Scary symptoms - Acid Reflux / GERD Message Board

MovieMkr00 · 12-28-2004, 10:41 PM

I am hoping this is related to heartburn of some sort.
I am 34, overweight and have a strong love for the spiceiest
food known to man.......which I have mostly given up the last
couple years. 5 years ago I started getting stabbing pains in my chest
at night and was crapping my pants over it. I went and had a CT scan
and it came out good. The doc said it was probably heartburn. I stopped eating the crazy stuff I was putting down and it pretty much went away with a few episodes. Lately it has come back and seems worse, I acctually called my doc after hours at home and told her what was up. I believe it was heartburn and made worse with some sort of panic attack thinking it was heart related.

Last week I had blood taken and an EKG which came out good except for cholesterol being a little high. But I am still worried that its not all heartburn. I am on Aciphex and seems to help.

I mostly notice the pains at rest and once in a while during the day. Its pains in the center of my chest and sometimes to the right or left. Also a sharp pain once in a while on my left side rib cage. I never really have anything come up in my throat, but do have a burning compressed feeling in my chest at times. The thing I am most worried about it the sharp pains.

From what I have read sharp pains are a symptom of heartburn, and I dont feel any pains during excersion. I would assume that after trying to dislodge a 400 lb four wheeler from the mud taking everything I had to get it out would have caused chest pains if heart related.

I would appreciate some insight as to the types of pains typical with heartburn or GERD ect....Also what kinds of other test you would recommend.

Kevin

pindy · 12-30-2004, 11:33 PM

Gerd can create all kinds of hellish symptoms that feel like your heart: vasovagal reactions that make your heart rate slow down and skip beats, palpitations, and esophogeal spasms that convince you you are going to die any second, even though your heart is actually perfectly fine. Nasty. Usually a sign that there is damage to the esophogus, making the vagus nerve hypersensitive.

Jizzle · 12-31-2004, 11:03 AM

You might want to flush your digestive system with LOTS of fluids (i.e. purified water, apple juice, grapefruit juice, grape juice). Try soft, non-gassy foods at mealtime. I had the same panic-attack experience, caused by trapped gas in my intestines. While you're flushing your system, and you experience another attack, have a family member massage the area until the attack goes away. But, flush your system to remove the toxins that may be causing your symptoms.

LaLasMom · 01-01-2005, 05:25 PM

I recently went through the same symptoms myself. My doctor sent me back to my cardio doc to make sure it wasn't another heart problem. It wasn't but I did have a return of the Shotsky ring I had several years ago. Once it's dialated the sharp pains have decreased. My refulx was so bad I lost a lung and part of my esogaphus, but the pain from the ring was awful! Have your doctor check you for that.

NancyH · 01-01-2005, 10:27 PM

Gee, along with the nasty heat in the throat and chest, chest pain, back pain stomach pain all run along the line but the worst is the darn burning in the throat to the stomach.