Question:

I have both Crohn’s and mild GERD.  It gives me a nagging cough, and if I overeat before bedtime, I wake up with vomit rising in my throat. (Yuck!!)  I’ve been taking Prilosec, which helps me a lot.  Lately, though, the cough is back.  I hope that I’m not having your experience of the Prilosec losing effectiveness. Good luck with the endoscopy — I hope it gives useful directions for effective treatment. — Chris — For Paris travel tips, see http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5852/

Response:

Dan, I was having problems eating for a long time.  I  was put on Prevacid and I think it is an amazing drug.  I have UC and feel that the two are related.  I hated food because it didn’t matter what I ate it either burned me up top or burned me down below.  I had an endoscope just two weeks ago and they did find inflammation.  If I take Prevacid I can eat without any problems, if I don’t, I want to throw up all my food. Good Luck with your tests.   Sue in Utah

Response:

I’ve been told it can definitely be related and that the upper GI symptoms are caused by worsening of the lower GI symptoms.  I *think* the mechanism is irritation or overstimulation of the vagus nerve, which apparently runs along the GI tract, but I could be getting the details wrong, I’m much better at retaining what I’ve read than what I’ve heard. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi all: I’ve read through this newsgroup for awhile but this is my first post. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s when I was 12 (I am now 24). I had a bowel resection at that time and am not medicated for the Crohn’s specifically. Since the bowel resection I’ve had minor flare-ups (fissures, etc…) and two major problems, one which was a fistula that required surgery and the other a loss of blood that’s cause was never discovered (I was in Japan at the time). I’m told it’s not necessarily related, but I also have very bad acid reflux. I took Prilosec for a little over a year and when it stopped working effectively switched to Prevacid, which until very recently was working great. I increased the dosage to two a day (with my doctor’s approval) and it still hasn’t been helping. My doctor has scheduled an upper endoscopy to take a look. I’m wondering if anyone else has this problem and Crohn’s and if it could possibly related, or if it’s just one more thing that my digestive system doesn’t handle correctly. Thanks! –Dan — …. Dan Miller http://pobox.com/~danm

Response:

Thanks for the info. One of my biggest frustrations with Crohn’s and reflux is that tests almost never turn up anything, leaving me to wonder if the doc thinks I am exaggerating the symptoms. I’m sure he doesn’t, as he’s a great guy who is always understanding, but you gotta wonder if these docs start to question their patients complaints after awhile. I haven’t had an upper endoscopy in almost 8 years, so I’m probably due anyway. I hope he finds nothing also, for the most part, but a small part of me hopes there is some explanation for the constant problems. Glad you were able to take care of it so quickly! –Dan — …. Dan Miller http://pobox.com/~danm – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Dan, I hope that your doc finds nothing. I was having annoying reflux late last year.  A upper encoscopy showed nothing. I felt that my entire digestive system was partially blocked, causing stomach acid to back up, but my doctor was not convinced.  After I was put on a short course of prednisone, the symptoms subsided.  By the way, I was on 20 mg/day of pred for two weeks, and I was able to taper completely off in a couple of months or so.  I’m still taking prevacid and it is controlling any residual reflux. I am able to blame most of my medical problems on the Crohn’s or the meds used to treat it. — CD Hi all: I’ve read through this newsgroup for awhile but this is my first post. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s when I was 12 (I am now 24). I had a bowel resection at that time and am not medicated for the Crohn’s specifically. Since the bowel resection I’ve had minor flare-ups (fissures, etc…) and two major problems, one which was a fistula that required surgery and the other a loss of blood that’s cause was never discovered (I was in Japan at the time). I’m told it’s not necessarily related, but I also have very bad acid reflux. I took Prilosec for a little over a year and when it stopped working effectively switched to Prevacid, which until very recently was working great. I increased the dosage to two a day (with my doctor’s approval) and it still hasn’t been helping. My doctor has scheduled an upper endoscopy to take a look. I’m wondering if anyone else has this problem and Crohn’s and if it could possibly related, or if it’s just one more thing that my digestive system doesn’t handle correctly. Thanks! –Dan — …. Dan Miller http://pobox.com/~danm

Response:

Dan, I hope that your doc finds nothing. I was having annoying reflux late last year.  A upper encoscopy showed nothing. I felt that my entire digestive system was partially blocked, causing stomach acid to back up, but my doctor was not convinced.  After I was put on a short course of prednisone, the symptoms subsided.  By the way, I was on 20 mg/day of pred for two weeks, and I was able to taper completely off in a couple of months or so.  I’m still taking prevacid and it is controlling any residual reflux. I am able to blame most of my medical problems on the Crohn’s or the meds used to treat it. — CD – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi all: I’ve read through this newsgroup for awhile but this is my first post. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s when I was 12 (I am now 24). I had a bowel resection at that time and am not medicated for the Crohn’s specifically. Since the bowel resection I’ve had minor flare-ups (fissures, etc…) and two major problems, one which was a fistula that required surgery and the other a loss of blood that’s cause was never discovered (I was in Japan at the time). I’m told it’s not necessarily related, but I also have very bad acid reflux. I took Prilosec for a little over a year and when it stopped working effectively switched to Prevacid, which until very recently was working great. I increased the dosage to two a day (with my doctor’s approval) and it still hasn’t been helping. My doctor has scheduled an upper endoscopy to take a look. I’m wondering if anyone else has this problem and Crohn’s and if it could possibly related, or if it’s just one more thing that my digestive system doesn’t handle correctly. Thanks! –Dan — …. Dan Miller http://pobox.com/~danm

Response:

Hi all: I’ve read through this newsgroup for awhile but this is my first post. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s when I was 12 (I am now 24). I had a bowel resection at that time and am not medicated for the Crohn’s specifically. Since the bowel resection I’ve had minor flare-ups (fissures, etc…) and two major problems, one which was a fistula that required surgery and the other a loss of blood that’s cause was never discovered (I was in Japan at the time). I’m told it’s not necessarily related, but I also have very bad acid reflux. I took Prilosec for a little over a year and when it stopped working effectively switched to Prevacid, which until very recently was working great. I increased the dosage to two a day (with my doctor’s approval) and it still hasn’t been helping. My doctor has scheduled an upper endoscopy to take a look. I’m wondering if anyone else has this problem and Crohn’s and if it could possibly related, or if it’s just one more thing that my digestive system doesn’t handle correctly. Thanks! –Dan — …. Dan Miller http://pobox.com/~danm

Response:

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