Hello All!
I have been searching the net for a year now searching for answers, thrilled to have found this site.
My symptoms began in January 2014. I was at work and noticed that I could not complete a sentence without being short of breath. I scheduled and appt. with my PCP and he sent me for a chest xray. It came back normal. By this time I was experiencing severe stomach bloat and constipation. I had also starting noticing extreme constant pressure in my solar plexus area, all of a sudden I could not get a deep breath, no relief this sensation is there 24/7 out of nowhere! My PCP referred me to a local GI doc .
The day after my first appt. I was in for an endoscopy. After the procedure I was given a follow up appt. and told that he had dilated my esophagus and I should feel much better, the only difference I noticed was that I could swallow food without getting hiccups.
Shortly after I had what I call an "episode" I had a normal lunch at work and it felt as if the food was sitting in my chest, I got in my car to drive home and the pressure in my solar plexus area was absolutely unbearable, and I couldn't get a deep breath. I had a panic attack (history of mild anxiety) and I ended up n the ER . My o2, blood pressure all normal. The ER doc looked up my results from the endoscopy(I hadn't had my follow up with my GI yet) he said I had esophagitis, gastritis, and a 3cm hiatal hernia. They gave me a lidocaine concoction and sent me home. At this time I noticed that I had pretty much lost my sense of smell as well.This past year I have had the following test/referrals:
*2 chest X-rays-normal
*3 endoscopies- no pylori, biopsies good, mild gastritis, slight infection(pus in junction area, docs words) hiatal hernia(small)
*Colonoscopy - polyp removed otherwise normal
*Gastric emptying study- normal
*barium swallow- no real answers all I got was normal nothing is getting caught in the area of the hernia
*swallowing test- esophagus is working 80% nothing they can do about
that
*ph test- normal
*abdominal ct scan- normal(hernia)
* gynecologist referral- all test normal
*ent referral- throat irritation consistent with acid irritation, inflamed sinus cavity, prescribed Flonase, ct scan of sinus cavity, still inflamed, continue Flonase(not working)
*pulmonologist referral- test pending, he listened to my lungs and said that he believes 70% of my problems are anxiety related
*psychotherapy referral- 2 appt.s in
My symptoms have been all over the place this past year. After trying every prescript
ion and over the counter medication I am still experiencing the following symptoms:
*Cannot take a deep breath, it feels as if my stomach is in my chest all day everyday, worse after eating. My stomach muscles and diaphragm feel extremely weak and sore, more so on the left side. Almost daily when I attempt to take deep breaths I can hear and feel my stomach move in and out of my chest(I assume that's what it is), shallow breathing
*constant sinus drainage(occasional nose bleed) very very poor sense of smell
*sore throat, constant throat clearing, trouble swallowing, burning
*occasional cough, very little mucous, usually clear.
*constipation, up to 8 days without a bm
* very few instances of noticeable gerd
* episodes of vomiting bile or not being able to vomit at all, sometimes there is small amounts of bright red blood
*lower back pain, tenderness in my sides, just feels like I am splitting apart from my waist to my neck
* tight chest "feeling", not necessarily pain.
*increasing episodes of shortness of breath.
Writing is not my thing, I have tried to keep this as short as possible. I am just hoping maybe somebody has experienced something similar and can give me some good advice, or even just a little bit of hope. They tell me on paper I am healthy, but I suffer daily, to the point I am terrified that one day I just won't wake up. My quality of life has deteriorated so quickly, and the only official diagnosis I have is a "small" hiatal hernia that nobody will talk to me about
!
Post Edited (sailingship) : 1/22/2015 9:58:16 PM (GMT-7)