was just prescribed Reglan -- concerned about safety [Heart Medication]

From: News Reader on 10 Feb 2005 18:42

Hi there,

I was just prescribed Reglan. I haven't picked up the prescription yet,
but I just started to read about it and I'm a little freaked out about
the potential neurological side effects. That, coupled with its high
cost, is making me hesitate...

Are there any other promitility drugs out there that are safer?

I'm also supposed to have a gastric emptying test soon... maybe I'll
wait and see how that turns out before I actually start the medication.

I don't generally feel full after meals and I don't have heartburn, but
I have had an "irritated throat" (I don't really know how to describe
it) for quite a while. It started out as a "lump in my throat" feeling,
then became an general rawness that would bother me mostly around
dinnertime, then (most recently) became an all-the-time sore throat
feeling.

Endoscopy and barium tests showed reflux. I've been on Prilosec (10mg)
for a few months. No big help. Have also tried Carafate.

In addition to the Reglan, the doctor also suggested increasing to 20mg
of Prilosec.

I'm not sure why she suspects an emptying problem, and I'm willing to
do the emptying test to see if that is the problem, but the drug
worries me. Also, I've heard that taking the PPIs (and now I'll be
taking MORE) can make it worse because there's less acid to digest the
food, so it stays in the stomach longer.

What's the general thinking on this?

Thanks very much!

- m

From: Howard McCollister on 10 Feb 2005 19:09

"News Reader" <SLCUUVKKQKKI(a)spammotel.com> wrote in message
news:1108078946.399388.10180(a)o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Hi there,
>
> I was just prescribed Reglan. I haven't picked up the prescription yet,
> but I just started to read about it and I'm a little freaked out about
> the potential neurological side effects. That, coupled with its high
> cost, is making me hesitate...
>
> Are there any other promitility drugs out there that are safer?
>
> I'm also supposed to have a gastric emptying test soon... maybe I'll
> wait and see how that turns out before I actually start the medication.
>
> I don't generally feel full after meals and I don't have heartburn, but
> I have had an "irritated throat" (I don't really know how to describe
> it) for quite a while. It started out as a "lump in my throat" feeling,
> then became an general rawness that would bother me mostly around
> dinnertime, then (most recently) became an all-the-time sore throat
> feeling.
>
> Endoscopy and barium tests showed reflux. I've been on Prilosec (10mg)
> for a few months. No big help. Have also tried Carafate.
>
> In addition to the Reglan, the doctor also suggested increasing to 20mg
> of Prilosec.
>
> I'm not sure why she suspects an emptying problem, and I'm willing to
> do the emptying test to see if that is the problem, but the drug
> worries me. Also, I've heard that taking the PPIs (and now I'll be
> taking MORE) can make it worse because there's less acid to digest the
> food, so it stays in the stomach longer.
>

What did your ambulatory pH test show, and what did they find when they did
esophageal manometry? A gastric emptying test would normally be pretty
pointless unless those tests have been done first and showed no evidence of
reflux nor esophageal dysmotility.

HMc

From: News Reader on 10 Feb 2005 22:07

Didn't have either of those tests (yet). Just had the upper endoscopy
and the barium test. The doctor suggested that I might as well do the
quick, painless, least invasive test first.

The tests I *have* had *do* show evidence of reflux.

From: Howard McCollister on 11 Feb 2005 00:08

"News Reader" <SLCUUVKKQKKI(a)spammotel.com> wrote in message
news:1108091271.181923.75110(a)c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Didn't have either of those tests (yet). Just had the upper endoscopy
> and the barium test. The doctor suggested that I might as well do the
> quick, painless, least invasive test first.
>
> The tests I *have* had *do* show evidence of reflux.
>

A gastric emptying test is unnecessary. You already had a barium swallow, so
they know (or SHOULD know) how your stomach empties. UGI is more useful for
stomach emptying than it is for esophagus problems. If you have diabetes,
there might be some usefulness to the test, but to go that route before even
understanding how your LES and esophagus are functioning is silly and
pointless. GERD needs to be ruled out. Ambulatory pH test and esophageal
manometry. Skip the Reglan, skip the gasgtric emptying test and let's
concentrate on one thing at a time, and address the most likely things
first.

HMc

From: Howard McCollister on 11 Feb 2005 00:11

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