Keeting, you absolutley need to go in for an endoscopy. That will tell exactly what it is you have but I'm betting based upon your symptons that you definitley have acid reflux. Everyone's symptons are different but belching and feeling like you have something in your throat are definite signs of acid reflux. To start with you should elevate the head of your bed by 4", lose some weight if you are overweight, avoid acidic foods...no tomatoes, no citrus, no carbonated beverages, no caffeine, no chocolate no onions, no garlic, and try to go sugar free. You should be eating fruits and veggies and either chicken, turkey or fish. They said eating 6 meals a day as opposed to 3 is better for you and don't lay down for at least two hours before you go to bed at night.
My journey started with a hoarse voice but my voice has always taken on a lower tone/hoarseness when I'm tired. My boss kept telling me I needed to have it checked. I had a little indigestion here and there...maybe once every few months and i was always able to blame it on what I had eaten earlier. I went to my Internist, he sent me to ENT, he looked down my throat and said you have acid reflux. He gave me an RX, told me to come back in 3 months which I did and nothing had changed. He wanted to wait 3 more months. I went back to my Internist and said I'm done with the ENT. I want to be referred to a gastrologist so i could have an endoscopy. He totally agreed. The endoscopy is a piece of cake because they sedate you. After waking from the scope my doc came in and told me that I had a severe case of acid reflux and prescribed Dexilant to contorl the acid which is the best on the market he said. He mentioned Barrett's Esophagus but only 6% of people with acid reflux have Barrett's and they generally have a lot more symptons than i did and are overweight. More people die from cancer of the esohagus than they do from colon cancer because they take their over the counter tums, prevacid, zantac or whatever and never go have and endoscopy. He was absolutely shocked that my biospy confirmed Short Term Barrett's which is a precancerous condition. The tissue lining the esophagus is similar to intestinal lining. There were no cancer cells present for me thank the good Lord but there are varying stages of Barrett's which can lead to esophageal cancer. He advised me to have an ablation to remove the tissue which I did and then had a follow-up ablation. Between ablation 1 and 2 I had burning down my throat, in my mouth, on my tongue, on my lips and through my nose which I had not had before. Sometimes my eyes even burned. And the burning in the nose caused a runny nose. The 2nd bisopy from the 2nd ablation revealed Hpylori which was overgrowth from the Barrett's. I had changed my diet so weight loss I was having didn't concern me too much. The pasta, sugar and pizza were gone. I only weighed 117 at the beginning this journey and went down to 99 lbs. I looked horrible. While some of the weight loss was due to diet, the real culprit was the hyplori. I had a couple of other symptons but again blamed it on meds and change in diet. I was put on a massive dose of antibiotics and then back in for test to see if it was gone. Thankfully we got that one cleared up and I'm back up to 106 lbs. I had another endoscopy recently and went to see my doc on Friday and got great news. The Barrett's tissue is gone. The biggest issue now is stopping the flow of acid which is going to require either a fundiplication which is major surgery or a new procedue called Zink. I have severe chronic acid reflux and the meds which are supposed to be the best on the market just aren't working. I am in the process of making an appointment with a surgeon to do a consult on the new procedure. It's very simplistic but is also very new. My insurance may not even cover it. The reason i have shared my jouney with you is so you can see that symptons are different as well as outcomes. Try what I have suggested and see if you get any relief but most definitely, go have an endoscopy so you can determine a therapy that works for you. It's truly nothing to be playing with.
Since my diagnosis the beginning of this year I have had 2 friends diagnosed with Barrett's as well. I'm not saying you have that at all but consistent acid reflux needs to be checked. It's more common than you think.