Losing my mind, lost faith in doctors

One month, yes. Months? No.

As you might know, throat tightness can be the body's natural reaction to the acid splashing up in your throat. It can also be from the LES not closing, even if you feel "digestively" relaxed and at ease. There is more pressure in your gut, thus "burping" and "farting" happen, when sphincters relax..

Perhaps, When the LES does not shut completely, the pressure in your esophagus might almost be equal to your gut , and some people feel it if the UES remains closed (constricted) as it should.

And your thyroid. Do you have hypothyroid symptoms?

Many Drs are NOT thyroid "savy" at all. If they just tested TSH thats not enough. You need whats called free T3 and free T4. If those two are in the bottom portion of the provided range, guess what, your hypo, just not a whole lot. And lastly, about half of hypothyroid is autoimmune hypo thyroid called Hashimoto. In Hashimoto the thyroid gland gets attacked by your own antibodies and it gets inflamed and sometimes you can feel this inflammation in your throat, as I have. The thyroid Hashimoto antibody tests are called TPO and TgAb, very common tests.

Gut yeast called candida and also bacterial overgrowth can cause bloating which can be felt as pressure in your throat too.

I know you said that you had a spirometer test, but have you seen a pulmonary specialist? As far as the Protonix, it does take a while to notice improvement, and if you don't get results then you can try another medication. Have you ever been told that you suffer from anxiety?

I realize that you are only 23, and I can imagine how frustrated you are. I suffered from GERD and asthma along with chronic bronchitis, most of my adult life (I am now 55). I also suffered with some of the same symptoms that you are experiencing. Just my two cents, as we are not medical professionals, give up the smoking, at least until you get your symptoms under control. You might want to talk to your doctor about your anxiety, as it will cause or make your symptoms seem worse. The more you are upset about your situation, and become more fixated on it, the worse your breathing symptoms will become. The pulmonary specialist reviewed your testing and didn't believe that you had asthma or COPD. Your comments about feeling like you are dying and thinking you need to be euthanized if you have COPD lead me to believe you might benefit from some sort of medication for the anxiety. First try making some lifestyle changes, follow a GERD-friendly diet, give the Protonix a chance, talk to someone about the anxiety situation, and realize that none of your testing has indicated that your condition is "fatal."

Good Luck, Sharon

Post Edited (SharonZ) : 12/30/2016 11:08:42 AM (GMT-7)

I'd be extremely reassured that the docs so far haven't found anything bad. This sounds an awful lot like an irritated vagus nerve from GERD. Just my two cents. Do you get any relief with an antacid like tums? Even for a brief moment? I know the feeling your describing. Whenever it crops up I'll get up and walk around, try to burp, do some twists, then take an antacid. That's usually enough for me to get it to go away. In fact sometimes one big burp will get me instantaneous relief. Other times two Tums will knock it down. Of course, smoking is only going to make GERD worse. Your esophagus needs some time to get back to normal, so you should put down the smokes for a while.

You'd have to cut the nerve in order to do lasting damage. Also, D-Limonene acts as a protective coating, not an acid neutralizer. But I hear it works. I have some but I haven't taken it yet. I've adjusted my diet, lost weight, and take manuka honey, which all seems to be working great for me. I had the whacky breathing this afternoon, by the way. I had a hamburger for lunch (first one in a LONG time), and wolfed it down too fast. 5 minutes later, it came on. I took two tums and some anti-gas chewables, and felt fine within 20 minutes.

Gerd has lots going on behind the scenes. Drs mostly treat/look for the most common or easiest treatment. Treatment does not mean cure.

I still think your LES is not shutting and thats the fullness you feel in your throat. Remember you can try different natural supplement on your own without making and waiting for Drs appt's/opinions.

I was fed up with all the gastro Drs spendy tests and slowly fixed my gerd on my own. My follow up was with a nurse practitioner, I told her my natural approach of diet, probiotics, enzymes D-limonene, and she pretty much said "good job".

