OT - any gerd cures?

herefishy wrote:Actually, he tells me his sleep is not disturbed by reflux, that it is only during the day. Lucky him, huh? He's been on PPI's for ages, and they no longer relieve the discomfort. Asked him if he had Barrett's, and he hasn't answered yet, wants to research it on his own. I did tell him not to jump into the surgery.

Mine didn't either. However I realized that by using cpap my morning cough disappeared. That is called silent GERD. It causes mucus in the throat and oesophagus to protect itself. If it is really only during the day he should definitely investigate Celiacs, gluten and other food intolerances, sensitivities and allergies.

khauser wrote:Hmmm ... Omeprozole (aka Prilosec) *is* a PPI. In fact it is the purple pill I alluded to. http://www.drugs.com/omeprazole.html...

I thought that Nexium was the little purple pill. Hmmm....they both are purple!!

LSAT wrote:

herefishy wrote:LSAT, can you mention some of the alternate procedures, especially non-invasive?

http://linxrefluxsurgery.com/
http://www.endogastricsolutions.com/

Those are hardly non-invasive.

pikov22 wrote:

LSAT wrote:

herefishy wrote:LSAT, can you mention some of the alternate procedures, especially non-invasive?

http://linxrefluxsurgery.com/
http://www.endogastricsolutions.com/

Those are hardly non-invasive.

Excuse me...but Incisionless surgery is considered non-invasive.

It may be too late at this point, but a low carb Paleo diet--particularly eliminating ALL grains--eliminated my GERD.

And this is the only "expert" I've seen who "gets" what the cause of GERD is in the first place: http://fasttractdigestion.com/ Norman Robillard.

He attributes it to SIBO-small intestine bacterial overgrowth which is triggered by carbohydrate malabsorption in the gut. It's a consequence of many things in our diets, including grains.

LSAT wrote:

pikov22 wrote:

LSAT wrote:

herefishy wrote:LSAT, can you mention some of the alternate procedures, especially non-invasive?

http://linxrefluxsurgery.com/
http://www.endogastricsolutions.com/

Those are hardly non-invasive.

Excuse me...but Incisionless surgery is considered non-invasive.

"The LINX™ procedure is performed by minimally invasive laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery."

However, the other one has no cutting whatsoever. IMO, it seems to be a ghastly operation, requiring general anesthesia and all done through the mouth!! Makes me shiver to think of that.

pikov22 wrote:

khauser wrote:Hmmm ... Omeprozole (aka Prilosec) *is* a PPI. In fact it is the purple pill I alluded to. http://www.drugs.com/omeprazole.html...

I thought that Nexium was the little purple pill. Hmmm....they both are purple!!

You probably know that omeprazole, or Prilosec and Nexium are made by the same company. I am not sure but I think Prilosec was marketed as the purple pill and then Nexium was marketed as the little purple pill because it is smaller.

pikov22 wrote:

LSAT wrote:

pikov22 wrote:

LSAT wrote:

herefishy wrote:LSAT, can you mention some of the alternate procedures, especially non-invasive?

http://linxrefluxsurgery.com/
http://www.endogastricsolutions.com/

Those are hardly non-invasive.

Excuse me...but Incisionless surgery is considered non-invasive.

"The LINX™ procedure is performed by minimally invasive laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery."

However, the other one has no cutting whatsoever. IMO, it seems to be a ghastly operation, requiring general anesthesia and all done through the mouth!! Makes me shiver to think of that.

Unless you have answers to the posters question, I don't think it's necessary to comment on everything. The poster asked for alternate procedures to the nissen, especially non-invasive. I gave her one of each.

The inability to vomit would tempt me to run to Germany for the procedure I found in Medgadget.
--or wait for the FDA to give their blessing.

LSAT wrote:If the doctor is recommending the nissen fundoplication...let him do it (assuming it is a qualified surgeon that has done hundreds of this procedure). I had the procedure done 10 years ago and I have not taken any meds for GERD since. Most GERD comes from a mechanical problem involving a lower esophageal sphincter that will not close. Meds can reduce symptoms but will not solve the problem. If you are afraid of the surgery, there are some newer less invasive procedures available, but they have no long term history. The nissen has been around since the 1970's. I was in my early 60's when I had the procedure and I was out of the hospital the next day.

LSAT has it right based on my readings (I'm not in the medical profession).

I am in the queue to have a “minimally invasive” surgical procedure done in May for GERD. I have been doing quite a bit of online layman’s research and would like to share some of my personal conclusions based on what I read and three decades of exams of my esophagus, exams of my stomach, symptoms of GERD, the presence of hiatal hernia and years of PPI drug usage. Too many doctors imho are prone to treat the symptoms of GERD, rather than the problem disease, without watching the calendar. If it's a fundoplication that you need because of a weak or injured esophageal sphincter, I say, "git 'er done," if you aren't healed in a year. Don't wait 10 years. The problem is likely to worsen with time and our time on the planet is very limited. Why make it even more limited?

