Not Getting High on this ACID! (My Experience of Digestive Disorders)

Member Name: carolinesite

Product:	My Experience of Digestive Disorders
Date:	05/05/01 (3764 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: There is no advantage to being choked by stomach acid

Disadvantages: Pain in the breastbone, acid taste in the mouth, choking on acid in the night.

My problem is called REFLUX OESOPHAGITIS, and the best place to start is at the beginning.

I have often suffered from very bad heartburn, with worse attacks during pregnancy. Normal acid relieving cures such as Rennies, Settlers and Gaviscon have never helped. Over the years it had become worse. I would wake up in the middle of the night with a horrible acid taste in my mouth, and on some occasions I would wake up choking on stomach acid, I felt like I was drowning.
Last year was the final straw. Every meal I ate felt like it was getting stuck in my gullet, right in the centre of my breast bone. I tried to eat smaller mouth-fulls, and even chewed the food for ages before swallowing. No good. I was starting to feel scared, thinking that I might choke and would have to leave the meal and walk around the house until the pain in my gullet went away.
I didn’t know what it was. I first blamed it on my panic attacks, but brushed that off due to the acid coming up. Then I thought it might be ulcers. I booked an appointment with my doctor.

She asked me what I thought it was. Huh? You’re the doctor, you are supposed to tell me! I told her I thought I might have ulcers, so she arranged for me to have a GASTOSCOMY at my local hospital.
A Gastoscomy is where a camera is inserted through the mouth, down the gullet and into the stomach. The hospital gave me a choice. I could either be put to sleep or have some anaesthetic sprayed onto the back of my throat and have the procedure done while I was awake. Being someone that does not like to be put to sleep, I opted for the throat spray (it’s not that I am brave, I am terrified that I will not wake up after being put to sleep, so I am a scaredy-cat really).
After the throat spray began to take effect, I panicked.
“I can’t swallow” I screamed at the nurse. “Yes you can, it’s just that you can’t feel it” she replied. Phew!

I was asked to lay on my side (fully clothed) and the doctor then preceded to insert the camera into my mouth and down my throat. Of course I reached a few times before it went safely down my throat, and then I felt no discomfort. When my stomach was entered, some air was blown into it to open it up, which felt strange but didn’t hurt. After about 15 minutes it was all over. The camera came back out and I sat up, giving off an enormous belch (the air that had been blown into my stomach).
The doctor said that my Oesophagus (another name for the gullet) was inflamed due to excess acid coming up. He recommended a BARIUM SWALLOW which is another procedure to look at what is going on in my gullet.

While waiting for the Barium Swallow appointment to come through (you know how it is with the NHS), I went back to my doctor and asked if there was anything I could take on prescription for the acid. She prescribed a drug called LANSOPRAZOLE, also known as Zoton Capsules or Suspension. This drug belongs to a group of medicines known as proton pump inhibitors, reducing the amount of acid the stomach pumps. As we need natural acid to help kill bacteria in the stomach, one of the side effects are that certain stomach infections may occur in some people. I was to take one 30mg capsule once a day. This was a wonder drug. After 3 days I had no acid coming back up through my stomach and I slept soundly.

2 months later, my appointment for the Barium Swallow came through. This is a radioactive solution that is drunk by the patient and is monitored on an x-ray. I had to get in different positions and swallow this foul tasting solution while the doctor monitored it on his screen. Everything was fine. The oesophagus had healed itself thanks to the Lansoprazole preventing the acid from irritating it.

My own doctor reduced the dosage from 30mg to 15mg, but 3 days later I started to taste the acid again. I was put back on 30mg.

After a few months, I was complaining of a dry mouth to my doctor. My mouth felt like I had been on a session of booze. She reduced the dosage again to 15mg. Everything was fine.

On my follow-up appointment at the hospital, the consultant explained that I would probably have to take Lansoprazole for the rest of my life or have an operation to insert a ring in my oesophagus to keep it open. No thank you, I replied politely.

So, to this day, I have been taking 15mg of Lansoprazole daily. No more acid comes up and I no longer feel my food getting stuck.

I know that heartburn is very common, and most people tend to get it after a heavy meal. But if you have re-occurring heartburn, there may be something wrong. It may not be what I was suffering, it could be Dyspepsia (causing hearburn, stomach aches, bloating and nausea) or a Peptic Ulcer (a small area of the stomach which has been worn away and acid causes it discomfort). It’s always best to see your doctor.

Acid can be prevented from coming back up (if you suffer from heartburn now and again) by eating regular relaxed meals, not drinking too much alcohol, don’t smoke, avoid bending over by leaning forward, don’t wear tight clothing, avoid stress, and don’t eat greasy meals.
I now grill or bake all my food and instead of eating chips I eat boiled potatoes. It doesn’t have to be a dull meal. I often eat fresh veg and then usually cover my meal with a cheese or parsley sauce.

A good source of help and information about any stomach problems can be sought from the Gastrocare Club. Membership is free and they help you to help your stomach problems.

Gastrocare Club
1 The Meadows
Waterberry Drive
Waterlooville
Hampshire
PO7 7XX

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