22nd October 2006
My dad died 2 years ago age 72. All his adult life despite being a sports player and gardenr he had a largish belly , lifelong 'indigestion' and pain under his right ribs on and off. Dad also had a persistent dry cough attributed to bronchitis as a child. My dad smoked a short while as a young man but not very much. A lot of his life he took inhalers and ventolin but his 'asthma' was never classic or what I would describe as such having been a nurse and his cough gnerally seemed to happen when he was sitting down rather than active. In his mid sixties he had 'grit in his bile duct' from gallstones which made him very poorly and he was in hospital for 2 weeks. Not long after he had a mild haert attack which he survied.
It came as an enormous surprise and shock to us that he suddenly acquired COPD in his late sixties and became progressively wasted and disorientated - still active until last few weeks but refusing food. Baffled consultants argued about the final diagnosis but even MND was mentioned however after he died they put COPD on the death certificate. As he died in hospital a PM was done and they found scars on his liver which could not have been alcohol related and he did not have hepatitis. There was some deterioration of the brain stem tissue which was not explained.
Dad's most significant complaint all his life was indigestion and rib pain and I cant understand why nobody ever considered giving him PPI's as he obviously had indigestion. I think the gases from his stomach may even have made his lungs deteriorate over a many years? What do others think?
I now have chronic GERD, pot belly, IBS, breathing distress lying down and gallstones diagnosed on HIDA scan. I dont mind taking the PPI's if I remain well in other ways but is there a more natural way of controliing GERD? Like dad I am very active and no obvious structural lung disease but gas from my stomach is affecting my breathing and giving me terrible pains in my ear neck and head. At he hospital they say my IBS is not related to GERD but my GP is amazed as she thought they had to be connected. It seems to me that these experts need to get together a bit more !
It came as an enormous surprise and shock to us that he suddenly acquired COPD in his late sixties and became progressively wasted and disorientated - still active until last few weeks but refusing food. Baffled consultants argued about the final diagnosis but even MND was mentioned however after he died they put COPD on the death certificate. As he died in hospital a PM was done and they found scars on his liver which could not have been alcohol related and he did not have hepatitis. There was some deterioration of the brain stem tissue which was not explained.
Dad's most significant complaint all his life was indigestion and rib pain and I cant understand why nobody ever considered giving him PPI's as he obviously had indigestion. I think the gases from his stomach may even have made his lungs deteriorate over a many years? What do others think?
I now have chronic GERD, pot belly, IBS, breathing distress lying down and gallstones diagnosed on HIDA scan. I dont mind taking the PPI's if I remain well in other ways but is there a more natural way of controliing GERD? Like dad I am very active and no obvious structural lung disease but gas from my stomach is affecting my breathing and giving me terrible pains in my ear neck and head. At he hospital they say my IBS is not related to GERD but my GP is amazed as she thought they had to be connected. It seems to me that these experts need to get together a bit more !