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Grade 3 Oesophagitis

Posted , 5 users are following.

madeleine94884
madeleine94884

I recently had an endoscopy and was diagnosed with Grade 3 Oesophagitis, my GP referred me because of my constant heartburn and the fact I've lost a stone in weight.   I am wondering whether to go back to the GP and ask to be referred to a nutritionist.  Have any of you done this?  I am eating by trial and error but am finding it difficult because I just can't seem to stop the heartburn and nausea.   Any advice welcomed.

2 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • Barretts
    Barretts madeleine94884

    Posted

    We are all different and tolerate foods differently. Use trial and error and keep a food diary to find out what foods you tolerate and which are your particular trigger foods to avoid.

    The Savery-Miller grading system for oesophagitis has 5 grades. Grade 3 is defined as "multiple circumferential erosions".

    I am assuming you'll have been prescribed omeprazole (or another PPI) to reduce the oesophagitis. It's normal to be prescribed this at 40mg for two or three weeks to counteract the acid you've been refluxing. If it doesn't do its job within a few weeks, your doctor may consider sending you for an endsocopy to ensure no permanent damage (ie Barrett's Oesophagus) has been done.

  • abc1234
    abc1234 madeleine94884

    Posted

    hi madeleine, buy a book by kaufman called dropping acid. barrets is correct that everyone is unique, but there are many foods that trigger most of us and it's a learning curve. i would not be confident that a nutritionist would be much help. it's not about balance of foods or eating low fat....this is a very important time to get your diet correct to let your body heal from the erosion so diet is very important. the great thing is that changing behaviors and diet can make a very big difference, but it will take time to heal ie., 1 year. to give you a simple example of what i eat for a day until you get the book is; breakfast = whole oat oatmeal with water or low fat milk only. lunch = lean chicken with rice and some veggies with light amount of salt. dinner = oatmeal bread with a slice of cheese. i drink 1% milk with all my meals. people are going to state milk is bad, but this has been proven the opposite. it acts as a buffer (reduce acid) and helps you heal. regarding behaviors to change. prop up the bed in the front to create a decline preventing stomach acid to travel up. don't lie down for 2-3 hours after you eat. eat small to medium meals. bend only at the knees. meaning don't let your upper body bend forwards. early on in my acid refulx i found that a timed release calcium carbonate pill before bedtime worked well. it was over the counter and works for 8-9 hours. i used this until a started healing enough. 
    • Barretts
      Barretts abc1234

      Posted

      Although I respect Jamie Kauffman's work, particularly her pulicising extra-oesophageal reflux, for which she coined the terms "LPR" and "silent reflux" and has now decided should be called "respiratory reflux", I do disagree with some of the things she propagates - particularly her views of acid and alkaline foods.

      However acid or alkaline food is, it is negligible compared with the strength of stomach acid.

      And alkaline water, which she also advocates, has been shown to be a hoax that was dreamt up by bottled water companies.

      If you visit www BarrettsWessex org uk you will find the Cool Food cookbook towards the bottom of the SALES page. Clicking on the image opens a freely downloadable pdf copy of this popular book that has proved useful to so many.

       

    • abc1234
      abc1234 Barretts

      Posted

      i could not disagree more on foods and their acidity being negligible. i believe the vast majority of the reason why most of us have acid reflux is because of what we are eating then comes behavior. my acid reflux has been solved for many years now and other than the first 3 months of taking an over the counter timed released calcium carbonate i have not taken any medications. i was able to deal with my acid reflux because i started eating a strict low acid diet and changed my behavior. i am an athlete for 30 years who ate from a planned low fat diet from a nutritionist. i am all for having more resources espeically free ones. i do as well. for those who are new to acid refulx especially those with siginifcant issues. just make sure you get the basics down first before you depend on what's available on the net. i still believe the majority of doctors out there are still misdiagnosing this condition. if you find a good doctor who specializes in this your ahead of most. most alkaline water is just water with added minerals or chemicals to lower the ph. not sure i would call it a hoax, but rather a engineered drink. ph can vary after it sits on the shelf.

       

    • Barretts
      Barretts abc1234

      Posted

      I'm glad you've found a regimen that works for you. I think it's probably more to do with your behaviour and low fats rather than a low acid diet.

      If you were to spill stomach acid on your hand, it would leavea a permanent scar. If you spilled lemin juice, it would just feel wet.

      If you were to overindulge in high alkaline foods, the stomach would just produce more acid.

      I could provide you with all sorts of links as to research in this field - especially the alkaline water hoax, its history and its dangers.

    • abc1234
      abc1234 Barretts

      Posted

      this is an interesting discussion and i like your view point, but i also don't want this talk to take away from the posters' questions. if i were to eat a small non fat meal of pasta with tomato, garlic, hot peppers sauce and a beer my stomach would react widely with stomach acid compared to a larger meal of low acid higher fat foods. this would be the same for most people. the carbonation in the beer alone would cause me issues and i have no symptoms.  if you buy some real dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher, which is very low fat.) and you eat 3-5 cubes. wait 15-20 minutes and listen to your voice. do you sound hoarse? you are damaging your vocal chords. lastly, the holidays is when most people have issues with reflux.  

      the pharmacuetical companies would like you to believe that you can eat whatever you like as long as you take their meds to lower your stomach acids prior to eating. however, they have side effects.

      now if your saying as you heal up from dealing with acid reflux you can loosen up your diet then i agree. however, i don't stray away from the low acid foods much and i stay away from the significant triggers.

    • gwen45436
      gwen45436 abc1234

      Posted

      I am liking this - sounds spot on and I am taking note. 

      These pains going right up the front and back and into the throat with burning are awful and I really dont want to go to the docs as I know apart from the camera which I have had before five years ago, it will be here is a script for PPI which is what I was first given and did nothing for me at all. I toned down my diet and alcohol and I dont eat processed anyway but all fresh with fruit and veg and cleared it up.  That was gastritis, but this is something different and sounding like acid reflux or silent reflux. 

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