i have acid reflux, mitral valve, and anxiety issues. i have been on nexium 40 mg for month of so and reflux has been better. caffeine still really bothers me. i really just can't drink it anymore. the thing is latley i have been having this pain right in middle of chest like where esophagus is. it just feels like an ache. hard to describe but it hurts. my ? is it is not that burning feeling like with reflux just hurts in middle of chest, does anyone else have this with their acid relux/indegstion? it could be related to my anxiety though.

Yes chest pain is a big part of GERD, unfortunatly. My chest hurts me constantly. Weird twinges. Anyway is it possible you may have a hiatal hernia? Some people say they cause pain and some don't. I have a small one and it does bother me alot. Not so much pain but an annoyance.
Gerd pain can also go down into your left arm, affect your shoulders and even you jaw. Gerd pretty much sucks. Hope thats of some help to you.
Anxiety can give you chest tighness too and I also deal with that. I think a lot of people do these days. Take care

Yes, I get that same pain that you describe! Actually I have never had heart burn as such- just the constant cough, a sort of bloated feeling & that pain which can be reallly bad lieing down. I also get it with exertion- but to a lesser degree. I think Gerd affects different people in different ways! ;)

I have this and it's always certain to make me consider having heart problems alongside the gerd (if I have gerd after all the testing is done)
It is a really hard pain sometimes, like an apple core is stuck. At other times an ache! Fed-up! None of the PPI's have helped this symptom; sometimes I wonder whether they have made this particular symptom worse.

Oh My Gosh!!! I am right there for you! Same thing here! My Anxiety over this whole thing is about to put me in a padded room! People say that I should exercise, but for me the GERD is worse with exercise. Last year, I had my heart checked out, doc said all good, but I guess that it still sits in the back of your mind. Maybe it is all of the ads on tv and in magazines about woment and heart issues, not many GERD ads really tell people what ALL of the GERD symptoms are nor do they say that it is hit or miss as to whether the drugs are going to work. They may work for awhile, but then you have a bad round of stress/anxiety and the GERD is back with a vengence. I have to say that at least I feel better knowing that I am not alone, but I hate that there are so many of us suffering this way!
Take Care All!!:wave:

i have acid reflux, mitral valve, and anxiety issues. i have been on nexium 40 mg for month of so and reflux has been better. caffeine still really bothers me. i really just can't drink it anymore. the thing is latley i have been having this pain right in middle of chest like where esophagus is. it just feels like an ache. hard to describe but it hurts. my ? is it is not that burning feeling like with reflux just hurts in middle of chest, does anyone else have this with their acid relux/indegstion? it could be related to my anxiety though.

Wow, this is exactly how I have been feeling. I have been told I have some sort of acid problem. I do not get the heartburn that some speak of. Mine is total chest pain, thightness, pressure you name it. It tends to freak me out sometimes. I even get the pain in my jaw and shoulder to boot. I have had countless heart tests done through my GP as well as emergency rooms all have come back normal. I am having an endoscopy in a couple of weeks so hopefully that will answer some of the questions I have.
I am on 40mg Omezaprole with not much success. The chest discomfort drives me nuts. It can come on with an empty stomach or a full meal and the weirdest foods bring it on more than others. Sometimes a glass of water will bring it on. Sometime I burp and it goes away, other times it does not.

Rich

I would look in to allergy testing to see if excess mucus production due to allergic responses is causing excess stomach acid problems and as a side effect LPR. If taking and OTC anti-histamine/decongestant combination in addition to the acid reducer and blocker helps. You are having drainage stimulated reflux. Basically when mucus drains into the stomach it triggers the digestion process. You produce acid and there is nothing to neutralize that acid eventually it gets so bad you chest hurts, can cough and get nausea chronically, and many other tale tell signs.

My acid reflux is strongly linked to my allergic triggers. Food, Environment, and Irrirtants.

