for those of you who have acid reflux, what kind of symptom's have you had?

[chozen]

i have been having some pain at times when i swallow in the middle of my breast bone and also a sour taste sometimes. has anyone had this symptom of pain sometimes when swallowing? if so how have you treated it? what seems to help? i have an apt. with an ent dr. but i can not get in to see him until jan.

[Tammy]

I've heard of varying symptoms. I have it and it sucks. When I was first diagnosed my doctor put me on prescription Prevacid once daily and it helped. Then I didn't really want to stay on it forever so I modified what I ate and drank. Now I don't take meds unless it's severe enough and I can control it by not eating certain things. (I should also mention both times I was pregnant I had to go on Prilosec and it helped. Once I had the baby, I didn't need it anymore.) I met with a specialist to review how to treat it. If you have extra weight in your abdominal area, that can make it worse. Some big triggers are caffeine, chocolate, nuts, carbonated drinks, citrus foods, some red sauces, spicy foods. I would get so bad I was choking and gasping to breathe at times. Elevating the head of your bed helps too, but use the special wedge pilow they make for this. Just propping yourself on a pillow sometimes won't do it. I also had stabbing chest pain with it. Good luck, hope you can get it under control!

[echoesofspring]

Your symptoms sound like when the heartburn I got when I was preg. Antacids helped, smaller meals. And being sensitive to what I ate and seeing if it triggered it - i.e. for me ice cream would trigger it, but not 1/2 fat icecream :) For DH it's wheat.

[chozen]

I've heard of varying symptoms. I have it and it sucks. When I was first diagnosed my doctor put me on prescription Prevacid once daily and it helped. Then I didn't really want to stay on it forever so I modified what I ate and drank. Now I don't take meds unless it's severe enough and I can control it by not eating certain things. (I should also mention both times I was pregnant I had to go on Prilosec and it helped. Once I had the baby, I didn't need it anymore.) I met with a specialist to review how to treat it. If you have extra weight in your abdominal area, that can make it worse. Some big triggers are caffeine, chocolate, nuts, carbonated drinks, citrus foods, some red sauces, spicy foods. I would get so bad I was choking and gasping to breathe at times. Elevating the head of your bed helps too, but use the special wedge pilow they make for this. Just propping yourself on a pillow sometimes won't do it. I also had stabbing chest pain with it. Good luck, hope you can get it under control!

so did it hurt when you swallowed? it hurts some times right in the center lower part of my of rib cage.

[Uno-Mom]

Does it get worse when you lay down? Does it seemed linked to eating those trigger foods already mentioned? Does it happen right after eating?

I think those are the main diagnostic questions. My husband had it so bad that we went to the ER terrified of heart attack! His definitely got worse when lying down and after eating fat, caffeine or alcohol.

If it seems to happen randomly, I wonder if it could be something else? Or possibly triggered by tension (sorry, I'm just recalling some of your other recent posts - you are handling a lot of stress right now).

[Jo..]

I don't get heart burn, I get throat burn. I have been on every single rx med and none of them helped. They did some kind of barium type thing where I swallowed a dye and they took pictures, and they could see it refluxing and refluxing right in front of them, but could never figure out why.

I eat through a bottle of antacids in 3-4 days. My next step is a surgery to create some kind of flap to keep the acid down. For me it doesn't matter what or if I eat. It's always there.

PS my doctor said heartburn and anxiety often go hand in hand

[kbud]

I first had it when I was pregnant. I would wake up literally choking. I had to sleep sitting up and we prescribed something, don't remember what. About 2 years ago I had a sore throat for 3 months. After a few tests they said it was reflux. I had to go on medication for a few weeks to heal my throat. I'm on prilosec daily now and am fine. I was surprised my only symptom was a sore throat and now issues at night. Occasionally I can feel it coming up a bit. If I forget to take my prilosec my sore throat comes back immediately.