If I indulge in trigger foods or even over eat for days on end like holidays, it wants to come back, prob 'cause maybe I have a weaker LES that's prone to opening with higher gut pressures from indigestion.

After several times of acid getting past the LES, the valve gets semi-paralyzed and wont shut right till you baby it like a broken leg. Then the body gets stuck in this evil cycle till you inter-vine like what I did with diet and supplements.

There came a time when I realized Drs are not know-it-alls, or god-like, when a fat Dr said I need to get in better shape because I had somewhat high glucose. I was already in shape, and later fixed my glucose on my own too.

Unless they are really into it like a "natural path" or "functional medicine" MD, 9 times out of 10, its just a job to them. Few people do their job 100%.

Hello,

This is not a very busy forum, but good info is here. Read a lot of these posts- the ones where peoples gerd is better. Obviously if their gerd is still bad, they didnt fix it yet, so no help for you then.

And its best to make a new post instead of adding on to someone elses thread- more people see it then.

Lastly learn about this. Learn like you have to. Like its your job. And remember to not rely only on Drs, many that do dont get better.

Under stand and learn the details of whats happening. And learn the natural treatments and suppliments too. All are here at your finger tips. Some here dont even bother reading other posts and many times their answer is in another post.

I don't see the post from Astroman as being unkind, he's offering you a lot of good information. There hasn't been a lot of traffic on this particular board and you might not get quick responses. How were you diagnosed with GERD, what testing have you had done, and what are you currently doing to relieve your symptoms? Have you tried a GERD-friendly diet, eliminating junk, soda, caffeine, chocolate, spicy foods, etc? Have you started a food diary to try and pinpoint your food triggers? Do you suffer from, or have every suffered from, anxiety? Have you spoke with your doctor regarding your breathing difficulties?

Sharon

Ksgma -

Funny, I use my time to answer vs ignore a complete stranger online with minimal history or details about you, so that maybe you'll get in the right direction,....... and you think I'm being "unkind".

People are all "volunteer" here.

No one here has the complete answer for someone, as GERD can be very individual. Its about learning, then trials.

Bad attitude on your part wont help you much either : )

Post Edited (astroman) : 1/5/2017 3:52:53 PM (GMT-7)

@Paul's Brother
I think I might be experiencing the same thing as you. But I also feel a heat in my esophagus/throat area. I had trouble breathing since November 2, 2016. I had an upper endoscopy done like you, and they took a biopsy, said I should start taking Omeprazole (a PPI). [What was the dosage of PPI they said you should take?] They said I should take 20 mg, twice a day, one before breakfast, and one before dinner. After about 5 days or so, I felt breathing relief. My endoscopy was done on Nov 22, 2016. I started taking the PPI around Nov 29. Here's something you can try to maybe get some breathing relief, this works for me, I read about it on some forums: eat like a half tablespoon of yellow mustard. Just straight. Like the kind you would put on a hotdog.

I've done lots of reading online about this breathing/heat issue I'm having. I really don't like being on a PPI. They are really not good for you it seems like. I'm going to try to ween myself off of it and I'm going to try to start taking some Betaine HCl supplements. I've noticed that sometimes after I eat something like celery, 4 hours later, I can burp and like "taste" the celery, as if it is just sitting in my stomach, not being digested. I think I may have too low stomach acid. So maybe my problem all long was too little stomach acid but I have no idea. I ordered some Betaine HCl supplements off Amazon yesterday, they should arrive tomorrow. I'll let you know how this goes for me incase you might think you have the same thing as me. I'll try and check back here every day incase you have any questions. I hope you can find a cure/relief.

@Zooze
I have gone through those exact steps, except this has been lasting 3 years. I have been on PPIs since June and there has been absolutely no change in my breathing problems. I'm an athlete, so this has drastically affected my performance on the field, where I am literally out of breath after one sprint. I did some research and came across this post plus many other websites, leading me to believe i may have LOW stomach acid rather than high. You said you were starting to take HCL supplements, have they done anything for you at all?