Esophageal pH Test??

[gate_pourri]

Has anyone had an esophageal pH test? I have a lovely trifecta (ahhh.. quad-fecta) of intestinal issues - IBS, suspected GERD, both lower and upper gastric erosions and a hiatal hernia... My GI doctor just put me on two new medications, but has said if the pain doesn't get better in the next month he wants me to do a 4 day esophageal pH test. He said this was an office appointment, unlike the colonoscopy or upper GI series which are done in the hospital.

I am very gaggy and have mild anxiety and cannot imagine having anything going down my throat while awake. Can anyone give me first hand experience on this test?. Eeeks!

 

[IFLOSIRI]

i NEVER HEARD OF THAT PH TEST BUT EVERYONE SHOULD BE SCREENED FOR PROSTRATE CANCER BY HAVING A BLOOD TEST and PH LEVELS CHECKED AND MAke sure there not out of line.

 

[gate_pourri]

i NEVER HEARD OF THAT PH TEST BUT EVERYONE SHOULD BE SCREENED FOR PROSTRATE CANCER BY HAVING A BLOOD TEST and PH LEVELS CHECKED AND MAke sure there not out of line.

Thanks for the concern, but I am a female in my late 20's so prostate cancer isn't really on my radar...

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

My neighbor has this done and she said that it was really no big deal. I completely get the anxiety aspect of it. I have GERD and when it gets really bad I sometimes have a hard time getting a deep breath which causes a panic attack.

I also use chewable papaya (you can get it a health/natural food store) to help with any GERD issues that my medication (aciphex) doesn't take care of.

I totally feel your pain...I have severe IBS (damaged intestines that appears to be permanent---every time I eat I have issues), GERD, and Celiac Disease.

Hope they figure out a way to help you with your pain.

 

[Bilberry]

Wow, you have it all! That is quite a list. I used to have severe IBS-D, and have gone through more tests than I care, but never had a pH test.

if you want to look at something alternative for your stomach woes, you might try eating a paleo diet. The diet is reportedly alkaline in nature, unlike the typical western diet, which tends to be acid based. I know Dr Cordain, author of the paleo diet has talked about this on his web sight:

http://thepaleodiet.blogspot.com/

Basically, I began eating the paleo diet, along with taking fish oil, magnesium, and vitamin D3, and my stomach problems all but disappeared.

As for gerd, I've seen Dr Eades write about an herb that he swears by. It isn't something I have though.

"Protexid and Protexid ND and adventures in DR"

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/supplements/protexid-and-protexid-nd-and-adventures-in-dr/

Best of luck! Hope you find a treatment that works.

 

[gate_pourri]

My neighbor has this done and she said that it was really no big deal. I completely get the anxiety aspect of it. I have GERD and when it gets really bad I sometimes have a hard time getting a deep breath which causes a panic attack.

I also use chewable papaya (you can get it a health/natural food store) to help with any GERD issues that my medication (aciphex) doesn't take care of.

I totally feel your pain...I have severe IBS (damaged intestines that appears to be permanent---every time I eat I have issues), GERD, and Celiac Disease.

Hope they figure out a way to help you with your pain.

I have never heard of taking chewable papaya... I always keep candied ginger with me for the nausea attacks, but I will definitely go out and buy some papaya. Does dried work?? Does Trader Joe's sell it???

Yesterday, the GI Doc put me one month sample of 60 MG of Dexilant (but gave me 10 days of 20 MG of AcipHex and 10 days of 40 MG Zegerid encase the Dexilant doesn't work) plus Librax twice a day and Align probioltic.

Celiac Disease is a worry I have. The GI doc said that there were 2 small erosions seen on my colonospy, and there is some of autoimmune issues in my family. No one has known Celiac, but there is a lot of Chronic fatigue syndrome (3 immediate family members: Grandma, mom and aunt).. So although there is no documented family connection anything autoimmune based gives me worry.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I have never heard of taking chewable papaya... I always keep candied ginger with me for the nausea attacks, but I will definitely go out and buy some papaya. Does dried work?? Does Trader Joe's sell it???

Yesterday, the GI Doc put me one month sample of 60 MG of Dexilant (but gave me 10 days of 20 MG of AcipHex and 10 days of 40 MG Zegerid encase the Dexilant doesn't work) plus Librax twice a day and Align probioltic.

Celiac Disease is a worry I have. The GI doc said that there were 2 small erosions seen on my colonospy, and there is some of autoimmune issues in my family. No one has known Celiac, but there is a lot of Chronic fatigue syndrome (3 immediate family members: Grandma, mom and aunt).. So although there is no documented family connection anything autoimmune based gives me worry.

The chewable papaya is actually tablets. They are sold by the vitamins/natural medicines in health food stores. It is done in a concentration that soothes any indigestion. I think it is amazing stuff! Although sometimes the heartburn gets bad enough that I am chewing the papaya and the tums haha

I was on Omeprazole for years and all of a sudden it stopped working so I switched back to the Aciphex. The pharmacy keeps telling me to switch to Omeprazole and I am like trust me if I could I would.

I NEVER showed any damage from Celiac in my colonoscopies. My dad was diagnosed a few years ago and because I had all the symptoms i was closely monitored until I finally tested positive in a blood test. So negative tests do not mean you don't have Celiac. BUT don't stop eating gluten because then any tests will be inconclusive. I would ask your doctor if the same is true with this pH test in terms of medicine and OTC aids to help with the GERD.

