TROUBLE AFTER EGD AND COLONOSCOPY...HELP!!

I'm a 40 year old white male and I'm 5'9" and weight 175lbs. Relatively healthy except for all of this GERD business. I don't get much exercise and I have a pretty sedentary job. I am married and have three young children. I'm a type A personality and I've been prone to worry a lot about my health over the years. I've suffered with digestion issues since I was a teen and have been on PPIs for about 13 years now with mixed success. I've had a colonoscopy and three other EGDs done in the past and none showed any problems.

Back in May 2011 I started having a dull pain in my right side down under my ribcage area. I had an abdominal sonogram done, an MRI of my lower back, blood work, and chest x-ray and everything looked fine. I met with my G.I. doc a few weeks ago and he said that he wanted me to have an endoscopy and colonoscopy done to rule out anything weird going on in my G.I. tract like ulcers and such. We discussed the possibility of it being the gall bladder, but from the way I described it, he really didn't think that was the issue. He said if I wanted to rule it out for sure I'd need to have a CC HIDA scan done, but he said he'd hold off until after the EGD.

Last Thursday, Sept. 8th I went in for the procedures and everything seemed to go fine. When I woke up from the sedation I felt pretty bloated from the air they filled me with, but otherwise I was okay. He had found 6 benign polyps in my stomach and removed them for biopsy. He also took a biopsy of my esophagus and duodenum. In the colon he found two polyps and removed them...one benign and one precancerous benign polyp. None of the biopsy results showed anything wrong except for mild inflammation of the stomach and the esophagus.

Went home that day and had a chicken salad sandwich for lunch. While eating and drinking that afternoon I felt a really dull pain about where my larynx is and also at my sternum. Didn't matter whether I ate or drank or even just swallowed normally, I felt the dull pain. I decided to call the office and ask if it was normal since I had not felt that before after previous tests and they said nothing about that at the endoscopy center. The nurse asked me some questions and she talked to the doctor and they recommended that I go to the E.R. to have a swallowing test done to make sure I didn't have a tear in my esophagus. I had the barium swallow test done that evening and the radiologist said it all looked normal. The E.R. doctor sent me home with a prescription for Carafate and said it was probably just irritated from the scope and biopsies.

The next day the swallowing pain had mostly subsided and I was beginning to feel a bit better, although weak from not eating for two days an still some bloating. I started drinking lots of water and Gatorade and that evening I rewarded myself with a cheeseburger for dinner. On Saturday morning I felt pretty good, although I had been having some stomach pain and pressure that would come and go. I worked out in the yard that day and seemed to have my energy back.

That evening I went to bed and had a hard time sleeping that night. My reflux was really raging in my throat when I laid down and I had all of these weird deep achy pains that would come and go in my lower gut area. I woke up Sunday morning and really felt bad...a weird bad that I haven't felt before in my gut. I had a BM and that seemed to give me some relief. It was as if the stool was creating the deep pain as it traveled through my colon. I ended up staying home from church that day and tried to rest all day.

Fast forward until today and my esophagus and stomach have been a wreck all week long despite eating very bland, taking my PPIs and trying to rest and get to sleep early. I've had a tight chest feeling after I eat, sometimes a very strong burning sensation near my sternum, my voice has been a bit hoarse and I've felt like I can't get a deep breath in. I've also had some nausea after eating thicker foods and I've been VERY fatigued and dizzy at times. I have had a BM a few times this week and it all looks normal. Overall I just feel kind of sick and not normal at all. This evening after dinner I felt so exhausted and winded, I just wanted to lay down and sleep. I had not experienced ANY of this before the colonoscopy and EGD. I called the Dr. today and I asked the nurse if it was possible that what I was going through was related to the tests and she said she didn't think so and just told me to start taking the Carafate again. It made me kind of mad because it was as if she just sort of blew off the possibility that they were connected. I have a good G.I. doctor, but he is so busy that it's about impossible to get into see him or speak to him.

I guess I'm just looking for advice or input on what folks out there think I should do. Am I expecting too much after it only being a week since the tests and them taking so many biopsies? Could this be something more serious and should I just visit the E.R. to get checked out? I don't want to be a hypochondriac about it all. I did have a stress test done about 3 months ago and the Cardiologist said my heart looked fine. It all just scares me a bit because I cannot be sick like this for any length of time.

