Hi Margot, Sorry to hear you are suffering. As I told Paul, hang in there and give it some time. Have you lifted your bed higher so gravity keep the acid down whemn your sleeping. Since you have a hiatal hernia, you may want to try using more fiber and/or miralax to ensure food is not backing up in your stomach and lower gi, this can speed up your digestion. I would give a at least 6 months and if you are still having issues you should consider surgery. I've read that you could also try a chiropractor to help you resolve the hiatal hernia or at least make it better. Good luck and try not to sress about it too much bacuse that just makes it worse. Let me know if you have any questions.
You may also want to try a differnet medication if you dont feel any improvments in the next 2 months. For me Lansoprazole worked much better than pantoprazole and omeprazole even though doctors say its the same.
Hi Lazlow. Margot, I feel your pain. I am also not having much appetite.....not sure if from acid or just depression. I am going back to doctor tomorrow to explain. Maybe he will change meds or give me an endoscopy....not sure what to expect but am rather frightened to be honest. Any suggestions for keeping with food? Thanks,
Paul
If you not over 40 the Doctor will probably just increase your medicaion dose or put you on somthing else. You can try taking b12/b6 sublingals, it will increase your appetite. Also, taking ppis long term will results in b12 deficiency so it doesnt hurt to take anyway. Try do some power waking or some cardio 40 mins a day. That will improve digestion and its really good antidepressant. Let the refulx be your motivation during your workout to get better. Also, if you have a smart phone try downloading a free meditation app. Get some headphones and go into a dark room and use the app to realx and calm down.
You give sound advice Lazlow. Thank you. You have the spirit of a healer.
Best,
Paul
Hi Paul. Thanks for your reply. I have just been to see an emergency doctor with all the pain and discomfort and he has referred me to the consultant with a view to an operation. I am shell shocked and very scared.
I am sorry to hear you rpain. I too am scared. What sort of operation are you having?
Fundoplication Pau! If I'm suitable. I am very scared and frightened of operations but I cannot carry on with all this pain and discomfort. So I am hoping and praying that it will be successful.
May I ask your age, if you don't mind? I would try to be positive because I believe advancements are being made with this technique. Please try to keep strong.
Thank you for your kind words Paul. I am 66 and when I had an
endoscopy done in 2011 I didn't have a hernia!!
Lazlow80 Thank you so much for your reply. As I posted later I have suffered badly since last September and went to see the doctor today who has referred me to a consultant with a view to Fundiplaction. Am scared about this and shell shocked but I cannot carry on like this.
That's interesting that they didnt see a hernai back then. That means you may have strained really hard at one point. I read it can be caused by coughing or excessive vomiting. When did you start having reflux? Many people have hiatal hernias and no refulx so you may still have a chance to get under control with medication. I understand if you want to go head with surgery but that will need recovery time as well. When I was looking at surgery I was considering either the TIF or magnetic ring.
How are you now Lazlow 80? Lots of people seem to have h. Hernias but do not seem to have too much trouble. Trust me to get chronic reflux! How are you managing with your problems?
I have to say I'm doing really well compared to how bad I was suffering a few years back. I was on 60 mg of Lansoprazole at one point and now I'm on only 30mg and hoping to go down to15mg. I very rarley have any symptoms of reflux. I noticed that soup can really aggravate my reflux so I only eat only a little. My theory is that liquid comes back up more easily than solid food. I used to not eat and drink at the same time. But these days I dont even think about it.
Glad you are feeling better. I will see what the consultant says. I don't want to feel like this forever, but reading some of the details of the Fundiplaction It really scares me. I wonder if they are successful?! Cannot believe that I felt fine prior to last September when I went to see a chiropractor and I foolishly had something small to eat beforehand when he pressed hard on my back everything came back up and I haven't felt right since then! How I wish I could turn the clock back!
Don't beat yourself up on that. The worst thing you can do is stress on regrets. It may have just been a coincidence that you got sick or a hernia during the same time you got your adjustment. But even if it was from the adjustment thats not your fault. I myself have been down the shoulda, coulda, woulda path and it doesnt help anything and the regret can make you really sick. I reccomend making a list of qestions before your visiting with the dr. This way you can have all your qs aswered and put your mind at ease. Good luck and flet us know what the dr.says.
Bless you Lazlow. Thank you so much for your support. Will keep in touch. I wish you well with your problems. X
Thank you for this post! And thanks to everyone who contributed. I am new to this and everything else i read was discouraging to say the least...I am 37, female and a smoker. Underweight but with healthy appetite. I had sudden onset reflux started mid Jan, following a bout of viral or bacterial enteritis which lasted one day but pain and lethargy lasted for a week. The months preceding this i also had to take several rounds of antibiotics following some procedures, unrelated. Severe stress in the preceding months also. I feel all this likely contributed to the weakening of my digestive tract and subsequent issues. The violent daily reflux for the most part subsided or was reduced after 2 weeks on its own, but was replaced by a constant acidy taste in my mouth, dull pain in upper left quadrant as well as feeling full after a small meal. And I am hungry all the time which is cruel. There is a constant feeling that my stomach is torn in one spot or that a stone is sitting there... Alternating pain and pressure. Both manageable but unpleasent. After a total of three weeks I visited a gastroenterologist who ran an ultrasound for surrounding organs and prescribed a PPI. After 5days of headaches and double-vision he suggested I switch to zantac twice daily. Had no side effects but can't say I have seen any improvement in symptoms in over 3 weeks. I eat small amounts around 5 times per day. Have excluded everything I was told. Reduced cigarettes with a view to quitting. Started light exercise. The acid comes and goes, now also along with food but I guess that is due to less acid there to digest plus my gut has, after the onset of reflux, become really slow to empty, sometimes taking over 3 hours. He suggested prokinetic drugs but I am stalling on this. Feel uncomfortable about adding drugs when we don't even know what is wrong. Could be hernia, could be an early ulcer, could be need to repopulate and re-line my gut after all those antibiotics...whatever. I am hoping it will calm down over time and once i am off meds i can work on repopulating the gut and all Reading all these experiences have me some hope. Sharing mine in case they help someone else link up their dots. All the best.
Would treatment for functional dyspepsia differ from one for gastritis? Where I am they block your acid production regardless. To protect the oesophagus they said...
Thank you for sharing
I am 37 yo. Taking rabeprazole for 4wks. Due to pain in RUQ (right upper quadrant) but no heartburn, acid reflux. Dr in ER never really told me if I have GERD, gastritis or acid reflux. Blood test, urine and ultrasound are all clear
I quit taking it after 3wks as per I feel a bit better but not 100%
Few days ago pain in RUQ went away and i feel like it went up my throat w/ very light ear ache. Today I took 1 pill again and every time I eat I feel sick but no pain in stomach but sore throat and mild ear ache.
Any thoughts on this everyone?