Has my GERD taken a turn for the worse? - Acid Reflux / GERD Message Board

scott1360 · 02-01-2007, 11:46 AM

Short story (I have many posts on this board). IM 23, had GERD since I was 19. Been on Nexium, Aciphex, now Protonix (due to health insurance). Protonix worked amazing for 1.5 years but began to have bad days last few months. one month ago, horrible burning in stomach/heartburn/a little pain when swallowing. The burning/gnawing feeling in my stomach/chest is new and I dont remember it when I had heartburn before the medication. Ive been to Gastro, said take aciphex 3x day (didnt work), now i went back to protonix 2x day (not really working). I just did a manometry and ph test (from what I saw ph rarely went below 4 so I feel like the ppi is working for acid but is not making me feel better!). I have to wait until next week for results from the doc but IM so scared that this wont go away. PPIs worked before where I could eat what I wanted (to some extent) without this constant pain. Even heartburn was only brought on by food, now its constant and ALWAYS there. Could my disease have progressed to something else? Is it not stomach acid doing the damage at this point? I trust my gastro but Im scared. Also, since the bravo probe was inserted on Monday I had intense radiating pain when swallowing. Then, Tuesday and Wednesday I still had the pain but it was milder. Now, Thursday I have the pain but it feels more in my back, where before it seemed to start in chest and radiate up.

snowflake11 · 02-01-2007, 03:15 PM

If I was you I'd try not taking any PPI's for a few days and see how you feel. Sounds crazy, but it's what helped me about 6 months ago. Long story......but I had some chest tightness. I was refered to a GI doc. He found me positive for h-pylori and stuck me on PPI's. Later tests showed no ulcer. BUT, my throat and stomach were burning so horrible. I thought I had a huge acid problem - so now the doc up's the meds to twice a day and sticks me on Carafate. Things got even worse. Worst pain of my life! I couldn't even drink water! I so seriously just wanted out of life at that point. I was trying everything. Losing weight like crazy. Finally I stopped taking the meds he prescribed cuz I thought that the meds were maybe the prob. Sure enough - the pain stopped almost instantly. Sometimes PPI's can make things alot worse for people so try getting off them and see how you feel. Please let us know. Good luck to you.

scott1360 · 02-01-2007, 03:44 PM

thanks for the reply snowflake. I think Im too scared to get off PPIs at this point. I can barely it as is and I dont want the acid pain to get any worse. If PPIs were the cause (due to low stomach acid) wouldnt I have more gas/bloating because my body isnt digesting correctly. If so, that really hasnt been a problem for me. I know, that I have missed a dose of my PPI before (when it was working) and I got terrible heartburn. I work everyday so I cant imagine taking nothing and having to experiment while trying to concentrate on work.

Anybody else have any ideas? Im so down and frustrated. I aslo want to note there was a time when I had bad anxiety. I took zoloft for 1.5 years and it worked wonders. Im a completely different person now but Im starting to wonder if being back on it would make me worry less about the GERD. As we all know, worrying makes it worse.

bacchus99 · 02-01-2007, 07:45 PM

Have you been diagnosed with a hiatal hernia? If not you probably have one anyway and your symptoms have gotten worse because it rolled to an uncomfortable spot. Learn how to self adjust it down or see a chiropractor that knows how.

scott1360 · 02-02-2007, 06:44 AM

well, woke up today with more swallowing pain now mostly in my back. Doc is gonna give me a scope this morning to check it out/remove bravo probe. Hope it helps because the procedures gave me worse symptoms!