Any input yall could give would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm on 15mg OTC Prevacid twice a day and that's it. I've tried Prilosec, Nexium, Zegerid, Dexilant, Aciphex, and none have helped me that much.

Steve

Keep taking that carafate---it will work if you have some inflammation from your tests---don't stop taking for a few weeks as it takes time to work...good luck

Thanks for the responses everyone.

The burning pain seems to be where my sphincter muscle is. If I eat a banana, it gets down to about that are near my sternum and then I feel an intense burning sensation. As if someone rubbed some alcohol on scrape or cut. I will try to stick to the Carafate for a couple of weeks and see how I do.

I think what bothers me the most right now is the fatigue, weakness and overall exhaustion I've been experiencing this whole week. It seems like I'm at my best about 20 minutes after I eat a decent sized meal and then I get worse and worse until I am able to eat again. It's almost like when you are recovering from the flu and you've been on your back for several days and when you finally get back on your feet you have to really pace yourself so that you don't over do it. That sort of faint/dizzy feeling where you say to yourself...hmmm, I better watch it. That's what gets me worried since it's been a week since the tests and I'm thinking....I know I just turned 40, but SHEESH...what's wrong with me!

I haven't had any pain in the upper right quadrant where gallbladder seems to occur. Also, my BMs have been relatively normal with the exception of it not being very much each time.

Hi Steve,

 

Welcome to Healing Well!  I've had 3 endoscopies.  Two with either very light sedation or no sedation.  The third was with enough sedation that I didn't remember it.  After the sedated procedure I had a lot more pain and spasms in my esophagus.  I would also add that the surgeon did several biopsies, and I allowed another 10 to be taken for a study they were doing.  I think between the endoscopy itself and the biopsies I had a lot of irritation.

It sounds as if you're having some irritation that needs to heal...also if you had some biopsies there is another reason for pain.  You may be having some spasming also.  I really think things will settle down once you've had a chance to heal. 

Lillye's recommendation of Carafate Suspension is a good one if things don't get feeling better soon.  It was developed to allow ulcers to heal, so it would coat and protect the tissue while the inflammation settles down.  Until things get better, be careful what you eat...nothing rough (popcorn, raw veggies, etc.), nothing spicy or acidic. 

Hope you feel better soon! 

Denise

I hope you are better now as it has been over a month---I had a colonoscopy yesterday and woke up today with nausea and weakness and dizziness---how long did it take you to feel better? I took my Carafate this morning and got some Gatorade down but am definitely not hungry---I did have a protein shake and a peanut butter sandwich last evening and felt fine but upon waking I felt like you described---of course, I have had some nausea since my gallbladder surgery on August 5th---just writing to commiserate and get reassurance that you did recover after feeling this way after your test---

 

Hi Stevarino,

I can totally relate. I had an egd in jan 2010 and half way through the procedure they did not sedate me enough and I became almost fully conscience and tried to rip the camera out of my throat. Since then I have turned down all egd procedures. After my egd I started having a ton of problems with my throat feeling tight and felt like a lot of mucus in the back of my throat and it felt like my esophagus was swelling. To make a very long story short I was diagnosed with innapropriate sinus tachacardia which made me feel exhausted, weak and dizzy all the time. I had a stress test yesterday and when I stand up my heart rate goes up to anywhere from 130-140 bpm. On the treadmill with any exertion I go into the 170-180 bpm. This all started after my egd. Today I had an upper gi series and the radiologist while performing the test told me right away that I had some pretty severe reflux (i have also been off of PPI's for almost 6 months because of my insurance co) he could actually see it go up half way into my chest. Maybe take your pulse and blood pressure when you are laying down and then again standing up. I didn't even really know I had sinus tach until my reg dr diagnosed it in his office after an ekg.

Hi, guys.

My sister just had an upper GI and colonoscopy and is experiencing extreme discomfort in her back and chest.  She is going to have it checked out as I write this. 

Steve, how long did this problem last for you? She doesn't have GERD, and her only diagnosis previously was h.pylori and then diverticulosis. 

its a scary feeling, I had and EGD over a month and I also had sharp sternum pain. it has finally subsided but took over a month to go away. If it was an actual tear in your esophagus you would be in immense pain, especially at this point. Although the sternum pain after the egd is a little pain full, it will go away. Just give it time, I also had elevated heart rate after the egd. but that has also subsided. My doctor also gave me Carafate but I stopped using it, did not like how I felt when taking Carafate. hang in their it will get better