POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: manchesteruk on July 30, 2006, 12:10:40 pm
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Hi all,
Not sure if this belongs in the side effects forum or not because i'm not on meds but i'll put it in here for now. In the last 6 months or so i've been experiencing heartburn quite frequently. I'm not sure if this is HIV related or not there are a few aspects which all coincide with it appearing. I've put on weight since finding out mostly immediately after diagnosis (comfort eating!) and the other one being a considerable increase in the amount of water i've been drinking every day, I drank hardly any before. I've improved my diet considerably in the last couple of months and have been hitting the gym quite a lot so the weight is coming off slowly but not much improvement in the heartburn. Has anyone noticed an problem with heartburn since diagnosis without HIV medication being in the equation at the time? I've e-mailed my doctor about this but I thought i'd ask on here as well.
Chris
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Hummmm....I had a slight problem with heart burn for a while and it got worse over a couple years. What you eat and liquids do have a lot to do with it. When I started drinking more water, it did get worse than ever; I am assuming stomach acids float like oil and a full stomach especially after eating and then all that water?. Recently it has gotten so bad my doc has put me on Nexium, since the very first capsule, I have had no heartburn or indigestion what so ever. It actually got so bad it was coming up into my throat and making me sick at night; don't think it had anything do do with my meds. But damn it's nice not to experience it any longer for the last couple of months. The doc said Prilocec(sp) OTC works really well but very pricey. My medicare and medicaid pay for the Nexium.
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Heartburn (gastric reflux) can be treated in two ways:
1. The use of an antacid; 1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in 250 mls of water will give immediate relief.
2. The use of a proton pump inhibitor or a H2 antagonist such as Zantac will also give similar but longer lasting relief.
Nevertheless such a condition should be reviewed by your doctor to determine a potential cause and the best mode of treatment.
Nothing I've said here replaces the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care worker.
MtD
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you prob suffer from something i have for years, acid reflux. very common dissease, not hiv related.
caused by your food habbits (spicy), drinking, smoking or it can be caused by a defective stomachevalve so to speak
i take omeprazolium 10 mg day and all is well
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For a while I was living on Roliads and Tums, but it still got worse, that's when my doc decided it was more serious, possibly acid reflux. Absolutely. drinking(alcohol) and greasey foods don't help. I have a leaky heart valve, why not a stomach valve, lol...get old any everything starts falling apart. ;D or just gets wore out.
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Thanks for the replies everyone i'll speak to my normal doctor about this I think i'm satisfied enough that it's not HIV related for now. In recent weeks i've cut out spicy foods and i've virtually quit smoking now and i've been off the alcohol for weeks hoping it would improve the heartburn but it hasnt really. Yeah Matty i'm taking Zantac at the moment and it works well it's just worrying that i'm having to take it all the time when it recommends against that in the instructions.
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Zantac is prescribed far too freely in Commonwealth nations. It's compounded by the fact that it's also available over the counter. Chronic reflux needs to be looked into. There are issues involving the stomach and gullet which need to be examined.
Basically people if your tummy is upset for more than a week or two you really need to talk to a doctor.
MtD
(Who really knows)
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Hi there
I'm glad to hear you are getting a little relief from the Zantac
If you are getting it from the local Chemist ask the Pharmacist for an antacid that relieves the heartburn by forming a layer on top of the stomach contents...not all antacids do this, and I'm not sure if Zantac is one of them, but it should tell you on the box.
If you find that you have to take these medicines on a regular basis with little or no results, then it's best to visit your doctor again and then he can decide if tests are needed to find the cause of the problem, he may be able to prescribe something a little strong to stop the acid in the stomach, giving the inflamation time to heal
I suffered from it quite a bit a few years ago..I don't get it very often at all now, but when I do I find Rennie's a good way of settling it....but not really for you at this stage, not until your Doc can sort things out first.
Take care
Hugs
Jan :-*
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Hello Chris, it is Eldon. I've never experienced any heartburn because of HIV. I did in the past have a slight complication due to eating spicy foods. Since then I've cut that out and my heart has been fine.
You do want to go to your doctor and have him check it out.
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hey Chris,
Hope it is only gastric reflux and it subsides shortly.
Do keep an eye on it though and where and when the pain arises. It is likely to be just gastric reflux but it may be something like oesophagael thrush which is reasonably common in us HIV'ers and easily fixed too.
Stephen
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Hi there
If you find that you have to take these medicines on a regular basis with little or no results, then it's best to visit your doctor again and then he can decide if tests are needed to find the cause of the problem, he may be able to prescribe something a little strong to stop the acid in the stomach, giving the inflamation time to heal
Take care
Hugs
Jan :-*
Hello,
Just making sure you read what Jan stated above. Make sure to bring this to your doctors attention also. Another thing you may want to do, is keep a journal on what you eat, on a daily basis, what your snacks are, and what your liquids are. Keep track of all you eat, the time you eat, and try to log down when the heartburn occurs, and how long it last. It may be a little awkward to do this, but it may help you get a little better understanding, of what could possibly be causing the problem !! I remeber back in July of 2003 having what I thought was severe heartburn, and it ended up bein esophogeal thrush. It was very painful. I am not saying, that that is what is going right now. One of the questions my doctor ask on each vist, is if I have any issues with heartburn, or heartburn type feeling.
Take Care----Ray
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I think these two posts are somehow related:
Emraldize: Quote:
New Article RE: HIV "Hiding in the Gut"
« on: Today at 02:13:25 AM »
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http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1701226.htm
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Hello,
if you keep on having this complaints you could maybe get checked for heliobacter pylorum, which is a bacterial infection that keeps on causing these trouble if you don't treat it. It is more common in people with HIV that in the normal population.
Coen
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Thanks everyone i'm certainly going to get this checked out i'm just waiting on the advice of my HIV Dr first he's not replied to my e-mail yet. I've got an ulcer in my mouth and the glands are up in my neck a bit today probably completely unrelated but best get myself down to the doctors anyway to make sure.
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hey Chris,
How's it going? Feeling any better? any word back from the doctor yet?
Steve
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Hi Steve,
Thanks for checking how I was! Feeling better now thanks I was never bad just a little bit feverish but i'm pretty much ok now. Got a reply from the doctor saying he didnt think my problems were HIV related so i'm thinking now because of the frequency I seem to be getting heartburn it's probably just gastric reflux so i'll sort out something with my normal doctor.
How are you anyway? hows things down under my sister just went to Australia a couple of months ago to live there for a while. She's in brisbane at the moment but she was just camping on an island a couple of weeks ago the lucky bitch! i can't remember the name though i'll get it off her later.
Chris