GERD? Sick for 6months, please help!
Posted , 9 users are following.
Hi everyone,
I'm 25 years old and I was sick for couple months already, which I have tightness around my neck at first, but then it started to move to my chest, and I'm frightened that something serious is happening to me.
Here are the symptoms:
Talking difficulty
Pressure around my neck(which caused the talking difficulty)
Pressure/pain / heaviness behind sternum
Pressure in my left chest
Always tired
Dizziness
Regurgitation
The weird part is the pressure only happens one spot at a time, which it feels like the pressure is moving around from my throat, then my sternum, and my left chest( which is right under the collarbone).
Tests I have done so far:
Xray(which came back clear)
Nose throat endoscopy(came back clear as well)
The doctors said it is caused by anxiety /upper respiratorya infection, but they doubt it is GERD because I feel better when I lie down and taking hot shower. However I'm not convinced.
Meds I'm currently on:
Gaviscon advance
Tylenol
Omeprazole
Some kind of inflammatory Meds
None of the medication actually relieves my symptoms and I'm scared I'm going to die.
What should I do?
1 like, 30 replies
papote53 marc0213
Posted
It sure sounds like reflux to me but don't worry to much or anxiety will make it much worse. I have double your systems and I don't believe I'm going to die. ;0)
You said Nose throat endoscopy, was this done by an ENT or GI?
Why are you taking Omeprazole? Did they check your stomach acid levels? If not, just because you have reflux does not mean you need PPI's like Omeprazole.
Melissab1985 papote53
Posted
Hello papote53!
I noticed you said that you have double the symptoms he mentioned? I'm guessing that you have gerd as well?
And also can you explain all your symptoms that you get with it? I just would like to compare is all and I'm sure it'll also help Marc feel a little more relief knowing if we all share similar symptoms and we've been diagnosed officially with gerd, or at least I have anyway. Thanks
papote53 Melissab1985
Posted
Yes, I have GERD or better known as LPR. When the reflux does not stop at your chest and goes up to your nose. But yes, I have all of his symptoms plus rib-cage and upper back pain. What I don't have is Regurgitation. Now, the pain and pressure is all day long except when I sleep. It starts mild and goes to moderate during the day and gets worse when I stand, walk or even talk to much. First they said it was anxiety, then COPD, then Asthma, then mild gastritis, then mild reflux on my esophagus, then my gall-bladder which they removed and now after 3 years and getting worse they think is my upper back and the nerves. Now, I have never taken more than 2 month's of PPI's because one of the test (bravo PH) showed I had normal acid levels even if the GI's said that was the reason for my pains. Before the back they said (functional medicine) it was gluten sensitivity which 2-3 months on a grain free/ fodmap diet did nothing for me. Now on Gluten free diet, no improvements at all. ;-( Well, soon I will get my back seated MRI report, which they said it is the last of the line for me. I had all the test medicine and functional can offer and still no answer even if functional Doc belief is the grain which they said I need to be on the diet for 4 years to know if is actually the problem. Sorry for not helping much. I'm looking for an answer myself. ;-) But posting here help others but don't forget we are all different. ;-( btw, I also wasted $3200 cash money on the functional and chiro because they also said it could be a vagus nerve problem (which it wasn't) They did find some moderate conditions on my neck but the neurosurgeon said it was not hurting me so he disregarded this as an option for my pains. ;-( I believe in God so I have faith I will get my miracle. ;-) God Bless!
Melissab1985 papote53
Posted
Hey papote53,
Wow sorry to hear you have to go through all this. It sounds very unpleasant.
I hope it doesn't make your life miserable at all. I know that when symptoms are at my worst they sure make my days pretty hard.
I do notice also that i get the pains everyday all through the day like you. Mine are sharp pains that mainly are in my ribs also. I get them in the center of my chest and shoot up through my shoulders and neck sometimes too, but most common is lower ribs especially on left side. I do get alot of post nasal drip as the acid bothers my sinuses alot. They actually make my nose and eyes burn now and then. Unfortunately I've been taking the omeprazole for about 10-11 months now everyday 20 mg so when I try to stop for even a day the rebound acid is unbearable. So I'll have to wean off of them slowly. I'm going to try to cure it as much as possible with diet and exercise, as I heard losing weight helps with it too and I'm about 30 lbs over weight so need to anyway ha. Never did lose the baby weight from a year ago due to all the problems Ive had since and haven't had the energy to try to. I also don't want to go on like this forever either, amd heard the longer you let it go on without doing anything about it, the harder it is to get rid of. So why not start, got nothing to lose but some extra pounds hehe.. oh amd by the way... 4 YEARS!! That's a heck of a lo g time to find out if it's from grains geeze. I fid that a little hard to believe it takes that long. I've tried the cutting out gluten, soy, wheat, and grain thing too, I'm actually still doing that. But I just started two weeks ago. And I feel no difference either. Plus I had a celiac test for gluten intolerance and all food allergies test done, amd I came back all five e and dandy so I don't think it's food triggering mine. I think it's the crap diet I've been eating for a year and the surgery and mono I had back to back, the the 4 rounds of antibiotics I've had to take in the last 6 months due to bladder issues that has made and kept my gerd. So I've destroyed my gut flora I believe. So I'll try to restore it as best I can and see if that helps so I can wean off these awful PPI's and try to FINALLY get back to normal. Thanks for your feedback I found it actually helped with knowing it's not anxiety or something causing these symptoms and is actually the gerd. I really hope you start feeling better soon and find what's going on and start working on resolving the problem because it's really no way to live. Good luck. And keep me posted if you find anything and how your doing! Have a great night!
