Does Acid Reflux cause chest pain?

 I was diagnosed with Acid Reflux about 2 years ago-I was never really bothered with heartburn, however I had an esophgeal spasm.  I took Protonix for 1 year and it worked very well and then quit. I started to take Aciphex 20mg 2 times a day it worked for awhile. I had an endoscopy in August of 2004 and it showed everything to be ok. I then started to take Prilosec OTC 2 times a day. I quit taking it because I noticed my legs were cramping very bad in the calves-this stopped when I quit taking the prilosec. The past couple of weeks have been terrible for me. I haven't taken anything just ocassionally pepcid it does not help me. I was unaware that acid reflux could make your chest hurt so bad. I have noticed lately my stomach is hurting so bad from gas. Does acid reflux cause gas as well. I am miserable does anyone know of a home remedy maybe?

Hi Nancee

I have suffered from acid reflux for several years. I have also had severe chest pain and been admitted to hospital on three occasions.  I have taken all kinds of antacids which have sometimes made me worse.  Lately my symptoms became very much worse with burning throat and chest pain, stomach cramps.  I'll make this short and just say that overthe past 3/4 weeks I have been cleansing my body, eating properly, taking probiotics and l'gluthamine.  I take juiced ginger first thing in the morning and feel that this has helped enormously.  I am not yet entirely symptom free as because of the relief I have gone off the regime a bit, but I am certaily ten times better!  I am going to be quite strict over the next month and see what happens.  I feel it will certainly be worth it.

Regards

Cammay

Hi Nancee

Yes I have been doing a bit of a colon cleanse -first time for me.  I used Oxypowder which I know not everyone does well with, but it seemed to work fine for me.  I did my own thing and started with one pill at first, adding another each night until I got up to 7, which seemed to be all I needed.  I did 7 for a couple of nights and then reduced the dose by 2 each night until I came off it altogether.  I didn't have BM then for one day but by the next day I was back to normal again.  I'm on holiday in a couple of weeks so will be doing this again.  You should do some research into the different products available and see what you think may be the best for you. 

You should certainly give the ginger a try as it will not cause any harm or side effects and may be just the thing you need.  A teaspoonful in the morning for a three weeks is what's recommended.  You can juice the ginger and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days- so simple. Seemingly it is a old remedy for hiatial hernia. 

I was really bad - the worse I have ever been and quite desperate for some relief especially as I cannot tolerate the antacids with having other health issues.

Let me know if you decide to do and how you get on.  As I said I have not been sticking to my plan properly - in fact I had a pizza today! Easter dinner tomorrow and then I am getting back on the wagon.

Regards

Cammay

No question is a daft question - only way to find out anything is to ask.  No need to peel - just give about a 2inch piece of ginger a good wash and juice using a juicer. 

adjca

Did you have cabbage or sauerkraut?  I do ok with the sauerkraut but cannot tolerate cabbage at all - gives me terrible heartburn and stomach cramps. Shame, as I love cabbage. You shouldn't take the ginger by itself at first if you think you may have a problem with it.  Dilute it with something else.  I have started to add it into olive oil first thing in the morning followed by a glass of lemonade.

It's true that all remedies do not work for all - trial and error is the key. Try one thing at a time to ensure you know exactly which is causing the reaction.  I've wasted time by trying too much and getting confused.

Good Luck

ps I noticed you have a herniated cervical disk.  I have an extra cervical rib.

 

Both give me probs and juiced cabbage as well.  I was trying to take cabbage as I read that it's good for treating or preventing stomach ulcers. I have also had H Pylori.  I started taking aloe vera juice instead.

I had a camera in my throat a couple of months ago.  My throat was red raw from the acid and covered in patches of candida.  Antacids can make candida worse which is another reason why I can't take them.

I've been round in circles with all this and finally making some progress but it's hard to stick to it sometimes.

Hi adjca

I was reading recently not to count on the H Pylori being eradicated as the docs tell you,  and that you should continue to eat certain foods/take natural stuff to keep it at bay.  Can't tell you much more as I have not had time to read all the info I have been looking into recently but it made some sense to me so going to get back to that again.

I've gone off my good living these past few days again and was feeling really bad.  Tomorrow I will start to be really good again - I liked the feeling the other week of 'feeling well' though it did scare me a bit as not used to it! 

Hope you are feeling better yourself.  And Nancee who started this thread.

Regards

Cammay

Hi all, just an FYI. I suffered GERD for 7 years, heart attack level horrendous pain, sometimes for days, waking up at night. I saw dozens of doctors, emergency rooms over those years. I got very little sleep, and lived in agony. Turned out it wasn't GERD causing the pain. Yes, I have acid reflux, but the pain was actually due to a very diseased gall bladder. No one did the simple test to check me in all those years I suffered. My gall bladder was inflamed, had edema, stones, and was nearing rupture when I finally had a doctor that ordered a sonogram and found the problem. I had a fairly simple surgery as surgery goes and although not all episodes have gone, probably 95% of it is gone, and my life is SOOOOOOO much better. If you this kind of pain and you haven't had your gall bladder checked, it might not be a bad idea and could be the answer, it was for me. Good luck all.

Windsockhare,
We did have a short disscusion around here a short while ago about the connection of GERD and those of us without a gallbladder. Not sure what the connection is, but it seems several of us have had ours removed.

Take care,
BIll

PaLAdy -
I sorry I can't remember which thread. I think it was either mine, Bea's, or Denise's. I believe it was not long after I got home from the hospital( 6/8). Maybe someone else can remember exactly which one. Anyway, it just seems that most GERD sufferers have either had theirs removed or has trouble with it.

Take care.
Bill

Hi Windsock
I have not yet reached a diagnosis, seems like I'm always waiting on a doctor to either schedule a new test or waiting to see if some treatment works. I am supposed to have an endoscopy this week and I hope they figure out what the problem is; if I do have ulcers would you recommend going ahead and getting my gallbladder checked. I was wondering also about the kind of chest pain you were having. I've been having changing pains and some vague symptoms and I've been suffering for 2 months now (started when I got back from vacation in Peru; this recent travel is making the doctors think parasites or bacteria). I've had a variety of tests even though they came back negative, I was treated with antibiotics. Sometimes my chest pain occurs all day, kind of dull and annoying and usually accompanied by nausea. The chest pain chain get really intense at night to where I can't go to sleep. Went to the ER 3 nights ago. Some mornings I wake up with pain and I feel weak and shaky. Have you experienced anything like that?
All this is very scary and its giving me some anxiety which probably makes the situation worse. I'm young (22), not overweight (maybe even slightly underweight), I try to eat healthy (but college has probably been the worst thing for my eating habits). Great forum.
Thanks

I have just been told i have Acid Reflux but up till it has been horrible bad chest pains almost feel like im having a heart attack, bad stomache aches, heartburn, indijestion but now feel a little better knowing what it is.

The doctor checked a bunch of things plus I have bad heartburn and indijestion the said by checking my heart and my throat and my stomach and with ally sptoms that's what it is