Help!! GERD related or ???

Hello everyone! I'm new here, so will introduce myself. I'm a 47 yr old female, and was diagnosed with GERD about 5 yrs ago. I'm currently taking Pariet, which seems to work very well for me. I've also got IBS and Interstitial Cystitis (IC), and am very overweight at 225lbs. I sleep propped on a foam wedge, and that usually seems to work.

Occasionally, usually if I "slip" off of my wedge at night, I'll wake up suddenly gasping with some acid in the back of my throat, gag for a bit, cough, take some antiacid of some sort and be ok by morning. But last night was different:

I woke up suddenly about 2 hrs after going to sleep, with HORRIBLE acid in my throat. I could have sworn I'd swallowed bleach or something else caustic. I'm no stranger to heartburn, but this was much worse. I coughed and coughed, and felt like my throat was very tight and couldn't swallow or even breathe properly, for about 2 hours. I have to say that my stomach is also HUGELY bloated, I"m burping continually (almost "acidic" air coming up!), and I've also been having many bowel movements in the last 24 hrs, with acidic, burning and very foul smelling gas and bm's. The rest of the night was awful, trying to find something that would take away the burning for more than an half an hour, falling asleep only to wake up with the burning worse again in the back of my throat and belching like an old drunk!

Not sure what this was all about, I went to see the doctor this morning, who informed me that I have a "lot of acid" in my stomach, and that I have a hiatus hernia ("Did no one ever tell you that? I can FEEL it quite easily" ... yikes!). He suggested I double up on my Pariet for a week or so, and try a bland, mostly liquid diet. My throat, however, is still burning now mid-afternoon, and I'm still bloated up like a balloon with burning acid in my stomach.

My diet is already restricted because of my IC (no alcohol, citrus, spices, caffiene, etc) and my IBS (mostly I watch fats for that, and it's ok). I must admit that my daughter and I were shopping out of town yesterday, and shared some Chinese food for lunch; not only that, but we had homemade hamburgers with onions for supper. None of these things singularly would usually bother me, but to top it off, I took half of a pill of Naproxin for back pain before bed, but didn't eat much with it (it's evidentally hard on your stomach and is supposed to be taken with food).

I guess I'm just looking for some information, and support. Does this sound GERD related, or might it have been brought on by the grease, Naproxin or even a stomach bug?? What can I do about the sore throat? How long will it/should it last?? I've been reading some stuff on the internet (I shouldn't do that) that's scaring me about burning in the throat being associated with inflammation of the esophagus and even cancer .... could one bad episode like I had last night result in, or be a symptom of, one of those more serious problems? What should I do?? I also have anxiety disorder, and am terrified to be put "under", so never did have the scope done, although I did do a Barium swallow. Sorry this was so long, but I need some advice, please!

Jolisey

okay, first welcome to HW! We're a great little support group here and a wealth of personal experience.
Your bout with acid was probaby brought on by all the foods and the medicine you took.
You've probably burned your throat with the acid overload so it will take time to feel better.
To avoid the wedge slippage you can raised the head of your bed with bed risers (available at any dept. store).

I was terrified of having the scope done too. I asked my doctor to dope me up for it. He gave me 20mg of Valium and then IV sedation when I got there. I floated into the hospital that day. :) I slept right through it.
You can request it to be done under versa. You're awake but you forget what happen. I did that once.

You might want to ask your doctor to check you for H. Pyloria. Just to rule it out. But yes bloating and major acidic stomach is normal for gerd.

If you have a large hiatial hernia you probably have a weak LES and need both repaired soon.

Thanks for the info and for the welcome, ladies! I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and have the scope done sometime soon .... ugh!

I've been wondering about a possible reaction to wheat or dairy, too: I was on a diet a couple of years ago that eliminated both, and I noticed a big change in how bloated I wasN'T! I am a real dairy freak (drink lots of milk, couldn't live with cheese), so I don't even want to think about that just yet .... maybe I'll just try cutting back and see if there's any difference. I don't eat a lot of bread, but we do eat a fair bit of pasta, and I don't really like the rice pasta .... any other alternatives? Wheat might be harder than I'm thinking ...

I should have mentioned that I've already had my gallbladder out about 5 or 6 years ago now. My GERD problems started shortly after that, and my IC a couple of years later. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's all related somehow ... or maybe it's just "middle age" creeping up on me!

Strangly enough, the acid in my throat and stomach is almost better today, although I'm still bloated like a balloon and my stomach is very "talkative". Interestingly, my husband (who is thin, and almost NEVER gassy), is tooting like an old work horse today, so maybe part of my problem WAS a stomach bug of some kind (??). In any case, I am going to try some diet changes to see if that might be part of my problem, and I've started - in earnest - a diet to lose some weight today .... again. Pray for me!!

Jolisey