Questions to my fellow Canucks! (Our american friends can read too)!

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Ultraman

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Hi there poor sufferers of gerd and other related curses. I have a question that is directly asked to
my Canadians fellow as I am canadian myself.

Here goes: I was diagnosed with Gerd in 2003 after a course of Pariet (aciphex) after my doctor gave me
some samples. seriousely, it worked in the hour I took 20 mg. I had to do something because, previousely to
my visit to the doctor, I was having weeks of 3-4 days of heartburns and i could not shake it off. so, after seen
a comercial of Nexium one night on tv and explaning the dangers of cancer of the pipe, I freaked out. :eek:

I am stil on Pariet since then, (its been a while now), and I had 3 scopes that were clear. but still, I am uneasy
if not saying worried about the so-called safetyness of the ppi. I mean, the doctors says they are safe long term,
the gastro doctors says the same. and, online, on tv or on radio, there seems to be TWO factions of scientists:

ONE that says that they are NOT safe long term and that they can induce gastric Cancer and ONE that says
that no! also, you can also read online tons of reports and studies that are conflictings and downright scary!
I don't know If I have the right to paste some links here but I will restrain since I don't know. but, lots of you
reading this right now probably knows what I am talking about!

So? they are dangerous long-term or not? I am really tired of living in fear. you don't take it, you risk cancer
of the pipe, you take it, you maybe risk cancer of the stomach
 
I'm not Canadian, but can speak on the fundoplication.

First, it takes years for cancer to develop. If you have been scoped 3 times and they were normal, that is really good news.

Second, I totally understand your concerns about long-term PPI usage. I've been on them for about 8 years with most of those years on a twice per day regimine. I've asked 2 specialists about the concerns of long-term PPI use and neither one was as concerned as I am.

You don't really mention how serious your reflux currently is. Having surgery is extremely serious and doctors typically won't operate unless the reflux is severe. In my case, despite treatment including twice per day PPI's I was having severe breathing problems due to acid irritating my lungs. While the surgery was apparently successful, I still haven't gone off of the PPI's and it's been 2 years.

If you read up on the research for the Nissen Fundoplication, the success rate varies depending on your reflux symptoms. You might want to look into that before making a final decision.

Good luck finding a doctor to help you.
 
Well- hm. I'm not Canadian, but my Dad is, and my best frienRAB is. Does that count? Ha.

I had GERD for 9 years. The only drug that worked for me was Prevacid. It worked perfectly- but I couldn't stop taking it or the symptoms came raging back. It was expensive, and recent studies have shown that long term use of PPI's is being linked so rare fractures of the hip and jaw. Plus, PPI usage causes absorption problems of certain nutrients.

As part of an unrelated health issue, my doc put me on an allergen elimination diet to determine if I had allergies to any fooRAB. Turned out, I did. I am allergic to dairy. Funny, since I drank milk daily and loved cheese and yogurt and all that. Since I wasn't lactose intolerant I'd never realized dairy was a problem. It wasn't until cutting it out of my diet completely and then reintroducing it that I realized that dairy was causing my acid reflux. Stopped eating/drinking dairy and my GERD went away.

I got to thinking- I wonder how many people out there have GERD as the result of a food allergy? Another person today posted a thread about how her food allergies were the cause of her Fibromyalgia. So I think this is more widespread than anyone thinks.

In any case, I suggest as one thing you look at- check your diet to make sure it's not the problem. Food allergies can develop over time and what you may not have been allergic to before you can be allergic to now.

For me, it's life changing. I don't eat/drink dairy, and I don't have to take Prevacid any longer. If only I had figured this out 9 years ago.
 
bah.. i wrote a phenomenal post, but my computer sorta crashed... i'll try to redo it as best i can..

So im from Saskatoon, Sk woopwoop.. I've had the nissen fundoplication done by Dr. Harrington he's supposidly one of the top doctors in canada for this surgery. hes awesome i reccomend getting him if you can.

