Upper GI???

I went to the surgeons today and he said he doesnt think its anything serious but has asked for me to get an upper GI I have no clue what that is or what to expect when having one done, I tried researching it online but didnt get much help it said they put you to sleep, so IDK what to think, has anyone had one?  What did you experience what should I expect to happen? Does it hurt? Do they put you to sleep?  He said he thinks it might be an ulcer, he also said they are treated with medication and they go away, has anyone had an ulcer?  What causes them?  I was too upset in his office to ask these questions, I was really worried soemthing was wrong and I might not make it home to my son, I always fear the worst,  Any advice or personal experinces would be great thanks!!

When I had my upper gi, they made me drink some fizzy stuff while standing in an x-ray type of thing.  Then laid me down, turned me a couple different ways to get the stuff to coat everywhere and that was it.  Took no more than 15 minutes.  I wasn't put to sleep for it.  

 I had an upper GI before surgery.. and you def are not put to sleep.  If they put you asleep then you wouldn't be doing the rolling over and what not.  Not sure where you read that at.  But basically you drink this stuff and they take pictures of your stomach area and then you lay down on a table with some camera thing over you and drink something else and roll over a few times so they can get pics at different angels.  The stuff tasted alright but def not great!  It's fast and painless.  Good luck!  

No, they don't put you to sleep for an upper GI.  It's just a kind of x-ray.  They have you stand up in front of an x-ray table and drink this chalky barium stuff while they take pictures and then you lie on the table and drink some more.  It doesn't taste very good but it's not horrible.  Doesn't take too much time.

Where did you read that they put you to sleep for one?  They can't - you have to be awake to drink the stuff.

Kelly

An upper GI could also mean an endoscopy, in which case yes, they would put you to sleep.

If they indeed want an endoscopy to look for an ulcer than you would have an IV started, be hooked up to cardiac monitors, and then they would give you a drug to put you to sleep. A long flexible camera is then lowered into your stomach. They can look around, take pictures, and even take small tissue samples while they are down there.

If you do have an ulcer it can be treated by taking an anti-acid medication and in some cases an antibiotic.

Ulcers can be caused by a number of things...NSAIDs, eating too acidic foods, and bacterial infections like H. pylori. But, it is very important to diagnose and treat them because should an ulcer erode through the stomach wall you can leak gastric juices and food into the rest of your abdomen and get seriously ill.

you said eating too acidic foods, what kind of food is that? 

Also thats excatly what I read about an upper gi being called an endoscopy and thats why it said it would put you to sleep.  My surgeon didnt say anything about endoscopy just said an upper gi, I guess the ppl who do the upper gi will know if they need an endoscopy or not!

If your doc said upper GI, he meant the x-ray, not the endoscopy.  If he meant the endoscopy he would have said endoscopy or maybe just called it a scope.  And he would have told you not to eat anything after midnight the night before and that you'd have to have someone to drive you home because you'd be sedated.

An upper GI and an endoscopy are two completely different procedures, but she may have meant an endoscopy, not an upper GI.

yea he said upper gi for sure, i just checked the paper work, Thanks everyone