hello... GERD dilemma

[feistygirl77]

I"m new to this board but not to GERD. I'm 38 and always had a nervous stomach (I was the kid who was always too sick to go to school!) GERD showed it's head in my body about 5 years ago and runs in my family. This latest episode started around Christmas and is still hanging on! My symptoms were typical (chest pains, acid taste with sore throats, lots of belching, etc) but this time it developed into ENT symptoms (headaches, face pain, ear pain, etc). I've also lost 13 pounds since Christmas (NOT a welcome loss!) due to anxiety and severe nausea at times.

Previously whe I had acid problems the family dr put me on Prilosec and that worked fine. For this episode, it didn't touch it. So they tried Protonix which worked but gave me terrible stomach pains and gas! Finally the put me on Prevacid once and day but it seemed to wear off by dinner time and symptoms would return. So I did Prevacid in the am and Zantac in the pm. That seemed to work fairly well and it seemed that my tummy was starting to feel hungry again.

I finally saw a Gastro specialist yesterday because I want to feel normal again and he put me on 2 Prevacid a day (one in the am and one in the pm) along with zelnorm 2x a day AND he demanded I take a xanax before bed each night.

So, I take my second Prevacid last night at dinner time and I felt terrible! Awful headache started (which I still have today!) and severe nausea kept me up some of the night PLUS I got kinda dizzy too. It was awful. I was feeling so much better on one Prevacid and day and a Zantac! I'm so mad today that he put me on 2 a day (plus the other stuff too!) Anyways... I'm not sure what to do. Should I go back on the Prev in the am and the Zantac in the pm? I know I need to inform the Gastro dr but today is SAturday! ARGH!

On another note: I have a upper scope scheduled for Thursday and an ultrasound for the following week to rule out any complications...

Any advice or personal experiences would be very welcome right now!

[damians]

Hello feistygirl77

I have similair problems to you ie chest pain (centre to left side and in arms), sore throats, full feeling in throat etc since before xmas. my PPI did have not had any effect, altough I only took one. I live in England and i think our doctors are a bit backward when it comes to gerd as I have never really been told what I have they say I may have reflux.

I had a endoscope yesterday that revealed inflammtion, but will have to wait a couple of weeks as biaopsys were taken, the doc said all was ok though.

The scope itself was very easy, the seditive they give you knocks you out, i was very worried about it before hand, but honestly it was easy.

Hope all works out for you, please let us know how your endo goes.

[ADGrant]

Originally Posted by feistygirl77

Previously whe I had acid problems the family dr put me on Prilosec and that worked fine. For this episode, it didn't touch it. So they tried Protonix which worked but gave me terrible stomach pains and gas! Finally the put me on Prevacid once and day but it seemed to wear off by dinner time and symptoms would return. So I did Prevacid in the am and Zantac in the pm. That seemed to work fairly well and it seemed that my tummy was starting to feel hungry again.

I finally saw a Gastro specialist yesterday because I want to feel normal again and he put me on 2 Prevacid a day (one in the am and one in the pm) along with zelnorm 2x a day AND he demanded I take a xanax before bed each night.

So, I take my second Prevacid last night at dinner time and I felt terrible! Awful headache started (which I still have today!) and severe nausea kept me up some of the night PLUS I got kinda dizzy too. It was awful. I was feeling so much better on one Prevacid and day and a Zantac! I'm so mad today that he put me on 2 a day (plus the other stuff too!) Anyways... I'm not sure what to do. Should I go back on the Prev in the am and the Zantac in the pm? I know I need to inform the Gastro dr but today is SAturday! ARGH!

On another note: I have a upper scope scheduled for Thursday and an ultrasound for the following week to rule out any complications...

Any advice or personal experiences would be very welcome right now!

That's quite a drug cocktail your doctor has you on. Personally I found a Prevacid in the am and a Zantac in the pm much less effective than just a prevacid in the am. For me two prevacids work very well. It is possible that the other meds (zelnorm and xanax) are causing your problems, not the increased prevacid dose. Your symptons are mentioned as possible side effects of zelnorm on rxlist.com. They are also possible side effects on xanax. I would see a GI specialist if I were you. In the meantime you could try takign just the two prevacids.

[nyla675]

i didn't want to start a new thread, i'm new hello! i have been on aciphex for a week now, and the chest pains have gone away, but i have a very bad sore throat and some ear pain. esp. in the morning and at night in bed. i'm trying to sleep more upright but its still hurts. any ideas on how i can help my throat? i don't go back to the doctor for another 2 weeks, so i'm just looking for anything over the counter or other remedies. thanks!

[feistygirl77]

hello nyla 675,

GERD is very frustrating! I've been on so many different combination of meds that my head is spinning. I, too, get sore throats (and my tongue will hurt at times as well!) and sharp ear pain & eye pain. I have found that chewing gum (not mint) really helps with it. It causes the mouth to produce more saliva which will neutralize the acid. I have also found that sipping Ginger tea helps as well.

AFA my meds listed earlier. I actually ended up in an overdose of that Prevacid! It was awful! I took 1 in the am and 1 in the pm. It took over 20 hours for it to get out of my system! They are trying me on Nexium now. I'm very medication sensitive and all these doc's keep giving me the highest dosage which makes me VERY sick. I took the lowest dose of Nexium this am and was feeling really good but now it's about lunchtime and I am feeling alittle heart-burny now.

They basically told me at the dr yesterday that "it's your body and you will know what will work for you... you just have to keep trying combinations until you find one that works." It's so frustrating cuz we really just want one answer (and one pill) but sometimes we need to be patient and try different things to see what will work. It's hard, believe me, I know! Hang in there and keep trying.