Hello, and thank you for providing this outlet.
About 6 years ago I started experiencing symptoms of GERD... it wasn't as intense at first (I first noticed an increase in gassiness, but not much abdominal discomfort)... I had also been experiencing heartburn for several years before that, again though... without abdominal discomfort.
About 5 ago or so I started experiencing the following:
pins and needles type pain in lower esophagus and upper abdomen... varying in intensity and length. Sometimes after I eat, sometimes not... seems fairly random, frankly.
sometimes very brief achy feeling in my stomach
increased gas
occasional (meaning a few times a year - though I can go a year without it happening at all) extreme abdominal pain lasting about 10-15 minutes... I can't move, as it hurts too much. Then goes away relatively quick.
Acid reflux
relatively frequent burping
About 3 years ago the symptoms were concerning enough to me that I went to see a doctor. He suggested and endoscopy, which I did... and that's when I learned about the GERD, though I was told no cancer was found (there were "scratch" like marks that showed up in the visuals, but that's it. I was prescribed PPI's and told that my symptoms would get better... well, the acid reflux went away of course, but the pains didn't, really.
I stayed the initial course of several weeks of PPI's, but have only used them occasionally since then (if the acid reflux really becomes extra bothersome... sometimes I might just use antacids as well).
Overall the symptoms haven't really gotten any worse over the last 4 years or so... the worst they were was just before I finally decided to go see a doctor 3 years ago. The best might have been last year.
I find that the symptoms have recently been becoming more noticeable (had another bout of the really sever abdominal pain about a month ago)... and so it's been on my mind. I know that GERD is a risk factor for stomach cancer. Does this sound like stomach cancer could have a chance to be developing... or would I be significantly worse now since the art of my symptoms if this were the case? It's really the length of symptoms that concerns me... that they've enever really gone away (but also not gotten too too much worse over the last few years)
FYI, I'm 31/male/non-smoker/drink socially/in decent shape.
thank you so much!
