Hi. I am a thirty-two year old SAHM and I am beginning to get both very nervous/scared and mad! At the beginning of August, all four of my kids and I tested positive for mono. When I went to the doctor, I have sore throat pain but I told him it didn't feel like a regular sore throat or strep. Plus I was having chest pain and some shortness of breath. Well, he put me on prednisone because my throat was so swollen and that gave me full out constant panic attacks. It was so awful I couldn't even take care of my kids. At this time, I started feeling like I was choking and that something was stuck in my throat. I was afraid to swallow food and drinks and sometimes actually felt like I was choking. My doctor put my on anti-anxiety meds which helped me to stay calmer. But after I was off the prednisone for a week, my heart had us concerned so I was sent to the cardiac ward of the hosptial for a cardiac workup. Everything came back okay. Now mind you, I have heartburn before. But this didn't feel like heartburn in my chest. (or in my throat) When I went to my post-hosptial visit with my PCP, he thought that it was a pulled muscle in my chest but put me on Zantac twice a day.
Now it's been almost two months and I'm off the anti-anxiety meds, still taking the Zantac but I am miserable. My throat kills me. I'm never hungry. And I feel like I've been completely blown off by my doctor's office. This week I started coughing but I don't have a cold. I've had a little bit of blood coughed up. Tonight I noticed that I have a rash on the back of my throat. No fever, but I think the lymph nodes under my arm are enlarged. I finally PUSHED my doctor to get me in with a gastroenterologist and they are seeing me in two days. I am also having a thyroid ultrasound that same day. I am guessing at this point I have GERD. I feel like just because I was having anxiety (as a reaction to the prednisone plus possibly as GERD and maybe a hiatal hernia) that all my symptoms got chalked up to anxiety. It makes me mad because I feel like I really had to push them to take me seriously. I like this doctor too. I've been going to him for over fifteen years. But after this is all taken care of, I'm seriously thinking of switching to someone else.
I'm scared though. If I do have GERD, I'm afraid of what it has done to my esophageus over those two months.
Anyone have any advice? Anyone?