Besides possible disease of the esophagus, GERD can also be caused by a stomach that has partially "herniated," or passed through the opening in our diaphragm through which the esophagus passes. GERD symptoms and related similar symptoms (frequent unexplained stomach aches, coughing, incessant burping . . .) in the absence of an abnormality of the esophagus or esophageal sphincter, but in the presence of a hiatal hernia of the stomach, often should trigger a doctor's recommendation for corrective surgery. (If yours is “moderate” in size, listen up.) These days, as already discussed in this thread, less invasive procedures (i.e., surgery through a laparoscope and relatively tiny incision) are available and much easier to tolerate than open surgery. But I agree with LSAT that such surgery should be opted for only with surgeons who have done many hundreds of them before. In my view and from my experience, surgical recommendations for hiatal hernias, as well as for weak esophageal sphincters, are routinely avoided in favor of what turns out to be years of delay with such treatment as, yes, "proton-pump inhibitors" (PPIs) like Nexium, Prevacid, Protonix, etc. which over time typically see the actual problem areas in our bodies fail to improve or get worse. I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia over 30 years ago and with GERD probably over 15 years ago. In hindsight, if I could not cease the use of PPIs after a year or so without the return of symptoms, I would seriously consider finding a gastro doc who would be more open-minded to giving a surgical recommendation -- especially because minimally invasive procedures are now readily available. I recently received such a recommendation and have my pre-surgical visit with the gastro surgeon (very experienced with the needed laparoscope procedure) in a few weeks.

On xpap with good compliance for over a year, I have noticed no change in my GERD symptoms that I associate with my breathing therapy. My throat is getting increasingly sore, I have a burping problem during the day every day that begins a few minutes after I awaken, and some coughing. This condition pre-dated my use of xpap. Members here have suggested that I try varying the humidity in my xpap humidifier to check for any change in symptoms and I thank them for the thoughtfulness. It was set at 80% RH almost all year. I dropped it to 60, then discontinued its use with ambient room humidity of ~33%. Neither my symptoms nor xpap comfort (routinely very good) changed in any noticeable way. My centrals numbers, however, have been very gradually, but steadily, increasing throughout the year and have doubled to about 8.5, AHI continues at about 11.5. So next week, I'm also scheduled to see a new sleep doc. (If anybody has particular questions or comments for me to bring up, please post here or send me PM. Thanks.)

For me, any surgery is invasive...some are just more invasive than others. I'm set to have a endoscopy in a couple of weeks for what appears to be LPR or silent GERD. (Had a barium liquid and tablet swallow already; nothing found with that.) Doesn't bother my sleep, just during the day with the cough and burping. But it has gotten better to the point that I take one Prilosec a day for two days, then take two on the third day, one daily for the next two days, etc. (If I take two a day every day my mouth starts burning. Doesn't burn as much when I do it this way.) And watch what I eat, of course. For me, I'd have to be totally incapacitated to have any of the surgeries. I've been doing a lot of reading on some health forums, and although some have great results, too many people have negative outcomes, or the positive outcomes don't last. And then that not being able to throw up with one of them doesn't sound very good.

According to my sleep doc and my PCP, untreated or improperly treated OSA CAN cause or contribute to either GERD or silent reflux.

I've heard that the bed wedge you can get that is the full size of the mattress and fits between the mattress and the box spring can really help. This is NOT the small foam wedge that you put on top of the mattress!

http://www.mediwedge.com/products/index.html

A help, but probably not a cure, for reflux is to elevate the head of your bed about 3" or 4". Helps to keep the fluids down in the stomach.

khauser wrote:

pikov22 wrote:

khauser wrote:Hmmm ... Omeprozole (aka Prilosec) *is* a PPI. In fact it is the purple pill I alluded to. http://www.drugs.com/omeprazole.html...

I thought that Nexium was the little purple pill. Hmmm....they both are purple!!

You probably know that omeprazole, or Prilosec and Nexium are made by the same company. I am not sure but I think Prilosec was marketed as the purple pill and then Nexium was marketed as the little purple pill because it is smaller.

I take the prilosec capsule and thats a two tone purple, kinda pretty, Nexium might be a single tone purple, I forget. One that really helped me was Asiphex, awfully expensive $540 for a months supply and not generic yet.

One thing I did was get a wedge pillow to elevate my head, that makes a world of difference. Until you can find one, use two pillows, one on top of the other.

Those of you who mentioned the bed wedge, did that help with the next day's sufferings, or just that night. Did you notice that I said his sleep isn't disturbed?

I was on the Aciphex,until BCBSNE dropped it from their formulary.
My doc switched me to the generic pantoprazole--I can't tell the difference!
Not so with the OTC stuff, which was ineffective for me.