GERD: What are your symptoms and what helps?

@lgumerman - Have you heard anything back from Mayo in Phoenix since you applied? If not, contact them again to check on the progress. It appears that GI appointments are in short supply.

I feel for you. I’ve been on every PPI. Nothing. Been hospitalized 3 times this year from internal bleeding. 5 transfusions all together. Every local test they have, has been performed. Nothing.

Prilosec was working in combination with my latest PPI before my recent hospitalization. They took me off it and the Protonix and now back on Omeprazole.

Have they checked your gastrin levels to rule out Zollinger Ellison?

You are correct. Florida has the better options. I’m waiting to hear back from my case review. Crossing fingers 🤞🤞that I get in.

Hi cmackia2020. In the later part of November I became constipated--no movement for 5 days. This was very unusual for me. I took stool softners and Miralax until the BM's started. They were black and bloody. It was at the start of the Thanksgiving 4-day holiday and not doctor or primeds were open till the following Monday. I went right away and they sent me directly to an emergency room. Bad luck continued. No GI doctor comes to that ER nor were there any beds available. I was there for 25 hrs and they found a hospital and a GI doctor an hour and a half away. When I did get a EGD and colonoscopy 4 days later there were no sites identified for the bleeding. They did say I have a sliding hernia. I was not familiar with that but upon reading about it, it says it can call hemorrhage. Now I'm anemic. I've been taking Pantoprazole Sod DR 40 mg daily since 2019. Reading your post makes me wonder if bleeding is something that may happen again. No further tests have been scheduled. My regular GI Doc said she was getting the records from the hospital and would go from there but no work from her. Guess I'll need to contact the office to see what can be done now.
Thanks and pray your situation gets better. Faye

Gargling with 8.8 ph alkaline water can help the throat. It neutralizes pepsin, the enzyme that digests protein and can also eat away at your throat. Don’t eat anything 4 hours before bedtime. Working with your physician to make sure your biome is in good shape could be helpful.

I call the referral sept cause they don’t allow a patient to contact the GI dept directly. They suggested I call every week to see if they have any cancellation. It has been probably a year since I got accepted to be on the waitlist to get called to even schedule an appt. Many days I feel like I am dying, but what else are my otions? Patients must just die waiting to hear from Mayo. I am very depressed and discouraged.

How does you doctor check your biome. On naturopath wanted to order a fecal test for biome but my gastroenterologist doesn’t believe there are enough scientific studies showing that that method doesn’t reveal the true biome. Buy he doesn’t have an alternative test. What shall I do? Liz

@lgumerman -
Do you have abdominal pain all the time? You have lost a lot of weight. Is it related to meals?
How long has this been going on?

I researched biome tests. Some of the companies that offer them have questionable credentials and/or poor Better Business Bureau ratings. The best test I found is from Life Extension, a company that markets pharmaceutical grade supplements and uses some of its profits to support anti-aging research. The comprehensive report goes directly to the patient, but it would obviously be preferable to interpret the results in conjunction with a physician. The standard opinion in the gastroenterology field, echoed by your gastroenterologist, is that the science of biome analysis is still in its infancy. I have a gastro appt in May (had to wait over half a year to get one), plan to print out the information from Life Extension about the test panel, which includes tests for pathogens (harmful microbes) and discuss it with him. The test is pricey, however, $499. Life Extension has a sale on tests in the spring, but I doubt that there would be much of a discount for this test, nor would insurance be likely to pay for it. Check it out though. At the very least you'll be better informed if you discuss testing with your naturopath.
https://www.lifeextension.com/lab-testing/itemlc100088/gi360-stool-analysis-fecal-test

Thanks. Liz