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bravo test and mammotry test

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Posted 9/12/2008 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
I am so confused with these tests.  I need to know if anyone had a bravo test for only 24 hours instead of 48 hours.  Also, I want to know if the mammotry test will tell me why when I swallow that I can feel the liquid going into my esophagus such as water and other liquids.

My barium swallow tests told me that I have a mild nonspecific esophageal dsmotility problem.  During that tests it would take me 2 swallows when I drank the water on my stomach.

Can someone tell me if they have these symptoms?

Smoky

Posted 9/12/2008 2:20 PM (GMT 0)

smoky,

      Hi. Yes I have those symptoms.  Whenever I drink anything it takes me like 3 swallows to get it into my stomch, and it backs up into my esophagus and I can feel it.  Manometry test will tell you if you have a motility problem.  Usually related to nerve damage of the vagus nerve which controls the muscles when you swallow.  That is the main problem with me, there is something really wrong wth my esophagus.  I had the nissan surgery done and it didnt help me at all with the motility problem, I still have regurgitation of everything I eat/ solid or liquid.  It really sucks and it scares me to know that Im only 27 and have to live with this the rest of my life. 

-Gabbs

Posted 9/12/2008 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
What do you mean that you have regurgitation.

Does the food taste come back up on you? 

Do you feel like you are a faucet?  I feel like when I swallow water it is like going down the drain into my esopaghus.

Is that what is wrong with you?

I don't know if you live near Cleveland Clinic, but they are the best for G.I. problems and swallowing problems.  They are number 2 in the United States.  The hospitals around here have failed me.  It is worth the trip to Cleveland clinic.  You get total respect and more.

Smoky

Posted 9/13/2008 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
smoky

This is Kitt.  Welcome to HealingWell and the GERD/Heartburn forum. 

You've come to the right place to find people that have a good idea of what you're going through. I look forward to reading your posts.

I am not in the Cleveland Clinic but in the Mayo Clinic area so I do not have any info on the CC to help you out.

I hope someone comes along that can help you out.

We have a Welcome Forum so if you would post a short intro about you that would be good.  We love to welcome new members.

Take care and keep posting
Kitt

Posted 9/14/2008 12:28 AM (GMT 0)
Smoky, I'm having trouble figuring out what you're saying; when you drink or eat anything it goes down your esophagus and into your stomach. So are you saying that when you swallow something and while it is traveling down your esophagus you can feel it and you can also feel it when it goes through the esophageal sphincter into your stomach? Or are you saying that you can feel the regurgitation as it goes up and down in your esophagus?

Gabby is correct in her explanations and we all hope and pray that a solution will be found for her.

As far as the difference between a 24 hour PH and a Bravo, the 24 hour Ph is the one with the wires going up your nose and down your throat into your esophagus, the Bravo is inserted into the wall of your esophagus during endoscopy and the test, while normally conducted over 48 hours, can be shortened to 24 if there is a reason to do so.

Manometry has a set up similar to the 24 Ph..up the nose, down the throat and can be done with different types of swallow mediums to determine esophageal motility or other issues. I've had one kind where I've had to swallow a thick gel solution and then water, I've had another with just water.

If you go to Cleveland Clinic, see if you can see Dr. Gary Falk, he's the Director of the Gastroenterology Division and is excellent. This is where I go and where I had my surgery as well.

Good luck.

Janice
Posted 9/14/2008 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
Janice,

Thaks for the name at Cleveland Clinic. I see a Docter Achkar who is the chairman of the swallowing area of the G.I. department. I like him but he doesn't do surgery. Does Dr. Falk do the surgery?

Yes, I feel the water going all the way down into my esophagus and sometime when I eat too. I am so fearful of cancer of needing a feeding tube in the future.

Also, I hear the 24 ph test is awful. The mammotry test only takes an hour. I can only pray that I can do the mammotry test without further testing. My barium swallow is what tells me that I have a mild esophageal non specific motility problem.

Does anyone know if I might get lucky and just only need the mammotry test without the ph 24 hour?

Smoky
Posted 9/14/2008 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
I have motility issues and I'm fine; my surgeon at CC is Dr. Thomas Rice, my GI Dr. is Dr. Gary Falk.

The 24 hour PH is not awful, uncomfortable at first, yes, not wanting to walk around in public with wires hanging out your nose, yes, awful, no. The Bravo and 24 hr PH are testing the acid levels in your esophagus; they are specifically for reflux, but the Dr. will decide which tests are appropriate based on your individual circumstances.

I am scheduled at the end of the month at CC for manometry, 24 hour ph and barium swallow, I am not worried, scared, or otherwise nervous; it's what I need to do to be healthy and knowledgeable about my condition. Let this be and just understand that what needs to be done to learn about your specific condition is necessary; these tests are just minor annoyances that may be unpleasant, but certainly not traumatic or life altering.

Worrying yourself sick about cancer will only keep you up at night and waste precious time each day. Learn what you can about motility disorders, keeping in mind that everyone is different and what you read will provide you with the best and worst case scenarios; most of us fall somewhere in between.

