Capsule Endoscopy?

[laurelfla]

ok, so my gastro wants to follow up my diagnosis (which happened in August) with a capsule endoscopy. in his words, it's to establish a baseline of images of what my small intestine looks like in order to be able to track any changes that might occur in the future. (i.e. it is not for the purpose of diagnosis -- been there, done that.)

the problem comes in in that my insurance company will not pay for it. it will cost $900. i do not have $900. do y'all think this is worth it? i want to do all i can to be healthy and take all the right steps here, but i have to be sure about this before i sign away this much money. i'm just a broke grad student, so this is a big decision. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Happy Halloween!

[nettiebeads]

ok, so my gastro wants to follow up my diagnosis (which happened in August) with a capsule endoscopy. in his words, it's to establish a baseline of images of what my small intestine looks like in order to be able to track any changes that might occur in the future. (i.e. it is not for the purpose of diagnosis -- been there, done that.)

the problem comes in in that my insurance company will not pay for it. it will cost $900. i do not have $900. do y'all think this is worth it? i want to do all i can to be healthy and take all the right steps here, but i have to be sure about this before i sign away this much money. i'm just a broke grad student, so this is a big decision. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Happy Halloween! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If I were in your situation, I'd skip it. There are other ways of monitoring your health - if you're feeling healthy, you probably are. I was dx'd old school - diet challenge. None of my drs (the original one who dx'd me) or subsequent dr's have ever mentioned looking into things, as it were. I think it's easier for the dr's to look at images, but it's not his $900 bucks paying for it. Your health can be monitored by what your body is telling you - if you're feeling better on the gluten-free diet, then you're getting healthier. Energy levels, appetite, skin, regularity, all can point to health. He could order blood work to see if your hormones, iron, and nutrition is being absorbed properly. That would give him a baseline and be much much cheaper.

[Claire]

ok, so my gastro wants to follow up my diagnosis (which happened in August) with a capsule endoscopy. in his words, it's to establish a baseline of images of what my small intestine looks like in order to be able to track any changes that might occur in the future. (i.e. it is not for the purpose of diagnosis -- been there, done that.)

the problem comes in in that my insurance company will not pay for it. it will cost $900. i do not have $900. do y'all think this is worth it? i want to do all i can to be healthy and take all the right steps here, but i have to be sure about this before i sign away this much money. i'm just a broke grad student, so this is a big decision. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Happy Halloween! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When Forum George sees this he will probably reply. There is a test that he was talking about the other day but name of it escapes me now (it's late) I will look it up. I know it is used for monitoring 'leaky guy' which is what the capsule endoscopy will do. That is aa worthy tool for diagnosis - not a monitoring tool. Why - because it is overkill. You can find out the same thing in a much less espensive way. Claire

[nettiebeads]

ok, so my gastro wants to follow up my diagnosis (which happened in August) with a capsule endoscopy. in his words, it's to establish a baseline of images of what my small intestine looks like in order to be able to track any changes that might occur in the future. (i.e. it is not for the purpose of diagnosis -- been there, done that.)

the problem comes in in that my insurance company will not pay for it. it will cost $900. i do not have $900. do y'all think this is worth it? i want to do all i can to be healthy and take all the right steps here, but i have to be sure about this before i sign away this much money. i'm just a broke grad student, so this is a big decision. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Happy Halloween! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Had another thought re: test. (sorry, couldn't keep focused last night - all these little creepy things were at my door for candy) - He wants the test as a baseline, right? Well, that means if he doesn't order the test again in the future, then what's the point of getting the test now? Meaning, this would be the FIRST $900 you'd have to plunk down out of your own pocket. Just a thought.

[julie5914]

I have not had endoscopy yet, and if I knew insurance wouldn't pay for it, I wouldn't do it unless I was having some pretty severe continuing symptoms and had already tried an elimination diet, allergy and stool testing and other blood tests. I am still symptomatic, but I am closing in on the cause without endoscopy with an elimination diet. If I cut out everything and still have symptoms regardless of what I'm eating, I may have it done just to rule out something super bad. But if I had something super bad, it would probably be showing up in my blood work and show up in stool tests.

[VydorScope]

No. Skip it. I am firmly against any uneeded test. ALL test have side effects and risks, no matter how "rare", why risk it when you get no new info. Tell him to swallow the pill himself

[lizzy]

hi all

i had this test done i had to wait for my insurance which took 3 months to ok it, i had it done hoping this would show sonmething up and nothing came back negative, which seems really wired to me i have had too cat scans on my abdmian and each shows the diease. i had them done twelve months apart and its still there so if i was you i woulod save your money go somewhere warm instead and have a cocktail liz

[jajus100]

ok, so my gastro wants to follow up my diagnosis (which happened in August) with a capsule endoscopy. in his words, it's to establish a baseline of images of what my small intestine looks like in order to be able to track any changes that might occur in the future. (i.e. it is not for the purpose of diagnosis -- been there, done that.)

the problem comes in in that my insurance company will not pay for it. it will cost $900. i do not have $900. do y'all think this is worth it? i want to do all i can to be healthy and take all the right steps here, but i have to be sure about this before i sign away this much money. i'm just a broke grad student, so this is a big decision. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Happy Halloween! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I really don't know if the test is worth it or not, so I will comment on insurance. I have some children with special needs. I had problems with insurance paying for some of their services. I protested their decision by writing a letter along with my doctor's recommendation. I was granted the services. A lot of times insurance says no, and all you need to do is protest it, and you can get them to pay for things.

[floridanative]

I agree with previous post. I wanted a blood test that my Dad's cariologist said I needed. Went to dr. to get it, they informed me ins. wouldn't cover. Called insurance company and got it approved, as long as test was done in dr. office. No problem I think so I go back to dr. for the test. Oops! Test must be done in lab due to freezing requirements for sample. So I call insurance company again and they finally approved it to be done in the lab. Problem was it for folic acid deficiency and by the time I got the test, I was too low on folic acid - as well as other things due to malabsorption issues. I started trying the get the test in Jan. but it took until August to get the approval. Until I get the malabsorption thing under control we won't know if my folic acid def. is from celiac disease or something else! What a pain insurance companies are!! But I'd fight tooth and nail for the insurance company to pay for the capsule test if I were you. They routinely deny coverage when they shouldn't so I like to make them pay every penny possible.