Reflux or What - Acid or Gas?
Posted , 3 users are following.
My apparent reflux started out of the blue over a year ago and is extremely debilitating. I mean very bad. Almost every time I move I get a terrible pain in my upper back between my shoulder blades and masses of gas (burping). It is especially bad if I do even mild exercise including a bit of walking and god forbid I try to bend as in sit on a chair and tie shoe laces. This has progressively worsened over the last year to a point where I can literally do nothing but sit around. I have had all the tests, barium meal, endoscope twice and Oesophageal manometry 24 hour test.
On my recent visit to the Gastro specialist department to my utter surprise the Oesophageal manometry 24 hour test showed very little actual acid reflux, certainly not the cause of my problem
I have a small sliding hiatus hernia but know others that have a similar problem that live pretty normal lives.
1. To be clear, my symptoms represent as a strong pain between my shoulder blades in my back.
2. After the barium meal, endoscope twice and Oesophageal manometry 24 hour test it looks like it is not actually acid causing the problem.
3. The pain is relieved by burping (a lot) which eventually stops the pain.
So the big question is: Can gas cause such pain and discomfort and if so how and why?
My mission is to find out exactly what is causing this problem and how so I can get back my life!
0 likes, 3 replies
nick64380 GreyS
Posted
Gas pain wasn't my issue, but I did have a lot of gas that was apparently causing reflux issues, which were subsequently harming my throat and sinuses. That said, I've read stories similar to yours -- that it can be painful, especially in that shoulder blade region. Either way, it sounds like it's definitely food related. Even though acid isn't your problem, your body is having difficulty digesting something (or many things) you're eating, which causes a buildup of gas. There are billions of bacteria in your intestines breaking down food that doesn't get digested in the stomach, so if you're eating things that spend a long time in the lower digestive tract, you'll have a lot of gas.
My suggestion would be to change the way you're eating and see if it relieves your symptoms. Personally a low-carb/low-fermentation diet worked for me, and there are many types out there like keto, SCD, FODMAP, etc. Others seem to have success with "real food" diets like paleo and whole 30. Others with diets that deal with specific sensitivities or allergies (autoimmune paleo, for example...or simply cutting gluten, dairy, nightshades, and other common allergens). Maybe try each of these for 3 or 4 weeks and see how you feel? Personally, my gas volume has gone done tremendously since I started eating low-carb, so my guess is that yours would too...but again, I'm not a doctor and don't pretend to be. Good luck either way!
debra27175 GreyS
Posted
Did they test you for Gallstones? or Ulcers?
GreyS debra27175
Posted
Hi Yes all clear. Really troubling problem, basically destroying my quality of life! x