RA & GERD??

[mellis]

Hi, I have been living reasonably well with RA for 3 years now and on Humira this last year with positive impact but developed really bad acid reflux & IBS symptoms in the summer. Diet has been radically improved so IBS greatly reduced; exercise is difficult given state of my joints but slowly losing weight. So doing all the right things but acid reflux still bad--all tests show no organic cause; slight inflammation of the duodenum but no infection, bacterial imbalance, coeliac etc. Specialist nurse taken me off Humira as it is possibly the culprit a week ago and I am feeling completely fatigued already. Any advice or ideas? Is it normal to be so fatigued just 1 week into no treatment and any ideas re the acid reflux?

Thanks all

[hawker955]

My GP doubled the dose of Omeprazole about a year ago and I have had no heartburn at all since. Two capsules either together or one twice daily should work he said.

[mellis in reply to hawker955]

Thanks- has it worked for you as I’m on 2 capsules already with little impact

[Bon1 in reply to mellis]

It's just possible that one of the other similar drugs might work where omepazolendoesnt. For example Lansoprazole with a ranitidine at night worked perfectly for me when I had gerd but omeprazole, which seems to be the one everyone has heard of, did not help. So I would say explore that before you do something drastic like come off an RA drug that's working for you. I get the impression that doctors don't really prescribe ranitidine as much any more but honestly it's great for me.

[hawker955 in reply to mellis]

Like I said, since going on to two capsules daily I have not had heartburn at all. So yes it has worked!

[oldtimer]

Have you tried putting the head of the bed higher? I got some bed raisers on the internet and a friend raised the head end 10cm (4 inches).

And avoiding tight clothing around my middle, and a good posture, makes a big difference in the day.

[Hidden]

I find melon, particularly watermelon, helps to soothe an acid stomach.

[Yogi-bear123]

I am in exactly the same boat at the moment. Started benepali 3 months ago and GERD started about 2. I'm on pred. And tramacet. Rheumatologist said it's unlikely to be the benepali but could stop it for a coupe of weeks to find out....loath to before I talk to gastro guy...but it is unrelenting and horrible! Might try 2 of the omeprazole and some watermelon! Ugh!!

[mellis in reply to Yogi-bear123]

It is awful isn’t it. I have been getting quite tearful and down and that stress is really bad for the digestive system. I had a Bowen session yesterday, hard to describe but incredibly relaxing and I slept well last night for the first time in weeks. I think talking to the therapist and crying helped release things. Hang in, hopefully we will get there soon!

[Monahlissa]

Have you had a barium swallow? I've had reflux for years progressively getting worse. when I was diagnosed in May I went on the usual cocktail of drugs to include prednisone. My dr also ordered a slew of tests just wanting to get a baseline of everything. My barium swallow came out abnormal w moderate stasis in my esophagus. Basically they had to tilt me all the way up for the barium to go down. That lead to see my GI and he put me on dexilant and said that was the strongest. That helped a lot but I still had issues. He did another test showing I had zero motility in my esophagus. That was tha cause! I've had to change how I eat and it's tolerable for now. Before that I was on omeprozole and Zantac taking this multiple times a day.

[mellis in reply to Monahlissa]

Oh Monahlissa that sounds awful for you--lets hope that you are on the way up now they know the extent of your problem. I am not that bad I don't think--just miserable with the burning. See gastro in Dec, just seems a long way away! Good luck!

[denvajade]

Acid reflux is worse with fatty foods and alcohol, also do not lie down for at least 2 hours after eating. I was on methotrexate and developed BAD stomach issues.