Unexplained nausea/gagging and throat tightness truly related to GERD?

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Hello to everyone, i am a 19 year old guy and for about 3 months now (soon to be 4) i have had a very strange problem with constant nausea and gagging. Could this truly be related to GERD or LPR? 

This might become lengthy as i will try to explain everything in detail, but i would very much appreciate any thoughts. This interferes with my daily life and i am so frustrated with it. 

Before all of this started i was very active, not overweight at all.

I refer to my feeling as "nausea" because it sometimes feels likely that i am close to vomiting but more than often i actually really only feel like i need to gag and i usually do. 

I will list as many of my symptoms as i can before i get to the part about GERD. 

When this all started i did not experience any other real symptoms during the first month. But my "nausea" and gagging was very intense. i would gag during the day almost every 5-10 minutes and it would last for a few hours until it eventually died down, only to return without explanation during random hours of the day. It would happen regardless of what i would be doing and it would interfere with my daily activities. At first i thought it was related to eating, but later i realized i would feel it regardless of whether i was eating or drinking anything. 

I tried to ignore it for one month but then i couldnt anymore and decided to check it out at the doctors. I had an echo scan done on my entire abdominal area and i was told nothing appeared to be wrong in terms of swelling or lumps etc. 

Around this time i suddenly started experiencing a tight feeling in my lower throat, on both sides of my neck. 

Also a feeling as if something was stuck in the middle. I mostly felt it when i swallowed. 

I explained these things to a few doctors including my nausea and gagging but most of them said it was due to anxiety or stress. I was given antibiotics (amoxicilin) for my throat because i was told it appeared a bit red or irritated. It seemed to help a bit but the tightness remained. 

Eventually i kept checking and i was finally given multiple blood tests, urine tests, and even an upper endoscopy. 

All of these tests i was told returned with good results and nothing appears abnormal. I even had a biopsy done with tissue samples from the endoscopy and those returned with good results as well. I am constantly being told that this problem has nothing to do with my stomach, as all appears to be fine. 

About 3 weeks ago i started feeling better and worse at the same time. My gagging and nausea reduced dramatically. i would only feel it maybe about 2-3 times a day randomly with no explanation, but at the same time my throat started feeling a lot worse. The tightness increased and it would feel randomly itchy/scratchy. I then would experience a burning sensation in my throat and chest. The burning was terrible and after the very first night of experiencing it, i visited a throat specialist and she diagnosed me with GERD. I was prescribed a proton pump inhibitor. 40mg of Omeprazole. After that i didnt experience a burning sensation in my chest again. So yes, basically i experienced what my doctor thought was heartburn, but for literally one night only. I had never in my life, ever experienced anything similar or any form of heartburn and could basically eat any and everything i wanted. 

The itchy/scratchy throat lingered for a while longer though. 

So currently i am still suffering from random nausea and gagging. But it is very minimal and random. Sometimes if i relax the entire day, i can go 24 hours without a single gag or nausea feeling. But i notice that my nausea and gagging reflexes come on a lot stronger and intensely while i am active. (long walks, basic house chores, moving around for a while etc) after my gagging has subsided, and i begin to rest, i notice my body feels a bit shaky. only a tiny bit. as if it has been weakened from the gagging experience. But during my rest my nausea and gagging subsides almost completely for the day or until i begin doing more "strenuous" activities. 

Over the past 3 weeks the tight feeling in my throat has become a lot less. i definitely still feel it a bit, but it is not extremely uncomfortable as it was 2 months ago. I am currently on a second round of antibiotics as well, prescribed by my throat specialist. there is no more burning sensation in my throat either. 

The one other troublesome symptom i have (this one is the most uncomfortable and "painful") is that i cannot speak with a normal tone of voice for more than 20 minutes without feeling discomfort. If i continue speaking my throat feels suddenly very tight and contracted. My neck itself feels stiff and numb around all sides and there is pain in my throat area until i stop talking and rest my voice for a long time. 

So that is basically it. I am still taking the proton pump inhibitor medication, along with antibiotics. I havent experienced any other symptoms apart from everything i described here. I have no coughing, and i have never once actually vomited through all of this. My throat specialist says apart from some redness and simple irritation which is was prescribed antibiotics for, nothing else looks abnormal, no scarring, swelling etc. in my throat. 

These feelings are rather uncomfortable though, and makes me nervous at times since it has yet to be 100% confirmed what my problem might be. I was planning to take up my gyming activities again this coming month but i am nervous how i might feel since my gagging and nausea increase so much from simple activities and chores. 

If there is anything anyone can suggest so that i can look into it, i would very much be thankful. I cannot even speak to people at a meeting or get together without having to stop due to the discomfort in my neck from it. 

