should I do pH probe or not?

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jlgaustin

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I have had several ENT's doctors tell me I have LPR over the past few years and I seem to have flare ups.

Last year I got better not sure if from the PPI's or not, but went for a good 9 months symptom free.

In June 2010 I got sick with a URI, a month later still having issues with my ears and headaches my ENT said I had LPR. In August I started taking 2x aciphex a day. Symptoms were still bad after taking for close to 3 months.

So I finally went to a gastro doctor here in Austin, Texas. 2 weeks ago he did an endoscopy and found I had moderate gastritis. He said my esophogus looked normal.

He doesn't think I have LPR.

I asked about getting a 24 hour probe done just to rule it out for sure. He said a SINGLE phobe is fine because the acid has to pass by that lower probe to get up to your throat, yet everything I read online says to have a double ph probe done for LPR.

I called again today to schedule it but it looks like they might not even do a double probe there which seems a bit odd.

Should I go ahead and do the single probe? I am having a hard time finding someone in Austin, Texas that does a double ph probe, at least by searching online.

Does anyone know a doctor that does the 24 hour double ph probes in Austin, Texas?

Thanks
 
I'd have to say that in making your decision on whether or not to have a pH probe done, it depenRAB on what you want to learn from it and how you will use that information. Will it make a difference in the course of your treatment?

I've had experience with probes myself. I don't know if it will help, but I'll share what I've learned.

I've had 2 lower 24 hr. pH probes. My gastroenterologist uses those and the Bravo ones. I had the old traditional ones with an accompanying Manometry. The manometry basically measures how your LES is functioning. It is also used to determine where to place the probes. For me, the probes were able to confirm my acid reflux the first time and verify that my acid reflux had gotten much more severe the second time a couple years later.

Most recently, I had an upper 24 hr. pH probe. This one was administered by my ENT. It was a new type on the market by a company called ResTech. It is different than the typical upper probes. Most probes only measure liquid acid reflux. The ResTech one measures acid in the gaseous form. This is important for people with LPR because for some people the acid is in the gaseous form when it actually reaches the throat above the UES. This probe was wireless and placed above my vocal corRAB behind the uvula. In my case, it confirmed I had acid coming up into my throat the majority of the day.

I can understand your frustrating regarding the dual probe. My Gastroenterologist only does the lower probes. Based upon what your GI doc has stated about the dual probes, even if you do have acid reflux that registers on the lower probe, it doesn't confirm the acid is coming up past the UES into the throat.
 
So I got in touch with someone at my doctors office that knew what they are talking about. The only test they do anymore for ph testing is one that has like 6 sensors all the way up from stomach to throat. The test also measures non-acidic reflux as well. So I guess this is a good test for LPR.
 
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