Pain after endoscopy? Chest pain, discomfort swallowing

Hey! When did you have the procedure? I had my procedure on April 25th. The initial pain is gone (left after a few days) but my swallowing hasn’t been right since the endoscopy. They stretched my esophagus a little. I can still eat fine, but it just doesn’t feel completely normal. This was not an issue prior. I’m not going back to see the doctor who performed it since he will probably suggest another endoscopy. I won’t be doing that again. Also, the reflux “lump in throat” is much more significant since the endoscopy. Maybe that accounts for the difficulty swallowing? Who knows. Hopefully your symptoms will improve. Most people on here do improve with no further issues from what I have read. For some it has taken a few days and others a couple of weeks. I’m still hoping for more improvement in all my symptoms. Good luck!

Hi rad-bu I would like to know your natural remedies if they work. I have not thought about natural remedies properly until now.  Thank you 😊 and good luck 😉 

I am back to normal after about 10 days after the endoscopy. I used deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) from the 4th day. Not sure if it helped or not but definitely didn't do any harm.

Most helpful was the fact I tried to cut everything that could cause acid reflux. Also eat slowly and eating soft food only, like boiled vegetables, boiled meat and so on. 

10 days of having difficulty swallowing?

Hi, i know this has been so long ago but still i would like to ask and hope for an answer. How long till it got better completely?

Does this include discomfort even after drinking only water?

HI! was wondering how you're doing now with your pain? I had an endoscopy a week ago and still have chest discomfort when eating and drinking. Trying to eat soft foods. Has yours gone away yet? It's so uncomfortable!

Hi i had it a month ago. I somewhat feels better but i started having pain in my gallbladder and also occassional pain after eating. Anyway i wish i didn't have the procedure. It was a waste of time and money. The doctor still can't find out why i am having a stomachache. I hope you feel better soon.

I finally got better after a week. Still had some throat pain but at least I could eat. I asked my primary doctor and the staff at GI doc's office why he dilated my throat and put such a large scope down. GI office said they didn't know (nothing in doctor's report) and that I'd have to make an appt to ask the doctor (more $). I declined. My primary doc said the back of my throat was all scratched up. Real nice! Now that I'm back to normal I've vowed never to have this procedure done again on a routine basis (for GERD) and never with that same doctor!! Hope you all get better soon!! Time and lots of rest was what helped me.

Thanks for sharing! It's been a week for me and I still get spasms and have discomfort while drinking water at times. It's hard to know what to eat. I've read it can last a few weeks...that's going to be hard. 😦 It doesn't even feel like heartburn but I've taken some heartburn meds and they don't do much. I think though I have more of IBS symptoms and problems and am wondering if those contribute to the spasms too! No idea!

Glad you got better after a week! It's exactly a week today for me...I didn't expect anything like this and am not sure if I'm eating something that's still irritating it. Hard to tell. Maybe my lower part of the esophagus is scratched up too? Will just stick to my soft foods and warm teas and see what happens. I'm pretty sure my irritation is where the doctor took the biopsy since there's a specific spot where I can feel the discomfort/pain. I'll focus on time and lots of rest to help! Thank you!!

Hi Kim,

I don't have a lot to add, but am wondering whether the "soft foods" you mention include bread. Surprising as it may seem, bread - even without crusts - is very acidic and abrasive for an oesophagus that's mildly damaged in any way. "Sticky" foods like mashed potato can make things worse too.

The pain and discomfort will pass, but it just takes longer for some people.

Thank you! I'm having such a hard time 😦 I actually cut out bread after reading about it being an issue. But I did try some mashed sweet potato and that was a problem! Had no idea that could make things worse. I don't know really want to eat right now. I notice that warm tea is ok and some warm foods. It's been a week since my endoscopy. I'm picking up my report today but it looks like esophagitis is the diagnosis in the lower part of my esophagus from what they told me over the phone. So where my doctor took the biopsy must've irritated the area. I can just feel it in one spot. I've been put on Carafate for a week to see if that helps and have only been using it for 2 days. Thanks for your all help! I'm a mom of 3 kids and feel this is consuming my life and distracting my mind. I know I need to give it time and rest.

I hope you feel better soon! My doctor thinks I have IBS, but i think my pain is caused by gallbladder polyps. I think we know our bodies better than the doctors. Take care!

Oh, that must be awful, especially if you're having to cope with a family too.

Can you cope with scrambled eggs? (Without the toast of course!) Yoghourt is good too, especially the full-fat kind as that will act as an emollient. Soup should be OK, but you'd need to avoid anything with too much tomato because of the acidity. Some people swear by mashed banana in cases like this, but I find bananas give me indigestion at the best of times - though I think that's just a personal reaction. You could also try out the various pudding pots on offer, while avoiding any that contain bits of fruit (ditto yoghourts). I don't normally eat junk like this, but relied on it when I was going through a bad time.

It's just going to be a case of finding out by trial and error what you can eat for the time being, as we're all different. Carafate sounds like a good idea too.

I hope you'll soon be feeling better.

Yes, we definitely do know our bodies! But doctors I realize are only trying to help. At least most of them. I think I do have IBS symptoms but haven't been diagnosed with that. Thank you so much...take care too!

Thank you! Yes, I'll stay away from tomato and I think bananas do give me indigestion as well. I'm trying some smoothies and will try a veggie soup without any tomato. Probably chicken broth. I think you're right that I'll just have to try a few things and see what works for now. Thank you so much for your help! Just trying to make it through 😃

Hi, I had my EGD with dilation done 10 days ago as well. The first couple days were what everyone else is describing and then it was a bit better. Was having more of an appetite even. Six days after in the evening, I started to have pain in my upper abdomen, just under the center of my chest. The pain in the upper middle chest was getting worse but the pressure never really went away. Appetite went down again and it is going this way now. In the night, the pain between these two areas is really bad. Some moments I go into a sweat and come back down but I think this is due to anxiety (and just recently hitting menopause). I eat ok in the morning with the same swallowing difficulty but by the evening, it gets pretty harsh. I also notice that if I push myself with physical activity and lifting, it gives worse pain in the evening in the upper abdominal area. It's like an ache and sort of sick feeling (not nausea-maybe weardown) and it is pretty painful. It goes away by next morning, more or less but then repeats the next day. It's difficult for me to drink water and it hurts a lot but am keeping my 64 oz. Hate taking pills but I do it. I am also on Carafate now but had to wait for it to come in so only been on it a couple days. Don't see much difference. Still waiting on test results but will call the Dr on Monday if these keeps on over the weekend. Am pretty anxious about this and SOOOO tired of going through this every day. Also, I keep a lot of excess gas (the reason I went in as well originally) and the burping can be very painful; nothing I eat or don't eat seems to make this ebb. It's non stop but worse after noon. I can feel it hitting with the bubbles hard. When I walk, it will go on for about 20 minutes then ease. But will come back within hours non stop. I have a feeling this is causing more discomfort to the chest as well. Yup, I see similar problems with this but no one saying it gets a lot better, pretty anxious with all this.

Hi Kim,

how are you feeling now? I also have 3 kids, and this discomfort is driving me crazy.

hello, I would really appreciate to know if you have completely recovered, I'm freaking out after my endoscopy 5 days ago..