Heartburn is a simple problem but can be a reason to some major issues such as esophageal cancer also known as Barretts Esophagus. Severe and repeated acid reflux incidences indicate that the problem can be grave. Look for details below of esophageal cancer and try to understand if you are suffering from any such symptoms or not. More details can be found on RefluxMD. If yes; don’t panic; consult a doctor immediately.
Look for these symptoms:
If having an acid reflux has turned into your daily routine and has also become painful you must become careful. A few symptoms are:
- Bloating: feeling of fullness all the time. Even though you haven’t had food for a long time you still feel full.
- Chocking: whenever you sit to eat you will feel that something is stick in your throat after having maybe only one or two bites.
- Dysphagia: difficulty in swallowing food. The throat will feel swollen from inside. It is very painful and irritating to eat. The food doesn’t go down easily. The feeling of someone trying to suffocate you comes up.
- Throwing up easily, soon after eating there may be an urge to throw up and all the little food you managed to slip down your sore throat will come out.
- Pinching pain and uncomfortable feeling in the chest area ( mostly mistaken for a heart attack).
- Blood stains in vomiting. When you throw up you may see a few drops of blood.
- Difficulty in sleep, you need to get up during your sleep because the heartburn won’t let you sleep.
- Unintentional weight loss: when you have not made any special effort but still your body is shedding weight it is not normal.
So what now?
The normal procedure is to go to a doctor immediately if you notice any of the above symptoms. If you do have a disease, it is very important to detect the stage so as to give correct medication or go ahead with any surgery if required. The various stages are:
- non-dysplastic: the initial stage, cancerous tissues not there.
- low-grade dysplasia: minor changes are noticed in the cells.
- high-grade dysplasia: not cancerous yet.
- non-invasive cancerous stage: doesn’t spread easily.
- last invasive cancerous stage: it now starts spreading.
What can I do?
Do as the doctor suggests is a safe bet. There are numerous ways to deal with the disease. A few are listed below:
- Proton pump inhibitors are used. Their basic duty is to reduce the acid production. Omeprazole, Lansoprazole, Pantoprazole, Rabeprazole, Esomeprazole, Dexlansoprazole. Are used for this purpose.
- Avoid spicy food, don’t smoke and drink excessively.
- You can try Gerd diet.
- Don’t sleep immediately after eating.
- Try to lose weight as excess weight can lead to repeated heartburns.
After going through all this you can try any method you wish. If you need any more clarification you can try RefluxMD. Hope you get better and regain control of your life soon.
