Stuck feeling in esophagus and throat with chest pain, totally stumped.

Hello,

24/male/non-smoker/non-drinker. I've been on ranitidine (zantac) 150mg for a month due to my doctor believing that I have an ulcer or some other disturbance of the stomach. My main symptom was a burning or stinging pain under my right rib hours after eating, however in the past few days my symptoms have gone in a completely different direction and I don't know what to make of it.

Basically, now that pain under my rib has gone away, but it's been immediately replaced with chest/esophagus pain. My main symptom is the feeling that there's a hard ball of something trapped in my esophagus and it doesn't go away no matter how much I eat or drink. It sometimes also feels this way in my upper throat. I have no nausea, almost no reflux and no vomiting, stool seems normal, and nothing seems obstructed as I can eat meals normally, I simply have this sensation which lasts for hours after I eat. I've also progressed to random bouts of a gripping, stabbing pain under my sternum around where my esophagus meets my stomach, which are often short-lived but noticeable, and sometimes I will have this pain while eating or immediately after eating. Everything else seems normal, but I'm concerned by this pain as I've never had it before. I've never been diagnosed with GERD, IBS, or any of the usual suspects for GI issues as I tend not to have reflux or nausea problems, but there's still this pain and "stuck" sensation.

Is this anything that I should seek medical help for or does it just sound like garden variety GI distress? I find it strange that a new symptom set suddenly replaced my old symptom set almost entirely, but if anyone has any experience with these issues your advice would be extremely appreciated. Thanks so much to anyone who can help.

[mammo]

Hi....you need to definitely see your GI doctor regarding this new pain.  If your current doctor is not a GI specialist you need to see one right away.  If your current doctor hasn't sent you for an Endoscopy you also need to have this done....it allows the specialist to view you throat and stomach and see exactly what is going on.  Acid reflux can make you feel like something is stuck in your throat while eating, but the pain concerns me.  I would see a GI specialist so that you can get to the bottom of the problem quickly.  I don't feel at your age it's anything serious, but you need to know so you can be reated properly. Take care.