Ok, I apparently have acid reflux, and a pretty doozy case of it. WTF?
Let me back up. Four to five days ago, I started to have trouble with heartburn, which I have not dealt with at all since I was pregnant. While I was carrying the girls, I was eating Tums like candy, but I never have trouble with heartburn otherwise. I thought that maybe I was a little stressed being here with the girls by myself. I attributed it to a new antibiotic I am on for my acne; the doctor said one of its side effects is mild heartburn if I lie down too soon after taking it.
Then last night, I started having trouble swallowing and began feeling regular, squeezing pains along my esophagus. I could not even swallow the smallest bits of food without pain and everything I ate started to come back up on me. Pain radiated along my throat and down my chest both in the front and the back. But nothing terrible - just persistent and annoying.
Last night at about 3pm, I woke up with the same symptoms, only they were much more pronounced and painful. I started to stress about all manner of possibilities, from anxiety to a tumor. I cannot tell you how long it took me to get back to sleep. I even dug out some old relaxation tapes to listen to in the dark, thinking maybe it was just stress from the last week.
Nothing helped. Not sleep, not soothing music, not more antacids. I woke up this morning tired and very cranky, hungry but unable to eat anything. Has to stop! So, I called my doctor. She is booked SOLID until July 7th, which is the earliest they could get me in. But of course we would not want socialized medicine in this country because I heard it takes forever to get an appointment in Canada and Britain. Shit!
However, I did talk to my doctor's nurse. I described my symptoms, to which she said it sounded like a classic, textbook case of severe acid reflux. Apparently, the symptoms can build over many years to the point where they burst on the scene like this, seemingly out of nowhere. In the meantime, waiting the whole dang month to let me doctor tell me the same thing and prescribe me Prilosec or something, I have to go to the drugstore and pick up Zantac. Four per day should do the trick.
I looked up the website for Prilosec and Nexium, the big acid reflux prescriptions here, and I found this:
The most common symptoms of acid reflux disease are:
* Heartburn (a rising, burning sensation in the chest)
* Sour or bitter taste (backflow of food or drink into the throat)
* Difficulty swallowing
* Persistent cough
* Upset stomach
* Non-cardiac chest pain
That's me, all right! When I experience high levels of stress, I have a tickling cough in my throat, but I thought that was because of high levels of stress! However, that particular symptom never went away, even when I was on anti-anxiety medications last year. And the non-cardiac chest pain: that is exactly how I would describe what I feel. Tight, painful spasms in my chest and along my mid-upper back, but nothing in the region of my heart. It hurts and I do not like it.
Oh, and as a bonus - to add trials to my high levels of fatigue - I must cut out all caffeine from my diet. Crap! Just what I needed to hear. Guess I should pick up more decaf while I'm out.
At least my anxiety level has dropped somewhat. The nurse did not listen to my symptoms and say, "Oh, yup - that's a vicious throat tumor. Better come in right away." I guess can deal with acid reflux (as long as I go get my medicine). Then, maybe I can eat something.
Let me back up. Four to five days ago, I started to have trouble with heartburn, which I have not dealt with at all since I was pregnant. While I was carrying the girls, I was eating Tums like candy, but I never have trouble with heartburn otherwise. I thought that maybe I was a little stressed being here with the girls by myself. I attributed it to a new antibiotic I am on for my acne; the doctor said one of its side effects is mild heartburn if I lie down too soon after taking it.
Then last night, I started having trouble swallowing and began feeling regular, squeezing pains along my esophagus. I could not even swallow the smallest bits of food without pain and everything I ate started to come back up on me. Pain radiated along my throat and down my chest both in the front and the back. But nothing terrible - just persistent and annoying.
Last night at about 3pm, I woke up with the same symptoms, only they were much more pronounced and painful. I started to stress about all manner of possibilities, from anxiety to a tumor. I cannot tell you how long it took me to get back to sleep. I even dug out some old relaxation tapes to listen to in the dark, thinking maybe it was just stress from the last week.
Nothing helped. Not sleep, not soothing music, not more antacids. I woke up this morning tired and very cranky, hungry but unable to eat anything. Has to stop! So, I called my doctor. She is booked SOLID until July 7th, which is the earliest they could get me in. But of course we would not want socialized medicine in this country because I heard it takes forever to get an appointment in Canada and Britain. Shit!
However, I did talk to my doctor's nurse. I described my symptoms, to which she said it sounded like a classic, textbook case of severe acid reflux. Apparently, the symptoms can build over many years to the point where they burst on the scene like this, seemingly out of nowhere. In the meantime, waiting the whole dang month to let me doctor tell me the same thing and prescribe me Prilosec or something, I have to go to the drugstore and pick up Zantac. Four per day should do the trick.
I looked up the website for Prilosec and Nexium, the big acid reflux prescriptions here, and I found this:
The most common symptoms of acid reflux disease are:
* Heartburn (a rising, burning sensation in the chest)
* Sour or bitter taste (backflow of food or drink into the throat)
* Difficulty swallowing
* Persistent cough
* Upset stomach
* Non-cardiac chest pain
That's me, all right! When I experience high levels of stress, I have a tickling cough in my throat, but I thought that was because of high levels of stress! However, that particular symptom never went away, even when I was on anti-anxiety medications last year. And the non-cardiac chest pain: that is exactly how I would describe what I feel. Tight, painful spasms in my chest and along my mid-upper back, but nothing in the region of my heart. It hurts and I do not like it.
Oh, and as a bonus - to add trials to my high levels of fatigue - I must cut out all caffeine from my diet. Crap! Just what I needed to hear. Guess I should pick up more decaf while I'm out.
At least my anxiety level has dropped somewhat. The nurse did not listen to my symptoms and say, "Oh, yup - that's a vicious throat tumor. Better come in right away." I guess can deal with acid reflux (as long as I go get my medicine). Then, maybe I can eat something.
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