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Hello all! I have posted on here before with my symptoms and they went away in November but now they are back with
avengence! Most of this started while I was pregnant with my son in April of 2006, and all the doctors told me they would subside upon delivery
(he is now 18 months old!). I am a 29 yo female, 5'3, 140 lbs., very limited drinker, social smoker, exercise at least once a week.
Anyway here is a list of my symptoms:
*Chest pain (pressure sometimes in the middle, but mostly under left breast)
*Left arm pain (mostly in forearm, sometimes in the bicep area and hand)
*Joint pain left side (fingers and toes)
*Swelling in vein on the left forearm (can actually feel it swell)
*Left-side neck pain (almost feels like it is in my lymph node)
*Left shoulder pain (almost feels at time like a pinched nerve)
*Lip numbness (most commonly occurs in the AM)
*Back pain (mostly left side, opposite heart and lower left hand side
*Leg pain (always the left but varies between calf and quad)
*Stomach pains (sometimes tender to the touch under the sternum)
*Dizziness (on occasion)
*Rapid heart rate (comes and goes...not necess. because of exertion)
Here is a list of tests done beginning April 2006:
*Chest x-ray (at least 5 done, last one July 2007)
*EKG (too many to count, last one July 2007)
*Echo (3 done, last one done July 2007)
*Stress echo treadmill (2 done, last one done July 2007)
*Stress thallium echo (July 2007)
*Tilt-table test (July 2007)
*Ultrasound carotids (2 done, last one done July 2007)
*Ultrasound of abdomen (2 done, last one done July 2007)
*Venous doppler of both legs (September 2006)
*V/Q scan (2 done, last one done August 2007)
*Holter monitor (wore at least 3, last one June 2007)
*Endoscopy (July 2007)
*Gallbladder scan (September 2007)
Here are diagnoses I have received:
*GERD with esophageal erosions (no Barrett's)
*Hiatal hernia (would repair but pointless unless I am finished having kids)
*Gallbladder function only 21% (removed September 2007)
*Vasovagal syncope
*Anxiety (this is one of my favorite diagnosis'...haha)
*ALL HEART PROBLEMS RULED OUT DUE TO HEART TEST RESULTS ALL W.N.L
Medications I was prescribed, but no longer taking:
*50 mg Zoloft (for the anxiety)
*10mg propranolol (for the rapid heart rate)
*625 mg Sodium bicar (for the vasovagal syncope)
*Klonopin min. amount as needed (for anxiety)
*20 mg Protonix (for the GERD)
*81 mg Aspirin
No longer taking any meds because the dr.'s figured all my symptoms were because of my gallbladder being inflammed. Does anyone here have
GERD or hiatal symptoms like this? I'm just looking for piece of mind at this point....just hoping it is not my heart! If anyone has any insight it
would be greatly appreciated.
Rachelle
Hello all,
i will warn you this is totally long winded, and i hate capitalizing "I" when i'm not at work, lol
i'm just shy of 33 years old, and have seemingly been suffering from most of these symptoms since elementary school. I have had a very
stressful life before and since then, and have survived only to realize the impact of such things on my body. Here are the things i am putting
together, and help me if you see it leading in the LPR direction...
*Always been overweight once i hit puberty (age 9), doc said it was stress from abuse causing that as well as heart burn and migraines (those
started around age 6)
*Could never breathe right (due to many things including but not limited to stress and being quite overweight by highschool) and if i excerted
myself or sang a lot i would have to constantly clear my throat to move the liquid from my lungs and still do to this day.
*Docs told my mom i had asthma but i was never actually given tests up until about a month ago which came back saying i had no such thing.
*Was diagnosed with Acid Reflux way back in the early 90s and after two pregnancies it got a lot worse (although the docs blamed the fact that i
tipped the scales at over 400# by that point which i know certainly didn't help the matter at all)
*Was on some med that made it better, but the only thing that actually helped was having the Gastric Bypass (RouenY) in 2003. My reflux was
gone for the first time ever although the diet completely changed. They left me with a much larger new stomach on account of my severe obesity
and nutritional concerns.
*Threw up a lot after the bypass, trying to get used to foods, and amounts thereof and eventually realized if i ate too fast, or didn't chew that food
got stuck and it killed me so i had to force myself to throw up and start over again which helped but i feel it probably has just aggitated everything
because of the frequency of doing such.
*But after losing the acid backlash for the first time in my life i could run, i could sing and i could feel comfortable in my own skin. My voice
honestly never sounded better (i have been classically trained in Opera) and I felt wonderful. (Not to mention i lost 280#)
*over time however my stomach stretched, the opening widened, and the reflux started again. In a matter of only 3 years i started not being able
to breathe which i thought was due to allergies from pets and environment but recent tests show i'm not allergic to anything at all. I also thought it
was due to me moving from sealevel (all my life) to over 5k feet in the deserts of the south west. but moving back to sealevel (currently Hawaii)
hasn't helped very much (although i can do housework now without fainting or seeing spots, lol) but now i've gained back over 70# which is
making me miserable all because i just haven't been able to breathe!