Melissab1985
Posted
Sorry about all the typos papote53! I didn't spell check before I sent that, I should have now looking back. Hopefully you understand what I meant
papote53 Melissab1985
Posted
Thank you Melissa, no worries about the mistake. I make many mistakes on all my postings but I know who ever is reading will understand is a mistake. ;-)
My problem started 3 1/2 years ago and I actually lost 60 pounds (under weight right now) because I started to eat less salt, pizza's and burgers which I can't eat all at right now. The last 2 1/2 years all my blood test have been perfect so basically Doctors think is all in my mind. They even said I have to get a psychoanalyst because they believe is a trauma I had when I was little and my brain is blocking the memory so I do not suffer. But, they also said it blocks the memory but not the illness that comes with it so your body actually gets sick with real pain. The funny part about this treatment is that it also takes like 4-5 years to improve (if it is the problem) and then you have to deal with the memories of what happened so for me this was not an option. I also had some generic test done ( yes, more cash) and that is when the Gluten sensitivity and Celiac Gene showed. I was told 50% of people have this but don't know it and that is why we get sick with no answers. (sure, I know it and I'm still sick) My regular Gi's ( I have 2) said that I do not have to worry about Gluten because the test they did showed nothing, including the Celiac but as we all know generic testing is much more detailed and will show things a regular blood test will not show. But again, what good I got from this when I did this diet with no improvement? ;-( Plus, only 1 of 35 with the Celiac Gene will actually get the disease.
I will remain Gluten free for the rest of my life, but not grain free. I'm also 95% dairy and sugar free and I actually only eat a minimum amount of grains limited to gluten free bread and rice.
What makes this so hard is that all these changes and I'm worse. ;-(
20mg of Omeprazole is not so bad, you can always try extending the hours. So if now you take a pill every 24 hours you can start by taking one every 26 hours for 2 weeks and then every 28 hours and so on until you take one ever 2 days and then one every 3 days. Have you try changing to Zantac at night instead of Omeprazole?
Melissab1985 papote53
Posted
Aww that really sucks papote
that you have made all of these changes for the better and ended up worse. I feel very bad for you. Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried taking probiotics and prebiotics? I heard taking both of those together help some people and have heard it actually cured some people. I've been taking both for the past week so far, so we'll see if it makes a difference.
and no I actually didn't think of cutting back on the omeprazole like you mentioned, that's actually a very good idea and I will definitely try that way now. Thanks for that! It sounds much easier than the way I had planned on doing it haha. I was going to take the capsule apart, and every couple weeks pour little by little of the tiny pearls inside of it out until it's cut down to nothing. But your way sounds much easier. Yea my docs did an endoscopy through the nose, said my esophagus is a bit red and looks irritated so told me to take them daily and it will cut back the acid and make that go away. Well I just had a second endoscopy done about two weeks ago again. And still red and inflamed, and my throat is actually swollen in different spots now. So it must not be working that we'll right. And this sore throat that I had when it first started, still to this day 14 months later, is still there everyday. I just hope it doesn't get worse and some day turn into barrets. I'm 31, and my whole life have not had a very good diet unfortunately, ate pretty much whatever I wanted, and have never had any issues like this at all, just your normal occasional heartburn thay everyone gets. And I didn't get it often at all either, maybe at most 5 times a year. Once I got pregnant and the end of 2014, I've had it pretty much everyday and hasn't gone away since. Just don't get how it can come on so suddenly and be so bad like this for this long. When you've never had problems with it before. I don't know. I guess there's much worse things out there than this and I shouldn't be complaining, but some days it's just horrible.
I've heard there's some good books out there by doctors and nutritionists that have some good diets and home remedies for acid reflux sufferers, maybe we should try that. Couldn't hurt.
