Do You Have Barrett's Esophagus?

I was diagnosed with Barrett’s Syndrome today. I am a white female who just turned 50. I am at my correct weight, a non-smoker, I drink alcohol occasionally.
I went in for the endoscopy because of some acid reflux but mainly because my uncle died from esophageal cancer and my aunt now has it – both on my mother’s side. I really thought I had celiac disease and my doctor and I were both shocked when this result came back. So now I am faced with lifelong dietary changes, medication, and tests to see if this condition progresses. I am taking a low-dose antidepressant and my doctor mentioned that is could cause reflux also. Very scary. I was so shocked that I didn’t ask my doctor many questions. What are the things I need to ask? Should I seek a second opinion? My doctor said that it could regress but nothing that I have read mentions that – is this true?
My doctor (gastroenterologist) wants my to come back for another endoscopy in December.

I was diagnosed with Barrett’s Esophagus in April this year after a follow-up endoscopy for gastric ulcers. My four ulcers had healed but the consultant discovered an area of redness in my esophagus. He took a sample and I got the results two weeks later at my local GP’s (general practitioner’s) office. I have a length of 5 cm that is affected. The funny thing is, just a few days prior to receiving my results, I’d received a newsletter from ‘About.com’ about this disorder, never knowing that I actually had it! The ‘lump in the throat’ that people often associate with this disorder, I have only started to notice in the past few weeks. My throat feels sore now, too. I do smoke, a lot. I have been under a crippling amount of stress for the past 16 months after moving from my home town of Bristol to Hayes in London. My health has deteriorated ever since. I quit drinking in Oct 2006, and I remain sober. I have had a Hiatus hernia for over a decade and have take Esomeprazole ever-since. To be honest, the future scares me. Thanks for reading. Phil.

I have had Barrett’s for about 15 years. I have a hiatia hernia also. My doctor did not tell me what it was and I had to find out everything form the internet. I did not ask him a lot of questions because he just told me to take this med.I had stage one which is dysplasia,last year and it is healed this year. I now go every two years for the scope. I found out I had it by telling my doctor durning my yearly check up that my stomach hurt and I had heart burn all the time. I also complained about waking up at night with chest pain and early morning. At that time I had ecoli and two ulcers in my stomach. Smoking is very bad if you have Barrett’s and drinking anything with acid in it. I love coffee and diet pop and did not quit drinking them until I had the bad report last year. Now I may have a pop or coffee, limiting to one a day. I do feel better if I don’t drink it at all. The only drink you really can find without acid is water. Milk even has acid. So there is my story about how I found out and how I deal with it. I don’t always follow the diet if I feel good.

I was diagnosed with GERD about 15 years ago and I am 39 now. I was overweight most of that time but don’t smoke or drink much. I was going every two years for an endoscopy and for years suffered with Barrett’s Esophagus. After the 3rd test came back that I still had Barrett’s I decided to do something about it before it was too late, I took my Prevacid ALL THE TIME rather than my usual here and there method, try to avoid or eliminate my trigger foods and most importantly to lose weight. Well I am happy to say that the combination of all three helped me to get rid of Barrett’s since my last endoscopy this year came back negative and now my doc says I don’t have to have another one though I will always be on Prevacid/Protonix!!! I definitely notice my symptoms flare up when I gain 5 or 10 pounds back or when I “forget” my medicine. So far this year I have lost 23 pounds though I gained 6 back so I am still working on losing another 15 or 20.

Hope this helps someone. Good luck.

I had a positive blood test for Celiac Disease but the only way to verify it is to have an endoscopy. They didn’t find Celiac Disease of the small intestine but was told they found Barrett’s Esophagus. I was 42yo female at the time without any heartburn symptoms other than during pregnancy 8 yrs perviously. A swallow exam verified the reflux. I was shocked to see it happening on the screen, yet no symptoms. I was put on H2 blockers for one year then developed ulcers of the esophagus. I was then put on a PPI (Nexium) once a day so that the ulcers would heal. I went through a battery of tests including an esophageal manometry and a 24 hr PH test to see if I would benefit from fundoplication surgery. My GI retired in the middle of testing and the new GI looked at my symptoms (I had many related to Celiac) and had me go on a gluten free diet. Most of my reflux symptoms cleared. They have put the surgery on hold, I have been able to decrease my meds to every other day, have stayed gluten free and am waiting another endoscopy 9 months from now.
My symptoms of reflux were belching, light sleeping(reflux waking me at night not realizing it), morning nausea feeling better after eating, chest pains and difficulty swallowing food and liquid at times. It all cleared when put on the meds. I will be watched to see if the barrett’s tissue changes to a more serious type that leads to cancer ever 2 years for the rest of my life and to think I never realized I had heartburn. Once the tissues change you can still have the heartburn/gerd but not feel it because your esophagus has tissues in it much like the stomach at this point where we also don’t feel the acid.
I hope this can help one person if they are suffering from any of these symptoms.

