got to have oseophageal manometry 24 ambulatory test

hi there .my specialist wants to send me for it .it's not my choice .

I have had Barrett for about 8 years .I take omeprazole 20mg twice a day

Ask your specialist the next time if he perhaps understands mathematics. Barrett's oesophagus is not a serious disease for a male under the age of 50 without having dysplasia, women are even in a lesser risk! 

The last study was done in Denmark and included 11,000 people approximately with Barrett’s oesophagus. According to this study, and the study is extremely good done and conducted we, who are under the age of 50 have basically an impossible chance of acquiring adenocarcinoma or oesophagus cancer.

In the study where data was taken from all of the patients from 1992-2009, precisely 11028 patients had Barrett's oesophagus from the overall Danish population and that's around 5 mil. people.

From those 11028 with Barrett's oesophagus only 2 people, once again, 2 people developed cancer of the oesophagus (adenocarcinoma) and that's 0.018% which is basically a tenth from 1%. We don’t know unfortunately the age of those people but I consider them to be above the age of 40, since that’s more likely. So basically we can say that if you are under the age of 40 with Barrett’s oesophagus the probability of you developing cancer is down to 0%.

Of-course, once again, this applies if you don’t have dysplasia, which I doubt you do.

Also, if I were you, I would drop my drug dosage to 20mg omeprazole once a day. A 40mg total of omeprazole daily is a high dosage for your condition. Try to see how your symptoms are with 20mg omeprazole dosage. If you feel fine, then I would keep myself on this dosage and in the future even try to go to 10mg omeprazole.

I have Barrett’s for at least 7 years, Had last scope done and the Barrett’s hasn’t progressed it’s microscopic. I eat unhealthy, have heartburn daily because I don’t take pills every day. I drink alcohol every Saturday, smoke time to time (which shouldn’t be done with Barrett’s).

I’m on pantoprazole 20mg which would be 10mg omeprazole daily and if I stick to it daily I have no heartburn throughout the day, doesn’t matter what I eat.

We should rely on mathematics when it comes to incidence not what a medicine specialist think is the best because mathematics gives us the truth here not someone’s opinions no matter how educated he his.

Look I would have every test going just to rule everything out. Has the doc offered you the Nissan fundopilation op? I would rather have the op than live on meds for the rest of my life. What I've read and I've read a lot (probably too much) the meds are not good for you long term. We have stomach acid for a reason. Too digest food so we absorb nutrients and to kill harmful pathogens. Our immunity to many illnesses starts in the gut.

The meds should be OK if you are on a low-maintenance dosage, if you think otherwise than show me the evidence that this meds at low-maintenance dosage are harmful.

hi there .thanks for your comments .they are all very helpful .I think I may drop down to 20mg a day instead of 40.

having the test will not do any harm .

as he has recommended having it .im.not saying it's the right choice or wrong choice .but it will do no harm to have it .I am the same way a healthyish diet .don't smoke .I do have a couple of shandy a few times a week .like most people .

and the study . thanks for advice .hopefully it will never turn to anything badly .it's hard to no what to do .to follow certain guidelines or not as never no which is best these days

Listen, I'm not trying to make anyone good here and to say don't worry. If the study indicated a growth in adenocarcinoma then I would say to you, stay on your dosage. Since there is no alarm what-so-ever then I kindly advise you to lower your dosage. 20mg is enough for your condition if you don't experience any symptoms.

 The guideline is for the PPIs to be: ON THE LOWEST EFFECTIVE DOSE.

Also, when worrying about a certain condition or medication, we must look at statistical or mathematical data! Not some advice from a friend, patient, mother, father, sister, doctor, specialist doctor... The thing I found out is that doctors most of them unfortunately do not dig and do not update their brain with upcoming research.

Imagine a dentist sticking to technology from the 90's. I would never visit his office.

I trust epidemiological statistics when it comes to cancer and side effects of a certain drug. No one else...

You should not be worried for the next 15-20 years. However. I would advise to do checkups for your esophagus every 5 years or if you feel some symptoms for a good amount of time happening which you may connect with your esophagus condition (3+months).  With a diet, somehow healthy lifestyle I can tell you that you will be cancer free (am telling you that from the reseach that I've done). 

Do you have any side effects from the PPIs, noticeable sides? I'm curious about that?

generally day to day .heartburn .bad stomach all the time .constant fatigue .feel run down .bad back pain .clearing of the throat .sore throat when swallow .and food gets stuck .no energy .

Esic I can only go on what I've read and my own experience. I know the meds didn't help me and they were not good for me ( increased anxiety, constipation, chest pains, shallow breathing and sleepless nights).

That's fine, I'm just saying if they don't work for you it doesn't mean that they don't work for others...

hi there .thanks for your comment .I'm not looking forward to it to be honest .what's it like for 24 hours can you feel it every time you swallow and is it uncomfortable or is it not noticeable once it's in place

Please do post back, I'm curious about the procedure...

As I said it's just a bit uncomfortable when you swallow. You can feel it. It's not painful. Bit embarrassing walking around with it. Everyone looked so concerned about me. I think it's worth having done.

can you feel it the whole 24 hours I your throat .or do you get used to it .thanks again .

You get use to it. I managed to sleep ok too. You sound like you are stressing over it. Please don't, it really is not to bad at all.