pregnant with gerds barretts need some advice

[DEB]

I had only suffered from heartburn since june of
2002, my doctor prescribed ranitadine, it seemed to do the trick. the only problem was i had a
hoarse voice and sore throat which dragged on. my doctor recommended i see a GI specialist, six months later she prescribed Omeprazole 20mg and continue ranitidine 150mg at night, this was to give my Esophagus time to heal, the sore throat had no improvement so i had a endoscopy this was on march 7 i had just found out i was pregnant two days before, so i decided not to be sedated. I called for my results and the receptionist told me i had Barretts with no dysplasia. I have an appointment on the 24 of april so i shall find out more. I thought you developed Barretts over many many years so as you can imagine i was a bit shocked. I have a four year old son and have longed for another but the timing couldn't be any worse.My throat is very tender i hope it improves i have been on the PPI for fourty days now. I am 37 and from England living in Toronto. Hope to hear from anyone with a similar situation or has any advice. First time on this site and i love it!

Deb

[daw]

Deb wrote "....I thought you developed Barretts over many many years so as you can imagine i was a bit shocked."

You most likely had silent reflux for many years. This is what happened to me. I only had mild heartburn for 9 months and was found to have beginning Barrett's and then started getting LPR symptoms. Medications have helped me greatly. The fact that you are now pregnant may be a problem with the medications. Check the forum archives..there were a few discussions about pregnancy and GERD meds. Please discuss your meds with your doctor. Sometimes a doctor will prescribe H2 Blockers and/or Carafate during pregancy.

Have you been to this site?

http://www.motherisk.org/drugs/gastrointestinal.php3

[DEB]

daw

Thankyou for the Motherisk site, i found it to be of great help. I decided not to take the PPI (losec) and keep with the ranitidine, the doctor thought this should be okay. I have since noticed in the last couple of days that my sore throat is no longer, seems strange since i am no longer on the PPI that i thought was helping the sore throat. Has any one had a similiar experience?
For now, i actually feel much better.

Deb

[daw]

I just happened to read the pharmacy info that came with my last Nexium prescription. It states: "Nexium, Prevacid, Protonix and Aciphex are in the FDA pregnancy category B. This means that they are not expected to be harmful to an unborn Baby. Prilosec is in the FDA pregancy catagory C. This means that it is not known whether it will be harmful to an unborn baby. Do not take a PPI without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant or could become pregnant during treatment. It is not known whether PPIs pass into breast milk. Do not take a PPI without first talking to your doctor if you are breast feeding a baby."

I think the words "NOT EXPECTED to be harmful" and "it is NOT KNOWN" bother me.

[Ellie]

I have had an awful sore throat /heartburn feeling for 3 months now. It feels like I screamed to much, rather than heartburn.
It is hard for me to tell how low the pain is.
I go from ppis, to pepsid.
what made yours go away?
did it feel red and raw?

ellie