Comments on: The 48-Hour Bravo Esophageal pH Test: A Probe to Study Acid via Monitoring Capsule

By: Gnorb

Gnorb — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:13:35 +0000

Hi Vicky,

Best of luck finding your answer, and glad to hear the test is going well for you. What other possibilities has your doctor considered? (Bile reflux? Eosinophilic esophagitis?)

By: Vicki

Vicki — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:50:07 +0000

I just had the bravo done yesterday for the 2nd time – 1st time was about 2 yrs ago and the results showed no acid reflux. Still been having alot of problems don’t I don’t think it heartburn but maybe an ulcer? So the dctr decided to try this again and see what happens. Yes it is painful in the spot where they attached it but not so bad as the first time. Thanks Gnorb for all the info. The only time I saw mine ph drop below 4 was when I awoke in the middle of the night so not really sure what that means. I was also told to eat foods that what cause acid reflux so I went right for the pizza! I was also told that I could chew gum. Didn’t really feel any different than the usual burning in my stomach and upper chest. I had been on Dexilant (like nexium) and it wasn’t helping at all – I felt no different while on the meds than I currently feel right now. I should have the results next week.

By: Gnorb

Gnorb — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:00:47 +0000

Martha – Did the doctor give you the result of the test? How were your scores?

By: Martha

Martha — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:16:10 +0000

I had the brovo done last Friday and have suffered with very bad chest n back pain when I eat. Now I’m noticing a lot of burping n pain on my left side the same site of pain when I eat. I saw the Dr on Monday he said he has heard this complaint n was calling the manufacture. I’m glad I found this site now I pretty much know I’m within normal. Can’t wait for it to float away. If the pain doesn’t go away by Monday which will be 10 days I’ll go for an xray.

By: Gnorb

Gnorb — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:58:03 +0000

Just to reiterate: I’m really surprised at getting all these responses complaining about the test. I had it done and, as the story states, it wasn’t at all a bad experience. It felt a little odd at first, but otherwise I didn’t really have any issues.

And how, as some claim, it can cause respiratory failure and cardiac arrest is beyond me. Seriously, it’s like getting a heart attack from getting a piercing.

By: Lora

Lora — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:13:22 +0000

Currently doing the Bravo test now. everything is so true hurts when you eat and when it hits that spot were the capsule is you know it sharp pain like heartburn then a minute later goes away.. I was just looking for information on the numbers on the receiver since I forgot to ask at the dr office..I didn’t have chest pain until they put this capsule in, not so good, only had lower pain in the stomach region and Nexium most times helped when I took it for at lease a month or longer..
Thanks for the good information from the people that actually have been through it and know what it feels like!

By: Pat Jones

Pat Jones — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:46:56 +0000

I have read several of the replies here and one thing is clear to me..The Doctors are trained differently then others . Some was told to eat things that brought on their acid reflux while my daughter was told not to eat things that brought on symptoms…Some took medication up to 3 days before. My daughter was instructed to stop the medication at Least 7 days before…She was also instructed to Drink all at once not sip to avoid juice and foods that cause the reflux.

Now with all these different instructions given for one simple test….which one is right and whose test results….were right because of instructions given and whose were not even close. I think maybe we should be contacting the manufacturer of the contraption that can cause cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest if you read online about the test and possible complications and find out what the proper instructions were and who would really like to retake it knowing they could possible die.Not from suicide but from health complications of the capsule.

By: Pat Jones

Pat Jones — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:32:09 +0000

Did they also tell you sometimes this implant causes respiratory arrest or cardaic failure. There are alarms built in and the Dr who installs these should know what the alarms mean when you call them and SOME DO NOT HAVE A CLUE.

Pretty serious complications can occure for the sake of ? Acid Reflux testing….that for years they have seen and diagnosed fine with endoscopy…Seems like its a new toy and the patients are new test probes to me. Just my own thoughts on the subject. Would be extremely helpful if in training the Dr. was taught about the alarms and when enough is enough.

