General Medical issues thread

My mother has terrible heartburn. Somac and the like is not helping at all. Gavascon ect not helping. Gastroenterologist said next step is to have surgery to tighten the valve in the stomach but it comes with its own issues.
So bad that she can’t sleep flat at night. When ever there is a flair up it takes weeks to stabilize. Any suggestions?
 
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Freq Flier 2013 said:
My mother has terrible heartburn. Somac and the like is not helping at all. Gavascon ect not helping. Gastroenterologist said next step is to have surgery to tighten the valve in the stomach but it comes with its own issues.
So bad that she can’t sleep flat at night. When ever there is a flair up it takes weeks to stabilize. Any suggestions?
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I have scleroderma of the oesaphagus and on the same treatment. Consequently I've very much reduced the quantity of food I eat and also drink especially towards the end of the day. Helps a lot. I have memories of being on the Termini station in Rome looking everywhere for gaviscon. But sometimes I need to have extra pillows if I've been out with friends. The burning and reflux is awful.

Maybe look at food and drink consumption from 5pm onwards?
 
Quickstatus said:
Gastro Doc is right.....
Quite possible she has a bad hiatus hernia.
Need to get it fixed.
Not fixing = malnutrition, unwanted weight loss, increased risk of pneumonia and maybe even oesophageal cancer.
Click to expand...
Left untreated can cause serious lung issues. It's something I have been asked a few times in regards to my lung condition.
 
Quickstatus said:
Gastro Doc is right.....
Quite possible she has a bad hiatus hernia.
Need to get it fixed.
Not fixing = malnutrition, unwanted weight loss, increased risk of pneumonia and maybe even oesophageal cancer.
Click to expand...
My mother does have a hiatus hernia but apparently not very large.
She did a study where they put a tube down her throat for 24 hours and each time she felt heartburn to press a button. The result was a very high correlation.

Any possible treatments or suggestions that are not surgical? Natural or otherwise..
Any other questions to ask the specialist gastroenterologist?
 
I've often wondered why I sometimes get slight palpitations after eating lunch, and also if walking significant distances why I get somewhat stressed and dizzy. At that time I know I crave something sweet then cheese!

I started wearing the trial version of the glucose monitoring kit. It lasts for 14 days. Installed it just before lunch. Then ate lunch. When I got it I wondered if I'd have 'an event' that I was trying the capture. I needn't have worried. Two hours after lunch the app was beeping at I was into red territory with blood sugar levels. Ate a biscuit. Improved. Then it crashed again. Still early days but current assessment is that timing of it suggests Post Prandial Hypoglycemia or reactive hypoglycaemia. That is, too much insulin is produced. My stable BSL is 5 not fasting. Not looking at prediabetes Dr says, just a stupid pancreas managed by diet.
 
This pattern depends on glycaemic index i.e how quickly sugars are broken down and released into blood. Some are high GI (eg lollies, cakes, white bread, Maccas). And others low (eg veggies, wholemeal/sound ought, oats). Wearing a glucose monitor can help some people make their diet more healthy and probably improve their well-being by providing insight into the issue
 
Science would suggest that Post Prandial Hyperglycaemia should receive more attention from the medical first responders (GP's)
HBA1C is used almost exclusively to judge sugar levels but it is a very broad brush.
With diet control alone , my HBA1c had been a non event for the GP for along time , however I had been reading the science and unilaterally decided to start Metformin.
I was pleased with the amelioration of the prandial peaks and was also able to have a more relaxed diet with better Glycemic control, a great outcome with little downside.
 
tgh said:
Science would suggest that Post Prandial Hyperglycaemia should receive more attention from the medical first responders (GP's)
HBA1C is used almost exclusively to judge sugar levels but it is a very broad brush.
With diet control alone , my HBA1c had been a non event for the GP for along time , however I had been reading the science and unilaterally decided to start Metformin.
I was pleased with the amelioration of the prandial peaks and was also able to have a more relaxed diet with better Glycemic control, a great outcome with little downside.
Click to expand...
I have done the same. M HBA1c has never been above 5 yet i had raised fasting blood sugars so om also.
There are some thins with sugar that can't be explained. I ad a pat int that would travel from Townsville as I took him of Insulin. He used to inject through his clothing and probably got none. but in 25 years despite some high sugars he had no complication from diabetes. In the next 10 years until I retired he still had no evidence of complications..
 
andye said:
This pattern depends on glycaemic index i.e how quickly sugars are broken down and released into blood. Some are high GI (eg lollies, cakes, white bread, Maccas). And others low (eg veggies, wholemeal/sound ought, oats). Wearing a glucose monitor can help some people make their diet more healthy and probably improve their well-being by providing insight into the issue
Click to expand...
Yes indeed and that's what I realise now. But there are some surprises as well. Like eating oats for cholesterol along with milk for calcium can throw out sugar levels. Treat one issue and create another! And I don't like the substitute milks at all. So theoretically can only use water with it. Yet cheese is good. Bananas not. I think now I know what is going on, have jelly beans and nuts at hand then that's all I need for the moment. But it has explained so much.
 
Beer_budget said:
Anyway, going to have an MRI of my head later this week to check if there's really a brain in there. The imaging unit of my psych science degree was a very long time ago but I had thought CT angiography would be the first step.
Click to expand...
Getting results the day before commencing an international trip is not recommended, FYI.

Good news: brain located, no evidence of any aneurysms. Other tests not so good, my iron saturation was quite high, and it was clear the GP was expecting to just scold me about excessive supplements (I don't take any). So sent away with an admonishment to avoid iron rich foods, immediately before departing to the land of black pudding and haggis! I did my best to comply regardless.

Follow up blood tests to see if it was an anomaly and check for genetic markers for haemochromatosis later this week. In hindsight, the fact I've never had low iron despite years of crippling endometriosis might have been a bit suspicious, but we will see.
 
Quickstatus said:
Borderline.
Click to expand...
Yes, I think it's the fact I'm only six months into medical menopause that has them concerned it might need monitoring (since I gather it's not uncommon for first symptoms in women to pop up after a year or two, once the automated bloodletting shuts down).
 

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