Severe burning when swallowing

Hello, this is my first time on this site, and hopefully someone here can help me (God knows, Doctors can't) I had a Nissen done 1 year and a 1/2 ago for continual reflux, they also fixed a sizable hiatal hernia.  Before the surgery, I would have continual heartburn/lump in the throat etc. which I became so used to that it became "normal" however 2 or 3 times a year, I would have a vicious bout of it which usually lasted for 1-3 weeks where swallowing ANY food or drink felt like orange juice on a canker sore about midway down the bottom of my throat...so severe in fact that it felts literally like my esophagus was on fire.  I would actually start to sweat while eating from the burning sensation... as you can imagine, I would lose 10-15 pounds in 3 weeks from lack of ability to eat ANYTHING, not to mention uncomfortable sleep as well.  This occurred even on Prevacid 2 X a day.  So hence I decided on a Nissen.  Well, for anyone of thinking a Nissen is a cure-all, think carefully... I wound up in the hospital 1 week after surgery with nausea so severe I prayed to die...it lasted 3 DAYS before subsiding, they said it was "esophogeal swelling"... anyhow, things slowly, gradually started healing up and all follow-ups with endo and upper GI show, perfect function of the Nissen...one problem, this May, guess what?  Here comes the esophageal fire again...again by the time I get an appt. for an endo, the symptoms have subsided (about 3 weeks)  and no signs of anything wrong except food in my stomach from the PREVIOUS morning which the Doctor said was a sign that my stomach doesn't empty well...anyhow I was put back on Prevacid 2 a day with no problems until last week when for no reason on Prevacid with a Nissen...here we go again...the blast furnace is back on just as before with IDENTICAL symptoms, actually as I write this, the symptoms are starting their downward skid toward normalcy again... does anyone know what this is?  I am a very healthy 36 year old man with no weight problems (in fact I lost 30 pounds with the Nissen from 185 to 155), I don't have diabetes, and I don't drink alcohol or smoke...I have never used drugs other that Doctor prescribed...what is wrong with me?  I am tired of living like this... These episodes are so bad and tiring it makes life miserable...can anyone help me?  Thanks for listening...  Sean

Hi Sean,
Wow....what a drag for you! I guess my only question might be: Do you take any pills right before you go to bed? I had a pill lay in my esophogus all night once, and it caused an ulcer. Boy did that hurt. I would swallow, and about 2-3 seconds later, it would burn like crazy. Just a thought.

Hi Sean,
When I had the pill-disolving-in-the-esophagus problem, it was an antibiotic pill. But I'm sure ANY pill disolving there can be very irritating. It was a long time ago, but I think I remember it taking about a week to start healing. I called the doctor after a few days, and he did an endoscopy, since I couldn't accept that it might have just been a little pill causing all that pain. He found an ulcer in the esophagus. I think it healed in about a week after that.
It was incredible how painful swallowing was from that! And I knew it was something further down the esophogus, because I could swallow just fine, but about 2-3 seconds later, there was seering pain.
I hope that's all it was for you! Those of us with GERD have to be so careful about laying down, bearing down, etc., after we put anything in our mouths.......especially pills! Good luck to you, and let us know if you start feeling better soon. I wonder if Tylenol comes in a liquid form, which might be safer for you, since you need to take it at night? If not, maybe you could dissolve the pills in water first, and drink it like that.