Esophageal spasms

I haven't posted on this site for a couple of years but I am a long sufferer of esophageal spasms -- about 25 years. They usually come on episodically and last with varying intensity (either feeling like a ping pong ball is stuck in my throat about the same area as my thyroid gland or having chest pains) for maybe an hour or two multiple times over a 4 or 5-day period. I have even had other complications as the spasms have somehow stimulated my vagus nerve and lowered my blood pressure and heart rate so that I feel exhausted. (I even had a stress test done when my spasms resulted in my resting heart rate hanging in the 40s and was asked if I'm a world class marathoner because after 15 minutes running on the treadmill my pulse wouldn't go above 120.)

Sometimes I can eliminate the spasms with peppermint oil pills, ginger tea (made by boiling pieces of the root for about 15 minutes), magnesia phosphorica (a homeopathic med that should be taken at least 1/2 hr. before or 1 hr. after meals and without any mint the same day), percocet and/or with acupuncture that supposedly adds heat to my small intestine. Other meds did not work for me although Valium helped me sleep when the spasms made me uncomfortable and anxious about tightness in my throat.

I also discovered about a year and a half ago that I suffer from GERD occasionally as I had an esophageal erosion that created stomach area pain that felt totally different from the spasms. But that additional problem made it a bit more difficult to figure out if treating the GERD could help the spasms. Sometimes it did --Zantac or Prilosec actually worked.

Unfortunately, over the past 3 weeks, even with a steady dosage of Prilosec and all the other treatments, I have had the ping pong ball feeling everyday for a good part of my waking hours and occasionally bothersome enough to wake me up at night. I generally change my eating patterns during flare ups -- no rich or fatty foods or alcohol or caffeine or excessive spice or raw vegies --- and have for the most part done so again but with limited results (my symptoms wax and wane each day and some days during this 2 weeks have been worse).

I'm wondering if anyone else has had such a long flare up. If not, then I may go in and have my doc look at my Thyroid to see if it is causing this ping pong feeling.

Thanks,
Steele

I keep reading more stories about people using low carb diet to get rid of heartburn. I have been able to get off meds by following the Fast Tract diet for heartburn. You could try this. There is a thread here on Fast Tract with more details.