Ruggie's really horrible acid reflux - anyone experience this?

Hi all -

Sorry I haven't been around for a while, but this has been a hell of a week for me. 

I think some of you may have caught my post from a week ago where I was having chest pain, which may or may not have been caused by eating bread.  I only wish that was the case!  It turns out that I'm likely experiencing an extreme case of acid reflux... I wanted to tell my story to see if other people have experienced this?

- Last Saturday (the 31st), I've got a "constrictive" feeling in my chest, near my heart/stomach.  Minor freak out!  I called my surgeon, but I'm half-a-year out, so he doesn't think it's related to healing or a complication from surgery.  He questions my diet compliance, and tells me to go to ER if the pain worsens.  It's New Year's eve, so I play it by ear.

- Last Sunday, (the 1st), the pain increased a lot - it now reached up into my shoulders, and the back of my neck.  Still very constrictive, and when I changed positions (lying down, sitting up, standing up) I'd experience a large bloom of pain which would subside after ~30 seconds.  I was pretty scared, so I went to an urgent care clinic where they ran an EKG and everything was fine with that.  Doctor there said he thought it could be acid reflux, started to give me a prescription for Prilosec, but I told him I'm already on it from my surgeon.  He shrugged, gave me pain pills, and said if the pain goes away, good, if not, then go to ER.   Before the pills, the pain is VERY uncomfortable, but with pills I was alright.

- So Monday (the 2nd), I feel a lot better!  What a relief.  I go to work.  That evening, the constrictive feeling starts to come back.  
 
- Tuesday (the 3rd) - I didn't sleep well in the night, and I wake up with intense pain.  When I change positions now, there's a horrible bloom of pain that exceeds my pain threshold.  I can't even fully describe it - it's like a feeling that I have to burp, but I don't - and I feel the pain blossoming in my chest up to my throat.  Now, there is more pain in my throat, not just my chest.

I call my G.P. doctor, and get an appointment later that morning.  Another EKG, perfectly normal.  Couple of chest X-rays, some blood drawn for cardio panel, and then I try a stress-echocardiogram.  By this time, I'm in so much pain my arms are shaking.  To start the stress-echo, I have to lie on my side for the ultrasound - I cannot do it.  The pain is too great.  I keep trying, because I want to finish my testing, but the pain keeps getting worse and worse and I can't tolerate it - suddenly, I just start weeping on the exam table because I can't deal with this pain - embarrassing for a "grown man", half propped up on a table in a gown.  My GP says if I'm in that much pain, I'd better go to ER.  So I do.

So I go to ER - have the typical experience of waiting forever since I'm not about to die (no complaints).  Another EKG, my third this week.  Another set of chest X-rays, another set of blood draws with full panels.  All come back perfect.  My pain is lessened, but still pretty bad.  The 'blooms' of pain keep attacking me every few minutes, and I can't even talk when they happen - I just somehow endure them. 

ER doc thinks it's something up with my esophagus since everything else is ok, like really bad acid reflux.  I mention that I'm already on Prilosec, he says he's seen cases where acid reflux happens even on a proton inhibitor.  He orders a "GI ****tail", a mixture of Maalox, liquid lidocaine, and a anti-spasm drug.  He says that if the problem is esophagus or stomach, it will work fast - if not, it's something else.  I drink the horrible stuff - 50% of my pain is gone in about 20 seconds.  WOW.

Well I'm surprised - never had trouble with acid reflux or heartburn before, and I'm on Prilosec - and can this really be SO &$*@ing painful that it exceeds my pain threshold?  Doctor says "sure".  (Says he's seen men thinking they are having a heart attack when it's just gas pain).  Tells me I need to have my throat scoped by a GI guy.  Gives me two more medications - Pepcid (which works on a different site than Prilosec) and something called Carafate that's also supposed to help.

We talk about diet - I spent the week between Christmas and New Year's off work, and it turns out I ate the worst possible diet (pretty much) for acid reflux.  Of course, I was eating tons of protein a day, which encourages more acid production.  But also: 
  - Alcohol.  I hardly get a break, so I enjoyed delicious Amador, Sonoma, and Napa Valley wines every night.
  - Acidic foods.  I've been snacking on salsa all week - so much flavor and so little calories.
  - Spicy food.  Did I mention that salsa was hot, hot, hot?  Also, been eating jalapeno-stuffed olives for some good fats.  Oh, my favorite beef jerky is this peppered brand, and it's so spicy the pepper will burn your tongue... delicious....
  -  Greasy foods.  None, really.
  -  Mint.  Well, my surgeon suggested I drink tea to ease my stomach sometimes.  I don't do caffeine, so I have herbal tea.  What kind?  Well, mint, of course, I love it!  Also bad for acid reflux.   - I don't have a lot of citrus, but I do put fresh lemon juice on my tuna and fish several times a week.....

