BARRETS ESOPHAGUS
Posted , 6 users are following.
Is it deadly? I have a scope done and was told they saw barrettes esophagus and some inflammation but made it sound like no big deal. Was told to come back in two weeks to an office follow up but I had no days left to take off from work so I just alley and talked to a nurse. She said biopsy showed no pre cancerous cells. This week I have been reading a lot about affects on your body from taking omerprazole for an extended period of time. I went to see my gp today and mentioned I was going to try and stop taking it and change my diet. She looked at my results from my scope and said I would hope you don't since you have a precursor to cancer. So now I am freaking out. I am 31 years old and I have to worry about cancernow? What are the chances? Do I have to be on these meds forever? Wish I had the time to do that follow up or they would have at least told me more over the phone but I needed my job and the phone call they made it sound like no big deal. It's so strange because beyond pregnancy I never had problems with acid reflux until two years ago and even then it was a tight throat feeling nothing major. Also, if that tight feeling in my throat isn't always gone does that mean I need a higher dose that 40 MG?
1 like, 9 replies
Guest janelle59755
Posted
Chances of you getting cancer in the next 10 years let's say are really really slim. Especially if you stick with a diet(no alcohol, no cigarette) you''ll definetly be fine, hence, forget about cancer. I had been diagnosed with Barrett's with 19 I'm 26 soo now. I'm not on a diet and the last endoscopy was just fine no major progress. So don't worrym, you are young but take care of yourself, no need for exageration. How long have you been on Omeprazole? Try to go to 20 mg daily in the near future. 10mg would be superb but If you can't then let your goal be 20mg. Do you have any side effects from it?
janelle59755 Guest
Posted
sickandtired196 janelle59755
Posted
I take 40 mil of anti acid medication. I still have
My reflux. I guess I always will. I've tried
Coming off but after a week or 2. It's back and
Really bad. I'm scared too because I know
This could all lead to escophocus cancer.
My ins doesn't allow for 2nd opinion outside
My network and the drs in my network
Won't go against what the other saids.
What's a person suppose to do?
dominique64820 janelle59755
Posted
How long have you been on meds?
The meds are obviously not working if you have Barrett's. If I was you I would consider having one of the following:
Nissan fund
Linx
Tif
stretta
The meds are not great for your overall health long term and considering how young you are I would definitely consider one of the above. Research all the options.
All the best in making a decision. Please try not to stress as this will only make reflux worse. I know easier said than done. There's been some great success stories regarding Nissan and Linx procedure on this forum.
If u decide to go ahead find the best doc. Ask him lots of questions. Main one being how many procedures has he carried out, what's his success rate and what does he consider a success?
Al the best
Dominique
Barretts janelle59755
Posted
Barrett's is classed as a pre-cancerous condition because it has the propensity to mutate. However, the chances of that are very small (about 0.2% p.a. ) .
PPIs lik eomeprazole have come in for a lot of unwarrented criticism from scare stories propagated in the sensationalist media. There have been sme studies that have shown a very slightly increased correlation between those taking PPIs and having some other co-morbidities. The studies do not show the PPIs actually caused them. They have, however, been shown to have a probably protective effect to reduce the possibity of progression to cancer by 71%.
If you have Barrett's Oesophagus, the advice is to remain on these meds for life - though monitored by a doctor to ensure lowest effective dose correctly taken.
However, PPIs are excellent at reducing acid but not reflux (just making it less dangerous) . Symptoms appearing at th ethroat are those of reflux rather than acid. That needs to be managed by lifestyle modification or surgery.
I have had Barrett's at least 23 years. I took omeprazole for 15 years (increasing to 80 mg daiy) until I had a fundoplication (reflux reduction surgery) 9 years ago which also means I no longer need the meds.
Guest Barretts
Posted
A week ago a new study came out and ofcourse the media loved that study because it showed again an increase in getting CKD. Altough if you look at the study you'll see how many people actually have, hypertension, diabetis, use NSAIDs ect. After all 85% of people did not develop a kidney issue. I'm reading dr. comments on medscape and some are just saying that this drugs are more harmful then stereoids. When a layman reads such a comment from an MD he get's a heart attack instantly...
sickandtired196 Barretts
Posted
So you know there's a surgery involving the throat? My dr. wants to snip the sphincter in the back of my throat to widen it so that will help reduce the reflux but I cannot find any info on this surgery and it involves a 4 day hosiptal stay and that scares me.
Barretts Guest
Posted
Barretts sickandtired196
Posted
A paper entitled "Impact of Nissen fundoplication on laryngopharyngeal reflux symptoms" if you want to Google it, said:
"LPR" (reflux at the top of the oesophagus) is a continuation of Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux travelling full column. A fundoplication to cure GORD can also cure LPR.
"The percentage of patients with symptom improvement after surgery were: heartburn (90.1%) , regurgitation (92.6%) , voice fatigue (75.2%) , chronic cough (76.3%) , choking episodes (83.1%) , sore throat (82.9%) , lump in throat (77.4%) , repetitive throat clearing (72.8%) , and adult-onset asthma (59.6%) . Twenty per cent with repetitive throat clearing and 30 per cent with adult-onset asthma had no improvement in symptoms. "