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Taking over my life..

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GERD & Acid Reflux
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Posted 4/13/2007 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
Does anyone out there feel as though this GERD disease is taking over their lives?  Between the pains and anxiety regarding the pains I feel like I have completely lost the person that I was before this happened to me.  I am scared to eat, scared the pains are related to my heart (been to cardio and he says no), uncomfortable with the pains, anxious over the whole thing.  Just plain worried.  My children suffer because I am so preoccupied with the GERD, my husband thinks I am going crazy.  Anyway, I am going to a new gastro doc on the 30th of April to hopefully help.  Anyway, just wondering if anyone else feels like they are drowning in this mess????

Best of Luck to you all!

TT

Posted 4/13/2007 8:48 PM (GMT 0)

I know exactly what are you talking about. I have been struggling with GERD in last six months and have had often similar feelings. It is amazing how much it influences quality of living considering there are so many unknowns with often constantly present physical pain. Good luck to you!

Posted 4/17/2007 4:12 AM (GMT 0)
Have a talk with your primary doctor about anxiety.

Frightened to eat...I've been there
Frightened I actually had worse disease...been there.
Anxious over the whole thing...been there.
People thought I was going nuts...been there, too.
Felt like it would never get better...definitely.

Not saying you have anxiety or panic disorder, but I do, and can identify with what you say. It took them a long time to determine I was "mental", but when they finally did and when I was finally treated for it, my whole life got better (including GERD). I still have GERD, of course, but it's not nearly as bad and I'm a lot better at handling it mentally. If you get nervous or anxious, any GERD sufferer will tell you it makes it worse. Italian Americans call it "agita".

Again, I'm not a doctor or anything and can't say you have GAD or Panic Disorder, but from what you've written you remind me of where I was not long ago. It's worth looking into, at the very least.
Posted 4/17/2007 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
debaser, it's a hard call because for some people, the disease itself causes the anxiety.  I have a twisted colon and feel cramps every, every day, in addition to my GERD symptoms.  So it is hard for ANYONE not to be anxious in my shoes.
Posted 4/17/2007 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
True. Very true.

I've talked about it here, but initially I did not have anxiety/panic, and instead had a medical problem that was mysterious and took forever to diagnose (bad gallbladder). That's when I developed anxiety/panic, and even when the gallbladder problem was fixed the anxiety/panic persisted.

If you're really sick and can take the edge off, that's great. If you can stop it from becoming a full-blown GAD or Panic Disorder, even better.

Again, I'm not saying either of you have that problem to the extent that it needs treatment, but any part of what I said rings a bell, then it's not inappropriate to at least discuss it with your doctor. A certain amount of anxiety is a given with any illness, I guess, but if the anxiety gets to the point that it starts making your illness worse, well...
Posted 4/19/2007 4:53 AM (GMT 0)
I feel like it is the chicken/egg scenerio...Which came first, the anxiety or the GERD.  For me it is the GERD.  I started having trouble with my stomach at 14 and I just turned 45 last week, so it has been a long road.  I have to say that I went for many many years with few or no symptoms at all.  This last stretch started about 3 years ago, and was fueled by stress and anxiety.  I have also been researching the role that hormones play in this whole game.  It is an interesting disease with so so many unknowns.

I have to say it is a full time job trying to not let it take over my life!  Luckily, I have 2 children that try and keep me in line tongue .

Debaser, I so appreciate you sharing your experiences, they do sound like me....I am working on this from many directions, I have an appt with a new GI doc on the 30th of April and depending on how that goes, my next step will be my PCP to talk about the anxiety portion of the game.  I of course, want to avoid any more drugs than I already take, but whatever will make this one go away is what I am all about!

It always makes me happy that we all have a place to go and talk with folks that are like us!!  I am so thankful for each of you!

Blessings!

TT

Posted 4/20/2007 9:16 AM (GMT 0)
Nice post and good luck to you.

I can really relate to your concerns about your family. I have not been normal for weeks and the strain is showing on my wife and 11-year-old daughter. Like you I'm anxious becuase I have Gerd rather than a Gerd sufferer because i am anxious. In my case, I think the more information I have and the more tests I do the better. I really believe that you have to know the beast before you can beat it.
So for me it is
(1) endoscopy and biopsy (completed)
(2) ph testing
(3) evaluation of the efficiency of the lower e. sphincter.

If it is possible, I will take the surgical route. I want to drink coffee again, drink moderately, eat spicy foods and enjoy citrus fruits. I don't want to live like this forever.
Thanks again for this thread and God bless you as well. I live in Australia and the great majority of the population here have no idea of the private helll we are all living through.
Posted 4/22/2007 3:43 AM (GMT 0)

TroubledTummy said...
I feel like it is the chicken/egg scenerio...Which came first, the anxiety or the GERD. For me it is the GERD. I started having trouble with my stomach at 14 and I just turned 45 last week, so it has been a long road. I have to say that I went for many many years with few or no symptoms at all. This last stretch started about 3 years ago, and was fueled by stress and anxiety. I have also been researching the role that hormones play in this whole game. It is an interesting disease with so so many unknowns.
I have to say it is a full time job trying to not let it take over my life! Luckily, I have 2 children that try and keep me in line [img]/community/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img] .



Debaser, I so appreciate you sharing your experiences, they do sound like me....I am working on this from many directions, I have an appt with a new GI doc on the 30th of April and depending on how that goes, my next step will be my PCP to talk about the anxiety portion of the game. I of course, want to avoid any more drugs than I already take, but whatever will make this one go away is what I am all about!



