Has anyone ever felt like this? I feel alone

Firstly I would like to say hello to everyone I am new to the forum.

Okay so this is going to be a long one. I'm 22 years old. It all Started back in September of 2010. I had an infrequent indigestion issue. Nothing bad just some heart burn once every 3 weeks. Now, in September I went to the hospital explaining I was feeling woosy and a burning in my chest. This is the first time that it felt so bad. I thought I was going to faint. I didn't know why I was so lightheaded though. The doctors ran ekg's and some blood test and said I was fine and I should just take some pepcid for a month. I felt fine for a long time.

Fast forward to April. I had the same issue and they told me the same thing. I went home but this time it didn't really help to much I still had indigestion and would be a little woosy in the morning some days. So for about 2 months until June. I let the indigestion out of hand and returned to the emergency room 2 more times. The first time for the chest pain and the second time for the light headedness. This time the gave me Omeprazol dr and Metoclopramide. I felt okay for a while. Still had some chest pain and diarrhea in the morning. I went to the clinic and the had me tested for HYPlori witch came out fine.

Recently it has gotten really bad.

My symptoms are as follows.

Chest pain on left and a little on the right side closer to the middle..

Weakness in the right arm

vomiting in the morning. More prominent this week. Was a once in a while thing.

Diarrhea in the morning and seems like I can't go after that.

More recently I have lost my appetite. Witch is a very rare thing for me.

This is the one that gets me the most.I feel tired all day. I have this almost lightheaded feeling almost like Some days I feel sort of okay, but most days I feel pretty off. On the worst of those days, I'm irritable, fatigued, get tired after only a little activity, and generally don't look forward to doing anything or interacting with anybody. When I try to put my head down to take a short nap or rest I can't seem to fall asleep I can keep my eyes closed and think about things but i can hear every little sound and it's irritating.

My sleep at night doesn't feel bad but I do wake up in the middle of the night, maybe once or twice. I wake up enough to know I'm awake. Also when I do wake up it's not like I feel slow and have to slowly wake up like I used to. This is more of an immediate awake. Then shortly after I go to take a #2 and it comes out like diarrhea and sometimes more often lately vomit.

lastly this started this week. I feel a tightness around me left eye and ear. Sometimes I will feel it in my neck and head. This happened when my sleep diminished.

Also I revisited the clinic this last Wednesday told him all the symptoms and he scheduled an endoscopy.

Also the chest pain is more of a pain/tightness now then a burn.

The endoscopy is in another 2 weeks. I can't wait that long. Has anyone experienced this?

EDIT: Another symptom that occurred today was that my left teeth ache a bit.

The endscopy will tell you what's going on. Hang in there until you have it. Meanwhile see if you can take some PPIs to help you out.

Madblaster6

your comments about feeling lightheaded , irritable, fatigued, not interested in doing things and experiencing broken sleep pattern...yes thats me too

for awhile i thought this might be a side effect of PPIs

then i thought maybe it was my usual diet, low fat an full of cruciferous vegetables which are noted for slowing down the metabolism

or maybe all the gum i chew an hard candy..i use it to fight the hunger so i can eat smaller meals and keep the saliva flowing which protects the lower esophageal sphincter (LES)

then i thought maybe this is depression, but the pain in he head and neck and pelvis feel so real and always respond to a little aspirin (which i try to avoid since NSAIDs are implicated in weakening the lower esophageal sphincter

but after 6 months of feeling like this....i dont know what to think anymore and its just plain awful

ps the support i get here from hearing other peoples stories helps me to feel i am not crazy and not alone and that helps a lot

there is always surgery.... and some day there might even be better options than we have today

hang in there, best wishes
mock turtle

Post Edited (mock turtle) : 7/16/2011 8:54:47 PM (GMT-6)

Thanks for the support guys. I'm trying to accept the way I am for now. It's hard though when you're forced to work. Today I had to work. I felt fine in the morning. 2 hours into work I felt the pressure return behind my eye and neck. Then started to feel down. I tried to pull through Soon as I got home I took some pain relievers for the head ache. Then the chest pain returned. It seems like I try to fix one thing and make the next thing worse. I feel okay for now. Just a bit tired. Again thanks guys for the support. I really do appreciate it and it makes me feel a little better.

It makes sense. The lost of my appetite and lack of seep might have a lot to do with the pain in my teeth, pressure around the eye and neck. I've read on it and symptoms like that seem to come from stress. Like migraine symptoms.

Man do I feel you on the tooth pain. Teeth sensitivity is from the acid irritating your (mostly) back teeth, it's terrible. The fact that you're vomiting probably isn't helping. Sorry to hear that :( Maybe try brushing after you vomit? It might help.