Best of luck.
Sincerely,
MG

Wow, this is exactly how I have been feeling. I have been told I have some sort of acid problem. I do not get the heartburn that some speak of. Mine is total chest pain, thightness, pressure you name it. It tends to freak me out sometimes. I even get the pain in my jaw and shoulder to boot. I have had countless heart tests done through my GP as well as emergency rooms all have come back normal. I am having an endoscopy in a couple of weeks so hopefully that will answer some of the questions I have.
I am on 40mg Omezaprole with not much success. The chest discomfort drives me nuts. It can come on with an empty stomach or a full meal and the weirdest foods bring it on more than others. Sometimes a glass of water will bring it on. Sometime I burp and it goes away, other times it does not.

Rich

I get exactly the same symptons, it really does my head in having a tight chest. :nono:

Oh My Gosh!!! I am right there for you! Same thing here! My Anxiety over this whole thing is about to put me in a padded room! People say that I should exercise, but for me the GERD is worse with exercise. Last year, I had my heart checked out, doc said all good, but I guess that it still sits in the back of your mind. Maybe it is all of the ads on tv and in magazines about woment and heart issues, not many GERD ads really tell people what ALL of the GERD symptoms are nor do they say that it is hit or miss as to whether the drugs are going to work. They may work for awhile, but then you have a bad round of stress/anxiety and the GERD is back with a vengence. I have to say that at least I feel better knowing that I am not alone, but I hate that there are so many of us suffering this way!
Take Care All!!:wave:

I used to get that feeling. Damn, all I wanted to do was to kill myself everytime I got it. BUt then I started taking Apple Cider Vinager with Mother and since then I have seen so much improvement that sometimes I feel like I have nothing anymore.
Read the book, "Natural Cures". It will enlight you a bit more in the subject.

I have the pain in the middle of my chest, too. Have had countless EKG's over the years and been to ER enough times. Had an EKG this morning in fact and still can't feel better about this. Hav ehad TONS of sinus drainage, haven't been eating or sleeping well due to family stuff. Lost a lot of weight, have gnawing pressure (like squeezing at the top of my stomach where ribs meet) and feels like I can't catch my breath from it. also heart beating HEAVY and I can't go from one room to another without feeling exhausted and out of breath. Doc says it's not my heart, told me to take Xanax. I have generalized anxiety disorder, had barium swallow and diagnosed with GERD, have iBS, and still terrified. :(

How awful that we all have these problems--I could cry... Right now I have horrible pain at the bottom of my sternum bone, inside. Zantac and Nexium haven't helped. Acifex didn't either. I have a large hiatal hernia too that sent me to the ER, thought it was a heart attack !

Any comments about various medicines out there? Has anyone found something that works?

Well, I had the endoscopy and it showed a small hiatal hernia but thankfully no damage to the esophagus. The chest pain still drives me nuts. I heard hiatal hernia pain can be the same as heart attack pain. Has anyone heard this as well. Also does anyone get the jaw pain along with the chest pain?

Rich..I do get the pain in my shoulder and my jaw. I do get the pain on both sides I get the pains in my chest, my back, and even today my side under my armpit. I am going to a new GI doc next monday so I hope that I can get some help.. My PCP put me on Prevacid about 2 weeks ago and I do notice a difference, the attacks don't seem to be as bad, but I am really afraid of being on a medication for too long. (Of course, I say that and today my attack is pretty bad)
Sometimes milk does help me, but for some people it makes things worse..
Good Luck to you!
Crazy

Hi, the pain in the chest is most likely esophageal spasms. They do mimic a heart attack. I currently eat soda crackers for this, I have heard that drinking warm water helps, but I have had this since 1981, I find that soda crackers help more than anything. Also, they can do botox injections in the esophagus for this. Mine does not contract anyway, so it wouldn't hurt, but not sure how it affects a working esoophagus. I am never going back to the doc for this, don't want to do anything for it as they ruptured my esophagus trying to dialate it. Yep, I am allergic to those docs.

Sunny

Wow...hi, all!

