Tetracycline Damage

Is it possible that irritation/damage caused by a long term problem with tetracycline capsules sticking in the esophagus could be diagnosed as Barrett's during endoscophy?  Or could this souce of irritation cause Barrett's?  I have stopped taking the tetracycline for rosacea but took it on & off for about ten+ years and always had a problem with it causing irritation.  Now I am taking Prilosec and Propulsid but would like to stop if at all possible.

[HFHSm.D.-Gastro-rf]

Dear Mumcy,
There have been a number of articles describing esophageal inflammation due to medications.  In brief, because of impaired movement through the esophagus (sometimes due to an esophageal stricture)pills will stick in the esophagus for an extended time.  The release of medication (be it antibiotic or osteoporosis medication) will cause esophageal inflammation.

Usually, the esophageal changes are inflammatory.  Barrett's esophagus ( a condition in which there is a change in the lining of the esophagus) has not been reported as a direct consequence of pill-induced esophagitis.  There is, however, a possible connection between Barrett's and pills.  In Barrett's esophagus, there is usually an underlying esophageal inflammation.  This inflammation can be associated with delayed motility and therefore predispose to pill-induced eophagitis.  Additionally, some patients with Barrett's can have esophageal strictures.

If there is a question of Barrett's esophagus, then you should receive treatment with acid suppression drugs and have an endoscopy after several weeks of therapy.

[Gee Simpsom]

You should be working out instead of sitting at home watching tv....you couch potato.  Relieve your buttocks from stress...and start working the rest of your muscles.  This will relieve your esophagus from your over consumption of food.

[lisa]

To Gee Simpson, I'm not sure where your reaction comes from, but I think people who post here are looking information and, perhaps, emapthy and not unfounded judgments.

[Desi Strote]

yeh, i would like to know if tetracycline is the cause of my nausia.    

so get off your own sofa chick!

who will advise??

[Lynne Hamilton]

I had an upper GI endoscopy performed. The biopsy report indicated chronic inflammation and lymphatic vessel inflammation but no blunted vili. Should I be concerned? The GI specialist said it is not normal but it is also not classically abnornal. Within the last 3 months, I have lost 30 pounds and currently weigh 86. Height 5'2''. I had a colonoscopy where the biopsy also showed chronic inflammation but no crypts. Questionable ulceration-might have been the scope. This was the interpretation from a GI who did not perform the procedure. The LLQ pain resolved w Asacol. Is this just an aberration or early Crohn's?

Thank you

[DAS]

I had been taking DIOXICYCLINE for about a year and after a while I began to get terrible chest pains (usually at night) in my right-hand side, accompanied with an excess of saliva build-up in my mouth, and tightening of my throat. This leads to many a painful and sleepless night.  My doctor told me that i have reflux and perscribed me some ranitidine tablets to reduce the acid, but this has only worsened the situation.  It feels like i have something stuck in my chest when i get these attacks.  Although i have stopped taking dioxicycline (because i have always felt that this was the cause of my condition), do you think this could have triggered my condition (which no one seems to be able to correctly diagnose)?