Suggest Remedy For Pain And Difficulty In Swallowing While Treating Barrett's Esophagus

Posted on Thu, 7 Jan 2016

Question: hi dr I have been diagnosed for barrets syndrome after a bioscopy was done from an endoscopy test.they found hiatal hernia in the cardia and in the esophagus hipermis ,mucosal break in the lower third esophagus .I don't suffer from acid reflux or gerd ,I just feel an uncomfortable pain times after eating a meal on and off for few years also these spasm pains are very rarely severe ,when it is severe I take pantoprazole and feel better.is this barrets syndrome curable ?and do I need to do many more tests? the dr said no ulcers or cancer cells after endoscopy and there was no h pylori either, also how long do I need to continue the proton pump inhibitors I used to smoke ,gave up years ago but still a social smoker at parties ,have daily 2 double shots of whiskey before dinner exercise daily weight 74 kgs and height 1.78 cm

Answered by Dr. Michelle Gibson James (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
medication should be continued long term to prevent further changes

Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic

GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) may not present with typical symptoms in everyone.
The pain that you are experiencing occasionally after a meal is one of the symptoms that may occur. Not everyone has the typical burning or reflux of food.

Barrett's esophagus means that there changes in the lining of the esophagus from normal but it is not at cancer. There is a small risk of going further to cancer but this is not common.
It does not usually go back to normal.

In terms of further tests, monitoring is normally done to check for any additional changes, this may involve repeat endoscopy every 6 to 12 months.

The medication should be continued, it would reduce the chance of further changes. It should be used indefinitely unless your doctor says otherwise.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Michelle Gibson James (2 hours later)

Hi dr i would like to know more about food and drink habits !mainly how much is too much in drinks and also foods which are harmfull for this condition,what foods can agrivate this more , also the medication im using is panteprazole could u recomend something more new generation as ive been told that panteprazole has a after effect of muscular pains

Answered by Dr. Michelle Gibson James (16 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
omeprazole, lansoprazole, esomeprazole

Detailed Answer:
HI

The diet is the same as patients with GERD: (1) avoid spicy, acidic, fried/fatty foods
(2)restrict use of caffeine, onions, tomato, citrus fruits, mint

There are some medical studies that indicate though alcohol can worsen reflux, it actually may not affect Barretts, so this is not clear.
To be safe you may want to reduce alcohol intake to every other day or weekends.

All medications have potential side effects that may or may not occur. If you are experiencing side effects from the pantoprazole , you can try one of the other meds: omeprazole, lansoprazole , esomeprazole

Please feel free to ask any other questions

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar