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Barrett's Esophagus

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brinal30613
brinal30613

I have been told that it is very rare for a female to have Barrett's, it's more common in white males, and also being overweight.

i am a black female and underweight, the only same characteristic I have is that I am over 50.

just interested to know if there are any females with Barrett's.

i thought I had reflux for over 10 years, on and off. But the ph monitoring and the bravo ph testing did not show up any reflux being really bad. Both the endoscopy that I had last year and this year showed that I have bad reflux. I also have a small hiatus hernia, surgeon doesn't think I need a fundoplication surgery, but it's upto me, I am on the highest dosage of nexium, should I have the surgery? Will it stop the heart burn? Stop the Barrett's from getting worse? I am so confused, and don't know what to do. 

1 like, 18 replies

18 Replies

  • amanda432
    amanda432 brinal30613

    Posted

    Hi brinal ,,,I'm female ,,under 50 , average weight , there is a lot of women out there with same condition .I to have had reflux etc for over 20 years and on nexium after many medication ,,also got the h/hernia ...now the question you asked about fundoplication .I to have wondered the same thing ..my doc gives me no info and basically no answers ,,so hopefully someone will see your question and shed some light for both of us ...good luck with everything
    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 amanda432

      Posted

      Hi Amanda thanks for you reply hope we find out more info about this, just out of curiosity which country are you from? I am from Australia.
    • amanda432
      amanda432 brinal30613

      Posted

      Hi brinal ,,, I'm located in the UK . I would imagine the treatments and advice are the same worldwide for Barrett patients ,be interesting to know if not . I feel like I'm a burden to my gp with this condition and hernia as I've been telling my gp on and off for 20 years I've not felt right . but always brushed off ..and felt like I was a pain so now I don't bother going .
    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 amanda432

      Posted

      So sorry that your GP has not been a help. Would like to find out more 

      about your illness, have you had a endoscopy done? You could ask your

      GP to give you a referral to a Gastro Specialist. Have you already seen

      a GI specialist?

  • Barretts
    Barretts brinal30613

    Posted

    Although the demographic says the highest risk factor is overweight, white, middle aged men, I know a number of women with Barrett's.

    I am chairman of the largest patient support group for those with Barrett's. A quick search of our members' records reveals 41.4% are female.

    As to age, I know of a girl who was 8 when she was diagnosed with Barrett's (and had a fundoplication) and in the papers recently was the story of a young woman who was 19 when she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

    As to whether to stay on PPIs or have a fundoplication, your choice will depend on many things. Your Barrett's was caused by a combination of acid, bile and reflux. If your problems are mainly acid, you may be better staying on them. However, if your problems are mainly reflux (which may be non-acidic) you may be better having the operation.

    As a help, NICE have produced an Option Guide discussing the pros and cons of the two alteratives.

    https://sites.google.com/site/barrettswessex/treatment/guidelines

    Chris

    Emis Moderator comment: I have replaced the link with one to the user's site as the one given was to a direct download site. If this is not the correct info send me a private message.

    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 Barretts

      Posted

      Thanks for your REply...

      How would I know if my problem is mainly acid? or non-acidic.

      I do cannot tolerate anything acidic - citrus, wine, spicy, chilli fatty food, heavy meats cakes etc. So which catagory would i come under? even with me taking the high dose of Nexium I still cannot tolerate, alot of food or all the above foods I mentioned. however if I stop the Nexium I cannot tolerate any food, my digestion becomes totally sluggish and not able to eat even the small portions of foods. and i get that heavy full feeling in my chest.

      sometimes even drinking a glass of water can cause a burning.

       

  • larraine24877
    larraine24877 brinal30613

    Posted

    Hi Brinal,

    I'm also a female with Barretts, and sliding Hyatis Hernia, over 50 and not overweight, certainly not now having lost 3.5 stone since diagnosed with Barretts.

