Aa
misdiagnosed with acid reflux?
I wanted to get your opinion on something. I was in the ER with my fiance the other night because he has had these bad chest pains for a couple of weeks. It finally got to the point where he couldn't take it anymore and it was starting to worry me because it was in his chest so I didn't want it to be his heart. I will try to break it down for you...
His symptoms: lower right sternum feels like a buldge with random bursts of sharp instense pains, he has pain in his right side when this happens – it is only on the right side. He just recently developed back pains from this. Nausea and dizziness. He states constant discomfort of a "buldge" feeling. An FYI is that he has always spit up phlegm in the mornings. He also gets shortness of breath. He feels best lying down and not moving.
The ER doctor thought it could either be his gallbladder (gallstones), hiatal hernia, or acid reflux. First, they took an EKG just to make sure it wasn't his heart. That was fine. Then the doctor did an ultra sound of his gallbladder but found no gallstones or anything that appeared abnormal to him. They took an chest xray that was fine. They also did blood work that was fine. They gave him a drink that had lidocaine in it to numb his throat and esophagus to see if the pain would go away because that could mean acid reflux. The pain did subside a little bit. The doctor's conclusion was that he has acid reflux disease. The doctor also gave him 5 mg of morphine for the pain via IV and something for his stomach. He prescribed him Pepsid. My fiance just got a new job so his insurance hasn't kicked in yet, so I gave him a brand new bottle of Prilosec that my dad had. I know all of the acid reflux meds have most of the same ingredients in them so I thought that would be fine. The Pepsid was prescribed as 40 mg once a day and so is the Prilosec. It is day 2 and he is still having a lot of pain but now it is going into his back. He took 1 prilosec yesterday afternoon, 1 this morning and 1 just before bed tonight (it said you could take up to 2 if you had to). I did some research on Prilosec and it said that it could take up to a month to start feeling benefits from it. I was thinking that maybe his esophagus is burned from the acid so it may take a while to heal. He does tend to eat fast, lay down after eating, and drinks alcohol some. I know those are all risk factors of acid reflux. I really hope it is just acid reflux but it makes me think that there may be something underlying that they didn't find.
He is lactose and tolerant but those are the only allergies that he knows of. His father and mother also get acid reflux but it has never been this bad. There was something odd that happened a few years ago... He started getting bloody stools so his doctor at the time took blood work and diagnosed him with celiacs disease. He stopped eating wheat and it got better. He got an endoscopy and they wanted him to start eating wheat again and they would do another endoscopy. They did and said he wasn't celiac anymore because the wheat wasn't having an effect on him. I have also been thinking that maybe this celiac thing never went away and this is how it is coming back again. I wanted to get your input on this, I would really appreciate it!
His symptoms: lower right sternum feels like a buldge with random bursts of sharp instense pains, he has pain in his right side when this happens – it is only on the right side. He just recently developed back pains from this. Nausea and dizziness. He states constant discomfort of a "buldge" feeling. An FYI is that he has always spit up phlegm in the mornings. He also gets shortness of breath. He feels best lying down and not moving.
The ER doctor thought it could either be his gallbladder (gallstones), hiatal hernia, or acid reflux. First, they took an EKG just to make sure it wasn't his heart. That was fine. Then the doctor did an ultra sound of his gallbladder but found no gallstones or anything that appeared abnormal to him. They took an chest xray that was fine. They also did blood work that was fine. They gave him a drink that had lidocaine in it to numb his throat and esophagus to see if the pain would go away because that could mean acid reflux. The pain did subside a little bit. The doctor's conclusion was that he has acid reflux disease. The doctor also gave him 5 mg of morphine for the pain via IV and something for his stomach. He prescribed him Pepsid. My fiance just got a new job so his insurance hasn't kicked in yet, so I gave him a brand new bottle of Prilosec that my dad had. I know all of the acid reflux meds have most of the same ingredients in them so I thought that would be fine. The Pepsid was prescribed as 40 mg once a day and so is the Prilosec. It is day 2 and he is still having a lot of pain but now it is going into his back. He took 1 prilosec yesterday afternoon, 1 this morning and 1 just before bed tonight (it said you could take up to 2 if you had to). I did some research on Prilosec and it said that it could take up to a month to start feeling benefits from it. I was thinking that maybe his esophagus is burned from the acid so it may take a while to heal. He does tend to eat fast, lay down after eating, and drinks alcohol some. I know those are all risk factors of acid reflux. I really hope it is just acid reflux but it makes me think that there may be something underlying that they didn't find.
He is lactose and tolerant but those are the only allergies that he knows of. His father and mother also get acid reflux but it has never been this bad. There was something odd that happened a few years ago... He started getting bloody stools so his doctor at the time took blood work and diagnosed him with celiacs disease. He stopped eating wheat and it got better. He got an endoscopy and they wanted him to start eating wheat again and they would do another endoscopy. They did and said he wasn't celiac anymore because the wheat wasn't having an effect on him. I have also been thinking that maybe this celiac thing never went away and this is how it is coming back again. I wanted to get your input on this, I would really appreciate it!
Oh my goodness! If he was diagnosed with Celiac he needs to get back on the diet immediately! Celiac can have some very bad consequences! It tears up your whole alimentary canal from your mouth to you know where. It is not good for him to eat wheat or any gluten at all.
Please have him see a dietician to get back on a non-gluten diet asap. Celiac can cause bleeding and tears up the intestines!
Wishing you the best!
Please have him see a dietician to get back on a non-gluten diet asap. Celiac can cause bleeding and tears up the intestines!
Wishing you the best!
Hi and welcome to the GERD forum.
First Pepcid is a H2 inhibitor while prilosec is a PPI (pronton pump inhibitor)
The H2 blockers may work better for him and could be y the Drs RX'd it....I was on prilosec of yrs and know it is slow to show benefits and then stopped working for me....I take the pepcid now and it works better for me....
Prilosec may take up to 2 weeks b4 benefits are seen....has he modified his diet and lifestyle?
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the GERD (Acid Reflux) Community
Learn which OTC medications can help relieve your digestive troubles.
Is a gluten-free diet right for you?
Discover common causes of and remedies for heartburn.
This common yet mysterious bowel condition plagues millions of Americans
Don't get burned again. Banish nighttime heartburn with these quick tips
Get answers to your top questions about this pervasive digestive problem
