So here I am again , Iv read all the threads on here, well majority of them .
Im sorry that you are all experiencing this stuff;. I think alot of the people on here are experiencing the same symptoms as me'.
THE CONSTANT BURPING possibly, and the feeling of nauseated feeling'. and vomiting. and yeah it tiering and exhausting to the point where you dont have any energy throughout the whole day' - this is how Iv been feeling for the past 7 months'. Iv been for a barium swallow test. and it come back ok. iv had blood tests done on me. I Have a bit of asthma. does anyone have a white coating on their tongue at all? This is exactly what I have.my GP seems to think that it might be due from the acid reflux '. cause it has been there for a couple of months now'.I know everyone wants answers as do I so I know what Im dealing with . A month back I had an appointment with a specialist and he had told me straight to my face that I dont have acid reflux'. I Saw him for a brief measly 10minutes'. because he had other patients cued up outside'. apparently. and was trying to rush the appointment'. which kind of annoyed me . Would be nice if he actually took the time to listen rather than than base it all on the reports'. my father was misdiagnosed in the past with cancer'. Iv asked the GP several times if she thinks its cancer , and she believes it isnt, Iv brought it up with her a couple of times. more than 3 times. and she thinks its not cancer which is a relief, but I can never be too sure'. cause sometimes it doesnt work out that way. and My god, iv had these symptoms for over 6 months. Its draining to a T'. I burp constantly and I mean just about every half hour. its embarasing I know but I cant seem to do anything about it'. it gives relief for all but 5 seconds and then it starts up back again'.like a feeling of something stuck in my throat, or swollen maybe;, im not sure'. I was taking these tablets that my Gp prescribed me for the white coating on my tongue. but nothing has happened, and no its not a furry white coating. its like a white coating like toothpaste or yoghurt colouring on my tongue. its not thick but it has never disappeared. which is worrying me. and stressing me out to a T".cause not only do I have to deal with that but moreso these tablets, omeprazole and pantoprazole which dont seem to be working'. I am actually annoyed. the specialists says I dont have acid reflux whom I saw for a measly 10 minutes based on the report he was reading from the barium swallow test;. while the Doctor who has been my GP from the age of 15' and now much older now says I have Acid Reflux - she calls it severe Acid Reflux'.. Its irritable'. past 6 months Iv been dealing with this and has set me back in so many ways to the point where I dont like going out much cause of the effect it has on me'.it weakens me and really exhausts me .been unhappy for months since having this. etc'. its rather embrasingand now I have an endoscopy due soon. im releifed but not so reliefed, because when I rung the hospital they said it would take 4 months for me to get an appointment to have an endoscopy . which is a LONG wait, but thats the way the system works here'. Im actually due for one in a months time. Anyone else here have a endoscopy or has had an endoscopy. there are risks involved. which scared me a bit.It states if you have enlarged swollen veins there is a 5% chance that you may bleed from the biopsy which means you could be rushed to hospital'. and given a blood transfusion its scary as really scary'.. It states even having to stay in hospital for 7-10 days due to the procedure or something'.I am so tired of this it exhausts me out to a T not to mention other peoples stress'.when youre trying to deal with your sickness at the same time.its too irritating when People are constantly judging you because they obviously have no clue what you are dealing with excpet with what they are dealing with' etc'.
Any replies would be helpful at this stage'.
Hey mate, a good probiotic might help with the burping, etc. A good one from the refrigerated section of your health food store. Can cost anything from $30 to $100 for a little bottle. Made a huge difference for me. See another specialis, get another opinion. Quacks like the one you saw should be reported. I saw one once who saw me for 10 minutes, offered no solutions and in fact gave me wrong info and then charged $200.
She was the specialist and I knew way more than her. Keep looking until you find a good one.
