Help w/Dr. visit: Acid Reflux and Sinusitis (LONG)

[Finance Dave]

I can't respond to the sinus issue....but I "suddenly" got reflux in my early 30s and have been on medicine since. But there is a trick/fact I've learned.

Reflux, left untreated, can cause severe burning of the esophagus, which then REALLY hurts bad. If you then use medication to make that burning subside. After it subsides, you still have reflux...but think you don't because the severe burning has healed. It often will then come back.

For me, I take Omeprazole OTC 40mg once a day. I have found I can go a few days without it, but if I try to simply stay off it for a month, the pain returns. I've also found that when I lose weight (say 15-20 pounds), it's less severe and I get it less frequently when I don't take the pills.

There are not many long-term studies of what these acid inhibitors (like Omeprazole) do to your other organs, so I recommend you either take the lowest dosage you can or take it when you know you'll be eating something that will bother you.

[Focus]

I found the first portion of this book very useful, although later it's padded with unexceptional recipes:

The Acid Watcher Diet

Dr. Jonathan Aviv's findings align closely with my own experience. If the book had been available a couple of decades ago, it would have spared me years of trial and error as I figured out my reflux triggers.

He points out that the so-called "silent reflux" has often been misdiagnosed. That was my experience when I had a particularly bad bout. (I had trouble swallowing and breathing in deeply, but no regurgitation. Several doctors could not figure it out, and one misdiagnosed it as COPD.)

By the way, he explains why taking apple cider vinegar is not good.

[EveryLady]

Perhaps emphasize the severity and seemingly sudden onset of the symptoms to your gastroenterologist. And insist on an endoscopy prior to starting PPIs, which could only mask an underlying condition.

You mention periodic nausea, which was one of my symptoms. Faint at first but then over the months it would reappear gradually becoming worse.

Turns out that I had complications from an unknown ulcer - that wasn't diagnosed until I ended up in the ER months later with severe pain. All told ... I had several diagnoses along the way. GERD ... IBS ...gastroparesis with testing for celiac disease, gluten sensitivity more.

The gastroenterologist was mortified for ... his words at the GERD diagnosis were that he really should do the endoscopy but he KNEW what it was.

Fortunately, the grade B erosions to the esophagus healed once the ulcer was controlled.

Without drugs or lifestyle changes. And no more reflux.

No one wants to "over use" health care but months of delay (and three gastroenterologists) showed me how complicated some diagnoses can be.

That first endoscopy would have saved a lot in the end (including a last-minute cancellation of an overseas trip).

[Focus]

My endoscopy was a very unpleasant experience. If my esophagus needs to be checked again, I'll try to find a doctor who will do the narrow tube through the nose (no general anesthesia) procedure.