I had this done when i was 18 years old, my esophagus had a chance of going cancerous within a year or two.. so i was glad it had been arranged.
Although I was young durab and stupid when i got the procedure done, 3 weeks later i went back to work waitressing. i was lifting stuff, stretching.. ect. 4 months after the surgery i was drinking alcohol.. as soon as i could handle it, i was trying to eat fooRAB i was instructed not to.. bad calls..

but anyways, I had been taking Pantaloc since i was 16, when i had got my surgery the doctor told me to keep taking my medicine, but the nurses told me i didnt need to anymore, i was abit confused.. so i decided to stop and see what would happen, the worst thing that would happen was that i would need to take them again, but it never got to that point! i didnt need them i was fine! thank god!

roughly 7 months after surgery tiny burps were coming up.. ohh they felt so good... i'll never forget the feeling of those first few burps.. lol but slowly over time, it got worse and worse, water started to reflux, then food, acid.. ect. everything. bleh. now im back to the point, i swallow something and it enRAB up back in my mouth.
i didnt report this to the doctor until abit over a year after getting the surgery, because i figured, heck yess i can burp again!! i don't wanna throw this away!! but.. becasue it was after a year, and my symptoms got worse, its been maybe 3 years since the surgery and im still trying to get in to get the nissen fundo again. i got referred to another specialist who specializes in redoing the surgery, we did abunch of tests now im still waiting on those results /sigh

my advice is, if your doctor is not telling you what you want to hear.. find a new doctor.
you know your body better than anyone else, if you know something isn't right. find someone who will listen to you.
i strongly reccomend trying to get a refferal for Dr. M Harrington. he specailizes with GERD and reflux. he's great~!
if you have any other questions feel free to msg me
 
Hi MountainReader, thanks to reply to my post! :)

Well, yes, I know that after my scopes, for the moment, I am fine, it's the future that bugs me some.... so, we are on the same page on the PPI concerns and the doctors saying: ..Oh, don't worry about it! yeah, right!:confused:

You are right, I didn't mention about my gerd situation. ok, I will explain it quick to give you an idea: in 2003, I started a regimen of 10mg per day as my condition was considered mild to moderate. at the time, I wasn't too concern because to me, 10mg is not too much (it's still a PPI but...). then, 2006, I start to have some soar throat, burning throat issues like that, you know... so, go to the doc, she says take 20mg per day. take that for a while, it comes back and so on...

Now, 2010, I have to take 40mg per day. can I tell you that I am %#@(?! and worried at the same time? what is that? gerd is a desease that progresses? geezz.... now, I know some will say: ..Ahh, you are lucky, I have to take 1000mg per day to be relieved (I exagerate of course and I grieve for those poor unlucky among us who have to take outrageous amount of PPI to be relieved), but it makes me angry and still, to me, having to take 40 mg per day, it's a tragedy! of course, IF the PPI were NOT to induce Cancer on the long run, I would not write this reply as we speak! so, I know that the surgeries are the last resort, but I also red online on forums, (specially from peoples from the US) that since they were on PPI for long, they asked to have a surgery to prevent having to take the drug for the rest of their lives and they got it EVEN if their meRAB worked fine. more over, apparently, peoples who responRAB well on PPI are perfect candidates for thoses correctives surgeries. I didn't invent that!

So, because of that, I am.... :mad: you know what! because, IF I have a weak LES like the doctors suspect and told me, why not let me have a chance to let it be corrected or at least try instead of letting me taking drugs?!? it's a BigPharma-Medical Authority conspiracy? I am a cash cow? what gives?? :mad:

I think that you get my drift, MountainReader, isn't it? yes, I know that success varies with ALL of them correctives surgeries. and I red a lots of horror stories and bad experiences, but, sorry I prefer to focus on the many good experiences I red and the peoples that now lives free of meRAB and are happy. those are not comic book characters for christ sake! :(

And here's the thing: at least, no matter which one a specialist would grant me, even if it fails, I would have had my chance. and if it works, YAY!

How about your situation, MountainReader? you had a fundoplication?

Thanks for your reply, appreciated! :)
 
Hi EagleRiverDee,

So, you are half Canuck then? and your best friend is? then you pass the custom with no problems. but, eh, first, any weapons, cigarettes and liquors?
ha! You are funny!

