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GERD issues
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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Thank you. Yes I have tried a few different medications through the last 4 years. Nothing seems to work at all. Now my doctor ordered me an Albuterol inhaler. Though she seems to think and I do too, that the wheezing that I do on exhaling is all acid related but my eosinophils were high on my lab work. And I do not have any allergies that I can think of that would be causing that. Unless acid reflux/gerd/ LPR causes you to have a high count. Not sure
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1 ReactionThat is a puzzling situation for you and your doctor, @helenaj1126.
I suppose you've made the lifestyle changes need to deal with GERD. I'm thinking of changes in diet, small frequent meals rather than large meals, meals that are low in fat and/or spice; weight loss (if it is needed) and elevating the head of your bed at night.
Are you seeing a GI specialist? It sounds like a second opinion would be helpful. If it were me, I'd seek this second opinion from a medical system that is multidisciplinary, like Mayo Clinic or a university health care system. If you would like a consultation at a Mayo facility, here is the website link with appointment information, http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
Are you nearby a Mayo Clinic or a university medical school?
Deal with shortness of breath & coughing daily since Stage 4 esophageal cancer surgery in 2021. It wears me out! During the 10 hr. cancer surgery, the valve between the esophagus and the stomach was lost so I have a 24/7 flow of Gerd and there is no remedy for this. The stomach was relocated higher up in by body which is uncomfortable to say the least. But I'm alive & dealing with these issues I'll have the rest of my life. As I've had lung cancer twice, I'm concerned about the daily hard coughing I do will damage my lungs even further. I do believe the SOB & frequent coughing are results of Gerd as I never had either problem or Gerd prior to my surgery. Seems pretty clear what caused these issues.
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1 ReactionIm hoping you have been checked for hiatus hernia. It can cause irritation of the lung in some cases ? Pretty easy to diagnose with a scan.
@helenaj1126 if you have high eosinophils, has any doc suggested eosinophilic esophagitis? That causes breathing problems as well as esophageal symptoms. My pulmonologist thinks I have it. I have been treating it without a formal diagnosis, for years, by swallowing an inhaled steroid. I spray it in my mouth, mix with a tiny amount of water, and swallow. Albuterol doesn't really help me.
I had all these symptoms, and was once diagnosed with GERD. The GERD diagnoses turned out to be wrong. I had a rare disease in my esophagus called achalasia which is often misdiagnosed as GERD. Achalasia also produces swallowing problems. This is the main symptom and it can get quite severe. If you have swallowing problems or ever develop them I'd see a gastroenterologist who is an expert in esophageal motility. There are the ones who understand achalasia. If your free of swallowing problems and don't develop this is probably not your problem.
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1 ReactionHi. Do sorry you’re dealing with all of this. Good for you for reaching out! I’m just wondering have you gone for allergy testing? Do you have a pulmonologist? As well as a gi Dr? I’ve had esophagitis for years. It definyely causes shortness of breath. I have asthma. So far it hasn’t caused me to wheeze or cough. But my surgeon say I may have a blockage in my esophagus. I’m going to gi motility clinic at uva for esophageal monometry testing. Is this something you’ve done yet?
I would try to get a wedge and put it under your bed and a wedge and you can buy it at Walmart or you can buy it on one at Kohl's. I got a wedge pillow and put it under my mattress that helps with my breathing and that helps with my coughing. Helps with my acid reflux. I bought mine on Kohl's. Online. Please get your coffee and checked out my sister did not get her cough checked out and 2 years later she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and this past fall she died from her cancer.
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5 ReactionsI find after I eat a lot of times along with herd I have SOB too.
Hello @phillygirl1000 and welcome to the Digestive Health support group on Mayo Connect. I see that you have GERD as well as SOB.
Would you like to share more about these diagnoses? For example, how long ago were you diagnosed, what treatments, medications, etc. have been helpful to you.
I look forward to hearing from you again.