gerd or cancer

[drake801]

Hi, im 34 years old male , 6'2" and 195 lbs. i have increased belching and gurgling stomach (especially when i first wake up) for about 5 months and lots of undigested vegetables in my stool (this symptom ive had for years). Ive lost about 15 lbs during this time. I was on aciphex for years because of gerd but was switched to dexilant for gastritis. Ive recently stopped taking the dexilant and am trying bentyl 4x a day but so far no changes. i am very regular with my bowel movements (once a day) so i dont see how it could be ibs. these are the tests i have done so far: chest xrays (normal), ekg, cbc, liver and pancreas enzyme blood tests (all normal), upper gi series (showed some thickening of rugal folds), upper endoscopy with biopsy (mild gastritis and gerd, negative on celiac and h pylori), gallbladder ultrasound (normal), ct scan of abdomen and pelvis with contrast (normal), colonoscopy (normal) and hida scan with cck (normal). I do have health anxietys and am currently in therapy and taking vybrid for anxiety. Im curious why i never seem to digest vegetable type matter, seeds and nuts. I guess my question could all of this just be a combination of gerd slight ibs and high levels of stress and anxiety. with all of these tests wouldnt they have seen if something serious was causing my symptoms? I worry about some type of cancer, but if cancer was causing symptoms wouldnt some test have seen it? Thank you

[drake801]

OK thank you for all your help! I will talk to my doctors about these tests.

[drake801]

thanks for the reply..what tests would you suggest that i havent done already? the diagnoses of gerd was made 6 years ago via upper gi and symptoms of regurgitation (which aciphex helped greatly). the recent diagnoses of gerd and gastritis was made during endoscopy and biopsy. My gastrologist is very well renouned in NY but he didnt seem concernd. wouldnt the bile reflux be seen during endoscopy? My symptoms did start after i started taking celebrex for a shoulder pain. took for 10 days and docs thought this is what caused my gastritis.  he first told me to double up on my aciphex and when that didnt work he switched me to dexilant. this was in march, if the celebrex caused this wouldnt it have healed by then? Should i try a different ppi?

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

It sounds as though you don't have a solid diagnosis after 6 years of treatment. You have been diagnosed with GERD. Was a pH study done or was this assumed after seeing inflammation in your esophagus? Acid doesn't cause gastritis. This is usually the result from a breakdown in the stomach's ability to protect itself. Common causes are medications such as NSAID's or the reflux of bile from the duodenum back knto the stomach. Another cause would be from decreased emptying of the stomach such that contents just sit there and cause inflammation. The early morning symptoms would be typical for alkaline reflux gastritis as this is the time of day when the stomach is empty and there is no food to buffer the alkaline bile. Sounds like it might be time to get a real diagnosis.

[drake801]

My gp allowed me to stop the ppi for a while because there was no improvement and my gastrologist thought it could be causing the gurgling.(irritateing my intestines) so we switched to bentyl to see if it would help. i will most likely have to start the acid suppressor again but thought my stomach could use a break after being on ppis for 6 yrs. I just dont get why if my gastrologist says the inflamation he seen was so mild why this horribly loud gurgling especially in the morning. (is there some other medicine i can take along with a ppi to calm these noises)

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

If you were put on acid suppression for GERD why would you stop it? It's not like the problem that you had went away. As for the vegetables and nuts all humans pass these through because we don't have the enzymes to digest cellulose.