Acid reflux can give you esophageal cancer, too.
Yes, with Barrett’s as (normally) a preliminary, as you mentioned. A person with bad reflux might get an endoscopy to check for that. My prior bout with reflux (only noticed a pain high in abdomen, not anything that made me think reflux) got me an ultrasound to confirm no hernia, and an endoscopy.
I was told to give it 2 more weeks, but the pain is debilitating. I think I need to call the gastroenterologist and tell him I need to do an endoscopy and mri immediately. It’s affecting my ability to function and now to sleep. It’s the worst it’s ever been. 
Oh man. I’m sorry you’re dealing with that.
Good idea to call the office and update with current symptoms. They can then make the call on an updated treatment plan.
Wishing you the best. That sounds awful.
my sister convinced me to take a covid test cause supposedly she had reflux when she had covid.
waste of a test. of course it was negative.
i have like none of the risk factors for GERD, yet here we are with me in so much pain. I think it’s hereditary though.
i emailed my doctor yesterday to say I NEED AN MRI AND ENDOSCOPY NOW! I’M DYING!
he said to give it another week and he’s sure it will get better. i hope he’s right.
endoscopies scare me due to the impending blindiness, so i’m okay waiting a bit. MRI’s are no big deal. i like them. find them relaxing, other than on my brain where the banging noise annoys me. any other body part than brain is relaxing.
How is he sure it will get better? How many health issues, other than (most) viral infections or minor muscle sprains, just get better on their own?
I’ve had this before, and sometimes it takes a ridiculously long time to feel better, like months, but ultimately I did feel better each time. Not sure what the longest time I felt bad with this was, maybe up to 4 months? I don’t know.
It just seems more debilitating this time than it was in the past, plus it’s accompanied by more back pain than it was in the past.
If I ultimately feel better, I think I need to entirely give up alcohol. i rarely drink, but I think it’s a huge trigger for me when I do. It’s hard to pinpoint what triggered this though. I drank a few days in early February, but this didn’t get really bad until a bit later than that.
By “better”, I don’t mean I’m cured of GERD (assuming that’s what this is, I don’t know). I just mean I feel better. You can’t just cure GERD. You manage the symptoms.
How long will it take between when he’s willing to schedule the scans and when they will happen?
I assume the treatment for gall stones isn’t exactly the same as the treatment for GERD.
1 Like
When you get late night reflux, what do you drink? If I drink water it feels like a burning oil slick floating on a lake.
How do you put out the fire?
Tums, but I’m not drinking them, chew and swallow.
I do drink water. And i take some antacids. And then i sit upright for at least half an hour.
My problem is that the sphincter between the stomach and the esophagus doesn’t do its job, and when it’s not working, i need to use gravity, instead.
I don’t know, but think it’s fairly quick. The one roadblock I have for getting these tests is I have jury duty in a few weeks. I already postponed it. I think you can get a medical reason to postpone it again with a doctors note. I want to get it over with and hope it doesn’t come to that. usually jury duty is like a day or two and i’m done, but I know someone recently who got on a case for 4 to 6 weeks. that would suck.
the first time i postponed it was because i wasn’t feeling well with chronic fatigue. didn’t need an excuse for the first postponement, but do for the 2nd.
i’m hoping i just feel better soon and don’t need these tests. it varies so much. i’ll think i’m feeling better and then i’m not.
campbell’s husband told me that kefir is a miracle cure for reflux, so trying that. also heard that apple cider vinegar is, so just bought a few shots of it yesterday.
my doctor told me that it’s bullshit about kefir when i asked him a while back, and i think he said it could make reflux worse, but doctor’s don’t know everything. didn’t ask him about apple cider vinegar.
i’ve not had that issue with drinking water or anything going down. the issue comes later. did you bring this up with your doctor?
i often try and drown out the symptoms with water. i’m not sure it’s worse for me when i’m sleeping though. it varies in intensity and no specific time of day.
Mine is not a regular thing, so never mentioned to Dr.. Every other month or so. But it is like the bile just sits in my throat and drinking water does nothing, like it floats on top, but doesn’t get washed away.
Pepto liquid might help quell the burn. Being upright, definitely helps.
Milk products have a lot of calcium and buffer acids. I’ve sometimes felt better after eating a little yogurt. I might try kefir, i often have some in the fridge.
But mostly i have reflux problems at night, when i don’t want to go down to the kitchen and rummage around for food. And don’t really want to eat, honestly.
Yup…all this…calcium
Obviously, you need a mini fridge in the bedroom
2 Likes