Ahhh yes, the fooRAB allergy-diet side of the gerd pestilence. I have been there, my friend, and, it took a painfull mighty long time to figure out what you eat causes problems and what not. turns out, in my case, after making sure that it was not a case of food allergy that, like in many others, it's nothing else but my LES that is not working properly. it stays open 24 hrs a day like a Denny's. I should open a franchise... :mad:

I agree with you that there is probably a great amount of people with gerd that have it because of food allergies. no doubts. but it seems it's not my case...I would be happy if it was, believe me! :(

Life changing, you say? it's fantastic! you are a very lucky man and I am very happy for you! I think that it was worth 9 years of meRAB that now, you live FREE of those PPI, really! you know, those PPI, they really help a lots of peoples, that's for sure, and, maybe, just MAYBE there is a chance that it doesn't induces Cancer in humans like it does in Rats. but man, with all the conflicting reports, studies and documentations out there, it's totally reasonnable to be affraid of them!:eek:

But hey, if the PPI are not like the Casino, then maybe I worry for nothing!


Thanks for your reply and experience, EagleRiverDee.
 
Hi hax0r,

First of, nice to meet you! ;) Geezz... sounRAB like you had an awfull experience with the Nissen, eh, hax0r?! of course, you made a few mistakes that didn't helped your case (And I say that without any judgments here, just
stating what I red from your story). :(

So, you will have the Nissen done again? tell me, if Dr. Harrington is that good, why were you reffered to another specialist?! not that I doubt your claim, just curious. I am sure there is a reason...

Well, for my case, I have seen TWO specialist so far and I passed 3 scopes in 5 years. apparently all clean. the last one was 4 months ago. it sucks because each times that I tried to talk to each specialists about an alternative to medication like a new laparascopic corrective surgery (because my LES is suspected to be deficient), they say it's not working or not worth it or that the meRAB are the better alternatives AND that the meRAB are perfectly safe! what the hell? how about all the peoples to whom it works??

Yeah, well, go read my latest post here on the gerd forum:
-Could Proton Pump Inhibitors Cause Cancer? and let's see if the PPI are
that safe... it scares the, you-know-what out of me! :eek:

The two docs are very nice fellas, but they are closed minded a little. so,
good news, (well, maybe, I will see...) I went to see my familly Doctor a few weeks ago (she is a doll) And I told her that I have a right to seek other alternatives than meRAB and seek to see IF I would not be a GOOD candidate for a corrective surgery! she said yes and she said that she will send me to a very nice gastro specialist lady friend of hers that, apparently is very open
minded and very good at what she does. my Doctor told me that she has a few patients with some of those laparascopics surgeries done since years, free of meRAB and they are doing great!

Now, I am not saying that those surgeries works for everyone, but, hey, if you never investigate and try to find the possibilities in YOUR case, you will never know and maybe lose a chance to a better life without meRAB, right?

So, Yes, I red your advice and thats what made me go to my doc and tell her about my motivations. thanks to you! :) and I will check for this Dr. Harrington.

Thanks a lot for your help and keep us posted on YOUR progress and how youre doing on your side. it would be nice to know that you are doing better!

:)
 
Hi Ultraman and anyone else suffering GORD

I am an Aussie and have had the Fundo surgery 8 months ago.
After suffering from this wretched disease for over a decade and swallowing a ton of pills including Nexium, I had enough.

It was a little frightening looking at the negatives on the forum about inability to swallow and the return of the indigestion. I am one of thoise licky souls who went in sick and after a few weeks was chewing down chillie and corn chips, washing it down with a beer and able to expel a giant burp at will.

There is some discomfort from time to time when I lay on my stomach, but other than that I am comfortable and greatful to the brilliant surgeon who performed this miracle task.

I have had a couple of cases of mild indigestion and listen to my body eg stop the fatty and overly spicy fooRAB when possible.

I travel a lot and sometimes don't get a lot of choice with diet. Prior to the fundo surgery it was difficult task to find something that wasn't going to give me a hard time with indigestion when going to lie down.

I honestly can't say enough great things about the process.It started with a couple of days of misery. Then followed a month of gradual recovery. Finally after a couple of months feeling fantastic.

In the early years I guess some surgeons may not have perfected there technique.
These days from what I see and hear from other local sufferers, are only positive comment.

I am only posting this to spread hope to my fellow sufferers.

If you ask me would I do it again.... I'd say in a heartbeat.... yes sir.

regarRAB
Konradj:)
 
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