digetion problems

[wintergreen22]

okay, lately aftermostly every meal I eat, I get like, acid that rises to the top of my throat. My stomach doesn't feel n* or anything, but I have too keep swallowing whatever it is down. I think its acid cause once in came into my mouth and tasted awful.


and one time I burped and I almost v* so I had to swallow really quick and it scared me sooo much.


I've never really had digestion problems, so I'm thinkin maybe because its that time of the month and my body is changing, maybe that has something to do wiht it. I hope this doesn't last.


I'm just really hoping there is nothing wrong with my stomach. I mean, ANYTHING that is EVER wrong with me has to do with my stomach! WHy couldn't it have been a rash? I mean, I can take a rash. But stomach issues? Its too much. waaay too much.





i need a break from my own body, dammit.

[tabycat]

sounds like acid reflux, I would take something like pepcid or tums to relieve immeadiate problems. Acid reflux fails at life especially for me...it hurts my voice and I'm a vocal major. Yeah it sucks. I'm on nexium but if I have a particularly bad day I take pepcid complete I like the mint flavored ones and that usually helps!

[donna1216]

That sounds exactly like reflux!! I agree

[tabycat]

inf act after reading this post I remembered to take my reflux medication and took some pepcid jsut to make sure

[wintergreen22]

what are all the symptoms af acid reflux? is it difficult for you to swallow? is it like a clump of whatever in your throat and you have to keep swallowing it down so it doesn't come up? I have to hold my head funny so it doesn't come up.


will it ever come up? what happens if it does? what is IT anyways? If i just let IT out will it be like throwing up?


do you know any websites that explain this?


thankyou sooo much for helping me!

[tabycat]

it can feel different to different people. I wish I could help youmore. For me it feels kind of like that acidy feeling youget after throwing up, which is unpleasant but I've lived with it for so long I guess I'm used to the feeling. I've never actually thrown up from it and it's never really felt that way for me. Some peopel get pain in their chests like they're having a heart attack. It gave my dad bronchitis a lot before he went on meds for it. It gives me really bad sinus problems and REALLY bad breath especially when I haven't taken my nexium in a while, it also really screws with my voice. I really don't know what it feels like for other people, but you could check on a site like yahoo health or webMD

[liz28]

i dont know how its like for people who actually have diagnosed acid reflux..
but i know that when i get indigestion and heartburn..
i take two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with a little bit of honey mixed in..and eventually everything fizzles down.

[falon_17]

my stepdad has to take prevacid because he has such bad acid reflux. It's strange that I haven't mentioned this before on here, but he v* several times a day because of it. I guess since I know it's not a contagious thing, it doesn't bother me as much but I still hate hearing it every day.

[purpleteacher]

I have what you are describing all the time. I cannot wait to see a doctor about it because it scares me. I am so scared to "spit out" what comes up too (TMI, sorry). The pain involved with it has to be the worst, even worse than the taste.


If you can, see a doctor about it. I am going to as soon as I get insurance because if it really is acid reflux, it could be causing damage.

[kate1966]

I was just diagnosed with Acid Reflux also and my symptoms of it are some heartburn and indigestion....not bad though...my main symptom is the feeling right after I eat....i start to what i think is going to be a hick up or burb...and it feels like the food is coming up...but doesn't..but it's been close before...and i sometimes get the acid in the throat also...my main symptom for going to the doc and having these tests done was for nausea...i had barium swallow test done and they said i had the acid reflux...so i take 2 prilosec aday and it helps.

