Endoscopy appointment...scared!

Hi Lily,

Thanks for your response. I do hope it is nothing serious and I think I acted as soon as I noticed a change.

I do know there are sometimes serious problems with the NHS and I'm kind of hoping that the referral has been done quickly as I have had a good relationship with my GP and he knows I am a single parent so hopefully airing on the side of caution.

I know I need to just wait for the gastroscopy but it seems so far away and I'm struggling to find ways to distract myself from thinking the worst.

Could anxiety cause symptoms to appear worse? Also do you know if a biopsy is always taken when a gastroscopy is done or can reflux be diagnosed immediately. Sorry if I sound like a pain....trying not to worry too much.

Your post has reassured me somewhat. Thanks again Lily :-)

Hi Nicole, caught this just as I was about to log off for the night. (I'm in a different time-zone from you.)

Yes indeed - anxiety can make just about any physical symptoms worse. I mean really worse too, not just appearing worse. This is especially true of any condition of the digestive tract. You're almost certainly onto something there.

Whether or not they take a biopsy will depend on what they see. The signs of oesophageal reflux will be immediately visible, but they might well take a biopsy or two anyway, either from your oesophagus or your stomach. Again, it's part of the better-safe-than-sorry approach. Having gone to all the trouble of performing a gastroscopy in the first place, most doctors will take the opportunity of biopsying anything that looks even remotely unusual while they've got the chance. So if you're told after the examination that you'll need to wait for biopsy results, it's likely to be just a routine affair.

I understand that the next two weeks are going to seem very long. Just try and relax as much as possible, and avoid any food or drinks that you know make your symptoms worse.

I hope you'll get back on this forum after the test to let everyone know what happened. (There are probably at least a dozen others out their following this conversation.)

Thanks Lily,

I will definitely update as I have noticed a lot of the posts I was reading didn't have any follow up information which can be useful.

For example, I can't seem to find whether you can have acid reflux without having heartburn. I do get a dull ache but not necessarily a burning sensation.

Will update here once gastroscopy is done. Pray for me :-/

Hi Nicole, I have to say it puzzles me when I go onto medical sites and see the pain of acid reflux described as "heartburn". I suffer from it myself, and so does a friend (another former nurse, as it happens) and we're both agreed that the pain we get is nothing remotely like heartburn.

It could just be a matter of personal definition, of course, but the sensation I think of heartburn - and which I occasionally suffer from, like everyone else - is simply a slightly uncomfortable acid feeling in the stomach. Not strictly a pain at all.

My occasional attacks of acid reflux cause a very real pain (not a burning sensation) that extends up the mid-line of my chest into the lower part of my throat. Just occasionally, I feel it in the middle of my back instead of my chest. My friend tells me she gets exactly the same chest pain. In fact, in a recent conversation, we both admitted that when we first started getting this pain (35 years ago in my case) both of us thought we were having a heart attack! But that's nurses for you...

Incidentally, I've learned to control my own condition over the years without taking omeprazole, mainly by identifying the circumstances in which it comes. I used to get woken by the pain in the night, but I've long since put a stop to that by raising the head of my mattress slightly, and also by avoiding eating heavy meals late at night. And comical though it sounds, I discovered years ago that wearing my trousers too tight (vanity!) could bring on the pain too. This makes sense, as the increased abdominal pressure would tend to force acid up from the stomach through the leaky valve.

I too get that sensation you describe of a lump going down after swallowing, but usually only when I eat too much bread (or sometimes potato) and too quickly.

I'm inclined to agree with Madge/Chris that you'd have lost more than 5lbs if you had anything seriously wrong, and with you that your weight loss is down to anxiety and your reluctance to eat.

Look forward to hearing from you again once you've had your gastroscopy.

Hi Lily,

That is very helpful. The chest pain I get is more of an ache then a burn. Almost like a pressure similar to the tightness you may get if you try to run in a treadmill having not worked out for two years. I also seem to need to burp quite a bit but when it starts to come up it feels like there's fluid there so I let it go back down (if that makes sense).

I think the Internet is wonderful for forums such as this one but it also makes people like me who get very anxious think the worst.

Do you know if change in toilet habits (i.e. Loose stool) is consistent with theses conditions?

I do tend to feel everything going down including liquid but I don't know if I would describe it as difficulty swallowing because I can swallow, I can just feel it going down. Intermittently I feel a throbbing pain behind my chestbone (sternum???). It is not a crippling throb but its definitely a pulsating kind of sensation. Does this sound familiar to you?

