Hi all, My name is Steph, I'm 26, and I thought I'd join this forum to talk to others who get kicked in the rear by this silly illness.
I've had GERD diagnosed for about
two years. It started with what they diagnosed as gastritis when I had out of control vomiting and stomach pain for about
three days straight - put me on pantoprazole and told me I'd just been too stressed and to see a psychologist to try and manage it.
Well, I did that and got my stress under control. But my GERD got worse and worse over time.
Fast forward to about
four months ago - my reflux had been getting consistently worse over a few days, and the pain in my chest got to the point where I felt like there was a pole shoved through my sternum to my spine. I drove to the hospital after vomiting a bunch, got sent home with more pantoprazole (even though I'd been taking it for 6 months prior), then my partner took me back again the following day, got sent home again, then returned again two days later when I couldn't keep anything down and the pain was insane. They finally decided to take a look at things and, lo and behold, a bunch of lovely esophageal ulcers and a stuffed up esophageal sphincter.
I started getting a bit cross at this point, the gastro team at the hospital were still insistent that the solution to all my woes was... pantoprazole! After taking 80mg a day for 6 months straight I wasn't so sure, so asked my GP to refer me to a specialist gastroenterologist. In the meanwhile I was taking more pantoprazole, ranitidine, Gaviscon, Maxalon (for nausea), and various painkillers so I could sort of function.
For me the pain is the worst in the morning. When I wake up for about
two hours I have this horrid rising feeling coming up from my stomach, like a big ball of food is trying to make its way up even if my stomach is empty. I get a lot of pain and discomfort after eating too.
Aaaaanyway, the gastro dude put me on esomaprazole (sp?) and sent me off for a barium swallow xray. Grossest thing ever. Next time someone tells me to have a cup of concrete and harden up I can tell them I basically have. It just confirmed my reflux and regurgitation is epic, as soon as I swallow things just come straight back up. That is the grossest bit, sometimes I will just be sitting on the couch, then next thing I know I have a mouthful of food or liquid or something. Even an hour or two after eating.
The pain has been horrible and the constant nausea and regurgitation just makes me feel revolting. Prior to this getting out of control I was working full time and studying a masters degree. I've now had to quit uni and have only been cleared to work 16 hours a week which has left me financially dire, especially when paying a fortune for all these darn medications and doctors visits.
So where are we now? Well, my specialist has finally acknowledged that medication is not really doing the trick in making things manageable, so tomorrow I am off to see a GI surgeon to talk about
anti-reflux surgery. I can't tell you how excited I am about
this. I've had to travel 300km to see one as in my home city none of the specialist surgeons would even do a consult within six months, but I feel like it's worth it. When I rang the doctor's rooms to book in they said that if I was approved as a good candidate they could operate in about
three weeks. I'm a little nervous that the surgeon may say 'no' to surgery being the right option however. I've done everything recommended, lost weight, quit smoking, changed my diet massively, stopped lifting weights, elevated my bed, slept on my right side.. this is really all I can see as a way to get better.
Anyhow, that's my deal, wish me luck tomorrow, and I look forward to reading through all of your threads and stories.
Cheers,
Steph
Post Edited (squidwoman) : 1/12/2014 8:25:57 AM (GMT-7)