upper abdominal pain

hey, good to see you! (well, you know what I mean..)

Since you're having "active" symptoms, I'd say flare in its mildest form. The upper gastro symptoms match, at least for me and what my doc explained.

You didn't mention the bms you're having.

My suggestion is to start a rectal med. did you take the Salofalk enemas or the Pentasa?

Ask the doc for suppositories to use at the very least twice a day and see if that helps. i'd encourage you to try the enemas anyway since your symptoms aren't near like you had when you tried them the first time.

Adding an antispasmodic could help as well, but ultimately...I'd suggest you also add another ppi type such as even Zantac you can get at Costco (for a great price).

q

Thank you!!
Quincy- I am having 1 BM a day in the morning but it is usually before breakfast. Solid. I wake up early but stay in bed a while and then when I finally decide to get up I go have my BM first. Can I take zantac AND a PPI at the same time? My PPI is only 20(mg? not sure of unit) once a day and I know lots of others who take 20 twice a day.
I have suppositories (salofalk) so I'll start using those tonight.

Red- Yes, I stopped cold turkey and then about 1 week after I started to feel bad again but I was only on PPI's for 2 months. Do I still need to wean? Do you know how long it takes to get back in your system? I'll be honest I started again yesterday. I was so-so yesterday and then today was rough with teh upper abdominal pain, like in my sternum or something. I do feel it's getting better though.

Thank you very much for your advice ladies :)

Yes, even after only 2 months you should wean off. If it is acid reflux, start the taper by going every other day for about 2 weeks, then every 3rd day etc. During this time, try to avoid foods that can cause acid reflux such as caffeine, spicy or fried foods. Try to eat a fairly bland diet until you can successfully wean off. Usually if you stop cold turkey and get symptoms, it can take a few days to a week before they subside when going back on a PPI.

My symptoms were not that of heartburn. I never got the burn. It was a painful lump like feeling in my esophagus, by my sternum, difficulty swallowing, nausea and stomach pain. Yes, my GI diagnosed me with acid reflux. And yes, I'm still on a PPI.

Quincy- yes, I stopped bc I felt better and Dr said I could. Then felt bad and have now read all about rebound effects of ppi's.
I'm wondering if I'm timing it right. I take my Salofalk when I wake up then an hour later take ppi and an hour later eat.

Anyways, I was getting concerned about crohns possibility. I had an endoscopy 2 yrs ago when this was at its mildest form to check for h pylori. Negative. They noted some stomach irritation but that was it and said I had reflux and to follow reflux diet. Oh well, having another scope in Jan.

At night I am taking a probiotic, 3 salofalk tabs, and now starting salofalk suppository.

I usually wake and immediately take my salofalk and then wasit for an hour hoping it has travelled past my stomach and then take the PPI which I think only works in the stomach. Ahhhh, so confusing