Why You Shouldn't Self-Treat Indigestion

If you have been taking over-the-counter (OTC) medications for acid indigestion and heartburn relief, you may want to pay special attention and read on: there may be a time-bomb ticking away in your digestive tract.

When I saw my family physician for a routine, annual visit, I happened to ask him about my frequent bouts of indigestion. I jokingly said that my wife has been prodding me to do this. He asked me the usual questions, such as how many times a week do you experience heartburn, what do you take when you have an episode, are there any particular foods or beverages that seem to trigger it, and do you ever have acid regurgitate into your esophagus at night while sleeping? I answered yes to all of them. I routinely ingested Tums, Maalox, Zantac, and even tried Prilosec when it went OTC. When I had break-through acid indigestion with that, I knew it was time to get it checked out.

But I couldn't pinpoint any specific foods that cause my heartburn. In fact, as I mentioned to the doctor, there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the episodes. Some things seemed to bother me at times, and not at other times. He then suggested I see a stomach guy (Gastroenterologist) who would most likely "go down and take a look at the upper digestive system". In medical terminology, it's called an endoscopy.

The thought of having a tube shoved down my throat wasn't too appealing, and I almost started whining away, offering excuses, until my doctor reassured me that I would be "knocked out". I relented and had an appointment scheduled to see the stomach guy. He examined me and asked a bunch of the same questions that my primary care doc asked me. I was then set up for the endoscopy exam at my local hospital.

Why am I relating all of this you ask? Because if you have had similar problems with acid indigestion on a frequent basis, like three or more times a week, your self-treatment is only treating the symptoms and not the cause. Read on.

The endoscopy involves fasting from food and beverages for 12 hours before the procedure. Only a small amount of water can be taken in the morning if you have pills to take. An IV is started and you are sitting comfortably on a hospital gurney, talking to the RN. Shortly before the procedure start time, she injects some sedatives into the IV. I had Demerol and Versed for mine. You are then positioned on your side, while the effects of the sedatives kick in. She told me to close my eyes, as it would help if the lightheaded feeling was too much. I closed them and the next thing I knew was being asked how I felt. The procedure only takes about 20 minutes or so, and I didn't remember anything except closing my eyes and being totally relaxed.

My family doctor reviewed the results with me today by and he told me I had Barrett's Esophagus. That's a term that describes erosion of the lining in the esophagus from stomach acids regurgitating (acid reflux) back up through the valve that connects the esophagus to the stomach. It destroys the surface cells and replaces them with pre-cancerous ones.

Barrett's is characterized as a pre-malignant condition, meaning there's a high correlation between this and cancer of the esophagus developing later on. Scary stuff. If I hadn't asked about my little indigestion problem, I would not have had this discovered.

Here are some even scarier statistics (source - http://www.barrx.com/Healthcare_Professionals/index.cfm/11):

- Patients with Barrett's esophagus have an increased risk of developing esophageal adenocarcinoma (cancer), 30 to 125 times higher than patients without this condition.

- Every year, approximately 14,550 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with esophageal cancer

- The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has risen approximately six-fold in the U.S. It is rising faster than breast cancer, prostate cancer, or melanoma.

- Even with aggressive therapy, the 5-year survival rate from adenocarcinoma is only about 16%.

There's an even scarier statistic: a study conducted by the VA and Stanford University found that 25% of the patients over 50 years of age were found to have Barrett's Esophagus, even though they had no acid reflux symptoms.

There are a lot of medications you can take to relieve the symptoms, including alternative medicine, homeopathic "cures", OTC, etc. But, if you have recurring acid indigestion and/or reflux, especially if you are over 50 years age, you really should discuss it with your physician. Treating the heartburn yourself will NOT solve the cause of it. Read the material in the links I've provided. Your life may depend on it.