Next steps for being diagnosed - can you help?

I too have bad health anxiety, and I think mine escalated once I got reflux over 6 months ago...Mine started from overeating one night, sending me to the ER with intense chest pains, they ran tests on my heart all was good and sent me home telling me it could be gerd or acid reflux.....then a couple weeks later I developed this feeling in my throat that felt like a lump...it would go away if I ate something, but was horrible on an empty stomach......then a month later another episode with chest pain.....they then suggested I go for more heart tests, so I went for heart echo, stress test, 14 day heart monitor, all fine....then they did an upper abdominal ultra sound...all good, I started to develop upper back pain as well, it felt like burning pain, so I had an xray done on my back....and all was well....by the third chest pain, I went back to doctor and they said it is GERD....they did a blood test to rule out hpylori, and a fecal test which they found no blood......so they offered a 20 day ppi to see if I felt improvement, I get nervous about ppi's because it can go either way, you either feel relief or you feel worse.  I think it all depends what your ph levels are, if you have low acid the ppi's are not going to help......so I am trying to change my diet, I have lost about 5 pounds, and I stopped eating in the evening, I bought a pillow wedge at  night, which is not easy to sleep on when you are a side sleeper.....but some days I feel pretty good, but if I eat something that is a trigger, then it is back to the beginning.   My next tests I would have to have is a barium swallow, and or an upper gi endoscopy....I am a bit nervous of having this as my aunts father died having one done....I know rare, but it does happen...however, my anxiety is through the rough when I have a flare up because I always worry that its something more. .....which probably makes my symptoms worse when I worry.  Best of luck to you.   I don't think this is an easy thing to combat.

He was a perfectly healthy man but was having issues with reflux....my aunt and her sister brought him in and he died on the table.  A horrible day!  I don't think it was the procedure that did it, but the sedation.  Where I live they only do it with sedation.....this is a very rare occurrence, but knowing it can happen when you are a perfectly healthy person is a bit scary.  I will do the barium test first before the endoscopy....however if there was something abnormal showing in the swallow test, they would have to do the endoscopy, but I prefer less invasive testing first.

A barium test or they call it a barium swallow....it is done I need an X-ray room, you drink a barium substance and they watch it on a video type X-ray to see how it goes throughout the esophagus, you can also requested an upper GI X-ray where you drink more barium and they make sure it coats your stomach and esophagus this will show if there are any abnormalities causing the issue......if something needs further investigating then they would do an endoscopy, but why have one if it isn't needed.