Warning Signs of Esophageal varices

[Guest guest]

Varices give no " warning " ......you MAY have little bleeds....but the only

way to find out for sure is to have an endoscopy done. They insert a tube

down the throat after spraying it to numb it then take pictures and

.....look about.....Painless and well worth it.a bleed is scary. Varices

are dilated and fragile blood vessels in the esophagus. They are caused by

the increase of pressure within the portal vein (venous system). Because

they are so fragile they may bleed from something as simple sneezing,

coughing, or vomiting. They occur most often at night when we are sleeping

as for some reason the portal pressure increases at night. Therefore if you

are put on a blood pressure med ..such as propranolol and you are only to

take one a day..that one should always be taken before bed! (Personally I

take 3 a day..but that is me and my docs) One must remember that portal

pressure can occur even if you do not have high blood pressure..so can not

be discovered by blood pressure tests.mine has always been or low....before

Propranolol.mine was about 110 to 120 over 80.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the reply, Jeff. My wife has

hemochromatosis resulting in cirrhosis. Been having

some chest pains (she is under the care of a

cardiologist, he says it's not cardiac??). I knew

that typically varices were " silent " but thought I

would check with this group to get beyond the medical

literature to some personal experiences.

Thanks again

Larry

Wife,

C282Y/C282Y

Dx 1998

Starting ferritin: 6160

101 phleb and counting

Most recent ferritin: 67

Beta Thalassemia Minor (Hgb 8.0-9.5g/dL)

--- Jeff Cathcart <JJCATHCART@...> wrote:

> Varices give no " warning " ......you MAY have little

> bleeds....but the only

> way to find out for sure is to have an endoscopy

> done. They insert a tube

> down the throat after spraying it to numb it then

> take pictures and

> ....look about.....Painless and well worth it.a

> bleed is scary. Varices

> are dilated and fragile blood vessels in the

> esophagus. They are caused by

> the increase of pressure within the portal vein

> (venous system). Because

> they are so fragile they may bleed from something as

> simple sneezing,

> coughing, or vomiting. They occur most often at

> night when we are sleeping

> as for some reason the portal pressure increases at

> night. Therefore if you

> are put on a blood pressure med ..such as

> propranolol and you are only to

> take one a day..that one should always be taken

> before bed! (Personally I

> take 3 a day..but that is me and my docs) One must

> remember that portal

> pressure can occur even if you do not have high

> blood pressure..so can not

> be discovered by blood pressure tests.mine has

> always been or low....before

> Propranolol.mine was about 110 to 120 over 80.

>

>

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