Hi all,
I've browsed these forums for a while now but decided to finally make a post.
I'm a 24 year old male, 6ft 4in and 190lbs. Since April 2015, I've been experiencing fairly regular heartburn. Other symptoms include: weight loss, noticeable "palpitations" (pronounced heartbeat around stomach/sternum area), loss of appetite, occasional constipation and depression. The symptoms came on while studying for my final university exams (a very stressful time) and are usually made worse by stress. Two months prior to this episode, I was visiting a physiotherapist regularly for 2 months to relieve back spasms caused by a muscle imbalance in my back.
I've seen six doctors over the past 4 months, and have yet to receive a diagnosis. I've tested negative for H. Pylori, blood work is normal, blood pressure is normal, EKG showed nothing, and I had an ultrasound done on my aorta regarding the pronounced heartbeat which also came back normal. Doing my own research led me to believe that maybe my vagus nerve was being pinched, thus causing the pronounced heartbeat in my stomach, but doctors have all told me different things: it's anxiety, it's depression, it's all in my head, there's too little fat around the area to "cushion" my heartbeat, etc.
I pleaded for an endoscopy with all of the doctors, and all of them said that it likely isn't necessary, as I'm young, in good shape, no serious medical history, no medications, etc. They told me the scope is likely too invasive, and all of them gave me PPIs and showed me the door. (I'm in Canada, by the way).
In June, I finally found a family doctor to refer me for an endoscopy, but it isn't until the end of August (again, they see me as low priority). He thinks it's a hiatal hernia, which I also assumed it was for months prior.
For the past four months, I've been able to
mostly handle the reflux/heartburn symptoms without using any PPIs by radically changing my diet. I cut out caffeine, alcohol, dairy, wheat/breads, refined carbs and refined sugars. My diet consists of fruits, veggies, hard boiled eggs, lean meats and water. I also began taking magnesium supplements, DGL, multi minerals and vitamins. I'm not sure what exactly helped me, but by doing all of the above, I was able to limit heartburn episodes to 1-2 times per week, and they were fairly minor. I have a prescript
ion for 40mg Pantoprazole, but from all my research, I wanted to avoid them until they were absolutely needed.
I thought I had it all under control, but this past week something's changed and I'm considering taking the PPIs. Four days ago, I had a very stressful day, and found myself dealing with severe heartburn later that night, and it hasn't gone away. Since that day, I've also been experiencing mild headaches that won't go away, and yet my palpitations (which have been constant for the past 4 months, even when all other symptoms subsided) suddenly
have almost completely disappeared. This is all just in the last four days, and yet the heartburn is suddenly worse than ever.
My guess is that maybe, if this is indeed a hiatal hernia, that it recently shifted (?) and isn't impinging on the vagus nerve in the same way -- although I'm completely guessing.
My endoscopy is in two weeks and at this point I'm really losing hope. I don't know what to do and I feel like nobody understands what this feels like, or cares. I feel totally alone with this and have been trying so hard to make it better, and it's been incredibly frustrating dealing with these doctors.
Should I start taking the Pantoprazole? Is there anything I should know about
taking it?
Any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Post Edited (SConductor) : 8/10/2015 12:19:20 PM (GMT-6)