Gastro Endoscopy Procedure

It was Wednesday morning on July 28 when I got my endoscopy procedure done. My husband had to take me there and drive me back home. 

Prior to the test, they sent me a video on what the procedure will look like. There were other instructions on how to prepare for the procedure the night before. 

It was highly important that you don’t have anything to eat prior to 11pm.

I arrived around 10am and they had me lie down and administer oxygen because of my asthma, but I believe everyone gets some form of oxygen. 

They make you wait in another room to get you prepared with answering insurance questions, discussing the procedure and finally inserting an IV into your arm. 

When it is finally time, they take you to another room to perform the procedure. They lie you down on your left side and stick a mouth guard with a hole where the actual tube will go down your throat. 

I know that sounds pretty scary, but thankfully it was over within 15 minutes, which I don’t remember AT ALL. 

The last thing they did at this point was a male nurse was caressing my head trying to calm me down while another female nurse was sticking the sedative in the same spot as my IV. 

I felt a very sharp burning sensation in that spot because of the fluid going in so fast, but I must’ve passed out at that moment. And then I remember waking back up in the first room. 

So thankfully it was that fast and easy. At this medical facility – Capital Digestive Care, they immediately take photos of different parts of your stomach; the lower and upper parts and explain what they found. 

You will likely not remember too much since you will still be sedated, but they briefly go over your diagnosis and provide you with a printed report.

I thought that was very helpful in trying to remember everything that was said or if you want to do your own research to look up all the medical jargon.

Of course it’s just a preliminary exam of their findings before they give you the whole scope of what they found in the biopsies within the next two weeks.

So I was still waking up from the procedure and they informed me I would feel a little “drunk” which I did. To tell you the truth, I was feeling pretty nice. 

They told me I had a ‘small hernia’ and they showed me some of the pictures they took of the upper and lower parts of my stomach and esophagus.

That’s pretty much all I can recall from the doctor, but advised that they’ll call you back within two weeks for a prognosis.

My husband drove me back home and was trying to take it easy. I was clear headed after about 20 minutes.

An Endoscopy procedure is not as scary as it seems and would definitely do it again. 

Some people do experience a little bit of pain in the neck similar to a sore throat afterwards. In my case, I felt a bit of soreness in my neck in the evening and a little bit the next day, but nothing that I couldn’t handle or call the doctor about. 

I think it is important that I got the procedure done as it would rule out anything more serious.  

There really is no other way to test for anything else unless you do the Endoscopy.

Even though it could be costly, it could cost you more on what you could be faced with should it be more serious. My recommendation, get the procedure done if it’s needed.

Treating H. Pylori, Gastritis, GERD with Medication

It was August 4 and I had been awaiting the results. The nurse practitioner called and let me know that I indeed had H.Pylori.

It was sad news, but I knew that my constant issues going on for months was due to ‘something’ and it was that nasty bacteria that had been hindering my health this whole time. 

In addition, she also said I had chronic GERD and gastritis. Gastritis, is when the lining of your stomach gets inflamed due to different circumstances.

Many people taking a lot of anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin or ibuprofen can cause it.

Furthermore, heavy consumption of alcohol or people going through a lot stress can develop it as well. Or in other cases, developing this bad bacteria like H. Pylori can have a direct effect and cause inflammation in the stomach.

Which was why my stomach was pretty inflamed because of H. Pylori, so there was a lot to recover from and understand about this condition.

When I spoke to the practitioner, she didn’t really go into a whole lot about my gastritis issue and was pretty new to me. I felt that this condition would be easily treated with medication and the symptoms would go away.

There were still a lot of unknowns that I wasn’t prepared for, that is for sure.  

She immediately prescribed me a mix of 3 antibiotics to treat the H.Pylori. Ensuring that I was not allergic to any of these medications; Omeprazole, Cynclendryacyl, and Amoxicillin were prescribed to me.

I would have to take 1 pill of the Omeprazole and Cynclendryacyl, 2 times a day for 2 weeks; and 2 pills of Amoxicillin, 2 times a day for two weeks.

