Health Expert Stephanie shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/938507/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/938507/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/938507/index http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/147367/difference Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:54:00 -0500 Stephanie  I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day after and I suddenly realized how much better my stomach is feeling since I went back on Prevacid. Last Thanksgiving I was trying to maintain myself on Zantac and it wasn’t going well. I ate very few things at the Thanksgiving meal and really stuck to the absolute safest reflux wise. Soon after that, I switched to Pepcid and things got better for a while. Recently my symptoms... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/147367/difference http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/146559/pediatrician Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:45:00 -0500 Stephanie When my daughter was little, she was a miserable baby most of the time. She had pretty significant reflux and could literally soak me to my underwear when she spit up. Despite all this she was gaining weight, growing taller and had no respiratory issues.   She cried most of the time, only slept when upright and needed to be held almost constantly. But, when I would go to the pediatrician’s office she tended to be on her best behavior.... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/146559/pediatrician http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/146028/prescription Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:26:00 -0400 Stephanie Recently, I went to see my primary care doctor about my reflux because despite my treatment with over the counter H2 blockers, I was experiencing severe abdominal pain. He suspected an ulcer and referred me to a Gastroenterologist (GI). He then gave me 10 days worth of Dexilant (a dual release Proton Pump Inhibitor) as a free sample.   Freebies – we all love them. It’s nice to have a sample of a medication before having to pay... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/146028/prescription http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/145368/specialist Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:25:00 -0400 Stephanie   In the first part of this series, I documented my experience with my primary care doctor who suspected my new abdominal pain was an ulcer. He referred to a Gastroenterologist, commonly referred to as a “GI doctor.”   The GI doctor spent about half an hour with me discussing my overall symptoms. I told him how my medication had been changed over the past four years including that while I felt the best on Prevacid, I had... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/145368/specialist http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/145222/eosinophilic Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:31:00 -0400 Stephanie   When looking into reflux symptoms one of the relatively new things for doctors to consider is eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). While considered rare, it’s becoming more commonly diagnosed. In fact, the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders states that the current belief is that it is found in more than 1 in 2000 people and diagnosis has increased dramatically over the past 10 years.   Eosinophils are white blood cells.... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/145222/eosinophilic http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/144653/diagnosis-1 Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:48:00 -0400 Stephanie   This will be a multi-part sharepost as it will journal my process of getting a diagnosis. This first part is after my trip to primary care. You may have read my earlier post about how I didn’t want to go to the doctor but alas my stomach pain was new and different and not getting better with my conservative measures such as stopping all aggravating foods, eating smaller meals, increasing my meds to a level I had been told was safe,... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/144653/diagnosis-1 http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/144350/presenting Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:21:00 -0400 Stephanie I hate going to the doctor. I think most of us do. Some fear getting a bad diagnosis. Some have white coat anxiety. Some don’t want to get on the scale. For me, I fear being told there’s nothing wrong with me or to stop reading the internet.   Now, I’m not saying every doctor out there is going to tell you that. But, there are so many that do. You come in “knowing” what’s wrong with you. You tell the... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/144350/presenting http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/143094/medicating Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:23:00 -0400 Stephanie Maybe it’s my age, but I’ve been hearing more and more about people that I know who are going in to be checked for problems with their hearts. Recently, my husband came home with a story of three co-workers. The first two went in earlier this spring because of concerns of chest pains. The doctors ran a battery of tests and everything came back fine. Reflux was suspected as the cause of the pain.   The third though has a... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/143094/medicating http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/141436/motherhood Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:55:00 -0400 Stephanie Before my kids were born I worked as a pediatric physical therapist. I knew of reflux generally but didn’t know a lot of specifics and didn’t "look" for it despite a strong family history and despite my own lingering issues that hadn’t yet been diagnosed as reflux.  I still work as a therapist part-time but I am now known as the "reflux queen." I know how to spot ‘em. Many of the kids we work with have feeding... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/141436/motherhood http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/138697/correctly Wed, 25 May 2011 16:23:00 -0400 Stephanie We often get questions and comments such as “My doctor told me to take this medication. I took it for two weeks and it’s not working. What should I do?” The answer is always “Go back to see your doctor.”   Most people don’t like to go back to their doctors and tell them the treatment isn’t working. The problem though is that this is based on the idea that doctors are able to evaluate and diagnose a... http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/c/938507/138697/correctly