I was put on colitis medication to deal with my severe IBS which switches between C and D at whim. The medication sent me spiraling into a deep depression so my gastro pulled me off it and told me I would have to get used to living with severe IBS and getting sick everytime I ate because he was never putting me back on the meds.

 

[bonoriffic]

I have IBS, GERD, and had throat erosion and hiatal hernia. I was in my mid 20's when I had all of this done.

Obviously the IBS isn't cured, but the erosions in my throat were easily healed and had surgery for GERD which also repaired the hiatial hernia.

Prior to surgery I had a 24 hour ph study. 4 days seems extreme. It took 2 office visits to get this done. The first attempt I probably shouldn't have had anything to eat for several hours prior. You are given a spray at the back of the throat to numb the gag reflex. You then are given a large glass of water and told to keep drinking as they shove the tube up your nose, down your throat, and into the stomach. It didn't go well and I puked everything back up. She was new to this and the tube wasn't making the nose to throat journey right and hit the wrong spot one too many times. As the poor nurse is very close to you as she had to feed this tube through your nose... well she took a direct hit.

I went back the next day, had extra spray, didn't eat, a different nurse, and it went right in. It isn't painful, but it is very uncomfortable going in. Once in, you wear this little monitor device that records everything. If you feel GERD pain you push a button to record that moment for review.

Do not plan on going to work. You will have the tube taped down coming out your nose so you will look odd. I also found speech to be less than ideal as it caused the tube to move and irritate. You are supposed to eat normally but good luck. You have a tube in your throat, it is annoying. I thought I was smart and had mac and cheese. Don't do that! It stuck to the tube going down and made it more uncomfortable.

4 days would have driven me crazy, 24 hours was annoying enough.

 

[hambirg]

Ugh! I'm sorry you are having all these problems.

I just wanted to give a little background of what I went through. I was having pretty severe chest pain and they eliminated any heart problems. They kept telling me they thought it was GERD.

I've taken the papaya and it does help. They DO sell it at Trader Joe's. I've also drank a teacup with 1TBS of Bragg's apple cider vinegar and a tsp of honey before every meal. That helped too. . .I guess it is full of enzymes like the papaya pills. My doctor tried giving me the little purple pills (Prilosic or Nexium?) but they didn't help at all.

However, I just kept getting worse. . .I was having panic attacks too. After 2yrs of suffering and becoming depressed and starting to think I was crazy, they finally figured out it was my gallbladder!!! Grrrrrr! Early on I had an ultra sound and I didn't have gallstones so they just dismissed the possibility of it being my gallbladder. The problem was it WAS my gallbladder, no stones, just not functioning. After I had it removed all the problems disappeared. Yay!

I guess what I'm trying to say is, have they ruled out gallbladder problems? Lol.

Just one more little thing. . .on our last trip to WDW I developed a little heartburn. . .not surprising since we were eating quite well. But. . .it just didn't want to go away no matter what I tried to get rid of it. After we came home, I mentioned it to my chiropractor. He said that since I had just recently been on a lot of rides my stomach may have moved up. . .I'm assuming giving me a bit of a hiatal hernia. He did this thing where he basically pushed hard into my abdomen and moved my stomach back down. It didn't feel so great while he was doing it. . .but the relief was almost instant. I had that happen one other time since then and I had him do the same thing with the same results.

I hope you can find some relief.

 

[bonoriffic]

I would be extremely careful going to a chiropractor who also claimed to be able to diagnose and repair a hiatal hernia. Chiropractors are not medical doctors. There are two types of hiatal hernias, the common sliding one that the majority of us will develop over time and the far more dangerous and much rarer para-esophageal hiatal hernia.

Chiropractors can work wonders with lower back pain. Unfortunately too many are of the belief that the spine is the gateway to all of life's problems and think they can fix anything.

Another thing to keep in mind is that GERD is the pain you experience when acid comes back into your throat. If you get relief with medicine, even if that requires ridiculous amounts, then you can probably be helped with surgery. (With the 24 hour ph test being the final validation of that theory) If you are taking clinical strengths of medicine with no relief, GERD surgery is unlikely to help you out. As hambirg found, GERD is the usual suspect but sometimes it can be something else. Finding a doctor that is open to the "something else" is the trick.

 

[Green Tea]

i NEVER HEARD OF THAT PH TEST BUT EVERYONE SHOULD BE SCREENED FOR PROSTRATE CANCER BY HAVING A BLOOD TEST and PH LEVELS CHECKED AND MAke sure there not out of line.

I'm pretty sure not everyone needs that prostate test. Maybe half?

 

[daemom]

I would be extremely careful going to a chiropractor who also claimed to be able to diagnose and repair a hiatal hernia. Chiropractors are not medical doctors. There are two types of hiatal hernias, the common sliding one that the majority of us will develop over time and the far more dangerous and much rarer para-esophageal hiatal hernia.

Chiropractors can work wonders with lower back pain. Unfortunately too many are of the belief that the spine is the gateway to all of life's problems and think they can fix anything.

Another thing to keep in mind is that GERD is the pain you experience when acid comes back into your throat. If you get relief with medicine, even if that requires ridiculous amounts, then you can probably be helped with surgery. (With the 24 hour ph test being the final validation of that theory) If you are taking clinical strengths of medicine with no relief, GERD surgery is unlikely to help you out. As hambirg found, GERD is the usual suspect but sometimes it can be something else. Finding a doctor that is open to the "something else" is the trick.

What kind of surgery did you have to get rid of GERD?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What kind of surgery did you have to get rid of GERD?

My dad and uncle have had this surgery also recently. Not sure what it is called though.