I’m a 42 year old female and I was just diagnosed with a sliding hiatal hernia and Barrett’s Esophagus on Monday – Sept 28th, 2009. I do not have the result of the biopsy yet, but I’m trying not to get anxious because it really won’t do me any good to go there. I have however; done a lot of research since my diagnosis, as I’m sure everyone does when faced with a medical condition. As I think back through the years I realize that I have had severe heartburn since I have been in my 20’s… I just considered it a part of life, ate a few Tum’s and went on with my day. I never imagined that indigestion could lead to this.

I had my gallbladder out last February due to gallstones and my heartburn actually went away for a bit, I thought maybe that was the issue and I felt so good! Unfortunately it came back full force within a few months and when the Tums’s by the handful weren’t doing the trick anymore and I knew something was up. I also had a very annoying tickle in my throat that would not go away, so my doctor first sent me to a Ear-Nose-Throat specialist who took a look at my throat saw the irritation but didn’t find anything else, he is the one who recommended I have an upper GI scope so they could look further down. Truthfully, I pushed it off for several months because I was so busy with work and I was a little scared (mostly scared and used work as an excuse). When it got to the point where the burning behind my chest bone was so bad and I was putting Tum’s in a candy dish and offering them to guests, time was up. I went to the doctor, bit the bullet and went in for the scope.

I think the gastroenterologist that did my scope probably thought I was an idiot because I just looked around the room looking for the person he was telling this information to, it certainly couldn’t be me. – Fact of the matter is I was simply in shock… I was in total shock actually.

“I have what? I don’t have barrettes’ in my hair, silly! It’s a precursor to what? What exactly is sliding besides the obvious visuals on my person? You took a biopsy…Yuck, what’s up with that? I can’t eat or drink what, great, really great! Oh, geez what’s on my shoe…looks like gum… I’m sorry, you were saying? Why are you still here, why are you still talking….NO WAY – NOT ME!”

Overall, the scariest part is wondering if I’m strong enough to change my lifestyle choices. I see a future of water and vegetables, constant meds and a lot of prayer that I’m not a statistic. Geeezzz this is a lot to take in, I keep trying to tell myself – this is not a curse, but a chance. Think positive!

It is very interesting to read the comments since I left my first post on July 31. In dealing with Barrett’s E, I have raised my bed – at first too high and I was sliding down at night… I have given up my morning coffee and am making fruit smoothies instead. I have given up alcohol except for a sip now and then. I haven’t had jalapenos since July or much spicy food. I can’t give up chocolate but am trying to be careful of the time that I do have it. I was given about 8 different drugs to try. Since I will probably have to be on something for the rest of my life – I have decided on Prilosec for just that reason – it is relatively inexpensive and can be bought generic, over the counter.
The list of foods to avoid is ridiculous and I have decided to just be careful. Of course, I feel guilty much of the time.
My doctor feels that moderation is the most important thing and – staying on the acid inhibitor. I will have another scope in December, will see. In the meanwhile, my aunt is extremely ill with esophageal cancer and it is all very scary. Even my ob-gyn mentioned all of the barrett’s she sees in her office now. Why???

I am 34 and I was diagnosed with Barretts on October 1, 2009. Otherwise I am pretty healthy. My year was pretty eventful, I had a c-section last year and as i was losing the baby weight I felt a lump above my belly button and it turned out to be a epigastric hernia. It would make me sick to my stomach if it was touched. I had surgery to repair it in May and then i felt great! then all of a sudden somewhere around the 4th of July and since then I felt like I ate a chip but didnt chew or swallow it properly and it scraped on the way down my throat or that i had a kind of sore thoat. I had pain in my neck that was not a typical sore throat. I also had pain in my chest bone. I was put on Omeprazole and it didnt seem to help much, then i went on Ranitidine and then after my endoscopy on the 1st of Oct. I was put on Protonix. It helped for a bit and it seems like you need to be on it for a while but the symptoms of pain came back, so then back on Ranitidine I went. Its been a week now and I was told to take Protonix in the a.m. and Ranitidine at night. I feel like an 85 year old woman. I am 34 and I am sick of feeling sore and sick of complaining. I bought a $170 pillow to keep me elevated at night which by the way is no better than what I was doing before. I actually still put pillows on top of the therapy pillow to make me higher!! I stopped eating chocolate, ice cream, OJ, cranberry juice, pizza, spaghetti sauce and I stopped eating 3 hours before bed. I want a good book with answers! Why am i still feeling crappy when i am doing what i am supposed to? My biopsy came back negative THANK GOD!! and i will get another endoscopy in a year or 2. i am scared to death about getting cancer. I need to lose 30lbs. but am constantly picking at foods throughout the day to soothe my throat. I f i could dangle a popscicle down my throat with throwing up i would to help the irritation! How did I get this?? I never ate spicy foods I NEVER had heartburn accept when i was pregnant 6 years ago. I didnt have any at all this last time. So where did this come from?? Will my kids get it?? I wonder if it was a screw up from my hernia surgery?
I just want more answers than I am getting at the doctors. Should I be symptom free if on the right meds? and should I be able to eat a few of the “avoid” foods without a problem? Thank God I dont smoke or drink coffee! All I know is tht the 3 people I have talked to that have it are not being as strict as I am and they feel fine eating and living normally.
In the end I am fighting this with all I have and just look at it as a kick the ass to change my lifestyle. Anyway sorry to ramble on but its nice to know I am not alone.

