Ulcer Update

You may remember last September when I was admitted to the hospital. (Ha, that auto-corrected to “admired” – bloggers, remember to read and edit your posts before publishing). I was sort of waiting on some event of formal diagnosis to post another follow-up. But there hasn’t been one.

Just before Christmas of last year I had my second endoscopy. There wasn’t anything that bothered the doctor much, but I do have a hiatal hernia and some lingering esophagitis. He prescribed a different medication for me to take and wait six months to see how things are progressing.

The problem I had with that second prescription was that it was two pills, one taken twice a day. Because my life is hectic and my memory is crap, I would sometimes forget to take the second pill.

At the end of the prescription I asked my regular doctor if I needed to be seen for another endoscopy. She consulted with the specialist and in the absence of symptoms, finish the prescription and see how things go.

That did not instill me with confidence.

The only symptom I had was when it was too late and I was bleeding out of … well, let’s not get into it. Any primary symptoms I ever had went unnoticed. I was not inclined to let things go and see if symptoms presented again, because the only symptom I had got me admitted to the hospital. I was hoping to prevent that.

At the end of the prescription I decided to take matters into my own hands.

My initial prescription was for esomeprazole, and that routine went fine for quite a while. It wasn’t until the prescription got changed to two pills a day and I started to forget to take the second one that I got worried. The second prescription was essentially the same, just a lower dose spread out over the day. In the absence of a prescription, I am decided to go with an over-the-counter option. It would be the same over-the-counter option I used before. What I was initially prescribed could be found in stores as Nexium, same dosage, same frequency of intake.

So that’s where I am.

I have decided to continue taking Nexium from now until… well, pretty much might be a lifetime thing now.

At least I don’t have any symptoms.