Acid reflux. It's effects...

[Lydia1960]

Have been diagnosed with Grade 2 Oesophagitis, having had to have an emergency endoscopy, after vomiting up blood in January of this year.

Spoke to a consultant, recently, age she said their are four gradings in this disease, and that the tablets that they prescribed after this incident, Omprazole, 40mg, twice a day, should help my condition, help to heal the damage that's been done to it.

Thus, just wondering how these tablets actually heal the damage that has led to the Grade 2 Oesophagitis diagnosis? And how long will this take? Would it mean, if and when it does recover, I will no longer be given this grading, but a lesser one, and would it mean the chances of going on to get Barrett's or a cancer linked to this disease, the likelihood would be lessen if the disease can be controlled?

Just to add that the consultant suggested I try to lower the dosage gradually, by 20mg, every now and then, to see how things go with this. And that I use to have coughing, food sticking in my throat, feeling sick and getting full after eating meals, which I now eat in small amounts, little, but often...? Aren't these advance signs now masked by the Omprazole, which controls them? Should I be worried about these previous symptoms etc...?

[patchworker]

Hi Lydia, The tablets you've been prescribed work by lessening the amount of stomach acid, thereby giving the oesophagus a chance to heal. ( Stomach acid burned the oesophagus and caused the problem)

Have you had an endoscopy since you had food sticking in your throat? If so you don't need to worry. But if it's something new, tell your Doctor

[Lydia1960 in reply to patchworker]

Does that mean that the Grade 2 Oesophagitis diagnosis will change down to a lower grading, thereby implying that the damage has lessened? And that, when I lower the dosage of these omprazoles, then the symptoms I had previous to taken them, the food sticking in my throat, nausea etc, will lessen or go away completely, too?

[marycontrary]

My brother developed oesophageal cancer from undiagonsed Barrett's Syndrome, for which he was prescribed PPIs, which, in our opinion, masked the severe problems he was facing and did not prevent the cancer. Also the significant side effects of PPIs were not explained.

We found the following book by Martie Whittekin to be very helpful:-

"Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers".

He is three years post-op and doing very well, does not take PPIs.

Good luck!

[Garysreflux]

Great post to help us better understand condition.Im on 20mm/day omeprazole .. due to oesoph narrowing (8mm; due to scarring from acid; got hiatus hernia) and resultng swallowing probs. My swallowing has improved slightly and i put that down to the omep... suppressing the acid and thereby allowing oesoph inflammation to go down (maybe the degree of oesopn inflammation is a factor in grading; mines not been graded)

As to omep.. improving the overall condition, i dont think so in my case cos the underlying problem is acid getting into my oesoph. As soon as i stop omep.. the acid comes back and my condition will deteriorate. Best wishes. G

[Lydia1960]

Thanks, marycontrary. I'll check out that book. And Garysreflux. Yeah, my consultant suggested I reduce the amount of Omprazole that I am taking, to see how things go. After what marycontrary said, I might try to find out how much cost it is to have an endoscope done privately. Probably very expensive. Just to have that as an option if I need it.

The thing is, I have just had an endoscope, in January, so from what the consultant said, there were no abnormal cells found then, but as I said, it would be helpful if I checked that out for future reference.. Thanks for both of your helpful replies..

[Hidden]

When you have an endoscopy, they can see whether you have Barrett's quite easily. The oesophagitis will normally tend to improve with a few weeks of reduced acid, so yes, the grade of your oesophagitis might change. Once the immediate oesophagitis has cleared up, it would then be sensible to have a repeat endoscopy to check on progress and whether you have any Barrett's lesions. In some respects the issue is to find out the underlying cause of your reflux; otherwise the oesophagitis may recur.

[Lydia1960 in reply to Hidden]

How do you convince your consultant that you will need another endoscope on the NHS? Budgets and all that? My consultant said she wasn't worried about any other complications and discharged me. Would Barrett's develop from a grade two oesophagitis diagnosis? What is the likelihood of that developing after this condition? I've had reflux for well over 15 years now and no ones bothered to find the cause of it. Can oesophagitis be prevented with those natural remedies from that book? And losing weight, am about 2 and half to 3 stones overweight. Could that be a factor?

[Hidden]

I think the single thing that is going top help your oesophagitis to heal is reduction of stomach acid, but by all means experiment with diet. Other things that help are avoiding spicy food, smoking and food that is hard / harsh to swallow.

If you have had an endoscopy before, the endoscopist would have written a report and would have noted any signs of Barrett's oesophagus. I think Barrett's oesophagus counts as grade 5 depending on which system the doctor uses. It is possible that your GP may be able to see that report on the NHS system.

Reflux is quite often associated with body mass, so losing weight would be helpful to reducing the oesophagitis (it may be that physical shape helps propel stomach acid upwards - as happens with women getting heartburn during pregnancy).

If you do not have Barrett's Oesophagus and no other signs of malignancy have been noted at your endoscopy, the chances of having cancer are very low. The doctor is quite right not to subject you to another endoscopy without very good reason.

I hope that your oesophagitis can be controlled and reduced soon.

[Lydia1960 in reply to Hidden]

I think you are right. Losing weight is the key to controlling this condition. So that is what I need to concentrate on..

There were no signs of Barrett's oesophagus or cell changes when they did the endoscopy, so that is a good sign.. From what you tell me... Thanks again for this information. It is easing my worries, somewhat..