    Unfortunately I cant give you any answers though, as I like you am experimenting with medication and alternative therapies, but unable to get definitive recommendations from consultant or GP., but its good to see you are getting some authoritive feedback

    REgards

    L

    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 larraine24877

      Posted

      thanks Lorraine for your reply, good to hear that  I am not the only one with this problem, coz here in Australia the Consultants seem to think it very rare for us females to have Barretts. Which country do you come from?
  • larraine24877
    larraine24877 brinal30613

    Posted

    Hi Brinal, 

    From England, but interesting, having just entertained relatives from Australia who tells me of another female relative in Aus. with Barretts! Cold comfort I'm sure!

    Regards

    L

    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 larraine24877

      Posted

      Interesting, just goes to show - I don think these GI doctors are well informed of the statistics.

      well thanks Lorraine, got an appt. to see him in a weeks time, I will be telling him it's not as rare as he thinks my condition is.

  • sashla
    sashla brinal30613

    Posted

    Hi Brinal

    I'm a 50yo Aussie female with Barrett's.

    My reflux probably started about 25 years ago but it didn't occur to me to see a doctor until about 15 years ago.

    I was put on nexium and have rregular scopes every 2 years. I haven't had any other tests.

    My post doesn't mean much, just letting you know that there's another Aussie female out there smile

    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 sashla

      Posted

      Thanks Sashia,

      its good to know. I told my GI Dr. That I am not the only female with BT and he just look at me like was crazy or making up stories.

      how are you coping? Is your Barrett's remained the same?

    • sashla
      sashla brinal30613

      Posted

      I'm beginning to wonder about your GI doctor... haha!

      I'm well thanks.  I dont think much has changed at all over the past 15 years.  I had a scope 2 weeks ago and had a biopsy and still feel a bit uncomfortable (which is what prompted me to come on to this forum) but I'm sure that I'll be back to normal soon enough.

      This forum has been helpful. I suppose that we just keep being monitored until something changes.

      Good luck

    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 sashla

      Posted

      This GI Dr. That I am seeing is supposed to be very good he's at St. Vincent's hospital. But who knows these days!

      So I take it your results were normal? Or was it too soon to tell.

      have you ever thought about having the Fundoplication surgery?

      are you on a high dose of nexium? Do you still suffer with the heartburn, and chest pains?

    • sashla
      sashla brinal30613

      Posted

      They said that the barretts was unchanged but my oesophagus was inflamed which is where they took the biopsy. The results will be available next week. They're going to my GP, I'll probably go there in a few weeks time.

      I was on Nexium 40 forever until I saw a different GP who has now changed me to 20mg Pariet twice a day because apparently Nexium is too expensive and the doctors aren't allowed to prescribe it long term and can face huge fines if they are audited.

      I wonder if my inflamed oesophagus is due to that??  I'll ask my usual GP when I see her next.

      I still have heartburn if I eat/drink the wrong things or forget to take my medication for a few hours.

      I haven't considered any surgery and won't unless my condition changes for the worst.

    • brinal30613
      brinal30613 sashla

      Posted

      Most people with Barrets are on high dose of Nexium, 40mg in the morning and 40mg in the evening. Price deference between the two is not much at all. If you were on 40mg of Nexium for a long time, why would  she reduce your dosage 20mg of pariet. But split that dosage up am and PM?

      The price difference is only about $1 or $2

      i used to be on pariet, it stopped working for me, which is when I switched to Nexium, started from 40mg and just last year when I was diagnosed with Barrets my GI Dr. Put me on 40mg twice a day.

      anyway hope your test results are ok.

       

    • sashla
      sashla brinal30613

      Posted

      It's not the cost to us it's the cost to the government (PBS)

      I was on 40mg once a day so perhaps my barrets ins't as bad as others?

      so now I'm on Pariet 20mg twice a day.

      I was on another medication which stopped working for me and I suspect that Pariet wil do the same (and probably already is).

      Thanks you too.

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