HI, I am a 31 year old male in good shape and exercise 3-4 times a week. Before I begin, I wanted to note that I have been diagnosed with severe GERD and have had a colonoscopy and endoscopy in the past 1.5 years. The colonoscopy was clean but the endoscopy in April 2017 did confirm GERD and also two esophageal ulcers (very painful). I have a history of drinking and smoking eVapes. I usually go on intermittent bouts of being on both heavily for a weekend and then quitting cold turkey for weeks at a time as I know the lifestyle isn't healthy.
I am writing because I have been experiencing acute constipation and horrid burning and stinging pains lately in my chest that come during the day and sometimes even wake me up at night when im sleeping. It almost feels like my entire esophagus is inflamed from behind my mouth all the way to my LES. The pain is so bad that I literally am almost kicking my feet like a child because I can't bare to stand it. The strange thing is that I have no trouble swallowing, and don't feel any acid in my throat. I simply just feel horrid stinging and burning right around my LES.
The symptoms are very hard to describe but my gastro "believes" they are severe heartburn bouts that come and go. I have been prescribed 20mg of protonix which I take in the morning and practically live off ultra strength tums throughout the day. Ever since the burning and stinging chest pains started a couple of weeks ago, I have completely quit smoking and drinking and do my best to eat a healthy, light diet.
Aside from the burning, the constipation seems to be trending towards a chronic problem. I can't go 2-3 weeks without taking a laxative as I constantly have hard stools, stomach pain, and lots of straining that occur when I attempt to go.
Does anyone have similar symptoms such as these? Any remedies you can share?? I am literally to a point where im pouring money to my gastro and the only answer I get is that I have GERD and I need to make changes to my lifestyle, and I need to buy miralax and eat more fiber for constipation. I understand the "lifestyle" part and im working on that, but my concern is that even after 3 weeks of no smoking or drinking i still have occasional burning chest pains and horrible indigestion. As for the constipation, I eat TONS of fiber every day and drink gallons of water due to my exercising. I feel like my body maybe is in a constant state of dehydration??
One last note I wanted to make is that I never had a follow up endoscopy to confirm that my ulcers had properly healed(1.5 years ago). I am wondering if that is what i should discuss with my doctor at my follow up.
Look forward to any help you guys can provide.
Thanks,
Garrett
Post Edited (jgclark05) : 11/29/2018 7:09:03 PM (GMT-7)