Could all of this really be GERD or LPR even though i have never experienced it any other time throughout my life? I have so many doubts about that and i worry at times if there is an underlying disease that i should know about. Doctors have told me the fact that i have never vomited throughout all this or experienced any form of bleeding is a sign that nothing is too serious at the moment, but i would like to figure this out before it might get to that point. 

Thank you to anyone in advance.

5 likes, 125 replies

125 Replies

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  • Posted

    When i saw your post i felt the need to sign up and reply. Hopefully you still follow this. If you are still suffering from these symptoms go see an ENT. They will put a scope down your nose into your throat. Its not painful at all, you are completely awake, they spray your nose with numbing spray and they can make sure everything looks normal while you swallow, breathe, talk. Also, see if you can get a CT of your neck attention larynx. Good luck, hope you are feeling better!
    • Posted

      Hello, thank you will do. Max do you also have these symptoms aswell?And ifso did you also get a ent? 
  • Posted

    OMG, i'm so glad i found this forum today. feels better to know i'm not the only one dealing with this. I've had a gagging problem for the past two years. initially was diagnosed with gerd and got better once i started changing my diet and taking omeprazol. i stopped my diet and all that and it came back to haunt me. I got worse and worse. currently trying to learn to be less anxious generally, and desensitize my soft pallet. 

  • Posted

    Holy heck, I have the exact same symptoms, especially when I go to the gym or have a hard day at work, nausea, itchy throat and that constant annoying cough gggrrrr!! My GP said it was anxiety or reflux mmmmmmm!!! I am about to google GERD and see what this is, very interesting forum thank you 
  • Posted

    I have these very same symptoms. Did things ever get better for you, or have you found out what was causing these symptoms?
    • Posted

      Hello, i still dont feel well but one thing i had done to lighten the symptoms to get by is i took promethazine for a week or two when it first flared up in april i almost died couldnt eat anything including water or sleep but promethazine helped for that first two weeks then i changed my diet dramatically i drink apple banana milkshake with oatmeal in the drink and blend it in the morning when i get up then i eat eggs 4 or 5 with bread make a sangwich out of it then lunch i eat beef rice no seasoning and alot of soup for lunch snd dinner but i also never eat again until i poop my last meal i i eat all healthy pure food no restarants anymore no junk food no frozen food i sleep with my head up with two pillows and extra blanket to prop me up this seem to get me by to now yet nobody knows anything i stopped going to the doctor but plan to go to see what more they can do later being im scared if this happens again makes me nervous but i still have slight gagging feeling here and there and my stomach feels wierd and pain always in my stomach side lower back 
    • Posted

      Also i eat alot of yogurt with almonds walnuts tuna sangwiches too
    • Posted

      Seems to help changing diet no more processed food no stress aswell its bad makes me flare up light food alot of protien 
    • Posted

      I am experiencing these symptoms too, it’s always a new symptom with me due to severe health anxiety, drives me crazy! 
  • Posted

    HI Jar0081  I'm so sorry to hear about what you are going through. My son is going through exactly the same. But this has been very enlightening because my son now knows he is not insane. He has been more or less swept under the rug.  His doctor has sent him to a psychiatrist because he has depression.  I wont give up on my son.  Have you had any luck with uncovering the condition.  Also have you had your thyroid checked, I mean the complete lot of blood tests not just the one TSH.  Sorry so many questions.  I hope to hear from you.

  • Posted

    I have experienced all of these symptoms for the most part after finding out I am allergic to  dairy,wheat soy and egg products. Nasal spray and allergy pills have helped me!!! Also prescription ranidine by my doc has helped that acidy uncomfortable/gaggy  feeling. I also recommend chewing gum when you get that sensation. I’ve found that when I eat too much corn products that I get this sensation EVERY time. Hope this helps !
    • Posted

      I was actually scheduled for a colonoscopy endoscopy and pH study done text week, but my symptoms have seemed to become more manageable.

    • Posted

      Hopefully everything’s ok. I only seem to get the feeling the more anxious I am. Seems to be ok past few days but that’s wince was at the docs. Sometimes that does take my mind of things after they tell me I’m ok.
    • Posted

      Hi,

      I definitely get the lump in throat sensation when I get stressed or anxious. I know that when I feel anxiety coming on the lump will come with it. I do get it after eating certain foods also, but mostly when I get stressed out. Then with the lump comes nausea, so it's really a vicious circle all the time.

    • Posted

      Yeah that’s exact same as me Carol, the more anxious I get, the more pains and aches also happen too. It’s just due to stress and when thinking about paint it makes them worse 

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