Heartburns anyone?

[Neo]

I've been having some horrible heartburns lately, Im trying to figure out why. ?

After my accident, I didn't get treated for 1.5 months, I was laying down on my back the whole time (like i have a choice my spine was broken). We didn't agree to have the procedure here, we decided to fly to germany, Anyway, when we arrived, I was scheduled for surgery in about 3 days. They took me for the operation, after the anesthesia I woke up to know that they didn't operate on me because my lung was blocked or something and it was dangerous to operate. I had broken 4 ribs and my lung was messed up also. So they treated me for a month and then I started having those horrible heartburns, So I figured it was from lying down this long.

After I came back to Qatar everything was fine. Lately (maybe 6 months) I've been having horrible heartburns, nothing was working, I don't eat before I go to bed, Nothing spicy or greasy, Sometimes I don't eat at all and still get heartburns. It f*cks up my sleep, I always wake up at night.

Im trying to link this with something, Im only on neurontin and daily vitamin supplements.

So lately a "pharmacist" prescribed this medication for me (Proton Pump Inhibitor), Its working like a charm, But Im paranoid, I haven't felt any side-effects from it, I normally don't on any medication, even neurontin.

So do you think that neurontin is doing this, Im really afraid that I have ulcers, I guess I'll try to do a full checkup on myself soon to see whats up. Im just wondering if its something that you've been through, if so what worked for you.

I know most of you think Im f*cked up with all these issues, Im guessing this is SCI, all of this shit comes with the package.

Thanks alot guys, You're a great resource and Im proud to be part of your family.

Max.

[firesmurf]

hey Max.you know,consideringthe injuries you sustained and where,combined with the other factors(the delay in treatment is a biggie)anything IS possible.the fact that the PPI the pharm rxed for you is actually working would lead one to believe that this is not an injury related issue but just heartburn.the reasons??thats hard to say.I don't believe there are any real major side effects from the PPIs.my son has to take these as well as my hubby and both report no problems,and my son has been taking them on a daily basis for over eight years now,ever since his liver disease was first Dxed and the transplant was done.

I would be a bit concerned if i were you about just what they ment by your lung problems.have you ever actually obtained ALL of your medical records since the accident?including the ones from germany that may actually shed some light as to what they ment about your lung.you really DO need to know what that ment and is this still going to be an ongoing issue or was this expected to clear at some point?espescially since you are having what appears to be heartburn.you really need to find out what is causing you to actually have the heartburn in the first place.and a full physical like you mentioned would really be a good way to possibly find that out.just fully explain the details to your doc after you obtain those records to see what is actually said about your injuries and the lung thing.this should have been fully explained to you right after they cancelled you surgery.in detail.I mean if this was serious enough to actually cause the surgery to be cancelled,you really DO need to know the details.

all of this medical info IS your medical history now and you really DO need to have copies of everything pertaining to the injuries down to the initial treatment you recieved in the ER.all of these records would really help you to understand just why certain things may be happening inside your body now.believe me,mine were a real eye opener.but you really DO need to find out the details of your little visit to germany.

as far as the neurontin actually causing this,well if you have been on this med for quite some time without problem,it probably isn't the med but then again,everyone reacts differently to just about anything,so who knows.the only real way to now for sure would be to actually go off the neurontin for a few weeks and see if things clear up but that in itself could cause some problems if it is not tapered right.anti siezure meds need to be taperd onto and off of.never stopped abruptly or they could cause you some pretty nasty problems,including the onset of siezure activity.so you would need to do this most definitely thru your Rxing doc.but this really would tell you for sure whether or not the neurontin is the culprit and if it isn't,move onto other possibilitys.i can tell you that I had very little side efects from the neurontin when I was on it a few years ago,and don't recall anyone really ever mentioning that any of the anti siezures have caused them heartburn.the only real GI problems I had was with cymbalta(an anti depressant and not an anti siezure med) and that was severe nausea not heartburn.

how do you sleep when you go to bed,laying flat or sitting up a bit?sitting up just a bit more so you are not lying real flat may help alot.when we lie down more flat than up,espescially if you have some sort of an acid reflux problem that is causing your heartburn,that acid can creep up the esophagus during the night and really cause some major heartburn for you.If you are not already sleeping slightly propped up a bit,i would really give it a try it can't hurt at this point.

now since the area of your damage appears to be mostly inthe thorasic area,including the front(the lung area)there is always the possibility that the injuries there did not exactly heal right for you and may have caused some sort of nerve damage.but then again,since the PPIs are working who knows.but you DO most definitely get ahold of those medical records,all of them,most importantly the ones from your little stay in germany.

I am finding out on an almost daily basis since my spinal cord injury happened that nothing ever appears to stay the same anymore inside my body.every day it seems like I will aquire some new and improved type of pain or flippin syndrome or other bizarre neuro wierdness.it just kind of comes with the territory ya know?you have to keep in mnd the area that was injured and just what it does and what it actually contains.since the spinal cord actually governs sooo very much of just basic body functions and all of those nerves that run thru and out to various body parts,well when damaged,they are going to do some really freaky crap.at least thats whats going on inside this bizarre body.while some of this crap can luckily be actually treated or at least controlled,there are many other sci issues that you just have NO control over,they are just all part of the overall SCI experience.not something i would reccomend to friends,although my aunt calls me a carnival freak show sometimes and told me i should take my act on the road.lol.that IS what it feels like some days tho,you know?a flippin freakshow.i am sure alot of you know just what I mean by that one.

I do hope you feel beter soon Max.get those records tho and see your doc about the heartburn and possible causes.as usual,keep us all posted,K? take care,Marcia

[David Berg]

Max, I only have a moment to respond but let me just say that no one here, at least anyone with reasonable perspective, is going to think you're "f'd up with all these issues". SCI is a big deal and it causes lots of things you likely never would have realized ahead of time, either directly or indirectly. Feel free to share, ask, rant, or whatever you need. There's no dumb questions. Embarrassing one, you bet, but not dumb ones. ;)

[Neo]

Marcia, Im sorry that I didn't explain more about my lung issue, they told me what it is, since I was little I used to have some kind of phlegm problem, Its not a big problem, Its comes out only when I get a cold. So when I went to the surgery, they said that i had some reaction to the anesthesia and coulden't breath or something like that, So they had to cancel the operation. Or maybe it was something to do with my ruptured lung also, All these factors may have played a part, but they told me exactly what was going on. And this is exactly what they treated me for.

When I got out of the hospital, I was fine, except for UTI's, they were a nightmare. But in every other aspect I was fine. And I also have my medical records.

I actually have been raising the bed alittle bit, Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't, I'll try to raise it some more and see what happens.

I doubt that something didn't heal right, they did ALOT of xrays and mri's and all sort of tests to make sure everything is okay. I did a couple of mri's and xrays here also. I'll be doing the full check up asap, I'll tell them what I feel so they can concentrate on these issues.

I know what you mean about nothing stays the same, It was really hard for me to adjust to that, but there's always hope that this nightmare will end.

Thank you for your help Marcia, I really appreciate it, your'e an angel.

David, Thanks for the kind words and support. :)

AJ

[jadedcowgirl]

Max,
try one sip of pickle juice or distilled apple cider vinager. personally i'll take the pickle juice.