Chest pain, Back pain, and various other symptoms for months

Digestive health
1

Hi all,

I'm a 26 year old male in the US who is currently waiting to see a GI for an endoscopy. But, I am looking for a little reassurance before the appointment.

Since the middle of Jan., when a really stressful moment in my life cropped up, I've been having chest pain, back pain, somewhat painful swallowing, and burping all throughout the day.

I tried a two week course of prilosec (20mg) based on my DRs recommendation, but that did nothing for me.

I saw an ENT last week and my throat/sinuses were relatively OK, but my sinuses are a little backed up and I do have some post nasal drip. I am on a steroidal nasal spray for this.

He wasn't sure what else was causing my symptoms, other than saying my mouth looked pretty dry and to drink more water. He said I should wait a month for an endoscopy.

Unfortuantely for me, this has been ongoing for the past two months. I just couldn't take it anymore, so my DR said she'd order an endoscopy for me and I am hopeful I'll get in to for that procedure soon.

In the interim, I am looking to see if anyone else has these symptoms:

Pain in center of chest

Pain in center of back

*These pains don't really come and go, but can be felt more or less based on certain movements and range in severity.

Constant dry throat feeling, doesn't even feel like it is "burning" from acid.

Dry mouth

Relatively constant burping, throughout the day

Lump in throat feeling (base of throat) most of the time, lesser so when I wake up.  It seems to start about 1 hour after I wake up and persist throughout the day.

Swallowing feels weird, maybe slighly painful, and sometimes I feel like I need an extra swallow to get food passed my upper throat area.

To be honest, this is scaring the heck out of me so I may be contributing to my own symptoms from being overly anxious.

Any feedback on what this all might be or does it sound like class gerd?

2

To add, I am overweight at 6'2 and 220 lbs. So, if it is GERD after the endoscopy I will work tirelessly on cleaning up my diet and losing weight.

3

Hi Ryan, new to this myself but I have pain in centre of my back and chest and it's related to GERD in my case. Good luck.

4

How often do you feel this pain, Angela?

5

Your symptoms sound like GERD to me. I have them every now and again. Many of these symptoms I had conStantly for for 9 months until I took ppi, lost weight and ate plain good. Different things can trigger different people. It's good to go back to basics and find your trigger food/drink.

6

Thanks Jokow, I have jsut confirmed my endoscopy for next Tuesday at 10AM.

It will be good to have a definitive plan moving forward.

7

Good, best to know what you're dealing with. I was diagnosed with peptic ulcers and gastritis. But after ppis and a change in diet, I healed up. Just have to be careful not to trigger again. Just a question, do you take any anti inflinflammation drugs if so, stop as they rot through the stomach lining. Good luck! !

8

Hello, sorry you are having so much unease, I am English and have had gerd for over 30 yrs I don't know for certain but your symptoms seems very much like acid reflux, it can cause all sorts of weird pain and sensations in the body, also ppl tablets can cause a dry mouth because apart from reducing stomach acid they dry up body secretions', I do hope your scope goes well for you, I know its not easy but try not too worry like I said after 30yrs I think I have experienced everything to do with gerd and I am still here but at the same time it does have a very negative effect on your life if it's not sorted out. I am in my 60s now so I have gone past caring but you are only young and have your full life ahead, good luck hope you get sorted out soon, take care.

9

I sometimes took an NSAID here or there after golfing or working out. But by no means was I religous about using them and only used them when necessary.  But, I will certainly not use them again now that I know there can do damage.

Truly, thanks for your comments, you all are really making me feel so much better

10

Joyce, you are too kind, thank you for your response.

I haven't been taking the PPIs after the two week trial, but that would make sense as to why my ENT thinks my mouth is so dry.  Good to know!

11

2 weeks is not long enough for the PPI to work. Mine tok about 4 weeks before I started to notice the difference. Also the basic dose for me was not enough and I have to take a much higher dose to be system free. 

When I had my last endscopy they also left a monitoring capsule inside me and I carried a receiver to monitor my acid levels. WIth the high dose I am taking I was back to normal which proves I need that dose. 

Diet can also play a major factor. I am symptom free but acidic drinks or too mich fizzy drink will set me off. 

If you have Gerd it takes a bit of managing and it isn't fixed by one pill. 

12

Good to know.  My doctor recommended just doing a two week trial to see if it helped (with the basic dose).

I'm sure the GI doctor will recommend a better plan once we know what is causing my symptoms.

13

It's mostly constant, Ryan. Had it for many years and just been diagnosed with erosive oesophagus and stomach. Should have dealt with it years ago instead of thinking 'it's only heartburn '. Best thing to get it checked then you realise that you have to change your diet. It's easier to change diet when you know you need to.