Don't bother with Doctors

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neddyflanders

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Since my reflux came back after about 5 months of heaven being free from reflux (until PPI stopped working) I've gone back to two doctors. They're just a waste of time, obviously they don't feel it's any big deal, last doctor just said it just happens, you'll have to live with it. Gee thanks, never go back there again. I'm basically on my own now, if I need to try something I just call and ask and they give me a prescription.

I know people take big doses of PPI's like Prilosec, has anybody tried double doses of something like Pepcid Complete? Since my reflux hits me 95% of the time when I sleep I was thinking of taking two and see what happens, though I don't want to do it if it's bad. If I ask doctor they'll just shrug shoulders so I'm not going to ask them.
 
Neddy:

I am very angry with my primary doctor right now for reasons I have posted already, so I wont bore you with a repetition of the details. But I second your feelings. Doctors don't have too much time to try to figure out problems if the problems can't be fixed with a pill or in the five minutes they have for you.

As far as the H2 blockers, I have been told that you can safely take up to 300 mg of Zantac twice a day and 20 mg of Pepcid twice a day. I think the Pepcid may work a little longer for me and that is what I am trying right now since I stopped my PPI. I am taking 10mg of Pepcid complete twice a day. But I am trying to take less rather than more medication.

I recently purchased orange peel extract pills and I am taking those as prescribed. You are supposed to take one every other day for twenty days. The name of the compound in the pills is D-limonene. It is supposed to coat the stomach and esophagus, and make it difficult for any acid that splashes up to stay up in the esophagus. That's what I have read. They are not supposed to cause negative side effects. I took my first last night and crossed my fingers, and it took away the heartburn I was experiencing. I will take another one tomorrow and so on for the twenty days and see what happens. Iam also taking probiotics and carefully watching what I eat.

I don't think the orange extract is going to "cure" my GERD, though. All these are medicines and remedies, including the PPI's, that keep the symptoms at bay for a while.

I listened to a podcast of a radio show from the People's Pharmacy that featured a gastroenterologist from a major university, and he is running studies at his university where they are limiting carbohydrates for people with GERD. From his preliminary research, it appears that the reduction or elimination of carbs can help to significantly reduce reflux. I don't know how on earth to do a low carb diet when I already don't eat a ton of them. But I guess I may try that next. I guess I can eat chicken and broccoli for a week and see what happens.

It's a trial and error process. But I think doctors thought they had found a panacea with the PPI's and now they are beginning to realize that they don't work the same for everyone (like you) and they may also produce undesirable side effects for some (like me).

Rose
 
I guess I'll be the voice of dissent on this thread. I think the advice to not bother with doctors is lousy advice that, for many people with GERD, will lead to much more serious complications.

I'm certainly not saying that you should see just any doctor and expect them to be able to "cure" your acid reflux, and you should run from any doctor who tells you to just "live with it", but there are lots of good doctors out there (and I'm lucky to have found a couple of them).

There are a couple of things about GERD that are pretty obvious, but that make it very tricky to manage. First of all, PPIs don't "cure" acid reflux. They can give your body time to heal from the damage of reflux, but it requires fairly major lifestyle changes to really get it under control (and even that's not a cure).

Many, many people start taking PPIs, feel better, and never make the necessary lifestyle changes so their GERD continues to escalate, and causes asthma-like symptoms and other complications that can be very serious.

I agree that if your doctor isn't helping you find the answers you should find a new one, but telling people not to bother with doctors doesn't really do anyone any good.

I can say without a doubt that my Gastroenterologist and Pulmonologist have been incredibly helpful in getting my reflux under control (and in giving me a swift kick in the rear when things flare up and they find out that I'm not sticking to the lifestyle changes necessary to keep GERD at bay).
 
I have had acid reflux for 15 years, and I have tried everything from perscriptions to over the counter, natural erbs and vitimins, surgery, changing my diet, losing weight.. etc etc...Nothing works.. I went to Baylor college of Medicine in Houston TX 2 months ago..All he did was give me yet another percscription for anxiety...He thinks it's in my head and that I am making it all up...EEEEK !... My main problem is that I can't breath,...and trust me when I say I have all kinRAB of tests on my lungs too...everything turns up negitive...I have acid reflux...live with it... God bless you on your quest !...
 