Yep, I get same thing - pain in middle of chest, radiating to jaw and sometimes ears. Unfortunately, this is the same as for heart symptoms, and with diabetes, etc.... My biggest problem is this...one time, it's gonna cry wolf one too many times, and I'm going to ignore it, and it'll be the real thing :/ To add to the confusion, nitro also helps these symptoms for GERD go away, too! (smooth muscle relaxant). However, if I DO still have pain after nitro x3, I will go into the ER. I just had a cath in Nov '07 and it was negative.

I have COPD, pred induced diabetes, HTN and GERD. I just finished a sleep study that told me I have 'severe sleep apnea' so will be using the cpap machine. However, a little study led me to some GOOD News! I've had multiple pneumonias (in 2004, I had 8 episodes in 8 months - 1-2 weeks/hospital each month for 8 months, and in 2007/2008, have had 5 episodes since September,. '07 into May '08, which they claim could be either aspirant pneumonias or exacerbations of copd. At any rate, the good news is that treatment for sleep apnea might reduce the GERD night time problems, which will reduce the pneumonias, if they are indeed aspirant!. Waking up gasping (even when I don't know, and also when I do) can cause aspirant to 'build up' in lungs and infect, and there are often times when I more than cognizent that I've woken up choking and with lungs burning (from inhaling stomach acid, I presume). It's usually not too long after a few of these episodes that I wake up with severe vomiting and high fever and am enroute to ER with pneumonia (Thank GOD daughter now drives!). I've been told that the reason I don't get 'early warning' is that I"m on prednisone.

Update...

Another bout in the hospital in July. Looks like these pneumonias are related to the GERD, and are aspirant. We're going to try bipap at night to see what happens, and I'm going to TRY not to eat the prescribed hours before sleeping - but there's one fly in the ointment...I have to have a nighttime snack - and it cannot be 4 hours before sleeping - I'm diabetic. That's to keep my blood sugar from bottoming out overnight (which it can do, and it can be fatal).

So...I'm on bipap, going to see a surgeon about the Nissen procedure, but I'm a bit scared about surgery - I've had so many, and...my health isn't as good as it used to be, nevermind my lungs :/ Oh well...the beauty is, if I can tolerate it, and it stops the pneumonias, even if my lungs won't heal completely, at least they'll stop being damaged everytime I get sick (about every 3-4 weeks) and in the hospital with pneumonia. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding! :)

Gikna

The pain in the chest is really freaky, I got a big one tonight and nearly sh1t myself. You know deep down your going to be alright but it doesn't stop you panicing:(

I just wish I could get some answers, am I going to be like this for life:mad:

Hi Michmob, I have heard that you can get botox for this, someday when I decide that the botox will not have hamrful side affects, I might consider it, otherwise, I will have it for life.

Sunny

Its terrible sunny, I spent the whole night with chest spasms and panic attacks:(

I had nerve block injections before but they were a total waste of time:(:(

Where were these nerve block injections? Did they tell you that these pains are esophageal spasms or something else? If they are esophageal spasms, I do know that botox injections help. I do know how you feel, it is terrible, I used to get them so bad every night, now it is just now and then, but especially when I take an ibuprofen, my esophagus seems to not like that at all. I used to be scared also because they cause so much pain, but I have actually had these since 1981, I am no longer scared, just inconvenienced and annoyed by missing sleep. I do eat soda crackers when having them, I don't know if it is the soda crackers that help or it is just taking my mind off the pain. I truly hope you can get these under control, ask about the botox. And try not to panic, these pains are not going to kill you, even though they feel like they can. Take care and let us know how you are feeling.

Sunny

Thanks sunny your very kind to reply to me, it makes it better when your not the only one suffering. At times I feel Im losing my mind as people dont understand, I have been having these pains for years also but not this frequent or severe, Im hoping they will go again. They dont really know what is causing the pain as Im asthmatic, I have fybromyalgia and sarcoidosis all of which cause chest pain at times but the recent pain has been with continuous heart burn.

Thanks again for replying it means a lot:)