Posted by Reggie BoStar on December 22, 2007, at 3:51:50
In reply to acid reflex horrible. Its burning!, posted by your#1fan on December 20, 2007, at 1:01:22
Hi your#1fan,
I treated reflux with OTC meds like that for many years. Then, over the course of a week, I quickly lost the ability to swallow anything. What happened was that the opening from my esophagus to my stomach had gotten so damaged over the years that it had become infected; when that happened, it basically swelled shut.Getting past that wasn't as bad as it might sound. My MD sent me right over to a gastroenterologist, who administered an outpatient treatment to completely clear out the blockage. He gave me something to put me out, then went in through my mouth with some kind of endoscopic tool to dilate the opening. It was completely painless and involved no invasive surgery of any kind. In a few hours I was back home and eating food more easily than I had in years. Even then there was no pain!
The biopsy came back negative for any kind of cancer. However, I was put on a permanent therapy of acid blockers for the rest of my life. If I ever stop taking them, the permanent damage that was done in the past will eventually become irritated by the stomach acid again to the point of swelling shut, and I'll be back where I started.
The first acid blocker I used was Prilosec when it was prescription only. I switched back and forth between that and Prevacid depending on what my insurance was covering that year.
When Prilosec went over-the-counter, my MD told me I could go ahead and take that at the regular dose and it would work fine. The timing was good because my insurance was going downhill and there were no generics for that type of med. Prilosec went directly from "non-preferred" to "over the counter" and skipped the generic stage entirely. Good thing for me.
It's been over 10 years since my little episode of outpatient surgery and I've had no problems at all with digestion since. This shows, in my case at least, how well these acid blockers can easily fix a bad situation.
My case also shows the danger of self-treating chronic acid reflux for too long. It's best to play it safe and see a gastroenterologist. While it's true that your over-the-counter meds now include Prilosec, you don't want any damage the Prilosec doesn't fix to sneak up on you and cause permanent damage. I thought I was managing it well by myself at first, but I was dangerously wrong.
I'm not saying that will happen to you. I'm only recommending that you not wait as long as I did. See, if you stop it early, you might be able to do without acid blockers now and then. I don't have that option.
Look on the bright side. Since I got fixed, I can eat pretty much anything I want without getting heartburn - WITH the permissions of my MD and gastroenterologist, of course. They must be kept on line to monitor things, but that's been the only requirement so far.
Oh yeah, I also have to watch the circulars now for the best deals on Prilosec. It beats having my throat swollen shut, believe me.
Good luck with it,
Reggie BoStar
poster:Reggie BoStar
thread:801702
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071213/msgs/802022.html