Barrett’s esophagus

In June I had an EGD - or is it EDG? - to map and biopsy my Barrett’s. Only 2 of the 7 biopsies showed low grade dysplasia! Yay!
I had my 4th RFA yesterday and the doc said it went well. He says I’ll need 3 to 5 mores RFAs to get rid of all the Barrett’s.
However he found that my nissen fundiplication had become completely undone. He wants me to have that surgery again before he does the next RFA in December. I’m not surprised because I’ve had occasional reflux recently.

Thanks, @rifleman84 and @pdilly You may not have seen my other posts but, about 10 days ago I fractured a part of my femur. My son and I had been talking about jazzing up the mother-groom dance and I told him I didn't think we would be able to do that. My son, always the joker, said we would still dance, he probably would just have to leave out the part where he was going to throw me up in the air! He keeps me smiling.
I tried to get him to let us go on his honeymoon with him, part of it is to Italy and my husband discovered when we went there that a lot of the language came back to him -- his father came from Italian and spoke it to his mother. My son thought bringing us on his honeymoon would not be too cool. Can you imagine? 😉

It's EGD. You can rid of Barrett's with a procedure? No one told me that. Is it a complex procedure? I would like to get rid of it simply so I would no longer have to take omeprazole. None of those drugs are good for you, long term.
JK

JK what on earth is wrong with that son of yours? Including Mom and Dad on the honeymoon would be a blast!
Regarding the RFA (radio frequency ablation) to remove segments of Barrett’s — you don’t want to get to the point where you have dysplasia and need to do that. It’s an outpatient hospital procedure and comes with risks.
And my gastroenterologist says even after we complete the 7 to 9 RFAs, I’ll still be taking prevacid to prevent acid reflux since that’s what caused the Barrett’s in the first place.
And my surgeon told me yesterday that the reports that prevacid causes dementia or Alzheimer’s has recently been debunked! Yay! I’ve been taking it for 20+ years!

where did you get the info that prevacid does not cause dementia, alztheimers, kidney damage, or osteoporosis? i just had a visit with my surgeon on july25,2019 and he said that this is true (he has never told me where the data is on this subject). my visit was to talk about my latest results of esophagael manometry and barium swallow. these test results indicate there is a parameter called " distal contractions integral-" DCI". the range is 500-1500. 500 means your esophagael muscles are weak; 1500 means they are strong. before the 360 degree fundo my DCI was 517.1 (weak). now 2.5 years later it is 398.3 . this means my esophagus are much weaker because there is more resistence to push the food thru with the fundo. i have trouble drinking water and getting it thru because it hangs up before the fundo. i don't believe this fundo is fo everyone. i have a supressed immune system due to my rheumatoid arthritis and that doesn't help. the test result also indicated that the food in my stomach might not be getting thru fast enough. The surgeon wants me to do the egg swallow test (with radioacive tracer) and take pictures to see how long it takes to get the food thru y stomach. It probably will show that it is a very slow process since i am also on oxycodeine due to my RA. if it does they may want to inject botox into the exit pyloric sphicter of my stomach (with endoscope) to help the stomach empty quicker. the theory being that the more residence time the food is in my stomach the more "esophagus sensitivity pain" i am feeling . i dodn't have any acid reflux from the fundo (by testing). i am experiencing esophagus pain . this is called hypersensitive esophagus . Now you know why i am asking for your source of why antacids are not causing those great dibilatating systems these doctors are worried about. if the info says this is bunk then i might as well get the fundo reverder and be able to swallow again. prior to the fundo i was on 60 mg of prevacid as well as 4000 mh of sulcrafate. one month before surgery i had no heartburn . that wa the first time in 18 years i did not have heartburn. i hope your RFA's don't cause you any additional problems such as swelling of the esophagus causing difficulty of swallowing drink or eating...best wishes!......kozlo52

Hello kozlo52! My surgeon told me yesterday. But he didn’t say anything about kidney damage or osteoporosis. The new evidence only applies to dementia and Alzheimer’s — that the acid suppressors don’t cause those 2 things.
I will call him and ask him where I can find that report and let you know.

After the Barrett's is gone from the rf treatments I wonder if you can go back to a normal diet and just take the ppi's?

Do you tilt up the head of the bed. I use a big wedge pillow with other pillows on that.. It almost feels like sitting up halfway..gravity plays a big role in keeping food down..I can eat a little up to 2 hours before getting into bed.

@pdilly I know it, really. He would have a great interpreter along. My husband would "throw me under the bus" and go without me if he could! We have been two times and loved Italy. We would love to all go, my daughter and her husband too. She took three years of Italian in college so she could help too. My son and I are both foreign language dunces.
I have no idea what caused my Barrett's. I complained of hoarseness to the PCP I had back then and she basically paid no attention for a few visits, then she finally sent me to a gastro. She was a really terrible doctor, I got rid of her fairly soon after that, and then a missed diagnosis.
JK

from my reading of a large German Study, there was a statistical correlation between the prevacid (and such products) and Dementia but there is NO causation... Correlation is Not Causation..

Hi all,

I think most of us would do without meds if given the option, but sometimes they are necessary. You might be interested in going through some of these recently published studies and clinical findings. New research shows no direct correlation between the use of PPIs and cognitive or mental decline.

– Setting the record straight: PPIs do not cause Dementia (Association Between Proton Pump Inhibitor Use and Cognitive Function in Women) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016508517359103?via%3Dihub
– New Study Disputes Claim That Heartburn Meds Raise Dementia Risk (Proton Pump Inhibitors and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jgs.14956
– Proton Pump Inhibitors and Dementia: Physiopathological Mechanisms and Clinical Consequences https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5883984/

Researchers also found those who used PPIs were at a lower risk of a decline in cognitive skills. A large 2016 German study concluded that people taking PPIs (and statins) had a lower chance of dementia.
– https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26744954

However, it is important to note that some possible cognitive effects of PPIs can be due to drug interactions, especially in elderly patients. Those who used PPIs were also more likely to use anticholinergic medicines – medications used to treat incontinence, depression and sleep problems and include diphenhydramine (Benadryl) – that have been linked to thinking difficulties. For instance,
– omeprazole may increase blood levels of diazepam https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3671798/
– an FDA study has shown that some adverse events with PPIs could be associated with benzodiazepine drug interactions http://bit.ly/2KyiHID

I hope this helps.