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Gastroenterology (Expert Forum)
Re:Chronic chest pain associated with esophageal spasms
This forum is for questions regarding Gastroenterology issues such as Acid Reflux (GERD), Barretts Esophagus, Colitis, Colon/Bowel Disorders, Crohn's Disease, Diverticulitis/Diverticulosis, Digestive Disorders, IBS, Stomach Pain.
Re:Chronic chest pain associated with esophageal spasms
by Mike__0__0, Jan 01, 1995 12:00AM
Posted By Mike on June 07, 1998 at 22:04:05:
I am a 33 year old male who was diagnosed 2 years ago with esophageal spasms and GERD. I was put on pepcid and cardizem (120 mg 1X daily) and maalox as needed.
I recently developed an ulcer and was put on prilosec to clear it up. I stopped taking the pepcid as my doctor advised that I had developed a tolerance to it. The prilosec caused some really nasty side effects including loss of appetite, nausea and headaches. My cardizem also stopped working at this point and the spasms returned. These spasms lasted for hours and cycled for two weeks, sometimes occuring every hour. I went to the e.r. to get checked out and the ekg was normal. My doctor bumped up my cardizem to 240 mg 1X daily and this seems to help, but I'm feeling a little light headed. Is this light headedness likely to go away with time? I can exercise as normal, but jogging seems to make my stomach sore.
I am also wondering about a long-term solution to this problem. I don't want to continue taking medication forever. Are there any other therapies available?
I have all the classic signs of heart problems when my esophagus spasms (substernal pain, pain on both sides of my chest-sometimes radiating down both arms and my jaw), but I have had all the tests that could be run to track this down with negative results (ekg, echo's, stress test). I also had the 24 hour ph monitor of my esophagus, the manometery (sp) test, and have been scoped. The esophagus showed signs of old lesions that have healed, but my doctor feels that I have burned it rather well with my GERD. The doctor said that I may have a sliding hiatal hernia, but he's not sure. I am kind of at my wits end and need to hear what others have done to deal with this.
Thanks
I am a 33 year old male who was diagnosed 2 years ago with esophageal spasms and GERD. I was put on pepcid and cardizem (120 mg 1X daily) and maalox as needed.
I recently developed an ulcer and was put on prilosec to clear it up. I stopped taking the pepcid as my doctor advised that I had developed a tolerance to it. The prilosec caused some really nasty side effects including loss of appetite, nausea and headaches. My cardizem also stopped working at this point and the spasms returned. These spasms lasted for hours and cycled for two weeks, sometimes occuring every hour. I went to the e.r. to get checked out and the ekg was normal. My doctor bumped up my cardizem to 240 mg 1X daily and this seems to help, but I'm feeling a little light headed. Is this light headedness likely to go away with time? I can exercise as normal, but jogging seems to make my stomach sore.
I am also wondering about a long-term solution to this problem. I don't want to continue taking medication forever. Are there any other therapies available?
I have all the classic signs of heart problems when my esophagus spasms (substernal pain, pain on both sides of my chest-sometimes radiating down both arms and my jaw), but I have had all the tests that could be run to track this down with negative results (ekg, echo's, stress test). I also had the 24 hour ph monitor of my esophagus, the manometery (sp) test, and have been scoped. The esophagus showed signs of old lesions that have healed, but my doctor feels that I have burned it rather well with my GERD. The doctor said that I may have a sliding hiatal hernia, but he's not sure. I am kind of at my wits end and need to hear what others have done to deal with this.
Thanks