*i have been reading the posts here and its amazing to me how many of the things i just have been dealing with as "normal" for me is stuff that
everyone is just newly finding hazardous to their happiness. And so much of my health annoyances in my 33 years are actually all linked through
this one disorder!
*my ENT thinks it is a combo of a few things including possible collapsed sinuses draining constantly, acid reflux aggitating my lungs and also the
rest of my tracts, and some kind of vocal chord disorder. So asthma and allergies are ruled out, i just had a CT scan of my sinuses to see if that's
it (which might be since i always have seemed to suffer from at least one side of my nose to be blocked and interminable post nasal drip/sore
throats/swollen glands/gag reflexes/swallowing problems) and i am going for a battery of tests but i don't think anyone has even really thought of
LPR...
*and one other thing, that whole esophogeal spasm thing, if it is what i am experiencing it feels to me like my heart skips a beat really hard and
then is falling down a flight of stairs for about a minute and then goes away and is all random and never seemingly triggered by the same thing
twice... although my tests ruled out heart issues it could just be random palpatations, i dunno...
***sighs***
all i know is that i wish i could get the gastric bypass over again because honestly it was the only thing that EVER made me feel better... of
course, making the stomach tiny gets rid of all the acid, so understandibly the issues would cease too, at least for a little while...
what really makes me sad however is that my two children (10 & 11) are starting to suffer from heart burn and breathing issues (and they're fit
and healthy otherwise) so i'm desparate to figure all this out before it makes their lives worse too...
sorry for how long this is... i'm sure it's a novel... and if you made it this far you get a hug!!
~Emmy
Hi my name is Debbie, I am 49 and have been taking Nexium 40mg for approx. 6 years. I stopped taking it a week ago and I am
experiencing extreme acid reflux, burning, hicupps, and having a hard time eating since throat hurts.
I briefly read through the forum and noticed other people have said that reflux would be worse after stopping nexium, is there anything I can do to
help me feel better other than stepping in front of a bus?
thanks for any help
Deb
This may be a little long, but please read, this explains my whole story. In need of help, and very curious if anyone else in this
world is experiencing these problems that I am having.
For the past five years, I have been going through the worst heartburn/indigestion/gas issues of my life. The medication that I take pretty much
takes care of the heartburn part, but I never seem to escape the billion pounds of gas in my stomach that can never been relieved (even with
hundreds of burps)!! Most of the time it feels like I cant’ breath, like someone has there hands around my throat, which makes everything
in life hard. I have seen numerous doctors and specialists, and have gone through almost every possible procedure to try to render a concrete
diagnosis that has not been found. I have also tried EVERY over the counter medication there is known to man (sometimes in dangerously
excessive amounts)!! It all started out with (of course) the heartburn and the bloating; I went to see my family doctor who in turn prescribed
Nexium. At first it worked really well, no problems; but after about a few months, I seemed to become immune on the drug, and it didn’t
work anymore. I went back to the family doctor who ordered me to get an upper GI barium test. This of course did prove I have acid reflux
disease, but no other apparent problems. I continued on the Nexium for a little longer and still no improvement. Again, went back to the family
doctor, practically begging, and telling him that this isn’t working. Needless to say, we tried about 3 other types of prescriptions (Previcid,
Acifex, etc., etc.).
After much frustration, I ended up switching doctors. Told my new doctor everything that I went through and he ordered and upper GI
endoscopy. I went back on the Nexium since that was the only medication that gave me little relief. The upper endoscopy showed nothing, and
the specialist, pretty much shoved me out the door, and prescribed me with an IBS medication, when I do not have many symptoms of IBS. I
probably would have stayed on the Nexium, but my (so wonderful) insurance company decided to deny my prescription (due to the lack of notes
with my family doctor). The insurance company wants you to try every possible other prescription before Nexium because the cost is so high,
about $400.00 a month without insurance.
Again, much more frustration, I tried more alternatives, changed more in my diet, tried not to stress out. Nothing seemed to work. Went to see
my family doctor again, he sent me to see another specialist. This time, it was one that concentrates more on the lower GI tract. At this time, but
doctors believes that a bacteria must be causing this, if nothing else is working. He did not believe that it is due to swallowed air because that
tends to be more in patients with asthma or respiratory problems.
So, I went to see this doctor (latest one). He ordered me to do a stool sample, and a genetics test for Celtic disease. I did get some results
back, according to the results of my stool sample, I have a bad bacteria (Pseudomonas Aeruginosa), which the doctor told me could only be
contracted from hospitals or nursing homes (and I have never been hospitalized, but I have visited nursing homes before). He also indicated that
I have no GOOD bacteria whatsoever in my stool. The Celtic disease results only indicated that I have only few of the indications to suggest the
disease, but it could not be specifically determined.
He gave me some natural supplements to remove the bad bacteria from my system, and replace the good. 2 months later, no improvement.