I could not wait to start taking them to be quite honest. I had not known much about antibiotics and side effects that it can give you. All I wanted was to get better. 

Also side note, I was also told that if you take too much antibiotics during your life, the success rate of eradicating H.pylori decreases.

This was not the case for me because, I absolutely try to avoid taking any medications if I have to. Antibiotics in my life were very minimal, so I don’t think this applied to me.

While on these medications, I still continued to get symptoms, however. It was still hard for me to eat, but was still eating what my body could take. I was at 130 pounds and had lost about a few more. 

My symptoms was still a little bit of nausea, lack of hunger, and neck tightening, which were the main issues. Many foods still affected me, but was still trying to figure it all out.

My diet was pretty clean and limited. Many foods consisted of salads with spinach, chicken, strawberries, and avocados. I was definitely aware that I had to eat nutritious food since I was barely eating. 

At this time, I wasn’t really eating bland food yet. Many mornings consisted of eggs with spinach and a fruit smoothie (without any citrus which was pretty vital to avoid). I was staying with my mom at the time and she made it a point to give me these foods as she thought this was healthy for me to eat.

Coincidentally, I also felt that since I was still taking PPI’s and h2 blockers some of these foods I was still able to tolerate during that time. 

I opted for smaller portions at meal time. And the latest I would eat was 6:30pm in the evening.

Foods that I stayed away from was a lot of bread, butter, dairy (mainly cheese) and dressings for their high fat content.

With the antibiotics, I felt that my body was still trying to adjust. I waited half hour apart each to take them.  

Slowly once my body started adjusting I took them all at one go. And the physician said it was ok to take them this way, so long as it all goes down.

Some Effects of the Antibiotics

I do have to note, that towards the last week of taking these medications, I felt a sharp pain in my chest one time, that didn’t go away for an entire day. 

It may have been trapped air in my body, but it was very uncomfortable almost the whole day. I let my physician know and she said, if I was getting an allergic reaction like itching, hives, or trouble breathing to discontinue taking them right away.

Thankfully, this did not happen to me.

One other strange occurence while taking the meds one evening was that I felt a tingling sensation in my arms and legs. I was a little concerned about that and I did mention it. 

I was pretty much DONE with the medications. I just couldn’t wait until it was over. 

So when the tingling started, I started taking them 30 minutes apart again, and it helped with these side effects. I had heard from other people that it’s hard to bear the medications because of how harsh it could be on their body.

Some feel a burning sensation in their tummy, which makes it even more unbearable. I think that wasn’t the case for me. 

I took it pretty well for the most part even though I was still having symptoms. I don’t think it was due to the medication though. 

I am more inclined to say it was due to the gastritis and GERD symptoms that I was experiencing.

After the two weeks was up, I finally stopped taking the antibiotics all together. I did however, continue with the omeprazole and pepcid for 2 more weeks because of my symptoms. 

The throat tightening continued for a while like over a month. It caused me to have a hard time talking and significant wheezing became an issue.

When it got worse, it felt like a narrowing sensation in my throat and it became harder to breathe. An inhaler helped me cope with this symptom somewhat. 

I tried to manage my symptoms the best way I could without panicking. I had to learn to adjust to this new condition. 

Psychological Effects

There was definitely a psychological aspect that I was going through because you feel like there’s no end to these symptoms. Dealing with it day after day.

You just don’t know when it will ever end. And you feel that your health is slowly deteriorating to the point of never feeling healthy and well again. There were more bad days than good that’s why negative thoughts can get in the way of your livelihood with this condition.

I don’t know how else to describe it. It does feel like with these symptoms, one of these days might be your last, because that is what it literally felt like to me.

This is something that you have to get over because it will improve. Gastritis is hard to heal and many people have been there that have beat it.

So don’t lose hope, it’ll start getting better so long as you take the right health regimen and be positive. By staying positive you run into less anxiety and stress which cause more havoc on your condition.

So trust me, try to stay positive. Meditation has helped me tremendously to help manage my symptoms and keep me staying positive.