Contact Dr. Ackhar's office and talk to his nurse, let them know how scared you are of cancer. Did Dr. Ackhar give you his e-mail? I communicate with Dr. Falk this way and he is wonderful about following up. I would encourage you to communicate one way or the other with his office.....soon!
Posted 9/14/2008 7:08 PM (GMT 0)
Lidy Jane,

What type of motility issues do you have?

do you have swallowing problems with liquids too?

Did you have the mammotry test and ph tests done before?

Cleveland clinic is my 3rd stop. I was at 2 other hospitals getting barium swallows and everyone of them are saying something different about my swallowing. The last hospital told me I was aspirating and that I would need a feeding tube. That is why I chose CC for getting to the root of the problem.

Dr. Achkar and I are communicating by fax and I don't have his email address. He told the mammotry will tell him if I have a problem with the muscle.

Smoky
Posted 9/14/2008 8:45 PM (GMT 0)
My motility issues are still under discussion with the Dr.'s; however, prior to my surgery I was aspirating the acid from the stomach and have lung damage as a result. I do not have, nor do I need a feeding tube. Frankly, I don't see the connection.

I have had manometry, 24 hour ph, 48 hour ph, 48 hour Bravo, barium swallow, gastric emptying and a host of other tests. They determined that I had severe GERD with poor muscle functioning esophagus, mixed bronchiolitis from aspirating the reflux, vocal cord dysfunction and a small hole in my esophagus. Add to this a hiatal hernia, albeit small, and chronic gallbladder problems... I was a mess. I went to National Jewish Hospital in Denver because of my long standing pulmonary issues; they were the ones who found my silent, by severe GERD. At Cleveland they found the rest of the issues and I had a Nissen with hernia repair, esophageal repair and gallbladder removal on July 16th

Are they saying that you are aspirating food and liquid? or acid? Are you aspirating while standing upright? or lying down? Until you get a definitive answer from Cleveland, I would not be concerned with what the other hospital is saying.
Posted 9/15/2008 4:49 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, I live in North Central Arizona. I have had GERD for about 10 years, and am taking two Nexium daily. about two years ago, I starting burping very badly. It is constant! I also feel bloated most of the time and have an uncomfortable feeling right below my breast bone. Heart burn type pain gets worse when stomach is empty. I have a small hiatal hernia. Had surgery to remove my gall bladder about six months ago. Two weeks ago, I had a terrible pain in the area of my stomach, radiating to my left shoulder blade. My stools were very light for the four or so days that I had the pain. It felt a little better when I was laying down. It mirrored the gall bladder pain (that was right sided.) When my gall bladder was removed, they discovered I have a defect in my pancreatic bile duct. This is the first "attack" of pain, however. All my endoscopies have been normal since excessive burping started, they want to do the Bravo, manometry, etc. Frankly, I don't trust the doctors here anymore. Seems like they never have any idea what's wrong and just keep ordering tests that are always negative. Took me two years to finally get diagnoses with gall bladder, after having horrible pain for nearly four weeks!!! Does any of this sound familiar? Thanks........joesdolly
Posted 9/15/2008 12:08 PM (GMT 0)
Ldy Jane,

How did you know you had severe gerd? What did the Nissen procedure do for you?

Did you have a swallowing problem when swallowing liquids? Did they tell you what the hole in the esophagus was from? I feel like I have a hole because when I swallow liquids I feel it going all the way down to my esophaus.

The vocal cord dysfunction. What were your symptoms?

I am so glad you are going to Cleveland Clinic. Isn't it such a wonderful place?

Smoky
Posted 9/15/2008 9:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Smoky. I guess I have to say that I'm still a bit confused. Most people can feel liquid going down their esophagus. In essence, your esophagus is a hole...actually a long, open tube that connects your throat to your stomach, so when you say you can feel liquids going down your esophagus and you can feel it going down TO your esophagus I'm not sure what to think.

When you take a drink it goes in your mouth down your throat, down through your esophagus through the esophageal sphincter and into your stomach. It is normal to feel a sensation all the way from point A to point B.

The hole that was found in my esophagus was found during surgery and was caused by the acid eroding the wall of the esophagus. The symptoms of GERD included, for me, constant, severe heartburn, regurgitation, coughing, throat clearing, pulmonary problems and chest pain. Others could be different. The level of acid and the frequency of regurgitation wasn't known until they did the 24 hour ph and the bravo.

The Nissen repaired the hole in my esophagus, stopped the regurgitation, stopped the coughing, throat clearing, chest pain, heartburn and aspiration. The vocal cord dysfunction included chronic hoarseness, throat clearing and shortness of breath, especially while talking. The vocal cords would close when they should be opened and it made it difficult to breathe.
Posted 9/16/2008 11:43 AM (GMT 0)
LdyJane,

Thansk for clearing all of your info to me. I feel so bad you had to go through so much.

My husband told me and so have others that they do not feel the liquids going down to there esopagus. Trust me I never did until the last 3 months. If you could share with me your phone number I would be able to explain in more detail.


