head

yeah i got a nasal spray on wed, doc says it could take a few weeks to take effect

barretts u seem very wise and clued up on this topic. I appreciated your support and advice. Do u think thats what it could be? Im scaring myself half to death thinking i have a brain tumour to go along with the reflux. :-( im just so down with it all 

Barretts, that info about vertigo is very interesting. I have noticed that I have had fewer episodes of vertigo now that I have been treating the reflux.

My GE (gastric emptying) test revealed that my stomach takes nearly twice as long as normal to push the food on its way, which explains much of the bloating of my stomach. Since I also have a hiatal hernia and gastritis, I have been wondering whether surgery will help with the reflux, and whetehr it would make what appears to be gastroparesis worse. I have my follow-up appointment with my doc on Monday, and up to now he has dismissed the idea of surgery for the hernia. 

I know you have had the surgery and are feeling much better. Is there a "magic number" that suggests surgery? Like how bad the hernia is?

My symptoms seem to be getting worse, despite meds for the reflux and a careful diet. I worry about long term deleterious effects on my esophagus.

What finally triggered your operation? I know you said you suffered for years. Frankly, I do not have the patience to do that, I have too much to do.

I appreciate hearing about any experience you have had that you are willing to share. I want to be prepared when I see the gastroenterologist on Monday.

Thank you in advance!

In UK, we don't treat hiatus hernia unless it causing significant problems.

If they think you may be eligible for surgery, they'll do a 24hr pH manometry test where they look at the pressure difference over the gastro-oesophageal junction by lying you down with a probe via your nose and feeding you teaspoonfuls of water. You then wear a recorder for 24 hours with a different wire coming out of your nose.

From the figures of how much acid you're producing and when, they work out a "DeMeester" score. Anything over 14.7 shows acid reflux. (Mine was 179!)

You can read about my experience on my personal website blog. Go to www ChrisRob co uk and find Manometry on the drop down from the Barrett's tab. You'll also find my personal account of my fundoplication.

Stomach emptying may still be a problem after surgery as it won't address that - though your stomach will be slightly smaller initially.

My oh my, that does not sound like a pleasant experience!

I have discovered there are differences in procedures, so maybe I would not have to go through that.

When I read about the GE test online, the UK site said there would be an hourly image taken of my stomach, but the test I had was a constant monitoring of the Journey of the Radioactive Egg over a period of an hour and a half.

And I was sedated during the endoscopy; apparently not all patients in other countries have that option. Yikes!

Thank you, I will check out your blog.

Barretts u seem clued up on this topic so im gona describe what i feel is happening to me, i appreciate it sounds weird and trust me i have the docs thinking im a looney, but all i need is one person to understand. Just above my collarbone, where the middle meets, i feel as if inside something is opening (very uncomfortable feeling) and it sends my anxiety high and i feel this is what gives me my tightness in my head. It goes back after a while, but it does this regularly, Do u have any idea what im talking about?

The area you describe is the cricopharyngeus.

This muscle controls the flap valve, effectively an upper oesophageal sphincter, that usually permits air to enter the trachea but opens to permit food to enter the oesophagus instead.

Although not designed to stop reflux of matter progressing up the oesophagus, that is what it attempts to do which can cause unusal feelings as you describe.

It is associated with extra-oesophageal reflux not controlled by acid suppressant medication.

You should be a doctor, or are u you? wish you were mine, they think im crazy. Should i be worried and what can i do about it? thank u

barretts is that what achalasia is?

No not a doctor. But I've spent more time studying this than they do. But my specialism is much narrower than theirs.

There should be no real cause for worry. Many of us have experienced something similar. It really is a case of attempting to reduce reflux.

For conditions they're not expert in, doctors are supposed to follow guidelines provided by the specialists within their health trust (or CCG). For acid reflux the condition is not usually separated into the two components and the local guidelines they'll have been presented with will say to prescribe an acid suppressant - eg your lansoprazole.

If the maintenance dose (30mg) is not working, they'll usually double your prescription. Whereas this will further reduce acid making the reflux less harmful, it may have littel effect on the reflux itself for which the only "help" you'll get is to follow the lifestyle changes as there's no pill they can give you to help. Although some people find anti-emetic drugs may help: metoclopramide or domperidone - so you may be prescribed those to se if it helps.

Im on 2 30mg tablets a day, the feeling is very uncomfortable and makes me panic as i feel my throat is closing up, i appreciate u talking to me thank u

hi paul, ive had gastritis now for 11 weeks, but just had my endoscopy last week. Was on omeparzole and then lansaprozole on and off for the weeks leading up to it, ive had the pressure in my head from roughly week 2 or 3. Was off them for a while as one doctor took me off everything. I do have anxiety but ive never suffered from this before.

Hi Colleen. Have never associated the two but I had a similar condition about 3 years ago which in hindsight was probably around the same time as I started having reflux problems. It was diagnosed as sinusitis and I was given various sprays to use which my doctor told me to administer by holding my nose and blowing the liquid through until my ears popped. It isn't nice to do. It did clear up in time probably 4-6 weeks but I did have a recurrence about 6 months later and had to go through it again. It's better now although I do seem to have to blow my nose more than the average human.

Think Barretts is probably taking you on the right road.

Aww julian im not sure whats worse my stomach or my head :-(