Barrett Esophagus Support Group

Well I went to see my doctor for the first time since the endoscopy. He put me on the 4 meds to get rid of the h pylori. He acted like the Barretts was nothing. I brought up questions about diet, not eating after 6, raising the head of the bed, etc. I don't think he would have even brought it up. He didn't give out handouts or anything. He said peppermint, spearmint and chocolate were bad. I asked about coffee decaf or reg and he said both of those were bad. He said I will take something like nexium once a day after I have been rid of the H pylori and then just take tums or something when I experience symptoms of reflux. I was just sort of shocked at how insignificant he made it all sound. I guess it is good if that is the case. He said he wouldn't make many changes at all but I think I will still try to make changes just to be safe.

Hi Lainie,

All of us are being told PPI'd daily for life. If your go to websites like "Rx list" and read about studies of these meds it's not so clear that "for life" is so smart.

I wonder if your doc knows more,...or knows less, about the dangers of these PPI's. Their arrogance sometimes leaves us unaware of what they are thinking, yet at high cost they are the gateway to our health.

It sounds good that your h pylori is being addressed aggressively. Note that Ralph points out in our discussion "just diagnosed with Barrett's no dysplasia" that many doctors, GI's, simply aren't thorough educated on Barrett's, and that they are just beginning to learn more about it in the field of GI. I know that currently I'm questioning the wisdom of daily PPI use, worried another more serious problem might emerge because of the PPI's. Between age 50 and 80 I have a 15% chance of getting cancer of the esoph, says the authority Dr. Romero.

But some are dismissive of the whole B.E. thing, saying that our chances in any one year of getting E.C. are only 1 in 200 or 1 in 50...which of these two it is annually I'm unsure. I'm also unsure of who creates the actual data bases for these numbers we are given in conclusory form and how they are created, which is very important to know if one wants to know the reliability of these numbers.

But am I going to get another cancer from use of these PPI's daily for years? 3650 doses over next 10 years. Mega-doses of PPI's (many times the daily doses we would take)did result in stomach cancers in rats in PPI studies, as well as inflammation of pancreas. Your doc may be clueless, on one hand, or wise on the other. If you ask him more specifically if he's familiar with the PPI regimen universally prescribed by members of his field and whether he has reason to agree or not with that regimen, we may expose his reasoned and wise opinion on the one hand, or ignorance on the other! Arthur

I also read something about the risk of getting esophageal cancer being 1 in 7 for someone diagnosed at 50 that is expected to live to 80. 1 in 7 just doesn't sound that great to me. When I asked how common Barretts was my doctor said that of all the people with acid reflux 8% of them have Barretts. I wonder what percent of the 8 is non smoking women under 50??Hmm. I thought my doctor had an attitude about physicians that just specialize in the esophagus. I wish now that I hadn't asked all my questions until the end so I could have seen if he was even going to mention diet, and all the do's and don'ts. I really don't think he would have and I was shocked to not get any handouts. I am going to have to go check out the site you mentioned about complications of long term use of PPI's.

PPI's haven't been around that long. I question the doctors recommending their use for life so readily when it appears in rats that at certain doses harm did occur. Even if these were high doses.

Even with prilosec studies there were reports after the drug was on the market of people taking prilosec and having duodenal tumors, or other serious illness, yet causation could not be determined because

the person happened to be on prilosec, and happened to develop a GI tumor in an area of the GI tract separate from the esophagus. They can only in such an uncontrolled study (if I can call this post-release- to- market observation a 'study')that two things were simultaneously there, rather than saying that one thing caused another.

So we are actually the long term dummies for the PPI meds, we are the out of the lab study. Our bodies. I simply feel that they don't know how we'll do with daily long term use of drugs designed for short term use in the first place.

Have you felt any side effects, or what you believe to be side effects, from PPI use ? I believe that I have.

And surely many docs aren't going to want to suggest that one of their patients may have been a casualty as a result of PPI use daily. So if dangers of use become apparent the bubbling up of this information through the stagnant medical bureaucracy may be slow at best. I'm trying to educate myself because the use of these meds daily is for me a traumatic new thing, something about which I feel a healthy amount of skepticism.

Arthur[u]

Arthur,

What do you think about homeopathy? I worked with a doctor that was trained in it. It sounds really quite strange but I saw quite impressive results from homeopathic treatment on a child with a horrific case of eczema. It would be so much easier if our problem was something on the outside that you could see and monitor yourself.

Hi,

I'm not opposed to homeopathy as such. I certainly wouldn't call myself an expert. I wish there were more studies that considered homeopathic remedies right along with the latest proposed pharmaceuticals, and performed my more neutral parties than the pharma companies themselves.

Are you aware of any homeopathic insights into GERD/Barrett's? I did buy a product called Esophagard that Ralph provided a link to that was sold at Life Extensions website. Since I can't see inside I don't really know if it helps when I take it. I was thinking of paying $20 also to this outfit that advertises "Reflux remedy". their link is here at this site and/or at other sites, and they also sell and "IBS remedy" download. they offer full refund they say if you aren't happy and can explain why. I may well check it out since the download equals less than one third of what I pay for a rush job consult with my GI doctor. The "talk with your doctor" person is a mythological being. It's almost insulting to hear doctors overwhelmingly presented in the majority of media as creature they aren't. At least not the overwhelming majority of those I go see, who are seeming first to be savvy businessmen, caring to some extent or other I imagine. I know there's one or two exceedingly kind and caring ones out there, but the myth of this doctor who wants to talk to you all about your global medical concerns is hogwash in my humble opinion.

Hoping to feel more upbeat soon.

Arthur

The true culprit, if I may add, is our for-profit medical system. The doctors should be blamed their fair share, but it seems to all be dumped on insurance companies, lawyers (the PI lawyers explain such a low percent of the system's overall immorality but they have been a wonderful scapegoat). I'd love to have Canada or England's med systems and would happily "wait" as propagandists say you do so much in those systems. I'm on a 3 month wait for some test where they look at the pancreas here in this system where far more of a percent of my income goes to healthcare,

through taxes and privately, than could ever go toward it in any of the other countries that aren't perpetrating the for profit health system upon their peoples.

Have a great night

Arthur

Hi, Lainie! Sorry I didn't reply before now, but I've been busy with my biopsy and then the Internet was down. Are you not taking the Nexium now, along with the H. pylori meds? I took the Nexium twice a day while on the H. pylori meds, and that was before I was even diagnosed with the Barrett's. The main thing to remember is if you are not satisfied with your doctor, ask for a second opinion. I always go in armed with a list of questions and don't leave until I have answers I can understand. Hope your feeling better, but the h. pylori meds can have you pretty miserable for a few days. Hugs. Muriel

Hi, Lainie. I'm surprised you didn't get any handouts, too. After each endoscopy, I get phamplets on Barrett's, Gastritis, and Hialtal hernia, plus a handout on diet and other tips for dealing with GERD. (I typed that into the diet thread, if you want to look it up.) There are phamplets out there that are very helpful, so you might want to ask your doctor if he has any. Hugs, Muriel

I am taking zantac, pepto bismol tablets, flagyl and tetracycline. This is day two and lets just say the pepto is not doing its job! As long as it kills the nasty h pylori I will be happy.