My mother has had digestion problems for most of her adult life, having a sensitive stomach and also in later years bouts of IBS.
About a year ago she started having a lot of problems swallowing food and keeping it down. She had acid reflux but also an overactive gag reflex, which sometimes caused her to bring up lots of saliva, even when she'd only had a mouthful of food. Also, she was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia years back and often took anti acid tablets for it, although she'd got very lax about taking the tablets.
Things all came to a head this summer, when she was vomiting almost daily and her weight dropped down to 6.5 stone! I asked the GP on several occasions if Mum should have an endoscopy but every time was told that it was too invasive and they probably wouldn't find anything. The doctor tried various tablets but nothing seemed to work, and because my mother had also been depressed and neglecting herself the psych consultant diagnosed "passive suicidal behaviour". She was admitted to a psych unit, where they gave her a course of ECT and coaxed her to eat small meals regularly. However, the symptoms still persisted, until one day I mentioned to the nurse that Mum had never had an endoscopy done. She was amazed and managed to get Mum referred for one. Just before they discharged her, the endoscopy was done and they said her throat was very constricted and needed 'stretching'. Finally she had a second endoscopy done, where they stretched her throat. This was all very unpleasant for poor old Mum, as you can imagine. The consultant said the whole thing was really caused by her hiatus hernia sending acid up her throat, causing ulcers, making it inflamed. He prescribed Omeprazole, saying she needs to be on it for the rest of her life. He said ideally they would operate to fix the hernia, but as Mum is nearly 85 they would rather treat with the tablets. Trouble is, the tabs are making her IBS worse - the other day she didn't make it to the loo and was in a right state (no. 2s). Also, her throat is still sore and her breath smells quite bad, despite me scrubbing her dentures and getting her to gargle. I hope it's not infected.
Sorry for the rambling post, but I'm concerned that a lot of time has been wasted already and that the meds are not the answer. I believe the op could be performed 'keyhole' method, so am wondering whether I should push for this. I also wonder if the real reason they don't want to operate is simply an issue of costs? I'd be grateful for any advice please.
About a year ago she started having a lot of problems swallowing food and keeping it down. She had acid reflux but also an overactive gag reflex, which sometimes caused her to bring up lots of saliva, even when she'd only had a mouthful of food. Also, she was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia years back and often took anti acid tablets for it, although she'd got very lax about taking the tablets.
Things all came to a head this summer, when she was vomiting almost daily and her weight dropped down to 6.5 stone! I asked the GP on several occasions if Mum should have an endoscopy but every time was told that it was too invasive and they probably wouldn't find anything. The doctor tried various tablets but nothing seemed to work, and because my mother had also been depressed and neglecting herself the psych consultant diagnosed "passive suicidal behaviour". She was admitted to a psych unit, where they gave her a course of ECT and coaxed her to eat small meals regularly. However, the symptoms still persisted, until one day I mentioned to the nurse that Mum had never had an endoscopy done. She was amazed and managed to get Mum referred for one. Just before they discharged her, the endoscopy was done and they said her throat was very constricted and needed 'stretching'. Finally she had a second endoscopy done, where they stretched her throat. This was all very unpleasant for poor old Mum, as you can imagine. The consultant said the whole thing was really caused by her hiatus hernia sending acid up her throat, causing ulcers, making it inflamed. He prescribed Omeprazole, saying she needs to be on it for the rest of her life. He said ideally they would operate to fix the hernia, but as Mum is nearly 85 they would rather treat with the tablets. Trouble is, the tabs are making her IBS worse - the other day she didn't make it to the loo and was in a right state (no. 2s). Also, her throat is still sore and her breath smells quite bad, despite me scrubbing her dentures and getting her to gargle. I hope it's not infected.
Sorry for the rambling post, but I'm concerned that a lot of time has been wasted already and that the meds are not the answer. I believe the op could be performed 'keyhole' method, so am wondering whether I should push for this. I also wonder if the real reason they don't want to operate is simply an issue of costs? I'd be grateful for any advice please.