Hello everyone, I am new to this group and am hoping for some reassurance I think. I am 70 years old. I was diagnosed with Barrett’s Oesophagus in 2016 and had a surveillance endoscopy two years later. I was told to take Omeprazole, which I did.

The second endoscopy result  that was done in 2018 said that they suspected I had Barrett’s and biopsies were sent away. After 11 weeks I received the results and it wasn’t diagnosed as Barrett’s but mild reflux Oesophagitis and a small hiatus hernia. As you can imagine I was delighted. Again prescribed omeprazole/Peptac.

Not had any real problems until about a year ago when I had a severely painful case of indigestion and the same again when I got covid in September/October 2022. One milder but still very painful case in about May this year. I was referred for an endoscopy by a doctor at my GP surgery but after taking two omeprazole a day instead of one for one month I had no pain at all and the Doctor told me I didn’t need to go for the endoscopy. I didn’t cancel it, just in case though and a couple of weeks ago had another bout, albeit much milder than any others.

I consulted my own GP and was initially told I should stop omeprazole and just use Peptac. He said to delay the endoscopy to see how I got on. By the time I saw him my mind had completely gone into overdrive and I had been questioning how the first biopsies showed Barrett’s but the on the second one, which went into more detail, the conclusion said it was not indicative of any Barrett’s cells. I then asked my doctor if I could still have Barrett’s and he said that I could as the second biopsies could have been taken from a different place. This made me immediately panic as I have not had an endoscopy for five years - in view of the reflux diagnosis when surveillance was cancelled. I am now extremely anxious that I have cancer and it wasn’t picked up because of the delay. My anxiety increased ten fold when I asked him about the risks of cancer as a result of having Barrett’s. I went online an panicked myself even more. I have never smoked, don’t drink any sort of alcohol and am not overweight but I had a cousin who died of oesophageal cancer. I have had a very real fear of getting cancer since being very young but am usually able to work through it but not this time; I feel overwhelmed by this fear and all I can think of is the people I won’t be able to see, my husband, our lovely daughter and my amazing little grandsons.  

I would very much appreciate any helpful thoughts from any of you, particularly if you have had a similar experience. Many thanks for reading this. Take care.