Hi all – I was hoping to find some advice or guidance on here regarding GERD. Just a side note, I am 28 year old male who is normal weight. I never have any symptoms of GERD, rarely burping or feeling indigestion. I might feel bloated once in a while after massively overeating and maybe heart burn 2-3 times a year that goes within a few hours but I have had this problem recently – here is what happened: 6 weeks ago I was eating with my family and was eating turkey bacon in pitta, I am not sure why but I didn’t seem to ‘eat’ them right and swallowed them without chewing them much. The bacon itself had a crispy edge and immediately my throat was hurting. I assumed I had scratched my esophagus. I also had the feeling of something stuck in my throat. However I also get that sensation when I take pills (this is the only time I burp really following swallowing a pill – I think it is swallowing too much air as I do not like taking them) I didn’t think much of it but the next few days my throat felt sore and when I swallowed it felt like there was a blockage under my right side collar bone. I tried having my back patted firmly and tried the coke trick (disintegrating a stuck piece of food) but nothing really worked. Swallowing was uncomfortable but not painful and I could breathe – I could just feel food going down my throat and kind of a fullness in my esophagus. Due to this I stopped eating as much and was skipping out on some meals etc. Since then there has been a range of symptoms: The pain subsided and it was replaced by nausea, dry mouth, a tickly cough and burping more often Then the dry mouth subsided and the nausea did a tad but I began to feel bloated after eating Then the nausea subsided and I had hiccups when I burp and loud stomach noises alongside pain (rarely) and bloating in gut. So currently I am either get satisfying gastric belching or these little internal burps that are accompanied by a hiccup.. I tend to get 3-4 in a row then stops. My belching seems to increase after eating food and if I move. I do not seem to get much belching if I am lying in bed. I I have read somewhere that this could be due to less pressure on the diaphragm? I also occasionally get this throat gurgle which sounds like air escaping up my throat but it doesn’t form a burp. I also get loud stomach/bowel sounds almost solely when I am lying down at night. Sometimes I also have a gnawing pain in my stomach but not often. I am a bit of a loss because even though I do eat my food very quickly but I cannot see how this would come on literally after one meal with no symptoms before. I have been under immense stress around this time and as someone with health anxiety I do wonder if the feeling of the food being caught in my throat has led to a vicious cycle of anxiety that has completely thrown off my digestive track. It is strange though as when I am with friends or more relaxed I do feel my symptoms somewhat lessen or disappear (not always but often). I had blood work and stool test done (to check for H Pylori) but everything came back as normal. I also do not believe I have a hiatal hernia. The doctor has put me on lansoprazole but since beginning it 5 days ago I do not feel any resolution of symptoms ( I know it can take time ) but there a slight nausea has returned. For the past 4 weeks, I have elevated my bed and I do not eat past 7pm now. I have little to no medical background but I can’t help coming to the conclusion that I do not have excess stomach acid. My main symptom is my belching. I burp when I wake up on pretty much an empty stomach. I feel that it is gas being caused by food fermenting in my stomach, so surely that would be indicative of low stomach acid? The doctor never saw me due to corona and just prescribed the PPI, I do feel it is a one size fits all approach. I do feel I should finish the month’s prescription though. I have started a low FODMAP diet but again, I am doing it more to give my stomach and gut time to get back to normal. I am not a fan of doing it even on a short term basis as I do not feel I have food intolerances and it is restrictive. To conclude, I do not think I have anything like GERD, Hiatal hernia, Ulcer due to the sudden onset. My doctor seems to agree and seems to feel the PPIs will just resole themselves but I am not convinced. I feel I scraped my esophagus with the food I was eating which led to me panicking over it, which in turn POTENTIALLY gave me an inflamed esophagus.. Which explains the pain swallowing and feeling of fullness. Then the stress from other reasons + anxiety about this issue has thrown my whole digestive system out of sync and it isn’t getting the time to recover and it has led to stress induced gastritis. Feeling a bit lost with the lack of ability to see a GI doctor due to the pandemic and feeling worse on PPIs So my questions: -Has anyone ever experienced similar symptoms and had a resolution? -I know PPIs can take a few weeks to work but I feel that I may be doing more harm than good – I do not understand how excess acid would cause belching? -Any idea why my journey of symptoms suggest I have?