I wish I'd know then what I know now. I would not have dragged all this misery out for so many years. Severe GERD is nothing to mess around with. There are potential diseases which can be disastrous if left untreated and they can arise when you spend your life addressing the symptoms and not the cause of your GERD.

I'm new here but I'm not new to GERD. I've wrestled with it most of my life since my early 20's. Back then there really was not much anyone could do to help so diet and lifestyle changes were about all you could do except take OTC medications.

I had acid reflux to some degree ever since I was a youngster and was treated for everything in the book except acid reflux. When my gall bladder bit the dust 16 years ago I still didn't connect it to GERD. The bile that the liver produces was now being dumped directly into my body and it went out too quickly and up into my stomach and esophagus as well. NOT what nature intended at all.

All the good hints everyone suggests are helpful. I implement them myself and have for most of my adult life. I'm just not willing to live with what GERD has done to me any longer and at the suggestion of my GI doc I'm waiting for surgery.

If I'd had it when I was younger my life would have been a completely different story.
Best wishes to you.

Carpe Diem

Emile Zola said said...
If you would ask me what I came into this world to do, I would tell you I came to live out loud.[img][/img]

Post Edited (halloweenbaby) : 7/20/2011 9:06:22 AM (GMT-6)

I share many of the same symptoms. My symptoms started over a year ago with burning in the throat, chest pains, heart palps, and shortness of breath which came on all of a sudden.  I went straight to the er. While in the er I had an ekg, cardiac ezymes, numerous other blood tests, and a chest x ray and they all came back fine. Few days later i went to see a cadiologist and he performed a stress test and more blood work and all tests came back fine and he referred me to a gi doctor. Gi doctor prescribed prevacid and it didnt work since then I have been on prilosec, keflex, nexium and donnatol which none of these have worked. Went to a new cardiologist because by this point I just know its my heart. He performed another stess test, blood work and sent me for a ct with contrast of my heart and told me its not my heart. Went back to my gi dr who then performed an upper endoscopy and said i had a little bit of erosion and that it was nothing to worry about and didnt prescribe me anything else. By this point im at a loss the pain has no rhyme or reason im now starting to have nausea, back pain left side rib pain, pain and burning in my chest and stomach which lessens when I have a bowel movement. So now ive seen a rheumatologist thinking something muscular is going on and he prescribed me valium which i refuse to take and told me there was nothing wrong. So now after numerous er visits and after every test coming back ok im so frustrated and just want my life back. I stay close to home sometimes never leaving as im so exhausted and now starting to have dizziness. Im not giving up i know my body and i know there is something wrong. Someone please share your thoughts.

What you're saying about being afraid to eat really resonates with me. I also have felt that fear! I also still haven't pinpointed what to do when I actually AM refluxing... Nothing really helps me. I just recently got some Gaviscon and that seems to be helping a bit.

Good luck at your doctor's appointment! I am interested to hear what he has to say.

If you have a hiatus as I did, it sometimes shows up as something on a lung x ray.  That is how my one was first found.  It gives all the symptoms that you have all been describing, including pain in jaws.   left my one for a further five years before having to have surgical intervention which is not always necessary. 

I have been disagnosed with Barretts for 10 years,,, lately have begun having burning in throat and some hoarsness,, prevacid and tums etc dont work,, no pain, but concern.. at what poing do I consider the fund stomach surgery..

Hello everyone,

I am new here alsoo. Having similar symptoms to medblaster. Howevve, I had a EGD today. It showed the gastric antrum had mild inflammation characterized by edema, erythema and friability. He took a biiopsy for Helicobacter pylori.

However, My most serious issues is not being able to swallow food and/or pillls. Which I require. I have lost close to 20 lbs since Thanksgiving. I was so hopefull going in and now am very disappointed/discouraged. He thinks the reason I can't swallow is esophgeal spasms. He says stress can irritate it. However, until this notice today I don't believe I am usually stressed. People often tell me no matter what I go through I always find the bright spot. And I like someone else here have a lot of health issues.

Also like medblaster (I think) I have been getting very dizzy especially upon waking and have fallen four times. I am also having spasms down both legs and on my left arm. My left side is week, but now withh both sides spasming I am getting concerned.

If I can get the pain controlled I can sleep 16 hours without any problem. New for me.

Hope someone can give advice why I can't eat. and also hope this helps others.

I am stuck home so much except for docto'r appts.

Hello, im a new member and i have GERD too...and I just want to know if there are hazards in taking our medications quite continuously??
I wish you all a Merry Christmas!!!