The specialist told me the only step left, if the supplements didn’t work), was to try the diet for Celtic disease. This means I have to cut a
lot of food items out of my life. But I have realized over the 5 years, that it really doesn’t matter what I eat, I still always feel the same
way. Of course some things will make it a little worse (i.e., tomatoes, tomato sauce), but it always stays constant.
I feel like I am at a dead end here, with no where to go, and sometimes I just want to crawl in a hole and die. And it feels to me that there is no
real urgency in the science of gastroenterology. I always get the sense (anytime I see a doctor), that they feel I am making it up, or it is not
serious, but it is serious to me!!
Please provide me with any feedback you might have, you any experiences. I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank You, and Have a Great Day.
Is anyone taking Zegerid (omeprazole, sodium bicarbonate) and getting higher blood pressure, anxiety, stomach burning ?
Now, I have been taking Zegerid, for 6 months, and this has all just started within last couple of wks, so not sure if it is the Zegerid or not.
I'm sorry if I'm not supposed to do this but this is kind of a cross post since the 2 most likely things for me were Acid reflux and
thyroid dissorder. So here it goes.
I know that in the initial exam they can't tell much but I'm still very stressed out.
I have been complaining about the feeling of a lump in my throat and tightness for about 3 weeks that comes and goes. If I ignor it it stops
bothering me (No trouble eating, drinking or breathing...actually eating helped.) It showed up after an infection in my tooth. I have ALL the
symptoms of GERD. I also have a large thyroid nodule in my neck in about the same spot that has been there for 15 years but never really
causes issues. (It's been tested over and over with the same results.....large benign nodule) The nodule IS growing or at least has grown a tiny
bit over the years.
Well, the feeling of a lump just dissapeared over night and has been gone for 2 days.
The doctor after a physical exam told me she believes it is a combo of my thyroid being enlarged and acid reflux with post nasal drip. She gave
me Prevacid and Dytan and ordered a sonogram (or ultrasound....I don't know the difference) on my nodule.
Today after I left my throat became very sore and scratchy with the feeling of the lump coming back a little bit but a little lower then before. She
didn't DO anything to it, just look inside. Right now I feel fine, the lump and soreness are gone....I feel a little like I'm coming down with a cold
maybe.
Here are my questions and concerns
1.she did not order an endoscopy like I expected she would. Should I call her back and ask for one?
2.Does her assesment sound right? or at least the most likely cause.
3. If I had something REALLY scary (Throat cancer)would the symptoms come and go?
4. If my nodule has grown can it cause sypmtoms like mine? (more of a question for the thyroid board)
I REALLY need some answers....I'm very scared.
I had an upper GI Endoscopy with dialation done yesterday late afternoon. They also took a biopsy of a polyp that was found in
gastrict fundus.
I am feeling a sensation of a lump in my throat and some pain when swallowing. I am having a hard time getting a hold of the Dr. that did the
procedure (naval hospital). Is this normal or should I be concerned?
Hello, I am new to this site. It is good to see so many people trying to help eachother to overcome this awful condition, in my case
I have LPR, diagnosed after many months of various other suspicions (sinus, allergies etc.)
Anyhow, I have been on various PPI's for a couple of months and have seen some limited improvements, about to trial Nexium, which is not
considered, or so it seems, to be a big deal here in the UK, but I have heard so many good reports about it that I thought it might be worth
switching from Zoton which I am on now.
I am also looking into complimentary medicines, have started a course of accupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The accupuncture
does help a little, at least in making me feel better overall, but so far nothing significant.
Has anyone else gone that route as well? I have also seen a hoemopath who highly recommends Acidophilus Priobiotics as being beneficial.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you all.
I was recently diagnosed by my internist as having LPR. My ENT does not dismiss this, but thinks that my symptoms are due to
anxiety. I had an allergic reaction to ampicillin in Dec, and since then I've developed LPR (after three more rounds of antibiotics and prednisone
each as they were trying to diagnose me).
ENT thinks that once I had the allergic reaction with minor throat swelling, my body now perceives my throat as its weak point and all my internal
stress is being felt in my throat. I would like to believe this rather than believe I have LPR. However, he would like me to try four to six weeks of
Xanax to see if my throat pain and globus go away.
After reading a few threads, I am reluctant to try the Xanax for fear it will make my symptoms worse. I have no doubt that I have tons of anxiety
from the LPR - I am in complete hell.
Has anyone else been treated for the anxiety aspect of LPR? With Xanax? If so, has it helped. I am curious to hear the experience of others.
BTW, I have been on Prevacid for two weeks. Although my breathing is better, I still have a sore throat and feeling of a lump. I have not eaten
solid foods for over three weeks due to difficulty swallowing. My ENT thinks that I should have had relief by now from the Prevacid - giving him
reason to believe it is not LPR. My internist said I may not feel relief for two to four weeks. Any thoughts?
My son has acid reflux. Lately after he eats, if he coughs or sneezes he throws up. Is it common to throw up easily with acid
reflux?
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