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GERD. My story
I am 22 years old. I don't smoke or drink. Growing up I can remember having a slight hoarse voice in the morning if I ate to late at nights. But never anything too miserable. It would go away within a hour after drinking water.
March 2011 on a Wednesday. I woke up with a hoarse voice that never went away. After a few weeks I started to get slightly worried so I went to my family doctor. I went 3 times over a course of 5-6 weeks and they had no idea after giving me multiple steroids and antibiotics that did nothing. I also had no pain in the beginning my throat didn't hurt at all. My only symptom was the voice. So they sent me to a throat specialist. (Audiologist) He did a throat endoscopy and told me I have GERD. He prescribed me omeprazole 20mg once a day. I changed my diet. I stopped eating hours before I went to sleep. I have never been a soda drinker, I am not a fan of fatty foods. The fattiest thing I like to eat sometimes is chocolate.. So I gave that up. I don't eat big meals. I have always been a snacker. But I didn't seem to get that much better so back as planned in 6weeks. He told me to start taking it twice a day. my throat started to hurt and become really sore around this point. I would wake up in severe pain, and it would hurt through out the day. I would take 2- 20mg omeprazole and I would also drink baking soda mixed with water whenever I couldn't handle the constant burn anymore.. I wouldn't drink the baking soda/water at the same time as taking the omeprazole. I made sure I did that hours apart from one another.
So about 10-12 weeks later my symptoms got much worse. It wasn't working. Nothing seemed to work.
So I went back to the doctor. They did another endoscopy and my throat is more swollen than the first. It's starting to swell up even higher around where my thyroid is.
I started having chest pains and it has become hard to swallow anything.
My heart rate gets insanely high in random occasions.
I feel a knock/thump whenever I swallow.
My throat is always hurting.
I am nauseous when I eat.
It's painful to eat or drink anything; I have lost almost 30lbs because of it.
So I have had a endoscopy twice now,
I got a barium swallow done and he told me I have acid reflux. probe test done,.,Blood work....How many more test need to be done?
I haven’t heard my voice in a year now. It's to the point where I am becoming depressed and I ignore talking to people. I ignore hanging out with friends, because if I talk to much my throat becomes incredibly sore to the point where I won't be able to sleep. I can't yell or whisper. I have one tone. If I yell then I’m pretty much out for the rest of the day because my throat hurts so badly.
I am thinking about going to the Mayo Clinic. Has anyone else been through this? Do you think they will be able to help? Could it be something else?
Im desperate.
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I have not gone through this but I am so sorry that you are. I think maybe to get an opinion from a good specialitst would be a good idea, to help you through this difficult time Take care Piglit
Thank you! I have made a few phone calls to other doctors in my state (Texas). Everyone is just amazed at my age. You have GERD from the time you're born then it goes away around 12 months. Then you have possiblities of getting it later in life (age 40+). So having it so severe in my early 20's seems just crazy.
I hope that you get the answers that you need to make you feel better. Take Care and let me know how things go. I have a condition called Factor V leiden and know one seems to have the answers for me either as to why I am experiencing ongoing problems with deep vein thrombosis.while taking a blood thinner I feel that it just a matter of getting to the right specialist to help you get on top of the problems that you are having. I have a good dr and a great hematologist to help me. I am sure that you will find a good specialist to help you and that things will look up for you soon. Please keep in touch and let me know how things go for you. Piglit
I definitely think you need to get another opinion and don't give up. I have personally gone through similar problems with my throat and did go to the mayo clinic. I have always had a very low hoarse voice even as a child. I had what I thought was a swollen gland in my neck that would come and go. Eventually it became larger and I noticed a delay in swallowing, like I had to think about it each time. Mayo did an MRI found a schwannoma tumor on my Vegas nerve. They removed it in 2003 and I had about a year of recovery but now my voice is better although there was damage to the nerve. Don't delay in seeing other doctors and asking to be referred on to more specialists. I was lucky. If I had waited I may have lost my ability to speak or swallow hard food. Trust your gut and good luck!
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1 ReactionWishing you the best treatment available!
Did you get the answers you needed?
I have had gerd for 5 years. My day time troubles are gone but my night time (empty stomach) pain still showes up every night. The Mayo Clinic treated me well but didn't help with the night time problems. You might want to check with a allergy specialist just to make sure, it might be adding to your problem since it is so high in your throat. Try thinking outside the box. It might not be all acid.
I went to a GERD specialist earlier this week. Since my ph as normal on my probe testing. He wants to to a Bravo ph monitor. It's the wireless device that goes deeper into my esophagous, that will monitor my ph for 48 hours. He doesn't think it's GERD. There is a very small amount of ppl that the gerd medicine doesn't work for. He believes it may be my gallbladder.
I know this is pretty basic but have you tried different kinds of medication for gerd? Maybe you are allergic to the one you take. If your gerd is not controlled by medication, you can also have surgery to tighten up the muscle.
You might want to research LPR. Dr. Koufman has a new diet book called "Dropping Acid" that may help your throat. I am experiencing the same symptoms. I am currently being treated for LPR. Hopefully, it will soon help.