Hello @stevetwarner and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!

I am sorry to hear about this irritating pain that comes and goes. When you have a chronic problem it is always good to get a diagnosis and an appropriate treatment plan. When neither is available it becomes frustrating, doesn't it?

Here on Connect, we are not medical professionals, just patients like yourself, who share our considerable health experiences with others in order to offer support and encouragement. With that said, It appears as if you have had extensive testing and lab work which is great. You have ruled out a lot of serious problems but I can understand your concern over not having an answer to your chronic pain.

Just a few suggestions, you mentioned some of the GI tests you have done but you did not mention having an upper endoscopy. That is where you are anesthetized and a tube (with a camera) goes down your esophagus and looks at the stomach and small intestine to see if there are any ulcers, gastritis, or esophagitis. Has this been done? If not, this might be a good test to ask for.

You also mentioned spinal stenosis and swallowing problems. I'm going to invite @jenniferhunter to respond to this discussion as she may have some ideas. She has had extensive spinal problems resulting from injuries and also had surgeries.

Also, I'm wondering if you have seen a neurologist? I mention this because it might be possible that the stenosis could be causing this pain as well as swallowing problems. I'm also wondering, given the spinal stenosis, if you have tried cutting back on some of the physical activity. Perhaps trying a couple of weeks of lower impact exercise and see if that results in a lower pain level. As I'm not a medical professional these are just some suggestions that come to mind.

Chronic pain, without a diagnosis, can be a puzzling situation and it takes a lot of work on the part of the patient to find a doctor who can put all of the puzzle pieces together. It often takes a lot of research and first as well as second (or even third) medical opinions to get a good answer.

I'd like to know how you are doing. Will you post again?