Hi Patricia, I also having breathing problems (especially when sleeping). When I go to the doctor they just blow me off. One guy said your tests were all normal, it's not like cancer or anything serious, just try to live with it. That was my last doctor visit, I'll never go back. I'll just have to continue working on fixing it myself.
 
Patricia, have you tried Priolsec-OTC?

If its reflux, this should knock it on the head, no doctor needed
 
It seems all the doctors I've been to just want to get me out of the office as fast as possible. I'm paying big bucks and being rushed out. All of you can do what you want but I'm done. I do have to admit, I think of myself as somebody who can figure out anything, this reflux has me stumped. It doesn't make any sense. I find no difference at all with what I eat and when I eat it. Don't eat 3-4 hours before bedtime, yet it makes no difference to me if I eat 1 hour before bedtime or 6 hours before bedtime, it's a roll of the dice how I'll feel. Last week I had a steak dinner at 9PM, went to bed at 11 and slept like a baby, then tried eating late the next day and had reflux real bad. As Spock would say, this is illogical.
 
The doctors who say "just learn to live with it" may not be too far off the mark. Millions of people have reflux and there is no magic cure for it. It's a fairly common thing as we age (and as our population has become more and more obese) and even Barrett's appears to be far more common than previously believed (and leading to cancer only in a small minority of cases). I feel best when I'm on the PPI, but I don't want to live on PPIs permanently, so currently I'm off the PPI and am "just living with" the symptoms. I do not want to take PPIs, I do not want to take H2 blockers every day, I do not want to consider any surgical options...I do not like green eggs and ham! :D So I'm in the "suck it up and live with it" stage of this, doing what I can to minimize the symptoms but not expecting any cure for it. I may have to live with it for the rest of my life; oh well, I assume I'll have to live with my achy knees and graying hair now for the rest of my life, too. So be it.
 
I think we all have different experiences with doctors and I am glad you have found two who are supportive and helpful. I feel my doctors are "competent" in the sense that they know their specialty, but there is not much time to discuss alternatives, questions or concerns. They basically have one answer which is to take a certain type of medication and, if that medication gives side effects, then add another one to deal with the side effects of the first and so on. I would not not go to doctors. In fact, I do regularly when I experience symptoms, have my regular checkups, etc. We would be in trouble without modern medicine, but modern medicine has also lost a lot of its soul. There are so many new medicines and so little time for doctors to spend with their patients that doctors now spend much of their time pushing pills rather than establishing relationships with their patients.
 
I'm not on the "give up on doctors" bandwagon either. Doctors are just like anyone else in any other job - some are great, some are not-so-great, but in the end, they're just people. You're lucky if you happen across a great one or two. I have been to a couple of doctors in the past few years whom I've really, really liked, but my issues in their area of expertise have cleared up and now I no longer have a reason to see them! :) I tend to agree with rose, tho', that most doctors these days just seem to want to throw prescriptions at you and get you in and out of the office as quickly as possible. There's no time and probably little interest in problem-solving. You have to be your own problem-solver because your doctor just doesn't have the time (and almost assuredly not even the interest) in thinking any deep thoughts about your problem. Reflux is a very pesky, confusing problem that, for many of us, has no obvious causes. I am 6 months into this and STILL don't know if I have any food triggers because there's no rhyme or reason to my flare-ups. Some days are good; some days are bad; it seems not to matter what I eat. I've decided it's just another joy of getting old!
 
When I first went to the GI doctor to look into my heartburn situation three years ago, she seemed very interested in ruling out a serious problem via endoscopy. Once that was ruled out (fortunately for me), then all I got was a prescription for a PPI through her nurse. I was told all looked OK, and to take my medicine for as long as I wanted or needed it. That was it. I think doctors see heartburn as a nuisance symptom. It is caused by a multitude of different factors and somewhat hard to treat, even with the PPI's. I did not receive much help or support from either one of my doctors in Deceraber when I announced I wanted to go off the Aciphex. I was basically told "good luck with that and here is a refill for the Aciphex because you are going to need it anyway. I was also not provided with any information about acid rebound, how to treat it, etc.

I have to add these have been my doctors for years and I basically like them. I simply don't see them as having the time to look at details.
 
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