quote:Your concern and expertise are apprecaited I made my physician aware of the extent of my condition, and he suggested the medication combined with an adjusted diet, as surgery is only a temporary solution and not a very good one.
Re: "he suggested the medication combined with an adjusted diet"
I trust you see the problem this raises. *grin
Look, I'm not suggesting you should have surgery. I'm not your physician, and it isn't my area of expertise anyway. I just think that if your physician sent you out with a plan of prescription meds plus diet control, and you find yourself unable to get or take the meds, then a reconsultation for a new plan might be appropriate. As far as your physician knows (as I read it), you are taking those medications. If he knew otherwise, he might recommend a different plan. [And by the way, usually the physician isn't informed specifically if you fail to refill a prescription -- rather, it's information that you have to dig for in the medical record.]
(i.e., help you actually get the meds and/or scheduled screenings through the years)
I'm not going to harp on you anymore, I promise. It's your body, for sure. But I'll keep an eye on this thread for awhile to see if I can be a resource for more information to you or others.
quote:Your concern and expertise are apprecaited I made my physician aware of the extent of my condition, and he suggested the medication combined with an adjusted diet, as surgery is only a temporary solution and not a very good one.
Re: "he suggested the medication combined with an adjusted diet"
I trust you see the problem this raises. *grin
Look, I'm not suggesting you should have surgery. I'm not your physician, and it isn't my area of expertise any way. I just think that if your physician sent you out with a plan of prescription meds plus diet control, and you find yourself unable to get or take the meds, then a reconsultation for a new plan might be appropriate. As far as your physician knows (as I read it), you are taking those medications. If he knew otherwise, he might recommend a different plan.
(i.e., help you actually get the meds and/or scheduled screenings through the years)
I'm not going to harp on you anymore, I promise. It's your body, for sure. But I'll keep an eye on this thread for awhile to see if I can be a resource for more information to you or others.
Best wishes.
Wow my very own thread that I didnt create! I agree that my doctor likely assumed that I would continue taking medication.
My decision to not take them was 2 fold. One: I do not like taking medication especially for long periods of time. I am usually ok with taking prescriptions, but the fact I could not afford the monthly med bill, and the fact that the effect of the medication was marginal (it certainly helped alittle) I decided to just go back to how I was doing things. I know that was not the wisest choice but I was not sure what recourse I had.
If you know of some way that I could get medication at a less expensive price I am all ears.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I keep thinking of all the damage you could be doing to your GI tract. If you were all scarred up before (I can't quite figure out how that could happen) then you are probably getting more damage the longer this goes on. And the price you may have to pay, in 10-20 years of more damage, may be much, much higher than the cost of taking the medications.
My mind thinks "second opinion" when I read your stories, frankly. I'm not sure that most doctors will agree that surgery won't last long or help much when they review your case.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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This site [***or more comprehensively, this site***] may serve as a useful warehouse of links to drug company programs. Most such programs require involvement of your physician in the paperwork and may have an income sliding-scale component that includes your submitting copies of prior tax forms.
Hope this helps. There may be other programs in your area, too, but I couldn't tell unless I knew your location and more identifying details. Best bet is to start there.
quote:Originally posted by Theaca: I keep thinking of all the damage you could be doing to your GI tract. If you were all scarred up before (I can't quite figure out how that could happen) then you are probably getting more damage the longer this goes on. And the price you may have to pay, in 10-20 years of more damage, may be much, much higher than the cost of taking the medications.
My mind thinks "second opinion" when I read your stories, frankly.
Yeah. You raise some of my concerns and questions too, Theca.
(BlackBlade, Theca is also a physician.)
Posts: 132 | Registered: Jun 2006
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CT and Theca, do you think I should have my 8 year old evaluated by a specialist? The pediatrician just said "sounds like reflux" and prescribed Prilosec. Now, it does seem to help. If she takes the Prilosec in the morning, she doesn't throw up. But, when we tried to get by without it, she began throwing up again. Usually 20 minutes after she eats, and once she threw up, she was fine. No other symptoms or problems.
On the one hand I'm glad we have a remedy that seems to work for her. On the other, I don't like the idea of an 8 year old stuck taking medication every day - does this mean she will be taking it forever? Does one outgrow this condition?
My son had reflux as a baby, but this child never did. Can you just develop it at 8? I'm wondering if it has something to do with her being a gymnast, as I mentioned she spends a lot of time upside down.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: Mind if I butt in?
CT and Theca, do you think I should have my 8 year old evaluated by a specialist? The pediatrician just said "sounds like reflux" and prescribed Prilosec. Now, it does seem to help. If she takes the Prilosec in the morning, she doesn't throw up. But, when we tried to get by without it, she began throwing up again. Usually 20 minutes after she eats, and once she threw up, she was fine. No other symptoms or problems.
On the one hand I'm glad we have a remedy that seems to work for her. On the other, I don't like the idea of an 8 year old stuck taking medication every day - does this mean she will be taking it forever? Does one outgrow this condition?
My son had reflux as a baby, but this child never did. Can you just develop it at 8? I'm wondering if it has something to do with her being a gymnast, as I mentioned she spends a lot of time upside down.
Alittle coincidental Belle but according to my memory my reflux developed when I was young, but It wasnt a problem as a baby. I was also in gymnastics as a 5 year old.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I'm no gastroenterologist (*grin), but my recollection is that being covered on acid-controlling medication is key. That is, even if she still has that urpiness, the damage is minimized (which is why I was so concerned about BlackBlade above). I can check on current recommendations for you, but that will have to wait until a have a bit more free time. I'd want to do you and yours right.