When you had a endoscope test done did they tell you had acid reflex or gerd? I would think you probably did that test before the ph and the bravo. I am going to fax my doc with some questions today. I am sorry if I am bombarding you with all the questions. I realize that we are all different. I really think I have acid reflex because I burp a great deal and that I need to clear my throad sometimes during the day. One G.I. doc here said he thinks I do, but wasn't sure. I would like to repeat the endoscopic again because I feel this doc here in PGH might have missed something. Also, I was told by another G.I. (PGH) that I had food build up in my system while he did the test.

I know my symptoms are not severe yet, but I just want to get to the bottom of it.

I am so pleased that Cleveland Clinic did help you. I feel very confident with them.

Smoky

Edit:

15. Do not post offline personal contact information (ie. your home address, phone numbers etc.) and do not ask for personal information from others.  Modify your member profile in the Control Panel (VIEW IMAGE) at the top left corner of the forum to set privacy settings for your account.  Use of full names (your first and last name) is allowed but strongly discouraged.  This is to protect your security and identity.

Post Edited By Moderator (stkitt) : 9/17/2008 6:04:59 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/17/2008 10:09 PM (GMT 0)
Unless you pay attention to it you probably won't feel it. I still wouldn't be to concerned about this until they tell you to. The best way to determine reflux is with a Bravo or 24 hour ph; an endoscopy will show if there is damage from acid, but it can't tell the duration of the time the acid is in the esophagus, it also can't tell how well the esophageal sphincter is working, thus the need for manometry. All the tests that we've talked about: 24 hour ph or Bravo; Manometry and endoscopy are necessary for different facets of determining a gastrointestinal disorder; it is important to have all three before making a firm diagnosis.

If you can make the trip to Cleveland, I strongly encourage you to do so. Until you have the best doctors doing the proper tests you won't get the correct diagnosis and you will be left wondering and worrying about this....this is not a good way to live. You have no idea how severe your condition is (or isn't) until you have the tests to tell you exactly how it is.

Just to put your mind at ease, and perhaps, this is what you have been trying to tell me: I had polyps in my esophagus, sometimes, depending on where these polyps are located, you can feel food and/or liquid hitting the polyp. This may be the sensation that you are describing as new in the last three months. I had them; they were found in endoscopy and removed for biopsy. Mine came back as completely normal. However, if this sounds like what is going on with you I will tell you again to call and make an appointment at Cleveland. It does not sound like the Doctors you have seen are following through. If a GI Dr. thinks you have reflux, he should do the 24 hour ph to prove it.

Cleveland is wonderful about working around out of town and out of State patients. They will schedule things so that it makes it as easy for you as possible. So check into going there.

Good luck.
Janice
Posted 9/18/2008 12:06 AM (GMT 0)

Smoky,

Sorry for the edit, but we do not allow posting of personal contact info in the open forums.

Thank you for your understanding.

Kitt

Posted 9/18/2008 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
Janice,

I really appreciate the pep talk. I really needed to hear that about whatever is going on with me. I did fax my doc with some questions. He told me the bravo test will not show anything. He told me that the mammotry is all I need so far. I never thought about polyps. I wonder if that would have showed up in the barium swallow test. The doc told me I don't have a hole in the esophagus, but I wonder about that one not having the mammotry test yet. This doctor is wonderful in Cleveland.

Did you go to Cleveland too? I thought Lidyjane was the only one that went there.

I did make an appt. with a neuromuscular doc here in Pittsburgh just in case I need to see one.

Did you ever see a neuromuscular doc yet? I am concerned I might have myositis.

Smoky
Posted 9/18/2008 2:47 AM (GMT 0)
I am Ldy Jane and I do go to Cleveland. The Barium swallow would have shown a disruption if there was a polyp, so in a manner of speaking, yes it would have indicated that something was there.

Manometry will test your muscle function and test the strength of the esophageal sphincter, all very useful information; I'm glad that you're getting reassurance from your new Doctor.

No, I've never had a need to go to a neuromuscular specialist; while I may have some symptoms that are common to myositis such as cough, heartburn and shortness of breath, I certainly didn't have anything else associated with this and I hope you don't either.
Janice
Posted 9/18/2008 12:00 PM (GMT 0)
Ldyjane,

Yest the doctor is concerned about the muscle.

What could they do to fix a muscle? I don't think there is any surgery for it.

I just hope and pray I won't need a feeding tube in the future.

The doc told me in his fax the other day he doesn't think I need to go for the 24 hour test because he thinks the mammotry is the only test. I think he spoke too early until he see the results of the test. I wish he could be in the room with me, but he can't. I can't imagine having those wires in me for 45 minutes. To me that is a long time.

Smoky
Posted 12/22/2008 8:41 PM (GMT 0)

Hi, every1.  New to the forum!  I was diagnosed with esophageal spasm and have been told to get a manometry.  I would like to go to the Cleveland Clinic, but the one closest to me does not have an gastroenterolgist on staff yet.  I live in Southern Florida and would like to know if someone can give me a good alternative to the Cleveland Clinic in the West Palm Beach area. 

Thank you. 

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