- Wednesday.  I start taking the medication.  Still in a great deal of pain without the pain pills.  Hate life.  Of course, stop eating all the above food.  Feel sad that between diet food and reflux food, there are few eating choices.

- Thursday.  By the evening, I can tell there's a reduction in pain.

- Friday.  Feel much better.  Pain has reduced about 75% since Tuesday.

- Today.  Pain is hardly noticeable.

Ugh.  I'm still waiting to hear when I will be scheduled to have my throat scoped.  In the meantime, I'm supposed to continue this medication and avoid those foods. :(

Honestly, my pain was so great on Tuesday, I was really thinking that something had to be majorly wrong with me, and I started having anxiety-filled visions of my partner having to deal with my death soon - I don't mean to be melodramatic, but the pain was that bad.

So, that's why I haven't posted in the last week.  Anyone have a similar experience?   

This sounds like something I went through a few months ago. It was in between having the band out and not yet being sleeved.

I woke up in the middle of the night with intense pain radiating into my back and chest.

It was so bad I called an ambulance. In the er they gave me that same ****tail. Unfortunately it didn't help me. They finally gave me dilaudid for the pain. I was crying I was in so much pain.

Chest xrays, ekgs were all normal. I don't have a gallbladder so that was ruled out.

They finally did an MRI which showed major inflammation in my esophagus. So the diagnosis was esophagitis.

I haven't had any problems since being sleeved but still take Protonix daily.

I never want to go through that again.

Good luck to you. It does sound like esphagitis and It subsides in a few days.

 Thanks for sharing your experience. 

Did you ever find out what caused it?

 I had a hiatal hernia that caused  what I thought was a lot of reflux, but nothing like that.  I am glad to read they seem to be on the right track for treatment.  Hang in there and sending good karma your way!

I am so sorry you've had such a horrible and scary week! I have not had exactly what you are describing, but my brother has - twice. Both times the ER thought he was having heart issues (obese middle aged male), but both times it turned out to be severe acid reflux and gas.

About a year and a half ago I had very similar symptoms as yours, but after the GI ****tail did nothing they did an ultra sound of my gut and my gall bladder was sick. So I got to have my gallbladder yanked.

Again, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. I'm glad to read that you are doing so much better today. Hope this is a one time issue. Almost sounds like your diet the week prior created a "perfect storm". Who Knew?????!!!!!!!!! Get well, friend.

 Thanks for your kind wishes. 

 Oh no!  I would ask to see if you can do an upper GI as well or before the scope. The upper GI (drink lots of nasty white stuff and stand in front of an xray for an hour) will show whether you have reflux - i had one done and confirmed mine.

But, my problem is more with my stomach than actual refluxing (if thats a word). My stomach usually burns like hell until I want to go to the ER but i havent experienced much upper chest/throat pain (except a few mornings where I can feel the reflux through the night into my throat) but its never been that bad. 

I chew on a lot of tums/maalox type things - i probably exceed the max recommended tums on some days where im burning, but they do help me. You can try those and see if it helps at all. Should reduce the acid in the stomach thats being refluxed.

I went to the doc last week or so for my reflux issues, and he recommended trying some lemon juice on my food or something to see what happens - he said sometimes the stomach is just producing too much acid, but other times, there are parts of the stomach that are not producing acid like it should, and when you eat, you might be over producing acid to compensate and that if you eat a naturally acidic food like lemon, it might make a difference (since your stomach wont be trying to make more). Okay, if that made no sense, dont worry, it didnt make any sense to me and i have yet to try it. 

I am sorry to hear you are having all that pain. You really need to be careful and follow what the Doc says. I don't want to scare you but my Uncle currently is bein treated for esophagal cancer after suffering for over 30 years with severe reflux. I don't say this to worry you because alot of that is hereditary to a certain extent asboth his mother and brother also suffered from severe reflux and esophogal cancer. I too love SPICY and acidic foods such as tomatos and citrusand anything pretty much with mint. I usually don't feel a reflux sensation when I am having an attack. I generally feel aches and pains in my chest area as well. Nothing to the extent to which you are describing, however.  I wish you good luck and I hope that you are feeling in tip top shape in no time.

That lemon hypothesis is very interesting... I'm kinda scared to try it though!  *lol*

Your descriptions sounds exactly like what I went through BEFORE surgery.\

I used to take a lot of advil for a back and knee pain. But one/two times I over did the doses and gave myself a pepcid ulcer.

Very, Very, Very painful.

It was like acid reflux with a knife thrust....over and over and over.  The pain would build up, and up and up and kind of roll through me.

I hope you can find the answer to your problem. But it does sound food related, to a degree and even if you stop the "bad" stuff it would take time to fix the problem.

I dont know anything about gallblader but I would keep that in my head too, just in case.

Best of luck to you.
Donna