Thank you both for taking the time out to help me understand what is happening x

That thing of fluid coming up in the back of your throat is something everyone experiences sometimes. Again, it's eating too much bread that'll do it for me. If you've got a hiatus hernia it will happen more often. Incidentally, when I started training as a nurse, more than 50 years ago, hiatus hernia was considered to be a comparatively rare, and very serious, condition requiring major surgery. A few years ago my GP told me that he reckons about three-quarters of the population suffer from some degree of hiatus hernia now! He puts this partly down to a change in life-style (overweight, less exercise etc.) but mainly to the fact that we only had the diagnostic techniques to spot the worst cases 50 years ago. In reality, hiatus hernia isn't usually a very serious condition. It rarely requires surgery (and even if it does, the surgery is quite minor these days) and can usually be controlled by life-style changes and drugs like omeprazole.

Don't get too worried about the simple fact of feeling things going down. Swallowing is one of those things - like breathing - that produces all sorts of strange sensations once we start paying attention to it! Ditto for all the other minor aches, pains and odd feelings we actually get all the time, but only start noticing when we get worried about ourselves. 

Not sure what could be causing the change of bowel habits. Severe acid reflux can cause slight bleeding, with the blood being swallowed. Digested blood can manifest as soft, dark stools, often described as being like tar. However, it's worth remembering that we all tend to get the runs when going through a period of anxiety.

Thanks Lily.

I will keep you posted.

Nursing 50 years ago! Wow. No wonder you sound so experienced. You are one of our unsung heros...

Called GP today. X-ray came back normal which is one relief. Receptionist said the doctor had put me on the two week fast track for the gastroscopy!!! I asked why but she wouldn't disclose what the notes said. She said it might just be to be on the safe side. Hmm.

I will let you know the outcome.

Hey Madge,

Thank you for your post.

I am so sorry to hear about your brother. I hope you are bearing up ok *hug*

I am praying it is something straight forward. I have only lost approximately 5lbs in total but I think that may be more to do with the fact that I do not want to eat and the lack of appetite may be due to anxiety.

I think my concerns that I've never had any issues with acid reflux before and the Internet hriws everything out including Cancers and I do worry regarding health issues, particularly because I have little ones.

I will definitely give you an update once the gastroscopy has taken place.

Thank you again and take care x

Hey B,

Thank you for your message. Just two more days to the gastroscopy. I'm trying not to worry too much as everyone has suggested. It is hard though.

It's refreshing to know others have had similar symptoms and concerns. The internet is our worst enemy as well as a comfort at times, put symptoms in and 'C' was the main suspect. Just the symptoms came from nowhere. I'm 35yrs (not sure if that's worth mentioning).

I am not taking the medication as I had to stop taking it in preparation for the gastroscopy. I'm glad I know that a biopsy will be taken I just hope I don't lose my mind waiting for the results. At least I know in advance. Hopefully they can give me an indication before I leave the examination room though!

I will update you after the procedure.

Thanks again.

N

PS: Sorry you have all of those! Propped pillows for you I guess x

Lebowski, Nicole has stopped taking omeprazole on her GP's orders. There's a reason for this: it's so effective in healing inflammation of the oesophagus that it can make everything look normal when a gastroscopy is done. That's fine, but the GP may then decide to stop prescribing the med to stay within NICE guidelines and keep costs down. It's a Catch 22 situation. It's true that a few doctors don't agree with this, but if I was going to put myself through another gastroscopy I'd want to make quite sure I wasn't doing anything to mask whatever condition I might have, so would stop taking it if told to.

With you on the rest of it. Especially the bits about it probably being a hiatus hernia and not researching symptoms on the internet unless you really understand what you're reading.

ah...just making sure she did it on GP orders...then it's fine. I was just warning her of not reading stuff online and making decisions. I actually did that after 1 week of taking...one night I felt my symptoms were more severe and like an idiot thought the meds were making me worse and stopped taking it

Just wanted to warn her not to be a complete bafoon like I was! Stress makes one do strange things.

Hello both,

Yes the hospital letter stated I had to stop taking the medication. Appointment was given in under two weeks so I'm a few days short of the two weeks it advises.

Don't worry about the odd couple of days, Nicole. That won't make any difference.

Thanks lily. I'm still very anxious about it.