Appt with Surgeon and Questions

Hi everyone :)

I saw a surgeon yesterday (apparently the best in Western Canada) and
he was awesome. He knows more about GERD than my gastroenterologist,
internist and GP put together and was the first person to be able to
answer all of my questions! He restored my faith in our health care
system :) He is sending me for a repeat 24 hr pH, this time off meds,
and then a swallowing study, and then a repeat motility test in a year
to see if my esophageal motility issues are progressive. He is
concerned that I may have achalasia and doesn't want to operate until
he can be certain that that is not the case. (There is no impedance or
Bravo testing available here)

I have two questions that I forgot to ask yesterday:
1. Should I be taking supplements? He told me that the PPI and H2
blocker are interfering with absorption, and are playing a role in my
low iron count. I'm already taking iron and calcium, should I be
taking a B vitamin supplement or should I get my B12 level checked
first? This surgeon is the first doctor I've gone to that said this
was an issue, everyone else has denied it.

2. He said that I need to stay on the PPI (I went off of it at the
start of the month to try it) because I am having some symptoms while
off it (although I can live with them). He would rather I take the PPI
and be symptom free. Why would this be? He said I'm refluxing either
way, it's just not acidic on the PPIs. Does acid do more damage than
bile? Will acid reflux be more likely to cause motility problems than
non-acid reflux?

Thank you Howard for all of the information you give out on this list,
it helped me to ask specific questions yesterday, and to be informed
going in so that I wasn't shocked at everything I was told.

Amy