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Had upper gi endoscopy yesterday, a lot of chest pains now

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trisha68782
trisha68782

I had an upper gi endoscopy yesterday. They took 3 biopsies and stretched my esophagus. Thy did find that I have two spots of erosion in my stomach lining. But last night and today I am having a lot of pain in my chest. A little throat pain too but the chest pain is absolutely horrible. Very nauseous and have a hard time trying to eat. Ate scrambled eggs and man it hurts going down! Ouch! Also have mid back pains now too which I never had. GI doc says I just need to eat soft foods and take Prilosec. Which Prilosec causes me to be nauseous I think and it makes my heart palpitate and seem to be beating faster than normal. Doesn’t make my stomach or esophagus feel any better at all. But I’ve had the horrible chest pains before the upper GI as well. After the endoscopy procedure it’s sagnificantly worse though. Before it didn’t hurt to swallow food down. Just ached like heartburn in general. But now it’s super painful. Hoping it goes away soon! I’ve been eating low fat soft foods lately with not much relief. Scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and finely chopped up mashed up turkey how much softer can ya get? And applesauce. Anyone out there have any trouble with their upper GI endoscopy procedure? And how long did it take for your pain to go away? Anything help to ease the pain? Thanks in advance! Just stressed with all of this. 

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • lily65668
    lily65668 trisha68782

    Edited

    Hi Trisha,

    Please don't worry about this. It's perfectly normal, but doctors prefer not to mention this after-effect. (I'm a former nurse btw.) It's also normal for pain generated in the oesophagus and stomach to be referred to the centre of the back.

    Just carry on eating soft foods and you'll be OK in a week or so. Incidentally, I wouldn't recommend potato in any form at the moment, including mashed. Potato is quite a sticky food that often doesn't slip down easily. (Personal experience!)

    • trisha68782
      trisha68782 lily65668

      Posted

      Thank you for the quick response. I will cut potatoes out for a while. I usually only have some sort of potato once a week since I know the carb content isn’t the best for me. Trying to stay positive! Been drinking boost and ensures lately too since I’m not eating the greatest with the lack of appetite. Hopefully they aren’t doing more harm than good but I cannot imagine they would hurt. Not sure though.  
    • lily65668
      lily65668 trisha68782

      Edited

      No, they won't have done you any physical harm, I promise. Your symptoms are quite normal, particularly following stretching of the oesophagus.

      It's just the usual pig-headedness of doctors, most of whom would do anything rather than simply tell the truth to their patients! These boards are full of posts exactly like yours, and I've answered several of them myself.

      The crazy "logic" behind this attitude is that if you warn patients they might get after-effects from a procedure, then they'll immediately imagine they've got them. Ditto when it comes to side-effects of medications. Seemingly, they'd rather their patients flew into a panic, thinking they've been seriously harmed, instead of understanding what's going on and accepting a bit of pain as normal.

      This really will wear off, though it could take a couple of weeks following stretching. Just stay off the potato. Bread too - even if it's soaked in milk. That's another sticky food, and also very acidic, which could make you sore. Other than that, just stick to whichever foods hurt the least.

    • BettyE
      BettyE lily65668

      Posted

      Pity they don't allocate a bit more time to the psychology bit of medical training.

      There are many who prefer not to know and would probably choose a GA to have their toe nails cut if it was offered but there are just as many of us that feel happiest with as much knowledge as possible.

      I know they don't have time to do a personality assessment but I wish records could be flagged to give some indication of the type we are.

    • leo32501
      leo32501 lily65668

      Posted

      Hi Lily, I also had an endoscopy last week, they took about 10 samples and said a few came back barretts? I am a healthy 59 year old and have been feeling tight in center chest area and back...... kind of like i worked out to hard. no real pain just discomfort. When i spoke to my doctor he said he has done thousands of these with no issues and i should get checked out by my primary care doctor! I have been reading that this is normal? if so how long does it take to go away? Thank you

  • erica1980
    erica1980 trisha68782

    Posted

    Hi Trisha, yes I have the same pain in the chest. Sometimes it can take a few days or a week. It's normal. I have had this done about 15times. Every time is different for me. Hope u feel better.

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