[nrep]

I went to a new G.I today and he wants to do an Upper Endoscopy despite my *not* having any heartburn, burping, bleeding, nausea, etc. or otherwise issues. I suffer from IBS and have had a colonoscopy in my past which showed nothing negative.I'm wondering what an Upper Endoscopy would show, since I don't have the usual symptoms that it would be done for. I'm also wondering if my doctor is suggesting this merely because he wants to make a buck. I'd like not to come to the later conclusion.My insurance doesn't cover procedures, so I want to be sure that this is necessary and a good idea before I shell out $3000 for it.Thanks.

 

[Diana63]

When i had my Endoscopy it was for indigestion,unexplained weight loss and vomitingMaybe you could phone the Hospital and speak to either the Doctor concerned or his secretary and find out exactly why this examination is to be done.

 

[BQ]

Again an endoscope is just to rule out other GI diseases etc. They can take biopsies from there as well. And they might want to just check for anything else microscopically.

 

[thytaysmom]

I just had my endoscopy done yesterday. I have chronic diarrhea and my GI dr said she was able to check my stomach and part of small intestines. She stated sometimes things wrong with the stomach can cause bowel troubles. Maybe your GI dr is checking to make sure nothing in your stomach area is causing your IBS??? Maybe ask your GI dr why he feels it is necessary to perform the endoscopy.

 

[jjm529]

Could very well be H. Pylori. I was just diagnosed this past Monday and the Dr. put me on the Prepak of antibiotics and Prilosec. The funny things was I was just getting an allergy test and started describing my symptoms and he decided to do the Helicobacter Pylori test with the breath bag. I had told him how back in October my GI said my insurance wouldn't cover a colonoscopy and told me I had gas and to get on an anti-anxiety med and take probiotics. I was really angry with his ignorant diagnosis!! So then the nurse came in with the results of the test and the Dr. said he feels that we may have found the smoking gun for all of my symptoms that have developed over the last decade. My fingers are crossed. I'll let you know how I'm feeling in a month or so, but I would definitely get checked out for this.Good Luck!J

 

[faze action]

There are a number of things that could occur in the upper GI and cause problems in the bowels: hypochloridia/ achloridia (could predispose to SIBO among other things), h.pylori as already mentioned, the gold standard for Celiac is a biopsy of the duodenum (I think) and this area is not accessible through a colonscopy, gastroparesis, etc...

 

[nrep]

Thanks so much for all the replies. This is quite helpful. I'm still waiting for my doc to call back so he can give me some answers as well, but these were still very helpful.

 

[nrep]

thytaysmom- (and actually everyone else)- what kind of sedation did you have? My doc said "conscious sedation" and upon reading I've found that it often causes vomitting upon waking up. Was this the type of sedation you had, and if so, did you vomit or feel nauseus? When I had my colonoscopy I had "MAC" and didn't have any negative side effects, but am quite worried about the "conscious sedation" .

 

[BQ]

Actually I think vomitting is much more common a side effect after general anesthesia. I had Versed (considered a conscious sedation med)and experienced zero nausea.