scott1360
02-01-2007, 02:46 PM
Short story (I have many posts on this board). IM 23, had GERD since I was 19. Been on Nexium, Aciphex, now Protonix (due to health insurance). Protonix worked amazing for 1.5 years but began to have bad days last few months. one month ago, horrible burning in stomach/heartburn/a little pain when swallowing. The burning/gnawing feeling in my stomach/chest is new and I dont remember it when I had heartburn before the medication. Ive been to Gastro, said take aciphex 3x day (didnt work), now i went back to protonix 2x day (not really working). I just did a manometry and ph test (from what I saw ph rarely went below 4 so I feel like the ppi is working for acid but is not making me feel better!). I have to wait until next week for results from the doc but IM so scared that this wont go away. PPIs worked before where I could eat what I wanted (to some extent) without this constant pain. Even heartburn was only brought on by food, now its constant and ALWAYS there. Could my disease have progressed to something else? Is it not stomach acid doing the damage at this point? I trust my gastro but Im scared. Also, since the bravo probe was inserted on Monday I had intense radiating pain when swallowing. Then, Tuesday and Wednesday I still had the pain but it was milder. Now, Thursday I have the pain but it feels more in my back, where before it seemed to start in chest and radiate up.
Sponsor
snowflake11
02-01-2007, 06:15 PM
If I was you I'd try not taking any PPI's for a few days and see how you feel. Sounds crazy, but it's what helped me about 6 months ago. Long story......but I had some chest tightness. I was refered to a GI doc. He found me positive for h-pylori and stuck me on PPI's. Later tests showed no ulcer. BUT, my throat and stomach were burning so horrible. I thought I had a huge acid problem - so now the doc up's the meds to twice a day and sticks me on Carafate. Things got even worse. Worst pain of my life! I couldn't even drink water! I so seriously just wanted out of life at that point. I was trying everything. Losing weight like crazy. Finally I stopped taking the meds he prescribed cuz I thought that the meds were maybe the prob. Sure enough - the pain stopped almost instantly. Sometimes PPI's can make things alot worse for people so try getting off them and see how you feel. Please let us know. Good luck to you.
scott1360
02-01-2007, 06:44 PM
thanks for the reply snowflake. I think Im too scared to get off PPIs at this point. I can barely it as is and I dont want the acid pain to get any worse. If PPIs were the cause (due to low stomach acid) wouldnt I have more gas/bloating because my body isnt digesting correctly. If so, that really hasnt been a problem for me. I know, that I have missed a dose of my PPI before (when it was working) and I got terrible heartburn. I work everyday so I cant imagine taking nothing and having to experiment while trying to concentrate on work.
Anybody else have any ideas? Im so down and frustrated. I aslo want to note there was a time when I had bad anxiety. I took zoloft for 1.5 years and it worked wonders. Im a completely different person now but Im starting to wonder if being back on it would make me worry less about the GERD. As we all know, worrying makes it worse.
Anybody else have any ideas? Im so down and frustrated. I aslo want to note there was a time when I had bad anxiety. I took zoloft for 1.5 years and it worked wonders. Im a completely different person now but Im starting to wonder if being back on it would make me worry less about the GERD. As we all know, worrying makes it worse.
bacchus99
02-01-2007, 10:45 PM
Have you been diagnosed with a hiatal hernia? If not you probably have one anyway and your symptoms have gotten worse because it rolled to an uncomfortable spot. Learn how to self adjust it down or see a chiropractor that knows how.
scott1360
02-02-2007, 09:44 AM
well, woke up today with more swallowing pain now mostly in my back. Doc is gonna give me a scope this morning to check it out/remove bravo probe. Hope it helps because the procedures gave me worse symptoms!
needaremedy
02-02-2007, 11:12 AM
scott1360, I keep writing things out and then backspacing my thoughts off here because I don't want to get all technical...but I'm reading a GREAT book on stomach acid. It's called Why Stomach Acid is Good for You.
Who knows...your tests may reveal you are part of the minority of people who overproduce acid...or you may find out that you are part of the group of people with hypochloridia (way more common.) But this book has a ton of information on what role stomach acid plays in SO many of our bodily functions. It's definitely the domino effect. And if even one domino is out of place, the digestive process doesn't happen right. Symptoms may not appear right away so it's hard to recognize. I really recommend this book...and you sound like you're really looking for information so I thought I'd share.
(I didn't mention a "lazy" LES...but that could be another thing that could be revealed by your tests. However, aside from surgery, I don't know how they fix that.)
Who knows...your tests may reveal you are part of the minority of people who overproduce acid...or you may find out that you are part of the group of people with hypochloridia (way more common.) But this book has a ton of information on what role stomach acid plays in SO many of our bodily functions. It's definitely the domino effect. And if even one domino is out of place, the digestive process doesn't happen right. Symptoms may not appear right away so it's hard to recognize. I really recommend this book...and you sound like you're really looking for information so I thought I'd share.
(I didn't mention a "lazy" LES...but that could be another thing that could be revealed by your tests. However, aside from surgery, I don't know how they fix that.)
scott1360
02-02-2007, 04:18 PM
just had an endocope to reomve the bravo probe in hopes that was causing the newfound, radiating, swalloing pain. They showed me pictures and the pill looks pretty big in the esophageas! Anyway, its 5 hours later and I still have some pain when swallowing. The doctor gave me carafate to take for 2 weeks. Is the pain possible from the trauma the probe caused? This pain clearly started right after insertion of the probe so I would think it has to be related. I would call my doctor and ask him if pain can last but Ive called/been to the hospital so many times recently Id like to wait this one out until I need to call him for results on Tuesday. Do you any irritation to the esophageas may take days to heal?
needaremedy
02-02-2007, 04:44 PM
I would definitely think that's where your pain is coming from. I believe it uses suction to hold on to the esophagus. That just sounds painful right there. It's like a big long hickey on delicate tissue.
The carafate is supposed to help by creating a barrier without altering your stomach's pH.
I hope you feel better soon.
The carafate is supposed to help by creating a barrier without altering your stomach's pH.
I hope you feel better soon.
scott1360
02-02-2007, 04:54 PM
I would definitely think that's where your pain is coming from. I believe it uses suction to hold on to the esophagus. That just sounds painful right there. It's like a big long hickey on delicate tissue.
The carafate is supposed to help by creating a barrier without altering your stomach's pH.
I hope you feel better soon.
Thanks for the response needaremedy. That made me feel much better. I definitely did not need an additional symptom along with my stomach/chest burning!!
The carafate is supposed to help by creating a barrier without altering your stomach's pH.
I hope you feel better soon.
Thanks for the response needaremedy. That made me feel much better. I definitely did not need an additional symptom along with my stomach/chest burning!!
scott1360
02-02-2007, 05:44 PM
Im looking at the initial scope report. Everything appears normal (he did take biopsies) except for what he called "small hiatal hernia"
Stomach: normal
Pylorus: normal
duodenal bulb: normal
postbulbar duodenum: normal to descending portion...
so why the hell the new and constant burning sensation!
Stomach: normal
Pylorus: normal
duodenal bulb: normal
postbulbar duodenum: normal to descending portion...
so why the hell the new and constant burning sensation!
needaremedy
02-02-2007, 05:51 PM
That esophagus test was for acid, right? Did they also test the acid level of your stomach?...to confirm high or low or normal?