Hospital appt today.

[Catherine50]

Bricking it. I have appt today at 2.30 at the Gastroenterology dept.

What can I expect them to tell me.

im so nervous.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Sorry nobody was able to reply before your appointment. Hope it went well and the gastro had some awareness of b12 etc

[Catherine50 in reply to Gambit62]

He had no idea at all he had no idea why I was on it and that no one needs yo be on it as b12 is not an illness. I just excuse me but im wasting your time but more importantly mine.

I then got up and left. I will ring my own gp Monday.

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Catherine50]

Sorry but not surprised.

[sweetnessandlight]

Your experience has made me feel very angry and frustrated. I think you were very brave to walk away. I have got an endoscopy and colonoscopy on 2nd Sept. I am just hoping I get a doctor who makes the connection between my 5year stomach problems and my b12 deficiency despite injections but I'm not very confident. Hope you get the answers you need soon.

[wedgewood in reply to sweetnessandlight]

Dear sweetnessand light,

I have P.A.,and also had awful tummy problems----bloating, burping and pains. eventually got to see a gastroenterologist(he was a professor). Had endoscopy,and he said I had hiatus hernia and some erosion. Prescribed some tablets,which I took for 3 months ----useless -no help at all. I then tried to get a test for stomach acid, but then he wrote to my G.P. saying" as a P.A. patient I should assume that I have low or no stomach acid" ( Hypo or Achlorhydria) My G.P. told me that there is no treatment for that. I treat myself now with a water-based probiotic called Symprove,and some tablets called Gastrazyme IT has made a HUGE difference.. It has been a long journey to get to this stage. Lack of stomach acid causes a lot of problems, as the normal stomach flora gets upset, and the stomach contents start fermenting instead of digesting.

Of course the probiotic and gastrazyme are not obtainable on prescription, and are quite expensive. Hope that this has helped. So you see there IS a link between P.A. and stomach problems.

[sweetnessandlight in reply to wedgewood]

Thanks for that. I'll see what they find. It's all a mess because I know you are right about the acid but I have to take PPIs that strip the acid from my stomach because I have to take aspirin. When I spoke to a pharmacist about this she said" for God's sake don't tell the doctor your stomach acid is too low. They'll laugh you out of the surgery! But actually I agree with you" I'll post the results of the investigations and in the meantime I'll look up gastrazyme. Have a feeling I'll need it!

[Clevblue in reply to wedgewood]

I use goat's milk Kefir that I make myself.The probiotics in it are much stronger than the tablet form. Look it up online or I can point you in the right direction. I suffer with chronic gastritis and cfs andfindk kefir invaluable

[Lisahelen in reply to wedgewood]

Hi, i have similar tummy problems, am due to have gastroscopy soon but found a product in wilkinsons for antireflux i ask my gp if it was ok to use as i had previously been given lanzaprazole for globus and gerd. He said yes it was ok to try it and i can say it has helped me, wether that is just coincidence or a lucky find. I asked a pharmasist wether they sell a similar product and they do a couple but unfortunately i cant recall their names.

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

So sorry you had a bad experience but not surprised. The level of ignorance amongst some medical professionals about B12 is scary.

[Catherine50]

I ceriously had to control my anger ... what I rwally wanted to do was slam his face into his desk x

[Sleepybunny]

If you are not happy with your treatment, these links may be useful. From talking to people who have complained I know it can be very difficult.

nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/.../c...

england.nhs.uk/contact-us/c...

b12deficiency.info/b12-writ...

The "Letters " section is also interesting.

hdapatientcaretrust.com/

UK charity that can give a second opinion on medical treatment

020 7935 8366

The PAS might be interested in your experience.

pernicious-anaemia-society.... 01656 769467