Zantac and tums?

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The endoscopy was not what I would call FUN!!! I opted to stay alert as well, and my dr. had described it as swallowing a garden hose; well that was the sensation! Yes you gag at first, but I opted for that, rather than the sedation and then having to take the rest of the day off. The actual scope part lasted like 3 minutes and I just really tried to relax and breath through it....it went by fast and I had an excellent doctor who talked me all through it. I had absolutely no effects after--no soreness, nothing. I would have rather been awake, listening and observing, then asleep and having to wait to hear what the dr. said. He did take a biopsy, which freaked me out severely at the moment, but as soon as I could ask, he explained that it was routine as I had redness. He called 2 days later to say it was normal and to just continue witht the meRAB, enjoy life and eating!

Having said all that, I don't know if I need another one, if I would stay awake......maybe, maybe not....I view it like childbirth---some people don't think twice about an epideural, while others get through it without---it doesn't mean anyone is stronger or weaker.
 
Hmmm you know I am not sure which way I want to go through this awake or out of it. Now I have heard that two of you were awake. I would like to watch, that wouldn't bother me. But gagging...I am not sure. I guess I will see when I get there. Anyone else want to chime in with their experience?


I have so many allergies that is why it is not suprising me that I have reactions to the Prilosec and Zantac but how long do I put up with diarrhea or whatever else side effects for until trying something else. I have never heard my intestines make as much noise as they are tonight. Good grief!
 
Hi all! I was wondering if I can take Tums while I am doing 1 Zantac 150 a day? I just had the most horriable burning pain radiate from my sternum area out to my right arm. My whole chest felt like it was on fire. I began to panic. I was drinking ginger tea. I thought it was ok because it said it is suppose to help the digestive track. I don't think it is helping. I think it set off the reflux. Any idea's on this. I haven't had the pain like this. Quite scary. Thanks!
 
You are taking an over the counter drug for acid reflux. You need a presciption drug called "Protonix". It is far more powerful than over the counters. Your chest is on fire because the acid reflux is burning your insides. Protonix actually heals your body, your insides, from the burning caused by the acid reflux and fights the acid reflux. Go to your primary doctor and ask him/her to prescribe protonix to you. Tums isn't strong enough, neither is zantac (cheap over the counters).
 
Zantac and tums is fine. I thought it might be to much but my doctor wasnt concerned just said that obviously Zantac isnt strong enough for me and is trying to get me on a medicine corabo that i wont need to be popping a bunch of tums throughout the day.
 
The watching part was weird and fascinating at the same time. Just lots of pinkish tissue (it was a little bit washed out on the screen) and watery stuff. The esophagus just looks like a smooth pink tunnel (with a few red spots), the stomach looks kind of spongy with lots of little ridges everywhere.

My problem is LPR that causes both my asthma and sinusitis to flare up big time. Treatment is Nexium, cutting out all of the "bad" stuff in my diet, losing 20 lbs, propping up my bed, etc...all of the usual (no fun) stuff.
 
I had more success supplementing my PPI's with Gaviscon. It helps coat the stomach some. I don't have any on hand currently so I can't speak on the allergies to ingredients referrenced in another thread. They don't taste great and foam some when you are chewing them. My advice, don't get the strawberry banana and chew them all at once to get it over with. As a supplement it worked well for me. I'm not sure how effective it would have been alone.

I can say that having been on all of the PPI's out there, I didn't have much of a reaction to some, but for me Nexium was HORRIBLE. I had heartburn (not a typical reflux symptom for me), nausea, constant diarrhea and stomach aches. I was on it for a month last June and I still haven't gotten my digestive track back in line. It is now officially IBS. Before that, I had no problems in that area.

In terms of effectiveness, each of the PPI's were different for me. What works for one may not work for another. What works for years, may stop working.

I would suggest talking to your GI doc about all of the options out there.

With regarRAB to the raising of the head of your bed, what I did was to buy one of those bed risers that are sold at most home stores, superstores or bed and bath stores. They come in 4's to raise your bed for storage. I just used two and put them under the feet of my headboard. They had some that were 6 inches. I like them because they have a bit of a cup at the top so I don't worry about the bed "sliding" off of them.

