Hi, is constant heartburn related to anxiety???
I suffer with health anxiety, a lot!!! And having this constant heartburn isn't helping matters!! Can anyone help!!!!
I hope this helps, Laura. Your health anxiety could be related to feeling that you necessarily have to rely on drugs and doctors to remedy any physical problem. Our body has tremendous recuperative powers to heal itself if we just get out of the way. It's such a temptation to rely on doctors and drugs for too many situations. We often think that the answer will always come via these means. Often, matters are made worse. If I were you, Laura, I would resist the temptation to take drugs and use doctors for this and do two things. (1) Do nothing and see if the ailment will go away by itself. (2) Calmly figure out what foods are causing the problem to modify the present condition and for the future.
How long should I wait to see if it passes naturally? I'm convinced it's my heart which totally freaks me out and it just makes matters worse !
Hi Laura. I didn't realize that you were convinced that you had a heart problem. Often heart burn and heart problems have similar symptoms. I know you realize that freaking out about this isn't helping. Perhaps, this will help. If you haven't done this already, go to the internet and google symptoms of heart problems and see if this matches up with what you are experiencing. I know it will calm you down if the only thing you find is the heartburn. Other than that, I don't know what to do except to try and find a way of calming down. That in itself has the potential to do a lot of good.
Believe me I've googled symptoms of heart problems and apart from the chest pain which is in the centre of my chest I don't have any other symptoms, I keep telling myself if it was a heart problem surely I'd know about it by now ???
First thing in the morning I don't suffer atall but after breakfast it slowly creeps up on me, I'm trying to eat smaller portions to see if that helps,
Based on what you just wrote, it sounds to me that you are not suffering from a heart probelm. Good luck with what you are doing to solve this miserable afliction.
Thank you Dave for your advice and kind words , please can we keep in touch periodically so I can get some comfort ?
Yes unfortunately they are very closely linked. I take 10mg of Lexapro for the anxiety it has really helped. But I would try a natural alternative first like St. John's wort. I've been on med for 2 1/2 yrs and I want to come off but I still have reflux so I know I can't at the mo.
Dom
I am very glad that you appreciated my comments. I have had problems with periodic bloating and started to panic about having stomach cancer. I am pretty sure that it was the combination of anxiety and diet that was causing the problem and that I wasn't suffering from stomach cancer. Am well on the way to not having the problem anymore.
Will definitely keep in touch periodically. Good luck.
I bought some St. John's Wort but I read really bad side effects as it really put me off.
Have you tried Nexium ???
I feel for you as I know how you feel it's so suffocating, your words have been really helpful
Laura, know that you are not alone and big question. Just exactly r u eating for breakfast?
Yes I eat breakfast, I have porridge,why?
cause that could be why you r having reflux does it have gluten? If not try maybe digestive enzymes maybe you need help processing the food. Try to eat more leafy greens they help us produce gastric juices.
My physician says they are related. When I google it, It seems to reinforce that they are really related. However my doctor said browsing and comiing into contact with a wrong or erroneous information aggravates anxiety further. anxiety causes acid production and thus heartburn. Thinking about heartburn alot and not doing anything about it increases anxiety. vicious cycle really. Talking about it, connecting with other people with the same health issues helps if only to get some assurances that I am not alone and that others can live with such difficulties but there is no greater assurance that hearing it first hand from a medical practitioner.
Hi Laura
Yes I have tried nexium and other ppis. They didn't help me. In fact they made me worse!! I call them the devils drug. Everyone's on them and no one can get off them. I think the only people who should be on them are people with ulcers. They really need them. They made me more anxious, constipated and they can be chest pains. Plus I still had reflux and couldn't sleep at night!
I managed to find natural alternatives that help me live with reflux. But hey u r right the more we focus on something the worse it can feel. I had chronic low back pain for 18 yrs and I never sat down in evening I always lied down to watch TV but when reflux hit I couldn't lay down any more and I was forced to sit. My focus went away from the back pain and hey I don't get chronic back pain anymore. The pain wasn't in my head, it was very real but cos I focused on it so much I was creating signals from brain to back and almost keeping it alive thru my thought process. The mind is very powerful. Now what we have to do is focus a lot less on the reflux. There's always hope!
Dom 😊
Also I was on St. John's for 3 yrs and it worked very well for me. I didn't go on it for the anxiety because I had forgotten about St. John's wort. My only side effect was more pigmentation on my face!
Ok so I was fine when I woke up this morning, no heartburn so feeling good. I get to work and have some porridge and a coffee, maybe an hour later I start to feel the pain in my chest, it is not as central as normal it's more to the right and it feels like it's my right breast bone?? I've taken a gaviscon and a paracetamol to help with the pain, I wasn't feeling anxious to cause it but now I am feeling anxious it's making the pain feel worse?
What brought it on in the first place??? If I wasn't feeling anxious what could it be???
Hi Laura....it sounds you maybe having an issue with gluten. I think I'm the same. Porridge can be lethal to me so I don't bother with it. I try different things. Eggs and whole meal toast. No coffee for me but fruit teas ... yoghurts and fresh fruit etc..... go online and check some ideas out.im no expert but this seems to work for me and lunch I have tuna salads etc.... tbh if you start off with a decent gluten free breakfast you gotta chance to get through the day and as one of the above comments says the body can heal itself.anxiety and stress along with heartburn can go together but it's a bit chicken and egg syndrome.what comes first?????.i will eat anything to start my day off as long it doesn't cause me problems. For example I could eat chicken pieces and toast. Not everybody's cup of tea but I like it.always have some gaviscon handy to help you along or even Ranatadine tablets. They are cheap.shop around for cheap gluten free foods in supermarkets. There are some out there and eventually build up a regular diet. Stay positive and come back anytime for any more advise or chat.
Thank you, I had the most awful panic attack today I literally thought I was going to die!! My chest was pounding and I felt quite light headed. I took some bicarbonate of soda as that helps with my trapped wind and helps me burp, but an hour later I'm on the toilet with awful diarrhoea (sorry that's graphic)
My chest still hurts and I'm beginning to think it's not heartburn and that it's way more sinister, I felt fine first thing this morning and I'm sure I'll feel fine again tomorrow it's the hours in between that get to me!!! This has been on and off for 3 days!!! I'm sooo worried what do I do?