GERD & Back Pain

[nicolem777]

Hello.  I am a 34 year old Caucasian female.  I took birth control for two months last year (Levora 15/30).  I stopped taking them in late June because it was making me tired, and I had a really nasty bout of acid reflux and sweating one night, and other digestive issues.  The heartburn went away for a few weeks, but then came back with a vengeance and wreaked havoc on my life for the next couple of months.  It caused sore throat, and heartburn mainly, and also developed fluid in the inner ear which caused chronic pain and popping.  It improved, but I still get episodes of heartburn/gerd every now and then, just not as bad as it was over the summer.  Heartburn was never an issue for me, but I feel that GERD has been since my early 20's when I was diagnosed with allergies.  A lot of times I would wake up with bad breath, and everything I ate, would cause gurgling sounds in my throat, which was and is still quite embarrassing.  I think taking birth control pills was a  huge mistake, because now I have problems I can't seem to shake, even though it has been seven months since stopping them.  A couple weeks ago, I had mid/upper back pain that was so bad that it sent me to the ER. It hurt to move my neck from side to side, and I had pain in the tips of my elbows and in my chest. I moved into a new apartment almost a month ago, so I think that I might have possibly strained something, but it seems that it wouldn't cause this much of a delayed or chronic issue a month after moving. The doctor diagnosed it as a muscle spasm.  It finally calmed down after a few days, and the pain completely subsided within a week.   Now, two weeks later, the upper back pain has returned.  My question is, would GERD cause back pain this bad,  or are these two separate problems?  I complained of the acid reflux each time I had been to the doctor in the past six months (about 5 times), and they just blew it off as if it weren't serious enough to examine the problem further.  Help! I am extremely frustrated! :(

[nicolem777]

I went to the ER in the middle of the night on Friday.  They officially diagnosed me with GERD.  They took blood, ran an ekg, and took xrays.   They said that everything was normal.  They put me on 40 mg of Pepcid AC for two weeks.  I am still having abdominal pain and mild chest pain.  If it doesn't go away, I will have to have an endoscopy to check for cancer.  I am so terrified of that prospect! :( I've had GERD most of my adult years, and recently developed heartburn with it.  I never treated the GERD or the heartburn.  I didn't think it was a big deal, and never knew that these were risk factors for esophageal/digestive cancers. I pray to God that I don't have cancer.  :(

[Sophia12]

Yes, i get it all the time. Still haven't figured out anything though to help it.

[tschock]

Yes...GERD and back pain can go hand in hand.

Time to see a new doctor for help with that acid.