chondritis and gerds

My son has been having chest pain. He has had ekg's, stress tests, cat scans, blood work, the whole 9 yards. PCP, neurologist and rheumatologist.  His heart and lungs are in great shape. He has allergies and they presumed he was asthmatic with shortness of breath, but found no asthma.  very painful areas on his chest. They are treating him with albuterol, atavan (pain causes a lot of stress as does not knowing what is wrong),  ice, physical therapy and now aleve with pepcid for the stomach, as 800 mg of ibuprophen 3 x per day didn't do much. He has had no injuries as far as he can recall. He is exhausted trying to go to work and school.  He is 34 years old, BMI low 20's, eats right, no smoking or drinking.  They don't want to give him prednisone for the inflammation until they see if he has gerds?  My question is does gerds present itself like chondritis?  If it is gerds and chondritis what would be the next step in treatment and what role does stress play in both? P. S. checked for scoliosis has 20 degree curve, but didn't think this would cause breathing issue, fatigue.

[Ratnakar Kini, MD]

Hi,
GERD can present with chest pain similar to chondritis. If it is GERD a course of PPI should be taken for 8 weeks. Stress  can worsen GERD.
Scoliosis can lead to breathing problems.