Luck
Hello! I understand your frustrations. Firstly the endoscopy is easy as hell don't read bad experiences a lot are nonsense. You'll be in and out of the room within 10 minutes and out of the hospital 2 hours afterwards no problems. Sorry your symptoms are bad. I myself have had these and more for around 13 months now and like you my specialist is rude and didnt want to hear it.. Even after being admitted through a and e last week due to not being able to swallow! I was refused any more help no conversation of operation or medication or even bloody tests! I cannot do anything anymore I feel sick to my stomach every day. Sometimes you feel helpless I know. Take all the tests you can get! I'm currently going private and paying for a consultant within the next 2 months as I know I'll get the hour I pay for and they actually listen! Pantoprazole doesn't work for me either, none of the PPIs do nor ranitidine. I hope we all get to the bottom of it soon. It's really no way to live a life!
Hi, sorry to hear about your problems. Everyone on these forums are p*****off with their condition so you're not alone. You will need an endoscopy I'm afraid, mainly to check if you have a hernia and the level of erosion of the oesophagus to make sure you do not have Barrets. I have had 2 endoscopes in the last 9 months. I would recommend having a sedative only in that I believe it stops you gagging more vs the spray. I have had chest pains since my first endo and I think that the Dr has either been too rough and damaged something or I my gagging (only happened 2/3 times) has lead to the oesophagus going into spasm. It's extremely frustrating as I never had any chest problems/heartburn prior to the endo.
You need to do all the other basic stuff that people have written about in here with respect to diet, weight loss, raising your bed up etc. I would also see a nutritionalist. I saw one last week and they put me on a dairy & gluten free diet. Also, they recommended taking MSM glutamine to repair the gut and soya lecithin.
You may want to read up on too much vs too little acid as some people have success with adding acid to their diet, such as apple cider vinegar. Just google it and read what people say and the ways you can test yourself. Funnily enough I stopped my PPIs for about 3 weeks a while ago and I was no worse off. I also did the bicarbonate of soda test and the absence of burping would indicate that I was low in acid. I'm not sure how reliable this test is ( or the hcl tablet test). You'd probably need the Heidelberg test to be absolutely certain regarding acid levels.
Good luck
Cheers
S
What is Barret ? Is that a illness ? Or disease ? I might see a nutritionalist
Exactly these specialists are Rude and think they know what they're talking about. If the shoe was on the other foot I wonder how they would feel . A lot of them don't have patience. They read the reports given and base it on the paper they have in front of them '". They need a reality check and to do theirjob properly. They obviously haven't had to suffer with what others are going through.. causing dramas for patients .
So even though you had an endoscopy they found nothing ? Then they send u home with more tablets that don't work. I sure hope they know what they're doing
Hi Aryt,
It's good you're having an endoscopy.
Endoscopy suites are always busy. Ours works 7 days a week from early morning till late night and buys extra places at a private clinic.
It may be frustrating waiting but it will be worth it to find out exactly waht's going on and to ensure there's been no permanent damage. Barrett's Oesophagus is a permanent change to the cells lining the oesophagus that in a few cases can mutate to cancer. It is caused by frequent reflux of acid.
It's unlikley you have cancer. Your symptoms would be different.
Omeprazole and Pantoprazole are acid suppressant drugs - very good at reducing the acid but not so good at reducing the reflux.
Our gastroenterology team are the most dedicated, willing to give up their free time to help. They are frutsrated, too, they get too little time to talk with patients which is one of the roles our patient support charity manages. We cover the Wessex area; another is based in London and a new support group covers Essex. PM me if you want to see if there's a support group in your area.
Reflux (which doesn't need to be acidic) can cause many symptoms.
Find the DownWithAcid org uk website to learn all about this condition.
There are chapters explaining how reflux works, symptoms and possible ways of preventing it.
Hi abbie,
I wondered if maybe you could help me?
Ive had GORd for years....but recently my medication hasn't managed this. I've gone to my Dr and she has eventually referred me for an 'urgent' endoscopy.....to say I am miserable with this is an understatement. I have no idea how long I am likely to wait for this endoscopy even though it is 'urgent'. I noticed you have elected to look at private options for gastro services, and wondered if you could tell me if you have any further info on this, as I am also considering this?
many thanks...
Hello Donna!