It always makes me happy that we all have a place to go and talk with folks that are like us!! I am so thankful for each of you!

Blessings!

TT

Yep. Sometimes it doesn't matter about whether the chicken or the egg came first. Ya just gotta do the best you can, regardless. Maybe that may mean medical help for the anxiety, maybe not. But I think if you get relief in either area the other will see improvement, too.
Posted 4/23/2007 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
Amen to that!  If I can just figure out one way or the other!  I have actually had a couple of great days, but I sure did something wrong because today has been a real bear.  I have found a couple of things...drinking milk does (for some reason) give me some relief, not sure what the deal is but the pain does subside for a certian period of time with milk.  The prevacid has also been helpful, the attacks have been lesser in intensity and frequency (I was having them every single afternoon) but it doesn't work all of the time.

I don't know about surgery for me, but I am with Christo in that I really want to someday be able to at least have an occasional cup of coffee.  Just a little normal activity would be great! I even have trouble exercising because I don't know if my GERD is going to start up or not! 

After my appt on the 30th I will for sure write and let you all know if he tells me anything that we haven't heard...I feel like over the last 3 years I have heard everything there is to hear, but I am always up for a different point of view!

Take Care All!!!

TT

Posted 4/23/2007 4:02 AM (GMT 0)
Good luck TT and I really hope all goes well for you. Please write if it does because every piece of positive news lifts the spirits of all us on line.

I have just had my third change of medication in two weeks. I am now to take 40 mg somac nightly plus another 40 mg whenever needed. I also have tazac (nizatidine) in reserve.

Besides the acid breakthroughs, two extra symptoms/ signs are causing me some concern. The first are chest pains (non-cardiac) which strike in the left and right breast, under my arms and near my ribs. Could this be the infamous pockets of gas brought about as a consequence of Gerd? The second problem for me is gas. I had an upper abdominal ultrasound on Thursday and the results were next to useless because of the amount of gas. Can the PPis themselves cause this problem? I also had no protein or sugar in my urine sample. How can all this be happening to an otherwise heathy 42 year-old male with a spot on 25 BMI?
Posted 4/26/2007 10:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I am new here and really felt like I was completely alone on what I am feeling but I am not alone. My fiance also thinks im Crazy.

I have been going through this for a long time now and it is driving me crazy one day it gets better a few weeks later it comes in full force. I am scared to eat and have recently lost alot of weight. I do eat but its nothing like I should be eating. I eat very little I feel like something is stuck. I have been too a nose, ear, & throat dr about a yr ago and told me I was ok that I probably have gerd, but after a while it went away. I just want my life back.

All of this has been giving me panic attacks. I am sorry you are going through this I wouldnt wish this upon my worst enemy. U talking sounds just like me if u need to talk you can feel free to email me.

[email protected]

Posted 4/27/2007 12:37 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, this Gerd can take over one's life completely!!! I too have been having horrible chest pains especially when I am refluxing.  It is hard to explain because sometimes I don't know if it is my lungs or just my chest area but the pain can be intense and very uncomfortable.  Luckily, I don't have a problem with lots of gas but I do belch quite frequently especially after eating.  I had mentioned this to my Gastro Dr. and he said I was just swallowing too much air (go figure this one). 

Definately, because of the Gerd I am having anxiety issues which I never had before and I thank God I had the Xanax to calm me down.  There are times because of the chest pain I would feel as if I was going to have a heart attack (even though I have had every test done to confirm my heart is ok) but when I was having a really bad episode it really used to send me into a frenzy but it has gotten a little better.  I am on a double dose of PPI for 4 months now and I just hope I can eventually wean myself off this drug.  I agree this Gerd can really affect your quality of life.  Just glad to know I am not alone with this Gerd problem....... sad

Posted 4/27/2007 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
porcelain, my doctor has prescribed me Ativan for anxiety. Is that the same sort of thing as Xanax? I am starting to freak out a bit with this GERD thing. I don't want to take anything that is going to freak me out any more than I already amd. Also do you know if I can take Ativan with Nexium?
Posted 4/28/2007 1:26 AM (GMT 0)
Hamhoc, the Xanax is in the same class of drugs as the Ativan, they are both benzodiazepines.  I was in pretty bad shape.  I am barely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel but for me it has been over 4 months and still watching my diet like a hawk.  I am very glad I had the Xanax to help me through this mess.  The dose I took was the lowest 0.25 and I would take it as needed.  There were several times I'd be at shopping at a store and I would get short of breath and felt like my lung would literally collapse, very scary and yes I would panic.  Then with this low dose it would take about 10 minutes for me to calm down.  My doctor told me to be very careful and not to stop the Xanax cold turkey or I would get really sick with withdrawl symptoms (headache, nausea, or throwing up).  Luckily, this never happened because toward the end I would cut the pill and take it like that or I would take it one day and not the next day (when I didn't take it that day I did feel a very slight headache but not too bad, nothing I couldn't take).  Knock on wood I haven't used the Xanax in over two weeks.  I am not advocating drug use but thank God I had the Xanax it really helped me cope with a horrible miserable situation.  Oh yeah I almost forgot about your question, I did take both the Xanax along with the PPI.  The Nexium took forever to kick in.

In fact, these are all the drugs I was taking when I was at my worst:  Nexium 40mg twice a day, Xanax as needed, Advair, Albuterol rescue inhaler as needed, and Singulair.  Right now I am only on the Nexium (double dose), and the Singulair, once in a while I take 1/2 of a Tylenol PM if I can't sleep.  Good luck, Porcelain Doll Maker...

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