Bile Reflux- Treatment ideas?

Hi Everyone,

I have a very long and "eventful" (sadly) history of GERD related issues: I've been dealing with it in some form for almost 10 years now, but it got much worse the past 2 years or so. I became quite desperate and I went for the Stretta- it's been a year since I did that. I was having really bad swallowing issues, with food getting stuck in my throat or different areas of the esophagus, and so I was getting really scared...
I still have these issues but now for the past few months or so I also got stomach pain (top portion) and the reflux that came with it was just a little different- more intense and painful. The dr. who did the Stretta stretched my pyloric sphincter for some reason (he said it would help food pass) and I'm suspecting that this may have messed it up and that's why I'm having bile now going into the stomach when it's not supposed to??
I had endoscopy and colonoscopy done a month ago and the dr. found bile in my stomach. I'm not sure if that triggered something, or the poking and probing made this worse, but I am having horrible stomach pain and just terrible reflux- it's giving me paralyzing pain for hours, and I believe it's affecting my heart! I barely sleep, it's just awful.
My dr. told me to take Prilosec and Carafate- I just can't see how Prilosec can help with bile though? I mean it hasn't helped. From what I gather, there isn't a lot to be done for bile reflux. Anyone has any experience with this and knows of any treatments options/ ideas?
This is the worst I've been by far Any thoughts are greatly appreciated! thank you.

Hi! sorry it took me a while to respond- it wasn't because I was feeling better Actually March was probably the worst I've ever felt in my life.)
The strange bile reflux symptoms now happen more often (at least twice a week) in fact as I'm typing this I'm having an episode. They last for hours on end, and leave me completely burned on the inside (all the way up to my throat), and exhausted from the pain. I spend a lot of time trying to research some solution for this, but everything is so vague.
To answer your question- no, I still have my gallbladder, and as far as I know, it's ok- no issues with it. I also feel like there is something on my right side of the stomach that is starting the agitation- then it's like a rumbling through my entire stomach and then it all shoots up.
From my reading it may also be a matter of stomach emptying. I had a stomach emptying study a few years ago but that came back ok. Things may have changed though.
My GI is completely unconcerned and just shrugged it off- she said another endoscopy in 3 years!! Not sure how I'm supposed to live like this until then...
What bile medication are you on? She refused to give me any, said she worried about food absorption issues. There has to be SOMETHING I could take when this horrible attack hits.
My conclusion is that I probably have motility problems (that's why food is getting stuck) and delayed stomach emptying, which caused bile to linger in the stomach much longer than it should. I read that another reason for bile reflux could be a peptic ulcer that hinders the functioning of the pyloric sphincter- but that would have been noticed during the endoscopy, I would imagine? And the most common is gallbladder removal, of course, and stomach surgery that damaged the pyloric sphincter in some way. I'm amazed at how little information there is about the Roux en Y procedure for this- from what I read side effects are quite horrific.
I am going to another GI in a month or so. There has to be something out there for us.
Hang in there. I'll share any tips I may be getting.

Well, after meeting with my GI surgeon last week it looks like surgery for me to fix my bile reflux issue. I am doing one more test tomorrow (injecting something to see how the bile flows or something) but our conversation was more on the surgical procedures he thinks will work for me. Basically too much bile in the stomach which is now causing a lot of inflammation of the stomach lining. I have tried many medications, and the only one that has worked to some degree is metroclopramide. This is also the most dangerous as it cannot be taken long term given what it can do to the nervous system. It moves your food along and can keep bile from building up too much I guess. So.....am looking at having a drain of sorts to get the bile out of the tummy quicker and restore the stomach lining. After 5 years of dealing with this to varying degrees I guess I am ready to take this chance. Status quo for me is not one to accept at 55 years old and the quality of life that I have now versus where I think I can be with some improvements. I will know my date and such this Friday at my next appointment.

For medications, I have tried....Curafate (made me dizzy and really spaced out), Ursol (no effect at all), and Zofran which is just for nausea. To get to the bile diagnosis, they had to rule out gastroperesis which mimics bile reflux symptoms a lot. I had the gastric emptying study to rule that one out. My endoscopic ultrasound was what really tipped them off to bile....because they could see the amount there and the gastropathy in the mucosa/lining. I then had another endoscopy to place the pill inside me for the Bravo test which again showed all this bile throughout the stomach. That, and the ruling out of similar conditions that have those symptoms is what led to the Dx. I suspected this for some time given the burning/acidic pain, and that I vomited a few times (only bile came up) with this which I never have done before. Dr. Asan Bhatti is the GI who I turned to after getting recommendations and reviewing his practice. So far they have covered a lot with me to dial down to the right procedure for my situation. He is in Minneapolis MN where I happen to live. I will know more details Friday about what types of changes I may need to make for the rest of my life with this, and of course the expected benefits. A bit nervous of course!