I waited 3 months for my 'urgent' endoscopy on the nhs and they didn't bloody diagnose me correctly! However the procedure itself was fine..
All I can currently tell you is its expensive as hell but I have talked to other people who are private with GERD and say they have had the best treatment possible.
On Saturday I returned to my consultant with worse conditions after being taken into hospital with a suspected hole in my stomach/chest area from ulcers.. My consultant refused to give me tests. My plan is to go to a private consultant who is also NHS registered as I'll pay for the consultation then they can put you on nhs waiting lists for tests. I'm currently looking to going to London Gastroenterology Centre as I've heard very good things about it. I need a referral from my GP to do so but they're more than happy to help me out as they agree my consultant on the nhs is in the wrong. That's all I can help you with for now! X
Hi Abbie,
Oh my god!!! 3 months! Really....and that was urgent! What part of the country do you live in?
Can you tell me approx how much a private endoscopy cost?
The endoscopy is between £1,000 and £3,000 but you have to see a consultant before you have it privately or on the nhs.. A private consultation is between 250 and 500 all depends on where you go. I'm south England in Buckinghamshire.
Hi Aryt,
I have been suffering for 6 months and feel the same as you, totally fed up to the point of not wanting to see people. PPI and ranitidine did not work for me, in fact I feel the PPI tablets might have done something to my digestion and made me worse.I have a sore throat and ear problem (eustachian tube disfunction, which had given me hearing loss) which I think are due to reflux. It doesn’t seem to matter what I eat. At night I only manage an hour and a half to two hours before waking up with a really dry throat, so I feel exhausted.
I saw my consultant this week and he has arranged tests, but warned me there was a long wait. He said if the pH test does not show acid he will not see me again. I am worried aboutf being left like this. I have done the bicarbonate of soda test and it indicated I might have low acid.
I sometimes wonder if it is gases given off in the stomach and small intestine due to gut flora being upset. I read somewhere it could be pepsin, not acid causing the damage. This might account for people with problems failing the pH test.
I’m trying meditation to help me cope. There are some good Youtube clips on this.
The throat and ear problems are very likely due to aspiration of extra-oesophageal reflux whether acidic or not.
The bicarb test for acidity is very unreliable. Your pH test will provide an accurate assessment. If acid hyper-secretion is found, acid suppressants are called for - not because they reduce the reflux but reduce the harm refluxing acid can do to your oesophagus causing permanent damage (Barrett's Oesophagus) that can mutate to cancer.
There isn't actually anything much your consutant can do for reflux. The only option they can provide if you are unable to reduce your reflux through lifestyle changes is surgery: fundoplication.
What is fundoplication? is that a harmful surgery?
Does this surgery help ? and is there a cost involved? as in how much? what exactly is it? and does it help
Available on NHS.
The operation has been performed for 60 years, the last 20 laparoscopically - ie keyhole.
It takes the top of the stomach and wraps it around the base of the oeophagus. It takes about an hour and you go home the next day.
Read about it on the DownWithAcid org uk website and also see the NICE option grid in the appendices of the same book/site.
I had fundoplication 8 years ago and it gave me myl ife back.
And All my extra-oesophageal reflux issues I'd had all my life, went.
I get confused as to what is surgery and what isnt, I actually thought an endoscopy was a surgery type of thing'. but not necessarily'. our waiting list here is like 4 months ; to be seen from a specialist if you cant afford to pay for it. and then from after that they put you on the waiting list again and that could take up to 4 months to be seen again as well'. unless you go private. private is always available' - but that costs money and sometimes people dont have that kind of money to spare'. Your Gp could mark it as urgent to be seen for a consultation. and some of them dont have the time or day cause they are "busy people"..Im glad i am being seen . but actually nervous about it too.
.You took the right choice of getting surgery done, I know alot of people are actually scared of surgery'.because sometimes it could have side effects, but I guess it really depends on whos doing the surgery too. Im sure the doctors or whoever is performing surgery want the best outcome for the patient. . Im guessing you are sedated during the whole time. , as long as they know what they are doing'.