Hi I have Barrett’s Esophagus also my husband died in 2007 and in April of 2008 I had to go to the emergency room for bad stomach pains they did a endoscopy on me and they told me I had Barrett’s esophagus told me I had to take priolosec for the rest of my life. How depressing now lately I have had most of my meds get stuck in my throat and in the morning when I get up I always have a sore throat is this any way to life? I am also on antidepressants for fibro boy what next. Life sucks most of the time.

I am at the age 40 now.3 years before when I had the problem of stomach pain & acidity,I went to see a doctor.He did endoscopy and had found that I was with Grade -III hiatus hernia of size bigger than 5cm.Also I had peptic ulcer from H-pylori bacteria.He gave me ‘tripple therapy’ for ulcer and asked me to control diet.Even after that I experiencd heartburn,chest pain ,coughing etc. .I was suffering from barrett’s esophagus.Later from internet I realized the adverse effects from backflow of acid to mouth.When I take medicine-ezomoprosole,it reduces.Again it comes.Later I decided to control this without medicine-Do not allow the acid to flow back to esophagus.For that I am doing the following:-
1. Very important-Finish dinner 3 hrs before you go to bed.Major portion of the acids produced would be utilised for digestion before go to bed.
2. Rise your head by 15cms while sleeping to control flow of acid to mouth.

3.Eat more alkaline foods to neutralise the acid produced in stomach.

4.Reduce weight and there by obesity.

I have Barrett’s Esophagus. Diagnosed from biopsies taken as part of an endoscopy. My esphosgue looked find, however, Barrett’s was found to be present at the microscopic level. Did research, only 1 to 5% of persons with Barrett’s advance to cancer and there are clinical trials at NIH looking at new treatments–so we all have some health problems, and I can live with this one. Will get endoscopies as requred.

Am now having problems with GERD–due to being under a lot of stress. My Dr is talking about surgery due to my hyatial hernia.

Am on prescription strength Previcid twice a day–
however, several people said it did not work for them. Can you tell me your experience?

I am a 53 year old female that was diagnosed with Barrett’s Esophagus three years ago.

Several months prior to this diagnosis, I began belching after eating and also had nausea after every meal. I saw my primary care doctor (PCP) who ordered lab work and a sonogram. The lab results showed that I had elevated liver enzymes, and the sonogram showed that I had gallstones. I went to my gastroenterologist, who said I have Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The doctor said losing weight would also decrease the fat around my liver. I was about 40 pds overweight.

Although I had no stomach pains, removing my gallbladder was suppose to help with the nausea and belching and that it could have been the reason for my elevated liver enzymes. Unfortunately, the surgery did not help with my nausea. I returned to my gastro doctor who preformed an endoscopy, which came back as me having Barretts. I was in shock, since I never had any symptoms of acid reflux, other than the burping/belching which could have been caused by the gallbladder. I was put on 40 mg. of Nexium once a day and will most likely be taking this for the rest of my life. Last December I had a total knee replacement and in June of this year, I was diagnosed with Diabetes. I have made many lifestyle changes during these three years which include no more carbonated beverages, caffeine, and chocolate. More importantly I eat smaller meals. I count carbs and I’m steadily losing weight. I’m also out walking every day. My A1C went from 6.7 to 5.1 and I hope that my lifestyle change will reflect positive results when I see my gastro doctor next month.

I started getting severe stomach pain in Aug 2009.
Felt like I was being jabbed over and over from lower belly button area right up into my liver & galbladder area. (no heartburn/no acid in my throat/no burning/ nothing except these gut wrenching pains and nausea. Could not eat/could not fill up my stomach without going into a severe attack lasting hours.
my dr thought i had galstones. he did 3 very expsinve test. told me to come back in 30 days.
(one test was a ct scan…told him there was no way i could drink 2 huge cups of that orange stuff. told him that i would die. i had to drink it anyway and right after the ct scan i went into 1 21 hour attack…no sleep (my doctor told me to ask the doctor who gave me the ct scan why i got so sick !!!!! true story)
I took myself to another dr…took another test & biopsies came back positive for “Barrett’s Syndrome.
I do not have heartburn/no soar throat/no acid reflux…nothing but nausea/stomach pain/sometimes attacks/lost 17 1/2 lbls. cannot eat anything except some meat/plain potatoe/some green veg without anything on them. Does anybody expernce this too???? none of the meds make me feel better. following the diet the dr gave me, but still nauseous most of the time.