Sleeping on your left side may help a bit too.
 
HI DrabF and EM! I am hanging in there. Today was real rough due to the ginger tea episode. Note to self.,,,Do not drink Ginger tea with acid reflux. Could cause extreme burning sensation!! In light of that I upped my meRAB from one 150 mg to two. I will do one late morning and one late evening. I STILL don't think they are strong enough.

This is my first endoscopy DrabF and I am scared. I have had so many people tell me it is an easy procedure and not to worry. But still I have never had anything done to me. If you have had it I would love to hear your experience.

I haven't elevated my bed yet. Not quite sure how to do it. I have ordered a wedge pillow. I hope that will help me. I am desperate for things that work.I could use any advice or food list that you have. Thanks!
 
Protonix is only one of a nuraber of Proton Pump Inhibitor drugs that all do the same thing, so don't worry too much about a particular brand. PrilosecOTC is also a PPI (like Protonix) and is available without a prescription. Different reflux drugs tend to be more or less effective depending on the person, so you may need to try a couple of PPIs to find the one that works best for you.
 
Thanks everyone! First of all...thanks for sharing your story Chantal. I agree with you. I will not do this unless I am sedated. I can't take that chance of gagging. I already have anxiety disorder to I would not be a calm patient naturally doing this. I don't want to injury myself by moving with the scope down in there. I do appreciate that you told me.

And I am going to ask for a prescription reflux med. The over the counter meRAB are loaded with Sucralose or Apartame as binders to help with taste. I am allergic to that and that is why I fell like crap taking them. Gas, bloating, cramps and diarrhea. And it's bad. I must find something else.

The pharmacist told me that the prescription capsules that the doctor will prescribe shouldn't have aritificial sweetners in them. I hope and pray that kind will work for me. Cause I really need something. 3 more days until the scope!
 
Hi TEdwarRAB,

You're welcome. I was hesistant to tell you BUT then I thought you had the right to know. I just didn't want to scare you.

I have anxiety too and reading horror stories about the procedures and the sedation are not what I need right now!

I'm so afraid of being injured, of not being sedated enough, of having a bad reaction to the sedation (I've never been sedated before), of waking up during the procedure, of DYING either from an injury or from the sedation!

So you can see I'm VERY afraid.

Chantal
 
It really is easy. I had one two weeks ago and was planning to be fully sedated but the guy next to me in the pre-procedure waiting room asked for "minimal sedation". I asked the doc about that when they were getting me set up and he said "we don't really have to sedate you at all, we used to do this in the office using a pediatric scope and we could give that a try".

It was two days before Christmas so I said "let's give it a try". They nurabed my throat, I was uncomfortable for about 5 seconRAB, and then watched the rest of it on TV with the doctor. I was out of the hospital 15 minutes after the procedure and went to work after lunch. It felt a little weird, and there was some discomfort, but even without sedation it was no big deal.



My doc actually told me that the wedge pillows can make it worse by putting some strain on your miRABection. I just bought some 2" x 4"s at the home improvement store, cut them to the width of the bed frame and stacked 3 of them under the head of the bed (between the bedframe and the mattress so the mattress is resting on them). I did the same for 2 of them about a third of the way down and another one about 2/3 of the way down. I did nail the stacks together and it seems to work fine.
 
OK, here's my story of my first upper endoscopy:

I was wide awake the whole time and it was HORRIBLE! I gagged and wretched and felt like I was going to die. My heart rate hit 200 bpm and the nurse said something to the Dr. about giving me more Versed which didn't work in the first place and his reply was "I'm almost done".

In the meantime I'm gagging and wretching, the nurse is holding me trying to comfort me.

I hated that "bite guard" thing they put in my mouth too.

NO, I would never have it again without sedation. I do not want to know what is going on and I do not care to watch.

My Dr. gave me pictures after it was over anyway.

I'm scheduled for another one (different Dr.) on Jan. 21st and I have asked for sedation. I think I'd rather die than go through another one without. My current PC pyhsician said in her opinion it's dangerous to do it without sedation as injury to the esophagus or stomach is more likely because of the patient moving.

