Long Term Concerns with Reflux
Posted , 4 users are following.
Good morning from Canada and thanks for taking the time to read this,
I am a 37yo male who has experienced reflux for the better part of the past 10 years. I have been on 20mg rabeprazole (aciphex) for the past 5 years and was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia via barium swallow as well. I still had some reflux symptoms so I had an endoscopy done in February which showed reflux oesophagitis (negative biopsies for Barrett's and Dysplasia). The Gastro doc upped my dose to 40 mg and I now am almost symptom free. Since February I have purposefully lost 12 pounds and have really stuck to good GORD eating habits (smaller meals, not eating 2h before bed, etc.).
Here is what is bothering me (as I am sure I am not alone here):
How concerned should I be about an eventual progression to Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (cancer associated with GORD)?
Is there anything more people have done in my situation to help with the prevention?
Do suspected long-term side effects of PPI bother you? (even though I have plenty of indications to be on one for life).
Thanks again and have a good day,
Matt
0 likes, 4 replies
nancyphn matt45469
Posted
if you weren't diagnosed on biopsy and u maintain weight and healthy eating this should not be a problem...glad you are feeling better... I m not on meds at this point but know several people on meds for at least 12 years with no problems or side effects!
matt45469 nancyphn
Posted
Hi Nancy,
Thank you for your reply! I'm not an anxious person but even just getting concrete information on the internet without making my head spin is challenging especially in the case of chronic GORD.
My goal is to control everything that I can (weight, diet, exercise which are the largest risk factors for many diseases) and try not to preoccupy my thoughts with things I can't (side effects of PPIs).
Thanks again and have a good day,
Matt
moon53540 matt45469
Posted
I have been on ppis on and off for I think about 15 years. At the moment I have to take them all the time. The cancer scare stories in the press about PPIs are looking at studies of people who have been on them who had h pylori which can give you gastric cancer. So it hasn't been proved that PPIs can give you cancer, it is saying a percentage of people who had h pylori and then went on to take daily PPIs got cancer. So the chances are they would have got cancer anyway because of the h pylori. It was a very small percentage though. The scare stories about dementia could be because when you are on PPIs you don't absorb vitamins and minerals as well. So a vitamin b12 deficiency is linked with dementia. If you are worried take vitamin sprays, I was deficient in vitamin d and b12 I take a daily spray for both and I am fine now.
Since PPIs have been about stomach cancers have decreased a lot and people don't die like they used to from ulcers. I hope this puts your mind at rest about the side effects, the press read a medical study which they don't understand and get it all out of proportion to get headlines and scare people out of taking medication which can save and vastly improve lives.
The two most harmful things for GORD are smoking and drinking lots of alcohol as far as I am aware.
matt45469 moon53540
Posted
Thank you for your reply, all makes sense!
All the best,
Matt