BRAVO

Can anyone tell me about this? I'm new here and have been catching on the NISSEN. I had a BRAVO capsule put in today (27 May) and it fells just like there's something stuck in my throat. I regurgitate a lot of acid and things do stick on the way down sometimes. I was supposed to have the BRAVO last week but the doc dilated my esophagus during the EGD and so today the nurse put in the BRAVO. Talk about gagging. It was pretty nasty even with some throat deadening.

Question: will I feel better on day two? or I am going to have esophageal spasms for the whole 48 hours or until the little dickens falls off and passes out?

I have had GERD since my 20s -- I'm 58 now. It got really bad about ten years ago but I took my PPIs and it didn't bother me much. Then in '04 it came back with a vengeance and the surgeon was talking about a NISSEN but then I moved across country for work. Now, it's really ginned up again and my doc is talking NISSEN; so I have to go through all the tests. My GERD is uncontrollable and I'm getting desperate. The surgery looks like a major drag but I'm willing to be miserable for awhile if it means I can get rid of GERD.

Sillylilly in the ‘70s they said I had gastritis and no ulcer; so I took Tums etc. before PPIs or even Pepcid. Then it sorta disappeared. But then it came back and it’s just been getting worse but there were a few times where it didn’t bother me. I also had H. pylori for awhile.

I’ve also had sinusitis for quite some time and finally I found out from the allergist that I had no allergies and from the ENT that though I had a deviated septum that my problem was probably acid. So, now I’m getting aggressive because my voice is awful (I can’t sing anymore), my throat is sore and clear liquid (acid) runs out my nose when I bend over.

I’m dreading the Manomtry test because I tried to have one done about 10 years ago and the nurse who was doing it couldn’t get the device placed properly. I sat there while this woman kept trying to get the thing into my esophagus but it came out of my nose, went down my trachea and finally after about half an hour she gave up. I almost kicked her – it was a lot worse than yesterday with the BRAVO. My Gastroenterologist said he would do it this time and I’m holding him to it. That one scares the pants off me. I think it’s because of my deviated septum that I’m really worried about it.

Today, I don’t notice the BRAVO as much. I went for my morning walk and just had a bowl of oat bran and my vitamins (not the big ones). I feel better but I do feel pressure in my chest. The thing is that since the capsule is in there the acid feels different than I’m used to. It seems to gurgle more when it passes by.  

Sillylilly, Hi. Well like I said early on they didn’t know about GERD in the 70s. It was all gastritis. I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t realize that heartburn everyday wasn’t normal. I was younger and I believed I couldn’t be sick. I’ve never been sick. The only surgery I ever had was laparoscopic tubal ligation at 28. I wasn’t a sick person at least in my mind. The mind is powerful stuff.  about 10 years ago I woke with the worst pain in my chest I’ve ever felt. I thought heart attack because my parents both had heart disease. I had some chest pain prior to this but it always went away. I just didn’t know better. I’m kinda dumb in that respect. I figure it wasn’t killing me; so, what? Me worry?

As far as I know I don’t have Barrett’s but I haven’t gotten EGD from the doc yet. I did have a Schatzki’s ring but I don’t know more. I always just had gastritis aka GERD.

I’m not looking forward to Manometry. Sometimes I think that docs put you through all these hoops just to see if you’re willing to put up with the stuff that will be involved in the surgery. (I could tell you about the hoops I had jump through at 28 trying to get a tubal ligation on the local public teaching hospital.)  I’m hanging in there and the BRAVO isn’t bad today at all. It’s almost like it isn’t there.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the BRAVO capsule dropping off. After noon tomorrow, I’m going to eat something to knock it out of my esophagus and be done with it. I was thinking about a Crispy Taco or just a hand full of saltines.