DEAR DR. ROACH: I suffer from acid reflux but continue to drink caffeine once a week, on Saturday before noon. I have taken pantoprazole twice a day for a decade. Is there anything you suggest to replace caffeine? I don’t drink coffee, just caffeinated drinks. I’m an addict. The acid is eroding my upper teeth, […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a friend, age 56, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease a few years ago and has been taking Aricept, which has helped immensely. Now she has begun taking medical marijuana, supposedly to help her lungs at night from asthma. She takes the Aricept at dinner, then the pot about three […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 67 years old, weigh 150 pounds and have one kidney; therefore, I am limited in the amount of protein I can have. I also have been trying to limit my carbohydrates to 60 grams per meal. I exercise two hours a day, with an hour walking and the other hour […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: About three years ago, I experienced pain in my knee. The doctor told me I needed an MRI. I have claustrophobia and was given a pill to take an hour before the procedure. I think that was Xanax, but I’m not sure. I took it and walked into the facility like a […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a woman in my early 40s. Several years ago, I began having messy, bathroom-related accidents in my car after eating in restaurants. Doctors confirmed that I have an allergy to gluten, which made sense since one of my parents has it and I usually had just consumed wheat before having an […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: Could you please advise what the current recommendation is as far as follow-up colonoscopies are concerned? It has always been my understanding from what I have read that virtually all colon cancers start as polyps in the colon and that it takes between five and 10 years for a polyp to become […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 66-year-old male who gets shortness of breath when walking up a hill or on a trail. I had a stent put in in 2002, and I had a stress test done. My doctor said it was fine, but he said I just had shortness of breath. It seems that […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am an active 77-year-old male in relatively good health. In April, I had some silent reflux causing mild asthma. My asthma doctor suggested trying Dexilant 60 mg, which stopped the reflux/asthma but started digestive discomforts, including loss of appetite, mild nausea and irregular bowels, but no cramps, pain or blood. I […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have slight numbness and tingling in my feet and lower calves in both legs. It feels almost like my feet are going to sleep. I can feel pressure but not fine-touch sensation. I have been taking 200 mg of amiodarone daily for a year for heart PVCs, and that works very […]

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a diabetic woman. I keep getting urine infections. I can’t get them cleared up, and I am taking antibiotics every month. Is there anything that can be done? My kidney function is good. — G.D. ANSWER: Recurrent urinary infections are common in men and women, especially as they get older, but […]