Also, just curious, when yours gets really bad, the symptoms that is, do you deal with it well? Do you get anxiety at all from it? I seem to get it when my symptoms are bad for some reason even though I know what it is. Maybe because I get symptoms that aren't typical with it, like muscle twitches, and my neck and face mucsles get this really weird slowly tightening pressure feeling, and it will tingle with it. I also get this very out of it dazed feel in my head. Those are the ones that get to me a bit, because even the chest pain and pressure and hot sensations on my skin don't even bother me. Anyway I'll stop rambling :-D
unlucky63610 marc0213
Posted
Hello marc sorry to hear about your symptoms'
I am facing the same problem or may b more worse then you..i feel left side chest tightness and feel like my heart stop beating...before i feel my heart escape beat now it feel fine some time i feel but its mild thats why i didnot have panic bcoz of that....i burp alot 6 years ago i do gall bladder surgery there is polyps in my gall bladder biopsy is clear....i go to different docs and its more then 30 docs medical specialist,cardiologist,physcian,gastro doc.. test i have done till now is...16 ecgs 15 was clear one show heart beat pause u call it my heart beat is little bit slow my cardiologist do 24 hours heart monitor holter ecg which was clear...2 heart echos,tyroid test,typhoid hepatites test,complete body blood test 3 times,stool test 2 times,ultrasound 3 times,urine test,cbc test,illergy test,chest x rays 4 times,endoscopy,colonscopy all of that is normal i m our weight and have little bit high cholestrol .......beside that i have constant burping problem i burp almost all day specially when i am working when i come home burping will stop...i use lot of medicine for my reflux omperzole esmiprazole lansoprazole nothing help me i talk to my doc here in japan about reflux surgery but in japan they didnot preffer surgery.....some time i feel hot sensation in my left side chest.........i have panic attacks and also anxiety plus reflux problem..i m 30 years old and my gp currently put me on proponolol 10 mg 3 times a day lexapro 20 mg once at night time and one tabket for my reflux dont know about the nane bco its in japanese...now also i feel heaviness in my chest but i didnot feel any panic bcoz i think if its heart problem it kill me bcoz i feel it from. 4 years ... Just b patient there is nothing serious and try to not discuss ur problem with every one bcoz no one will understand u and they will think u r pschyco....and also dont google ur symptoms dr google poop out some thing bad to u just try to relax and try to. Figure ur reflux problem once it settled every thing will become fine
marc0213 unlucky63610
Posted
Appreciated . I tried to share what I'm feeling to my friends and like you said, they think I'm crazy hence I only Google and come to forums like this one to talk about my problems.
I'm sorry what you're experiencing as well. It must be tough to go through all the tests and Meds. Did your gp figure what's the exact problem is causing you all those pressure and pain?
I wish you the best of luck, I believe you will get better and healthy again one day as long as you have faith.
shayla81596 marc0213
Posted
Hello! To anyone following this discussion can I get some help?! So I have acid reflux and was in omeperzol but ran out about 2 weeks ago. I thought I was doing okay for the most part but I'm really starting to feel like I can't breath. I do get regurgitation and I noticed the short of breath happened after I ate half a jimmy johns sandwich idk of that was just too heavy for me to eat or what? I also have anxiety and I am having a hard time with thinking what this might be! Can acid reflux make u feel like you can't breath? Especially where I ran out of my omeperzol and haven't been sticking to small portions of food I don't think it's anxiety where it's been basically all day! Any help would be greatly appreciated 😊
marc0213 shayla81596
Posted
Hello Shayla,
I'm sorry about what you're experiencing , I have pressure and slight pain on my left chest when I deep breath but never had any troubles about shortness of breath.
I think it is GERD related because GERD can actually lead to shortness of breath which is also known as dyspnea, basically it's the stomach acid runs up to your vocal cords and airways.
You should visit your gp again and get it checked, also I think it would be a good idea to monitor your own diet, make sure you eat small meals and avoid the food that irritates you.
I'm currently on gaviscon extra strength, also combining with a diet that avoids fatty foods and citrus fruits, which I feel like it's working so far. Be sure to eat more leafy greens and fruits, banana is my personal favourite because it is also known as a natural antacid.
Oh and make sure you relax and stop focusing and worrying about it too much, because like everyone in here said, anxiety only makes GERD worse.
shayla81596 marc0213
Posted
Hello Marc!
Thank you for your reply! I also get that pressure as well mainly with deep breathing. I've noticed the shortness of breath came on mainly once I stopped the omeperzol so I might need to get back on it. Is dyspnea serious?
My eating habits were a lot better when I was on omeperzol and once I started to feel better I guess I took advantage of that and indulged in some yummy food that I had been missing out on for quite some time lol
I'm hoping that's all this is, but will get it checked up on asap!