Hi everyone!
I'm new on this forum and looking for people with the same experience. I don't need a diagnosis, as I'm seeing a GI specialist, but I feel it's always good to find people in the same situation. But sadly I haven't found any yet, which is making me quite anxious.
My story:
July last year I slowly realized I was having heartburn every day. And I NEVER have heartburn, ever. It sort of crept up on me, and then I had this burning feeling in my esophagus and stomach all day every day. It wasn't related to eating, didn't get worse or better. Just there all the time. I also woke up with a slight cough. So I suspected heartburn/acid reflux. I tried the bicarb burp test, which I failed. So must be normal/high stomach acid. In the following weeks I started having pain to the left of my stomach, which felt sharp (a bit like I expect an ulcer to feel like).
End of July: Went to my GP, who requested H Pylori test: negative. She put me on pantoprazol, which didn't work immediately, but felt a bit better after a couple of weeks.
August: time to come off the PPI. Had absolutely terrible pains again. Burning and also the stomach pain, which radiates to my back. I got worried, and went for a private MRI. MRI showed nothing except for gallstones. Went back to GP and asked for referral. She put me on a higher dose of PPI (2x40 pantoprazole a day) and felt a bit better again.
September: tried to come of the PPI again. No luck. So asked for gastroscopy. Result: nothing found. It's now a couple of months later. And I'm back on PPIs fulltime. I weened it down to 20mg Pantoprazol once a day, but still get occasional burning feeling. I did the 24h ph test, of which I'll get results today. Now I'm starting to get worried that something more serious is going on.
In short, my symptoms since July:
- heartburn (burning sensation in my esophagus all day every day, no matter what/when I eat or drink. I've tried all the excluding things from diet, raising bed etc)
- sharp/gnawing pain in stomach to the left side by my left ribs, also 24/7.
- nausea
- constipation
I've had these tests:
- h pylori tested off PPI: negative
- tested myself for low stomach acid, but if I believe results I have high stomach acid
- ultrasound: clear
- MRI (private): negative, except for gallstones
- endoscopy: all clear: no ulcer, no erosion, no hiatus hernia, no redness, nothing
- 24h pH monitoring: no results yet, will get those today
On the one hand I'm happy they haven't found anything wrong. On the other I feel like I need some more tests to exclude anything scary. If it were functional heartburn or dyspepsia, why does the ppi work so well? That's why I'm worried it is something like zollinger-ellison (net cancer) and they just haven't found it yet. I've read through masses of forums, but can't find anyone who's had heartburn 24/7 and also epigastric pain for months now. Any insights would be helpful! And hopefully I can help someone else dealing with this issue.
Post Edited (Smiki_T) : 1/22/2021 5:03:14 AM (GMT-7)