Identifying and treating bile reflux

By craig w Monday, February 11, 2008

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I have had bouts of reflux over the years, and over the last three months a new one. I have been taking a PPI over the last week and my symptoms have gotten worse. This also happened previously when trying PPIs. From previous posts, I'm guessing I have bile reflux. When symptoms get worse upon taking PPIs, is it clear that bile reflux is the culprit? Is there a way to determine if you have bile reflux? If so, is there a way to determine the cause?

I have had several upper endoscopies over the last 15 years, the most recent in aug. 2005. The last one showed that I had cells that were consistent with healed reflux, but no dysplasia or Barretts.

I have heard that their are dangerous meds that can possibly help with bile reflux. But are their alternative treatments?

Thanks,

-Craig W

Comments (4) | Add comment

Vicki M

2/13/08 5:05pm

Hi Craig W,

No one knows better than your doctor what to do to help you manage your care, but there is some information here that might help you when you see your doctor and help you with the questions you need to ask.

Dr. Todd Eisner is one of the resident experts here. In this posting, Dr Eisner addresses the subject of PPI's and how sometimes they fail to produce the desired result because of nonacid reflux like bile reflux. You can read his posting here.

From what I have read, bile reflux occurs mostly when someone has had a their gallbladder removed, since they move the bile duct to the stomach when they remove the gallbladder. There are postings about bile reflux (you can read one of them here, there are 134 comments with information about gall bladder removal.) Here is a posted experience from a person who had surgery for the GERD and issues afterwards that she thought might have been bile reflux.

I hope this information helps. Stay in touch and let us know how you are doing!

Vicki M

craig w

2/15/08 11:15pm

Thanks for the references Vicki. I noticed that the reply I made to Joy was actually posted. So I won't repeat what I said in that reply here.

But thanks again! I'm going rephrase my original question and post it to see if there's anyone out there who has any feedback.

Craig

2/14/08 1:29pm

Craig,

Dr. Eisner just put up a new SharePost about bile reflux.

Read it here:

Nexium extinguished my heartburn, but do I still have acid reflux?

It should answer your questions about effective treatment. You also asked about alternative treatment. Was there anything you had in mind or wanted to hear more about?

Joy B.

craig w

2/15/08 11:09pm

Thanks for your message Joy. I'll check it out. Something I'm really trying to get to the bottom to is: If PPIs make your throat symptoms worse, what are the most likely posibilities?

I know one is bile reflux. I'm wondering if there are others; for instance the PPIs can cause dry mouth, so possibly they can dry your saliva to a point where it can't clear acid as effectively. Or perhaps, the drug causes poorer motility in people who have a motility problem, so again acid doesn't clear as much. If you have ideas or references, I'd like to hear them. I'll probably make a second post that asks what I have here.

Thanks,

-Craig

Identifying and treating bile reflux

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