Of course, it's a good question to re-raise with her regular physician at the next visit.* Additionally, we do know that Barrett's esophagus is not common -- that is, many more people with reflux will not get it than will. And the transformation from precancerous to cancerous lesions is not 1-to-1, either. So I suppose one may decide that not taking the medication is worth the risk.
I have to admit, though, that if I had a patient with ongoing reflux that refused medication, surgery, and regular screenings, I would try really hard to convince them otherwise. Then I'd try really hard to get them to a specialist who might be able to convince them otherwise. ANd then I'd document very carefully -- in exquisite detail and in multiple places in the medical chart, both -- that I discussed all of the risks and benefits with the patient, and the patient still decided to stick it out without treatment.
I'd continue to readdress the topic and redocument the refusal throughout my time with that patient, both for my own peace of mind (that I'd tried as hard as I could) and for a sincere desire to protect my license. (The former more than the latter, but the latter definitely there.) Esophageal cancer is on my top three list of Ways I Do Not Want to Die: slow suffocation and usually unable to be cured by surgery by the time you show symptoms. Oh, no way.
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Edited to add: I wouldn't be surprised if gymnastics had some correlation with GERD in kids, as I imagine it requires frequent Valsalvas to generate force as well as mechanical external compression of the abdomen (stretches, rolling, pressing against bars, upside down (as you say),and so forth). Any increase in intrabdominal pressure will exacerbate problems at the lower esophageal sphincter.
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Edited again to add: As far as I know, many babies seem to outgrow reflux. I don't know if early reflux is a good predictor of later reflux. It would seem reasonable, but these things don't always hold out to be true.
Diet can certainly help as well. Caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, and some other substances are known to exacerbate any weakness at that junction.
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*Edited yet again to add: Asking about whether a referral to a pediatric gastroenterologist would be helpful would certainly be reasonable. However, the protocol (I think) for treatment of this is fairly straightforward, and you might well find that a peds GI specialist would find it a referral without reason or merit. As long as the recommended treatment works, the specialist likely wouldn't have anything to add and would wonder what he or she is supposed to add to the equation.
Posts: 132 | Registered: Jun 2006
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My dad died of esophageal carcinoma, when it metastasized to his liver. He had reflux for many years, and treated it with Tums.
I have Barrett's, and during a time when I was without insurance, I went off my medicine, because it was so very expensive. Now I'm back on it.
It was about a year after dad started being pale that he was diagnosed, and just about a year after that was when he died. Esophageal cancer has a positively dismal survival rate, and there's an epidemic of it now, which is poorly understood.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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While my dad doesn't have esophageal cancer, we're pretty certain that the problems he has with his esophagus (both a stricture and achalasia) and the resulting reflux contributed to his throat cancer. I'm now very paranoid about my own infrequent instances of reflux.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I am working very hard to be able to afford health. insurance come this christmas. I will see if I can get a copay on Prilosec. I feel just alittle bit guilty as I have been trying to convince my wife that she does not need Zoloft and here I am saying I need Prilosec.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Just popping in to say that I am taking my medications very seriously and that I am grateful that the 'scope last week showed only damage, not anything pre-cancerous.
BB, sometimes insurance will cover Prevecid (for example) and won't cover, say, Nexium. Maybe your doctor can switch you to something that will be covered.
Posts: 11187 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Pretty sure he said (or at least implied) that he currently has no insurance coverage.
I got married and turned 24, my parents insurance company seems to think that takes disqualifies me from being a dependant Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Pretty sure he said (or at least implied) that he currently has no insurance coverage.
But was going to get some at Christmas...
Rather than taking nothing (very bad) take the OTC Prilosec twice a day and a Pepsid before meals. Of course, following your doctors instructions is way better.
Posts: 11187 | Registered: Sep 2005
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As this is the medical thread, I've been wondering something about the Pill. I was taking it for a while and stopped because I didn't need birth control, but I realized this month that the my raging PMS has returned now that I've stopped. I really hate taking a pill every day, though, and it's terribly expensive. My doctor cautioned against the patch just because there are so few choices in dosage, but I seemed to handle the pill just fine. In fact, body and moods were much happier on it than off.
Is the patch less than $40 a month? If not, is there another option? I want it for the hormones and not the birth control properties, so is there anything else I could take? I'm so tired of my happiness being at the mercy of my ovaries.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Well, if you are buying birth control without any insurance, then you would be looking for a generic birth control pill. The Nuvaring isn't generic yet. You'd have to talk to a pharmacy about which drug is cheapest there. Perhaps pick the lowest priced pharmacy closeby. Sam's Club, for example. Their pharmacy is open to anyone without membership cards and they have lower prices. Walgreens is usually cheaper than CVS. I'm guessing the lowest cost generics will be $35-40.
and typed in the names of generics I could remember. You might try typing "ethinyl estradiol" in and then search the pages for the cheaper options. But then you'd have to get a physician there to prescribe it and you'd want to start with a low to average dose of something that the doctor thinks would be helpful.
edit: Oh, you WANT the patch, if it is cheap. The generics don't stick on as well as the name brand patch does. Price, I'll have to check on that site. The patch is called ortho evra ($52)but I can't find generics. There are some, tho. You could call pharmacy for pricing.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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But I'll keep an eye on this thread for awhile to see if I can be a resource for more information to you or others.![[Wave]](graemlins/wave.gif)
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What a vote of confidence. Thank you most sincerely.)
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