Is heartburn a sypmtom of IBD?

[jmcguire]

Hi all

I am new to this site and feel a little guilty writing and asking questions as I have read a lot of your posts and I feel I am not suffering any where near as badly as some of you on here.

I have been suffering for nearly 2 years now and have been told by the doctor I have been seeing that he is certain I have IBD. I haven't been officially diagnosed yet as I have one more endoscopy/colonoscopy to have, which will be sometime in the next few months.

My reason for this post is to ask if anyone on here who suffers from IBD, if they suffer from severe heartburn as a symptom?
I suffer heavily with this, amongst the other things but am not sure if this is caused by the IBD?

With only getting to see a doctor every 6 months when I am having tests, I always forget to ask something!

Even though I do suffer from heartburn, I have been prescribed Lanzopral from the doctors which helps massively. Though I do run out of this from time to time as I am only given monthly prescriptions and its hard to get to the doctors on a monthly basis with a heavy work schedule.

Hope I am not wasting anyone's time x

 

[shamrock15]

Not wasting anyone's time at all. I have been on rabeprazole for about 5 years now due to this very issue. Turns out I have a hiatal hernia (thanks to my previous doc for prescribing the meds and not telling me about it...) and life gets really uncomfortable really quickly when I run out. Not sure what caused it. Obviously there was a weakness in my diaphragm, and then I suspect that abdominal pressure due to blockages probably pushed it over the edge. If you ever get an endoscope, they would be able to tell you for certain. I am not sure if it would show up on other imaging tests or not, someone else here will probably be able to fill in that piece of the puzzle for you though. Try to get a long term prescription, and maybe get your pharmacy set up to give you a call when it is about a month before expiry.

 

[jmcguire]

Have you got IBD Shamrock15?

 

[shamrock15]

Crohn's - had it for 25+ years. The heartburn has only been an issue for about the last 5 of that, so it likely developed during my time with Crohn's.

 

[Dunbar]

For me the heartburn is a surefire symptom that I have to modify my diet asap, back to the bland and basic for a day or two. Ginger tea and believe it or not, pumpkin seeds, are another trick I use for immediate relief. Notice your breathing as well, if you are hurting or stressed it is very easy to hold your breath or breath through the mouth and those can make it worse, well in my case anyway.
Hope it turns out to be something relatively easy to manage, you have enough to deal with right now.

 

[CDJ]

My son who has crohns suffers with reflux [ heartburn ] and is on prescribed omeprazole. It does seem to be part of his condition that he gets reflux. He also now has crohns in his small bowel and his consultant told us that this is common with it being there.

We also can only get prescriptions monthly, it is a real pain at times as they will only give exactly a months worth and no more, which can cause problems if we are away. Do you order yours online from the GP? I find this is the quickest way to get my sons, though you still need to order 48hrs in advance.

 

[shamrock15]

@CDJ - you should be able to get azathioprine in tab form - I have had it that way for 3+ years in 50mg tabs. Lots of generic options too. You could ask about that.