[krismerc]

I ALSO HAVE ACID REFLUX AND I HAVE TRIED MANY OF THE PRESCRIPTION STUFF BUT I FIND THAT PREVACID WORKS THE BEST. I FOUND THAT PRILOSEC AND PROTONIX GAVE ME AWFUL STOMACH PAINS. ACID REFLUX IS USUALLY CAUSED BY MANY THINGS....SPICY FOODS, COFFEE, AND SMOKING ARE THE ONES THAT DO IT FOR ME. AS FAR AS SEEING A DOCTOR I CHOOSE TO TAKE CARE OF IT ON MY OWN BECAUSE ONE OF THE TESTS THEY DO IS PUT A SCOPE DOWN YOUR THROAT AND I'M ALMOST SURE MOST PEOPLE ON THIS SITE WOULD PASS ON THAT![img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]

[kate1966]

Yes the endoscope...i was supposed to have that done about a month ago...and the colonoscopy...well they got me put to sleep and then the doc said i was fighting him and he could not get the scope down my throat so i had to end up going back the next week and doing the barium swallow which was nasty!!!!!!!!!! But I have had the endoscope done about 14 yrs ago...and they had to knock me all the way out...and all i remember was having a sore throat afterwards....wasn't that bad at all.

[wintergreen22]

OMG! I knew it! I'm sooo scared to do that!


crap!


but I don't get a burning in my chest at all. and my stomach doesn't even hurt (most of the time). its just acid that rises in my chest and throat that I have to keep swallowing down. sometimes I feel like I'm going to v* (but I don't know if its just my anxiety that causes me to have difficulty swallowing because I'm afraid I will v*).


and sometimes after I eat, I buro and stuff comes up.

[wintergreen22]

can I tell the doctor that I refuse to take ANY of those tests that I'm really scared of? is it possible just to go on medications and see what happens, if it helps?

[krismerc]

Yes! You have the right to refuse ANYTHING!

[wintergreen22]

o, ok. but what if thats the only way I can get help or treatment?

[krismerc]

well first start out trying over the counter stuff...like i said prevacid works really well for me. if you find that stuff is not working then i would see the doc

[tabycat]

ok they did a scope through my nose to check out my vocal chords, which
was unpleasant but not horrible cuz it was through my nose and the numb
you and stuff...and I did a barium swallow which is a very unreliable
test seeing as they didn't even catch my reflux but I've been better
since I've been on medication. The barium swallow was just
weird...I don't even know how to describe it except that it felt like
swallowing weird flavored glue maybe?

[samara's on tv]

I had to do the barium swallow test before. That stuff was so nasty I almost V* but because of my emet I held back. It was like drinking a chunky, nasty, milkshake. Then they had me lay down and I had to drink more of it. Then they wanted me to eat something with barium paste on it but I stopped the test, cause I knew if I had anything else I would totally V*.


I've have three endoscopies, and you shouldn't worry about them. They put you all the way to sleep and then do it. All I can remember about the endoscopy is going into a room, then they showed me the camera that was going down my throat, then they sprayed stuff in my mouth that I had to swallow to numb my throat, then they gave me drugs and I was completely out, when I woke up my throat hurt and I was really drowsy but that's about it. The first time I had an endoscopy I woke up with a tube up my nose and down my throat. I had to leave it in for 24 hours, and it sucked, but it still wasn't that bad. IF you have to get an endoscopy, don't worry about it, it's really not as bad as you think.


~Monica

[krismerc]

I apologize completely!!! The over the counter stuff I use for my reflux is PEPCID not Prevacid! You have to forgive me cause it MONDAY!

[tabycat]

my barium swallow wasn't that bad....the stuff has little taste, kinda chalky and metallic, and was pretty smooth, just thick...it was unpleasant but not horrible for me...

[amanda l.]

I have acid reflux, which was diagnosed by my regular doc and my asthma doc.I've never had the endoscopy thing done, I'm too scared.I take 40 mg of Nexium every day for the reflux.

[kate1966]

Wintergreen......please talk to your doc about these tests and explain your fears and why you feel this way.....i mean...trust me....i was terrified....i mean very very scared to have this done.....but...once you have it done...it will not seem so bad i promise.....and they can look and see if there are other problems...hopefully all will be fine...but you never know...and you really need to make sure that all it is is Acid Reflux and nothing more serious....i was so scared of the colonoscopy....but i finally did it after putting it off 2 different times......believe me, i am the biggest baby in the world when it comes to doctors tests, and dentists....it all sends me into the biggest panic. But you will feel so much better after you have done it. They will give you good meds to make you forget i promise....just tell them that you are scared...they knocked me completely out....don't remember a thing.....I was not n, or sick or anything...just a mild sore throat.....

