barium swallow - Digestive Disorders Message Board

dberry · 12-22-2001, 05:54 PM

I have acid reflux and a small hiatal hernia and am on prevacid. Recently I have been having chest pains up into my throat. My dr. now wants to do a barium swallow test. anyone had one of these?

Tawnie · 12-24-2001, 07:37 PM

I had one about a month ago. The procedure is painless and not a big deal. You drink barium (which DOES taste sort of bad, but you can get it down) while the radiologist watches it go down on an x-ray. They make you drink it sitting up and lying down. Just make sure you drink plenty of water after the procedure because barium will tend to clog your intestines. Good luck!

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directorofnursing · 12-27-2001, 10:39 PM

you will probably get away with only drinking 1-2 glasses of the thick nasty stuff, when they ran a check on my small bowel I had to drink 5- 20 oz glasses of it. I was ok until glass #3 then I thought I would vomit! after the test drink plenty of fluid, you will probably have some white in your BM.