It is serious business. I was diagnosed with 8cm of Barrett's at the age of 32 and told I was 30 yrs ahead of the game. What ensued is 26yrs of yearly trips to Endoscopy for biopsies because Barrett's can be pre-cancerous. I had terrible reflux even after a Nissan at the age of 34. I was also told no acid can touch my esophagus so I was high dose PPIs like prevacid. The progression is Barrett's, low grade dysplasia, high grade dysplasia then cancer. My brother's neighbor developed esophageal cancer because he ignored his Drs. Now it has metastasized.
5 yrs ago mine began to change to low grade dysplasia. I've since had 5 esophageal ablations or what I like to call burn and scrapes. I've got 2cm of Barrett's left. Normal esophageal tissue grows back In Jan 2019 I had another hiatal hernia repair, a reversal of the Nissan from 24 yrs ago b/c the wrap slipped and a LYNX band placed around the lower esophageal sphyncter. And voila I am reflux free for the 1st time. I go back for ablation number 6 at the end of October.
In hindsight if I had known about the ability to burn away the Barrett's I would have done it much sooner before the Barrett's started to change but my GI at the time didn't do them and he never mentioned the procedure. I later also learned to take high dose B12 like methylcobalime b/c your body won't absorb it from your food when on PPIs. Long term use of PPIs can cause a host of issues down the road.