[tabycat]

ah...I'm afraid of having tests done too, but most of all I"m afraid of having surgery done. And it has nothing to do with my emet. I'm afraid of the recovery, and it's sad. I've broken my nose 3 times and never gotten it fixed, one of my nostrils is 1/2 the size of a normal one, but I don't care I can breathe, I get over it. But luckily you don't really have to go through that kind of stuff to be diagnosed with reflux, and if you really don't want to talk to a doctor there always is prilosec OTC, which will take a while to help but it will help, my grandmother takes a double dose of it to help her, she has HORRIBLE reflux. And she says it works better than nexium, but I ilke my nexium so yeah I'm sticking with it

[amanda l.]

If you don't want to go to the doc, I recommend trying Zantac, which is over the counter. I take 2 75mg twice a day when I run out of Nexium and have to wait to get it filled (that stuff is expensive!) and it works pretty well. The Wal Mart brand of Zantac is pretty inexpensive.

[wintergreen22]

all this is making me more nervous. I hear you saying that its not bad, but what if it is. and I don't get any support from my mom when it comes to my issues with my stomach cause hse is simply frustrated. I"M FRUSTRATED! what if there really is something wrong with my stomach and I never find out and I actually keep throwing up, and then eventually die?


and my tunny feels bloated after I eat. when i burp I have to hold back stuff. i'm scared. [img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[wintergreen22]

does that sound like there is something seriously wrong with my stomach? what do you think?





i knwo I should go to the doctor but I'm REALLY really REALLY scared.


scared of the tests, and scared of the results.

[samara's on tv]

It sounds like really bad reflux. I'm on Nexium too for it...I didn't mention that before. I was like you I was scared as all HELL to go to a doctor when my mom FORCED me to go to a Gastro Doc. As it turned out she was really nice, and pretty hot (LoL Only I would notice that) Anyway she set me up for an endoscopy for a week or so later. I'm not going to lie to you I was terrified, when I found out that I had to get the endoscopy I started crying. I remember being in the elevator crying and a woman told me it wasn't as bad as I thought.


Then a week later I went into the hospital and I was still scared out of my mind. I told them that they would have to knock me ALL The way out for this, and they said that they would. I went into the room (It was a private one) and got undressed and into a gown. I then laid down in the bed and waited. A nurse came in and put an IV in (Honestly that was the worst part, she put it in my hand and not in my arm so it hurt like a MOFO) She asked me a few questions and then left. She came back and gave me a mild sedative through my IV line. After that everything was just WONDERFUL. I was feeling rather happy, not nervous at all. Then they wheeled me into the room where the procedure was going to be done. They showed me the camera and I actually laughed.


Then they told me that they were going to give me something to make me sleepy. They gave it to me and I suddenly felt a burning sensation in my chest. I freaked out a little but they said that it was normal to feel that. Then I was told to count backwards from 10...I made it till 8 and I was gone. When I woke up I had a tube up my nose and down my throat...it was to monitor my PH levels over the next 24 hours. (That's NOT standard proceedure though I wouldn't worry about that happening and even if it does, it's NOT bad...a little annoying but not bad) I was still REALLY drowsy from the medication and I remember my dad yelling at the TV. My doctor came in to see how I was...I only remember bits and pieces of it. All I know is I was wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair and got in the car. My next memory is of me waking up on the couch at home.


After that endoscopy I had 2 more. And let me tell you, the first one is TOTALLY terrifying...did I mention that I even had a PRIEST come to my room the first time to say a prayer for me? Well I did. But It's not bad at all. Sorry to rant, and tell you the whole story I just don't want you to be scared to go to a doctor and if you DO need an Endoscopy I wanted to let you know what you're in for. It's really not that bad...Really.


~Monica