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Newbie with GERD

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Posted 6/26/2011 6:58 AM (GMT 0)
Hello all, just found this forum and been reading lots of back posts for the last hour or so, decided to introduce myself. :-)

I'm 25 and I've been battling with GERD for about a year or so now, so I guess I'm pretty new compared to a lot of you.

It's definitely been an uphill battle. My Doctor has run every test I think you can run. I've had at least eight blood work-ups in the last eight months or so, I can't even remember all the test initials but I know I was tested for my kidney, liver, cancer, anemia, infections. The only thing it picked up was E-Coli from a UTI which I tend to get often.

- H Pylori: Negative
- 24 Hour Holter: Normal.
- 2x ECGs: Normal
- Chest X Ray: Normal
- Heart Ultrasound: Normal
- Thyroid (Hypo/Hyper): Normal.

We've run so many tests that my Doctor is starting to run obscure tests for things like Giardia, even though I don't travel or fit a single risk factor. I think she's just run out of things to test for, heh.

All the same, I feel nausea 24/7 and have terrible heartburn and also have had several bouts with vertigo that sometimes go on for months on end, which I understand is related to GERD (vagus). I just finished reading gerdo's post about the pylorus and stress and I can almost guarantee that mine is stress related.

Her locum diagnosed me and put me on prescription Zantac. That didn't seem to help, saw actual Doctor who switched me to Aciphex (20 mg I think) which made me feel worse, so I stopped taking it. Gravol seems to help more than anything prescrip or OTC.

Doctor doesn't seem willing to refer me to a Gastro. Instead I'm off an ENT in August for the vertigo which I doubt will get anywhere.

Post Edited (Nyctimene) : 6/26/2011 1:02:34 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/26/2011 7:56 AM (GMT 0)
Hi there,
Just wondering if you had dizziness before you started on medication? I am hugely dizzy whenever I take ppis as they give me low blood pressure. I also had a big problem with nausea and only got rid of it by taking the ppi at night. Taking it with breakfast seemed to mean it had worn off just when I needed it most - at night! I get nausea whenever my GERD is bad but also omeprazole made me more nauseous if I took it during the day.

I do think you should insist on a gastro referral; not investigating your heartburn is not following standard protocol. Most people get marched off for a gastroscopy at the mere mention of regular heartburn. The ENT bod will probably just pass you on to a gastro cons!

Hope you get some answers soon.
Posted 6/26/2011 4:31 PM (GMT 0)
The ENT can send you on to the gastro.
Posted 6/26/2011 5:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hello mudmagnetmum,

I was dizzy well before I was diagnosed with GERD or on any PPIs. The vertigo was what kicked off all the testing (such as the Holter) and I half wonder if at least some of that stress has led to the GERD.

Couchtater, I really hope so. I cancelled my last appointment with my Doctor because we're just on two completely different pages and I think so many tests have been run, half of the time by her six different locums I've seen in the last few months, that we're just confusing ourselves. So talking to the Doctor is basically a no-go.

I'm hoping that summer break will eliminate some of the stress and even contemplating seeing a Psychiatrist and trying Xanax or somesuch because I'm starting to realize that I really am basically stressed and tense all the time.
Posted 7/7/2011 6:29 PM (GMT 0)
I have had GERD for 10 years. What was most helpful to me in additional to the gastrologist was the help of a nutritionalist. She helped me find foods and portion size that calmed down the acid reflex. It turned out the foods I thought we mild and easy to digest actually were causing the GERD to be much worse. To keep my gerd in check I had to follow all the food rules, keep my bed at an angle, eat my last meal between 5 and 6 pm and wait 3 hours after eating to lay day and take a PPI twice daily. Don't give up - find out how to control the GERD, it takes a lot of work but you will find relief.
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