By: Darci patterson

Darci patterson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:43:33 +0000

I have a bravo meter in right now. It sucks. It hurts so bads. Every time I swallow food or drink it sticks on that damn thing and leaves a hard know in my chest followed by awful burning and cramping for several seconds. I hate it. I’ve had no PPI’s or anything for almost four days and I’m pretty sure I’m dying, Death by GERD/hiatal hernia. Lame.

By: traumatized

traumatized — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 05:38:14 +0000

Just had the bravo test through sedation and endoscopy. It should not hurt to swallow! I noticed that water hurt after the placement. Went to a restaurant and tried to sip some water, tea, and soup and ended up passing out from a vagal nerve response. After I came to, I went to the ER in an ambulance. They ran tests and everything looked ok. I had severe chest pain where the bravo capsule was and it hurt to even swallow my saliva! Dr concluded that I could not tolerate the capsule and removed it the next morning. I had to be admitted to the hospital to receive fluids since I could not eat or drink. After the removal I was finally able to eat and drink normally with some residual achy chest pain. I was told I am about 5% of people who could not tolerate the capsule. If you feel pain when swallowing liquid, get it taken out! What a nightmare! And the short time it was recording showed no reflux which was not even helpful.

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:15:32 +0000

I had this test done 11-10-11 to 11-12-11. I went in this morning for my follow up appointment and they say the capsule dislodged too early and no information is available. They said they would do it again at no charge. I am so upset, I sure don’t want to go through that again! My throat is still sore from having that capsule in there. Like Ranae mentioned, eating things like bread was extremely painful.

By: Ranae

Ranae — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:59:24 +0000

I appreciated this story. I am at this moment wearing a Bravo. I wondered why when I was having symptoms my ph on the reciever would drop. Silly me, I was thinking that if I had high ph levels the number would be high. Thanks for helping understand.
The problem I am having is I can feel the bravo! It is in a place where I would get pain, so it really feels tender and when I eat, bread, anything that is not soft YEOW!!!! But pretty much almost everything gives me reflux, so I have chosen to eat soft foods because even if I am not eating it sends a pain. (Not sure if it is the pain I usually get or the device!)

By: Dennis

Dennis — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:14:09 +0000

Antacids for life? Hmmm seems like a poor solution. Chances are your acids are either fine or maybe even deficienct, and that it is at least poor integrity of the lower esophageal sphincter. This allows acids to rise up into the esophagus regardless of amount of acids.
If you’re overweight, start there. The extra weight pushes on the stomach driving acids up against the sphincter. This is very damaging to the junction of the stomach and the esophagus where the heartburn is taking place.
The second element is that simple carbohydrates/sugars such as sweets, processed flours and even fructose can be very problematic. These feed gastric bacteria in the stomach which off-gas excessively causing bloating under the sternum, pain, burning and even possible hiatal hernias.
So in summary, if you’re over weight, lose weight. If your diet is filled with simple sugars, reduce or even eliminate. Try it for a week or two and see if your symptoms decrease. Nonetheless you’ll feel better.

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:54:51 +0000

Gnorb,
Thanks for your reply. Giving Bravo to rule out GERD makes sense. However, the fact that antiacid relieves me from
heartburn doesn’t mean that it has to be GERD?

Rather than going through Bravo, Fundoplication, etc, is it not better to be on antiacid all the time? or that will imbalance the acidity in digestive system?

Sam

By: Gnorb

Gnorb — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:22:13 +0000

YES! I had! A LOT of that, too! Also in my mid-back. Heck, for a while I thought I might have psoriasis or something. That’s how bad it was! For the record, Hydrocortizone helped some.

In my case I eventually discovered part of it was due to lactose intolerance. (And maybe even milk allergy, since it very rarely appears now that I rarely consume dairy, although I’ve yet to test this.) As for the tongue, I thought for the longest time it might have been acid, but I never got an answer to that. My dentist never saw anything, neither did my allergist nor an ENT specialist. Eventually it stopped, but I never found out what it was. Maybe it was acid, maybe it was allergens. I don’t know. But you may want to keep a symptoms/foods dictionary to see if there’s any sort of correlation anywhere.

As a side note: I do have a lot of allergy issues, and have a higher than normal eosinophil count (normal is 0-500, mine was 684 as of my last blood test). This might habe something to do with it, but that’s merely conjecture.