Well, I survived that procedure! On Tuesday my GI dr placed a bravo capsule in my esophagus. He also took a couple more biopsies of my stomach. Not sure why considering he just did that a couple weeks ago but oh well.
He said my stomach is red (gastritis) but did not appear as red as it did a couple weeks ago. Maybe thats progress?? I so hope so!!
Anyway, I turned in the bravo unit today. My ph levels stayed at around 5.0-8.0 except when I had reflux and heartburn where it would drop to 2.4-3.5
Anyone else ever have a bravo test done? What were your results? I go in for a follow up on Monday.
Thanks!
Nancy 
Nancy, this is really interesting. Are you on PPIs? According to what I've read, the normal resting stomach pH is between 1 and 3, and goes up to between 4 and 7 in people taking acid-supression drugs.
I'm asking because I'm interested in the theory that a lot of digestive problems, including gastritis, are actually caused by too little stomach acid. I know, it sounds bizarre, but the argument is that it's pressure on the LES that's at fault, that acid-supressing drugs simply mask or perhaps even exacerbate the condition, and that even a tiny bit of acid escaping can cause heartburn. Some doctors (notably Dr. Jonathan Wright) attribute at least some kinds of gastritis to excessively low acid (gastric atrophy).
Maybe you're too young to have declining levels of stomach acid to begin with. The decline supposedly happens when one reaches middle age. Also, I'm not saying I swallow all of this 100 per cent. But it makes as much sense as any other theory I've heard expounded as to the cause of GERD. Mostly it's, "we don't know."
Good luck to you,
Seagal
I had a Bravo done a couple months ago. I was between 6 and 8 most of the time, but had periods of 3 and 4 when I had heartburn and gas. This was mostly after eating. I'm not sure about the first reply you got, but they might be on to something. I have been on PPIs for 2 years and my reflux has done nothing but get worse. In fact, when I was first perscribed PPIs, my reflux was completly tollerable. I had small amounts of pain in my chest from time to time, but nothing else. They couldn't find a reason for the pain, so they put me on PPIs. The PPIs never really helped and now, a couple years later I'm in complete GERD hell. What are your symptoms and experiances with PPIs?
I want off the PPI's as well-believe me! I have been on them for over 5 years. Same as you-mild GERD till I went on the meds. Now my system is addicted to it. You can get acid rebound effect on PPI's because your body continues to produce more gastrin while on the meds. When you try to stop-major acid rebound effect (at least for a lot of people but not everyone).
Im still on prilosec. I am trying to get off. I recently started Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbs). We'll see if this helps me out. Changing your diet is also a very good idea although it is something that I am not good at at all.
Nancy
Nancy, Good luck in your efforts to get better and get off PPIs. I've been off PPIs for more than 2 weeks and take only the occasional OTC drug. I had terrible rebound the first few times I tried to quit. This time I went on a low-carb diet and began acupuncture treatments to get me through the withdrawal stage. So far so good.
The acupuncture treatments make you feel wonderful, by the way. I never want to get off the table. The woman who treats me says she has had good success with GERD. Hope they help you, too.
Seagal
Nal,
I was off the PPIs completely for 5 days or more I think...today I can't take it anymore so I took a dose of prilosec. My prescription is 2x a day 20 mg capsule.
I was doing fine except for the terrible nausea then on the 3rd day I was off the prilosec....arggg. I started getting burning sensation/sore throat and it feels terrible! I've tried DGL before and after meals plus the papaya enzymes, still the acid kept coming back.
I noticed though that after I stopped Prilosec that my chest pain and stomach pain went away.
DO you think I quit taking prilosec too early? I'm interested bec. I saw that you were on Prilosec too.
Tomorrow I have an appt with a doctor who perfoms Stretta, heard a lot of positive things about it.
Thanks.
I was off the PPIs completely for 5 days or more I think...today I can't take it anymore so I took a dose of prilosec. My prescription is 2x a day 20 mg capsule.
