I have had a stomach related complaint for about five years and my doctor now dismisses the problem.

I take a 15mg capsule of PPI once every two days to control the acid reflux but I double this does when things are bad. The symptoms always seem to be lurking and flare up from time to time. Right now the symptoms are bad. The last flare up at Christmas lasted over a Month

My main symptoms are :

Acid reflux which causes burning in the chest and a stinging pain in the oesophagus and area below the rib cage immediately after eating any food or drink ( this happens during a flare-up ). Loads of gas produced in the stomach which causes churning gas

I had a barium test 3 years back to check the insides but I never had an endoscope. The doctor suggests that this would be a waste of money now as I have had the symptoms for such a long time!!.

The only relief I get is at night when in bed, the whole stomach calms down but starts up again as soon as I get up and eat or drink. Stressful situations really make it worse.

I am 46 years old, my weight is very constant and I live a very health lifestyle of exercise, rest when I can and mainly healthy foods. I do not smoke and alcohol is limited..

Any suggestions as this really gets me down

Many thanks

Tony

Find another doctor! It certainly sounds like acid reflux but your dr. should not be blowing you off like that! Remember, he is your employee and you have the right to fire him! Get someone who cares and will take your problems seriously.

Good luck!

Tony, :)

I had a barium test 3 years back to check the insides but I never had an endoscope. The doctor suggests that this would be a waste of money now as I have had the symptoms for such a long time!!.

My suggestion: it sounds as if your DOCTOR is the problem. Don't listen to him when he tells you you don't need the tests. If you ever want to get to the bottom of your problem and treat is SUCCESSFULLY, you do! If you have to pay out of your pocket for the tests because you have no insurance, it will be money well spent. I am in a similar situation. Due to my other health problems, no tests have been done to date. I was put on Nexium recently and am not sure what symptoms it is supposed to be helping. (It isn't). I think the doctors sometimes just assume the diagnosis rather than backing it up with appropriate testing. You can bet I will get my tests done when the time is right. I'll give the Nexium one more week. It's been two so far. I am not going to be spending money on expensive medication without a diagnosis. That's exactly what I will tell the doctor, too. You don't treat the symptoms without at least TRYING to find out the cause. That's just my opinion. Everyone's situation is different. :)

Flowergirl

Hi everyone and thanks for your replys and advice

I requested a different doctor at the surgery and she really took the situation seriously. Rather than dismiss the problem as that problem of 3 years duration, she has asked for full blood tests and H. Pylori check. She also said that an endoscope will be required.

She asked if stressful situations make it worse. She is right it does become worse during stressful events such as work,etc.

At least something is being done though the waiting could add Months before any real outcome is known.

An interesting comparison between the medical service in the US and UK, here the NHS is the big dinosaur of the UK which provides free service for all from the cradle to the grave for tens of millions of people. Only a small percentage have private health care. In the US, it appears that private insurance is a requirement ?.

The NHS moves slowly and is inflexible. Doctors seem more focused on patching people up rather than finding the ultimate cure. Our GP's make patient' referrals to specialists when they think it is required and not before. I sometimes believe more money is spent on managing the NHS than is spent on the medical care of patients. Ironically, I could pay for an endoscope privately and have it done next week if I pay but only if authority is given by my GP, the one who said that an endoscope was unnecessary 8 Months ago.

Sad, ironic and totally wrong but that is the NHS. I live in hope and battle on!

Regards

Tony

Well, my blood tests are fine and i do not have the hpylori bacteria but the stomach compliants continue.

My doctor is to arrange a routine endoscope on the basis that I have have never had one even though i have had heart burn for five years.

Normally I understand that unless a patient is showing alarm symptoms and or is over 55 years old, an endoscope is not suggested ?????

tony

Well, my blood tests are fine and i do not have the hpylori bacteria but the stomach compliants continue.

My doctor is to arrange a routine endoscope on the basis that I have have never had one even though i have had heart burn for five years.

Normally I understand that unless a patient is showing alarm symptoms and or is over 55 years old, an endoscope is not suggested ?????

tony


Thats not true. If you have acid reflux or suspect you have it then a doctor will most likely do a scope to see whats going on and how much damage is in there. It has nothing to do with how old you are.

It's good to hear that your blood tests came back ok. I was also tested for hpylori and it was negative. I had stomach problems like alot of heart burn and over the counter medications didn't help. So I was sent to a GI doctor and given an endoscopy (and I"m not 55 or over). It was also negative and the doctor thinks I had an ulcer from long term medicaton use, which was healed by the time of the test. The Colonoscopy's are given routinely for people 50 and over or to diagnose a problem.

Private health insurance in the US is not a requirement. Anyone who has an employer that pays for the insurance or anyone that can afford health insurance does. Otherwise, there's lots of people without any coverage since there's no national coverage just medicare if you qualify.

Normally I understand that unless a patient is showing alarm symptoms and or is over 55 years old, an endoscope is not suggested ?

It seems that here, the normal route is you MIGHT take up to a year of seeing a doctor to get an endo - again UP TO a year. Generally, if you request it, the doc will do an endo right away. To try to avoid higher cost, he'll usually avoid endo for up to a year of experimental treatment (drug trials), unless you request or he thinks you may have something going on - fearful of ulcers, or Barrett's, etc. But usually, they want to examine you to ensure you're not having something else going on besides simple reflux. I got mine just a month after I 1st saw my GE (2 months after seeing a doc at all, and almost 3 months after I 1st knew all hell had broken loose).

Then, once you start, if you keep having troubles, they'll usually recommend an endo every 2 years. If you are found to have Barrett's, the recommendation is every 6 months to keep an eye out for cancer.