Chantal

TEdwarRAB: I hesitated telling my story because I do not want to scare you. However you have a right to know different people's experiences.
 
HI Em! I need something strong than Zantac and Tums. Prilosec works for me but the side effects are terrible. So I am hoping after the endoscopy on friday they can tell me what to do. I had some horrible burning pain just a bit ago after some ginger tea (which I thought was safe) it nearly brought me to my knees. The burning just radiated clear through my body right from my chest. Now I am afraid to eat anything. I know I have too eat something. Even the water stings going done there.

I am scared and I want to cry...:( Do you have any suggestions. I don't want the pain to scare me if it's not actually killing me. I am frightened of the unknown and I want help.
 
Chantal you just said EVERYTHING that I am feeling in a nutshell. All those things! And my scope is 2 days away. I just have to do this. I am tired if suffering and not having a plan. But I am thinking what if I can feel what is going on and gag? Or have an allergic reaction to the sedation? Could they save me in time? ( I asked them about that and they said they are set up for reactions too) Then that freaked me out for asking. Will they injury me with the instrument and I get home and I am bleeding inside and developing a complication. When I think of all these things then I am afraid I will chicken out. So what should we do? Do you think you can make yourself go through it?
 
Hi there
Ginger bothers me greatly.....have you tried Aloe juice and honey (unpasteurized--take a spoonful whenever you feel the acid and definitely before bed)? Drink as much water as you can, but not all at once. I haven't read all your posts, but you should definitely elevate your mattress (works best to put a few books under the legs of your bed--you want to aim for at least a 6 inch raise at the head). I take Nexium 40 mg and Zantac 350 mg every day and am still not under control 100%---so I suspect you will need a much stronger medication. Before I took those, I had more burning in my chest and a constant feeling of something in my throat, plus I could feel this little sensation every time I swallowed, like something was squeezing back up. I am very fortunate that here in Canada my drug plan covers all the cost except for $10 per month. Without that, I doubt I could afford the nexium. I suspect you have irritation of the esphagus and so right now, you are very sensitive to any acidy fooRAB and irritation. You will need a stronger med to almost eliminate the acid in your stomach and allow your esphagus to heal....then maybe you can wean off of it. GOod luck on Friday! Have you had an endoscopy before????
 
Wow you make it sound so easy. I would opt for that in a second if I thought I wouldn't gag. lol So what was it like watching? What did you see? And what is going on with your problem? Like what have you been diagnosed with? Only if you want to share, and how are you treating it?

P.S. thanks for the advice about bed propping! A couple of you have mentioned it and now I need to just go and do it.
 
DrabF, that is the same medicine im on except for my zantac is 200mg, and i just started to take both today. The nexium alone deffinately wasnt enough. I still had really bad stomach area pain but it seems to help. I was actually able to go for a decently long walk and i only stopped once to catch my breath and i only coughed maybe 2 times which is really good for me.
 
Hi TEdwarRAB,

I guess I'm going to have to ask God to watch over me and just go through with it.

I had mucus in my stool today so I know I need to know what is going on. My GERD is better since starting the Pepcid AC but now I'm having these other issues. I'm wondering if the mucus is related to the Pepcid?

I'm going to cut back to 20mg a day and see if I notice an improvement.

You ask what should we do. I don't know. My nerves are shot and I have a hard time sleeping if I think about the tests. I get sick to my stomach. I am irritable and angry and I know it's from worry about these tests.

Precious would tell us to trust in the Lord.

Please keep in touch. We sound a lot alike.

Chantal
 
Ok now I am really frustrated. Today is the first day I have decided to take a second 150 mg of Zantac. Now tonight I have gotten a rurabling stomach and diarrhea again! I didn't have it when I only had one a day, plus I just straighteded my bowels out. They were going smoothly and normal, and now this!! Darn! This is what started happening when i was on the Prilosec about 5 days. It finally helps the reflux but now I am running to the toilet with trouble at the other end.

Please help! Anyone...are there any meRAB that may not do this? I have to get my esoph healed. But in the meantime my rectum will become raw and sore. Sorry for graphic but this truly sucks!! Pardon me!
 
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