esophagheal varices

[TACHY4U]

After a routine blood test my husbands hgb was only 8-3. An endoscopy, and colonoscopy were done.  The colonoscopy was apparently normal, but the endoscopy showed a slight reddening about belly level, but  what   concerned the dr. was some varices in his esophagus.  All of his liver tests are normal, and he rarely drinks except for an occasional beer.  he.s supposed to se a gastrointerologist in two weeks.  meanwhile he is taking prilosec, and iron sulfate.  We have never noticed any bleeding, and are so worried.  What could be causing this??

[katcar67]

Hi,
I am a 40 yr old female that developed esophogeal varices soon after birth. I and a number of bleeding episodes which pushed me to get a shunt done at the age of 15. This shunt was completed in 1983 by Dr. Warren at Emory University. I have now been living without any recurances for 25yrs. I have heard of other treatment that have been developed but have not needed any of them since.

[carley540]

my husband has esophageal varcies and they are from medicines that he has been on for years for gout.and also they said they could be inhearited or from environmentall.  We have had this going on for 4 years.  He has been going to a hospital in pitt. pa were they go down and put bands on them when able to cut off the blood supply before they break which two had and was not good.  we have now had to have a shunt down because after 4 years of this procedure they moved to his stomach and anus, so now we are waiting to be on the liver transplant list.  but remeber this is not always from drinking.  tyenol can also cause this if it has been taking for a long time

[CalGal]

You don't have to drink to get these. There can be other causes. Esophageal varices develop when normal blood flow to the liver is blocked. The blood then backs up into smaller, more fragile blood vessels in the esophagus, and sometimes in the stomach or rectum, causing the vessels to swell. So if there's any form of scar tissue, blood flow problems (clotting issues, etc), and some diseases, varices develop. The GI doc will be able to determine what's going on probably with some more testing.