reflux meds. I have been on:
Pepcid = stomach pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness
Nexium 2x day= more reflux, heart palps, shortness of breath, bloating, didn't fix anything, still had swollen throat..
Prilosec Rx= same as above
Zegrid= edema, more reflux
Zan tac = swollen joints
Prilosec OTC = severe migraine & back pain
Tagament = depression, sadness

None of these helped my reflux at all. Well the Zantac & zegrid helped a bit, I went off Zegrid 2x a day & tried 1x a day and it didn't work also had swelling.
Zantac 75 1x a day after 2 weeks helped me feel a bit better but caused severe joint pain, I couldn't move in the morning when I would wake up.

I just tried Pepcid AC and felt like crap so I give up.

Katt

Benzos,
I took PPI's for 5 months before my endoscopy last Monday. I understood that it takes about 6-8 weeks to heal an ulcer but I was also taking a medication that is suspect as the reason/cause of my stomach symptoms (heartburn, upset stomach, bad taste in my mouth, burping,grinding mainly). I stopped taking that medication 2 months ago and kept taking the PPI's so you might say that I took the PPI's for 2 months prior to the Endoscopy. I don't think I was getting alot better feeling until I was taken off the pain medication. I hope my description isn't too hard to follow.

Anyways, for the past month or so as long as I eat a bland diet and take 2 PPI's/day and not eat too much at one time my stomach almost feels normal, no heart burn or grinding or pain. I was shocked and kind of baffled that the endoscopy didn't show any irritation. So now I think that maybe the occasional stomach upset/nausea is coming from the PPI's. If I don't have an ulcer or it's totally healed (and I don't have some other stomach related problem) then I should be able to eat regular foods on or off the PPI's and not have symptoms, right? Neither doctor talked to me about diet either or putting my bed up. I mostly stuck religiously to a bland diet although I was able to tolerate raw vegies/salad without dressing as long as I didn't eat a large quantity. But just eating steamed vegies, salad, beans all without any sauces or dressings is boring, Tolerated yogurt and fruit in small quantities.

My follow up app't with primary care is in mid July so I may either try eating regular foods and staying on the PPI's or getting off the PPI's and seeing whether I can eat regular foods or bland foods. Primary care ordered the Endoscopy and I had a GI consult first, then GI did the endoscopy. I hate the nightly nightmares from the PPI's and it's making me crazy not to get a good nights rest for 5 months. I will ask for further testing at that time after I try the above.

I did ask the GI doctor what might happen if I stayed on the PPI's, a bland diet and then added the pain medication back. I'm desperate for chronic pain relief. It's been a rough 2 months without it. He seemed to think that my heartburn symptoms would immediately return. Not great.

Let me know how your follow up appointment goes.

Hi
I take it you are referring to ibuprofen? I took then for 4 years solid on repeat prescriptions for fibromyalgia until a new doc recognised that this was totally wrong. He did say how much damage they can do. I stopped immediately. less than a year later I developed all my symptoms. Have you actually not been diagnosed with an ulcer? Where did you get the ulcer idea from? I am sure you probably know that any GERD like/acid symptoms come and go. i think its fair to say that a lot of people have transient symptoms. I have great days where I feel almost normal and then I have days where I feel awful. usually I can track that to something I have eaten but sometimes there doesnt appear to be a cause for sudden worsening. (stress?)
Have they actually said you have acid reflux? Have you had a barium?

2 internal medicine doctors thought I had an ulcer from the pain medicine and then sent me to GI for the endoscopy but since my stomach, esophagus, etc., looked normal now I don't know what they think. They suspect that I had an ulcer which was healed. Neither the GI doctor or the internal medicine doctors mentioned anything about acid reflux. No barium test yet. What would that show? More than the endoscopy?

Hi
I beleive barium swallows show kinks and blockages etc. I had to drink a fizzy drink to see what happened to the gas. It was from my barium swallow that I was told I had acid reflux. I think you are offered one more so when you have difficulty swallowing or they suspect acid reflux.
Your symptoms sound a bit like mine really. I had terrible nausea in the beginning but it seems to have settled at the moment. I too am not too bad at all if I stick to very little but often in the way of eating. Do you get any burning sore throat or burning nose symptoms? I am not trying to diagnose here but maybe give you a little idea as to what it "may" be.
I too am a little baffled but I dont feel as bad as I did. I am staying off PPI's. If mine just turns out to be acid reflux then fine - it could be worse. The worst thing is not having a firm diagnosis which leaves you a bit in the dark and makes you wonder whether you should continue with the medications. You have quite a long time to wait too which cant be doing you any good. I do feel for you. Like me it appears your next appointment may provide the answers. I do hope so for both of us.
By the way, ulcers were suspected in me also in the beginning but none were found.
Benzos

Benzos,
Well, if your able to stay off the PPI's and just regulate with diet that's wonderful. I hope I get there, I don't like taking meds and especially ones that give me night mares.

I had a phone consult with the doctor today rather than waiting for my next app't. This happened because I noticed that my hand is swollen where they put the IV in so it seems like stuff leaked out. The doctor said that he is sure that I had an ulcer and possibly the acid constantly hitting the sore may have caused some stomach spasms. I'm not sure how he knows this. But I guess that's the grinding feeling I was having. Anyways, he wants me to take the PPI's for one more month if I stay off the pain medication. If I decide to take pain medication, the irritant, then to take the PPI's for 4-5 more months. What a choice. I'll have to skip the pain medication. Then in a month he will have me start getting off the PPI's and see what happens and order any appropriate tests. What do you think about that plan? I guess I'll try to at least add more foods since I don't currently have symptoms.

In the beginning I did have nausea but it started the day I woke up from a major surgery and the anathesia always causes me nausea. I wasn't sure why after 2-3 days I wasn't feeling better so I bought tons of carbonated waters and drank them. That's when the constant burping started. So I guess I was causing more acid but didn't know it.

Hi
Sounds like you have some sound reasons for some of your symptoms. Do you suffer with anxiety at all also? Beleive it or not just being anxious will make everything appear worse. I think it's a great plan by your doc. Good luck with it and keep us updated.