Lymph nodes...and PPI's

[Danstable]

As part of my Ivor Lewis about 5 years ago I had 80 lymph nodes removed. I've never really understood what implications this might have now or in the future.

Can anyone enlighten me? I'd like to keep an eye out for any issues that might be expected to result from this.

Also, are there any 'natural' alternatives to PPI drugs like Lansoprazole that don't have the long term bone health side effects?!

Thanks,

Dan

[focused1]

Seriously as I don’t know all about your medical condition and journey I think this is a one to one personal chat with a consultant. I had loads of questions which I wrote down in a book and noted down dates of key events , medication and outcomes as you may not see the same person . I gave a sheet of notes without speaking to the person who I was talking to as you have limited time and I cannot remember all without this information being available in note form . You may have to do this via your GP but I needed similar to clear my head and move forward.

Wishing you all the best .

[Badger2024]

wow 80 is a lot. I always thought that they removed a lot of lymph nodes to reduce the chance that they could become cancerous. Ask your specialist

[Danstable in reply to Badger2024]

Yes, my surgeon is known for removing a lot, he basically said that it's best to do so as if any are cancerous they can't go back in for a second shot.

[Badger2024 in reply to Danstable]

Sounds like he’s a great surgeon. The possible complications of losing so many lymph nodes are in the post-operative period so given that it was five years ago it sounds like all is well. I’ve never heard of any natural alternatives to PPIs. I had a discussion about this last week with my gastroenterologist. She said that if I wanted to reduce my PPI, I could play around with the dosage so I’m now taking half a dose of PPI a day. So far so good. If symptoms reappear she said to take an H2 blocker at night along with the half dose PPI in the morning. The H2 blocker that I have is Famotidine. Doesn’t have the side effects that PPIs do but I find that on its own I still get silent reflux. She did say that instead of the above regime I could try taking a full dose of PPI every other day. Either way it’s halving the amount of PPI. Best to check with your own doctor before doing the same. I take mine for oesophageal ulcers and silent reflux

[Molly14]

Hi there - I’m 9yrs post Ivor Lewis plus lymph nodes but I’m probably a minority where I never asked many questions as I was very confident in my team but be careful thinking about your PPIs as I think I read you can still develop Barrat’s in the new configuration which can then lead to problems again - I suffer from silent reflux where you don’t know you have bad reflux - this probably over the years caused my oesophageal cancer - I would speak to your team about PPIs - all the best

[liz_crisp in reply to Molly14]

Hi Molly, i tried to reduce my PPis to see if i could and at my next endoscopy i had developed barratts so back on 60mg a day has been for years now.

[Molly14 in reply to liz_crisp]

I thought it had happened to you Liz - I remember a post from here ages ago but wasn’t sure - I’m very happy to stay on my PPIs and always mention to folk the risk of coming off them having read about you - all the best x

[Sinelg]

I've been taking orodispersable Lansoprazole for many years with no problems. They dissolve on my tongue and are much better than tablets as they coat your gullet as they dissolve. Sorry, I don't know of any 'natural' alternatives that would have the same effect. Personally I know I couldn't manage without them.