I was doing fine except for the terrible nausea then on the 3rd day I was off the prilosec....arggg. I started getting burning sensation/sore throat and it feels terrible! I've tried DGL before and after meals plus the papaya enzymes, still the acid kept coming back.
I noticed though that after I stopped Prilosec that my chest pain and stomach pain went away.
DO you think I quit taking prilosec too early? I'm interested bec. I saw that you were on Prilosec too.
Tomorrow I have an appt with a doctor who perfoms Stretta, heard a lot of positive things about it.
Thanks.
I had to go back on the prilosec myself. I absolutely could not tolerate the stomach pain anymore while off it! I don't get it.
Try tapering off the prilosec very, very slowly!!! If you quit too quickly, you will get really bad acid rebound. My dr said that even if you have to take a few MONTHS to get off of it, that would be better. Just worth a try.
Funny thing is now my stomach hardly hurts-go figure.
Nancy
Thur. I had a bravo done it is for 48 hours it has been the worst 48 hours ever how long do they stay in i cant barley eat or drink or sleep
I had my Bravo test earlier this month. I go back to my GI doc later today for the follow up consult.
I had an endoscopy last October that revealed hiatal hernia, gastritis, and esophagitis (biopsy was negative for barretts). I was already on Dexilant, but they also added Azithromycin. After several months of that, I was still having symptoms and unable to tolerate the antibiotic. It was making me sick to my stomach constantly.
I had a barium swallow which gave them cause to believe I had polyps, so they ordered the second endo and the Bravo. The second endo still showed esophagitis and gastritis, and they took three biopsies.
The first day was really uncomfortable. Eating was painful. Even while on PPIs during the test, I was regularly logging recordings in the 1.8-3.5 range with bouts of regurgitation, many times throughout the day. I ran out of room on the single page diary sheet around dinner time on the first day. Waking up in the morning, the monitor readings were consistently around 2, even with the head of my bed raised.
Days 2-4 with the Bravo weren't too bad. I could still feel it, about 2-3 seconds after I swallowed. It was a twinging pain, but not too bad. However, I think around day 5 it got knocked a little bit loose, and was a real pain to deal with after that. It took about 3 more days for it to actually fall off, and I was very relieved! It didn't bother me too much when I wasn't actively eating or drinking, though.
Not sure what to expect really, but I'm preparing myself to hear that surgery is the only option left. We discussed it after my first endo, but my GI doc really didn't think it was a good idea unless it was a last resort. I'm pretty much fed up so I think it may be time to start down that road.
Hiatal Hernia, Esophagitis, Gastritis, Dysautonomia
I had an endoscopy last October that revealed hiatal hernia, gastritis, and esophagitis (biopsy was negative for barretts). I was already on Dexilant, but they also added Azithromycin. After several months of that, I was still having symptoms and unable to tolerate the antibiotic. It was making me sick to my stomach constantly.
I had a barium swallow which gave them cause to believe I had polyps, so they ordered the second endo and the Bravo. The second endo still showed esophagitis and gastritis, and they took three biopsies.
The first day was really uncomfortable. Eating was painful. Even while on PPIs during the test, I was regularly logging recordings in the 1.8-3.5 range with bouts of regurgitation, many times throughout the day. I ran out of room on the single page diary sheet around dinner time on the first day. Waking up in the morning, the monitor readings were consistently around 2, even with the head of my bed raised.
Days 2-4 with the Bravo weren't too bad. I could still feel it, about 2-3 seconds after I swallowed. It was a twinging pain, but not too bad. However, I think around day 5 it got knocked a little bit loose, and was a real pain to deal with after that. It took about 3 more days for it to actually fall off, and I was very relieved! It didn't bother me too much when I wasn't actively eating or drinking, though.
Not sure what to expect really, but I'm preparing myself to hear that surgery is the only option left. We discussed it after my first endo, but my GI doc really didn't think it was a good idea unless it was a last resort. I'm pretty much fed up so I think it may be time to start down that road.
Hiatal Hernia, Esophagitis, Gastritis, Dysautonomia