New and Going nuts

Hi everyone. I've had Gerd since my 20's and I'm now 34. Before that I always had a sensitive stomach. I've been on and off various meds including rantadine and Prilosec during that time. I have had a hoarse voice, mildly irritated throat, tooth problems and dry mouth for a while. For the past year and a half my reflux has been progressively worse. I wasn't able to get to the doctor and so I began taking OTC rantadine and then, a couple weeks ago, Prilosec. I've been gradually having more difficulty swallowing and now it feels like food is getting caught in my chest. Finally got into see a doc (due to insurance issues) and she gave me 40mg Prilosec 2x/day and is ordering a swallow study. I also have IBS, anxiety and general fatigue/joint pain. Due to this, especially due to my anxiety, I am now terrified that I have cancer. It is scaring the heck out of me not to be able to swallow food well and this has been getting worse over time. Im fairly overweight but I've lost 20lbs in about 3 weeks. I am scared to eat. I'm not sure what kind of support in looking for here but I felt like I needed to post this somewhere. I have a wonderful group of friends and my incredible fiancé but I fear I'm driving them all nuts. I'm usually a mildly anxious, good honored guy but this is too much...Thank you so much for listening.

JoeyJoe:

When was your last EGD, and how were you originally diagnosed with GERD? Actually, weight loss may help your condition. You might want to keep a food journal to see what your trigger foods are and try to avoid them. Most importantly, I would try and get the anxiety under control and take medication if you have to. It's possible that your anxiety is making your reflux worse. Also, if the Prilosec doesn't work they can prescribe a different PPI. In your situation, I wouldn't worry about cancer.

Hi Joeyjoe I think you should see a gastroenterologist where they go down your esophagus. And let them look to see what is going on. When I was in my 20 I was having trouble swallowing food, food
Was getting stuck. They had to stretch my esophagus. It didn't hurt. I had scar tissue. That is why I was having trouble. You should go for check up.

Joeyjoe. Want to welcome you to our forum. I feel bad that you don't feel so well. Please tell us about your test on Monday. Being anxious isn't helping and we know you are trying really hard to tame it down. Please cut out the weight lifting for a while and concentrate on your nutrition. No coffee, carbonation, alcohol, greasy foods, tomato, chocolate, fried stuff, chips. It not much to cut out to get you feeling better. Your girlfriend can be a great help in this area. You must eat for nutrition. This will help with inner healing and less irritation. Also, please place some blocks under the head of your bed. This will help keep stomach contents from rising up the throat and feeling stuck and unable to swallow. We aren't doctors but we try to help as others have helped us. Wish you well.

Hi so sorry you are dealing with this. I have been having swallowing problems since February of last year, they progressed in May and in July I stopped eating solid food all together. i don't know what's causing mu issue, hiatal hermia, gerd that damaged my throat or my enlarged thyroid or something else . I understand how scary it is to feel like you can't swallow food, it quickly becomes your enemy end a thing to fear and avoid. Also stress and anxiety do make it worse.