epigastric discomfort/pressure, feeling of fullnes in esophagus, throat,

[missid]

I am 35 yo. mother of 4 children. I had a lap chole. during my last pregnancy in March 2004. This did alleviate problems at that time. However, now, 15 months later, I am experiencing the same symptoms, with a few new ones to boot: epigastric pain/pressure/fullness, the sensation of food or something being stuck in the esophagus/throat, belching, the sensation of being squeezed tightly by a rope or belt beneath the ribs/diaphragm, the inability at times to obtain a full breath, coughing. This has been going on for nearly 2-3 months and they are worsening. These are nearly the same symptoms I experienced while having gallbladder problems, except now there is no gallbladder! I do have an appt. to see my family physician, however, I am completely frustrated and miserable!! Does this sound like a hiatal/hiatus hernia with reflux possibly? Could it have something to do with the gallbladder removal itself? Am I crazy? I know one thing, I am miserable, and I need advice from a professional. Should I question my MD about tests such as upper endoscopy, Hyda scan, etc? Any help/ advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[plums]

A related discussion, Pressure in neck and right ear was started.

[KristineErin]

My Father and Uncle both have a choking spells occasionally and this is the diagnosis
SCHATZKI'S RING

Description of Schatzki's Ring
This is a ring of tissue in the lower esophagus located at or near the border of the lower esophageal sphincter. It is also known as a lower esophageal ring. Being confined to the mucosa, it differs from an inflammatory (peptic) stricture, which involves all layers of the esophagus.


Causes and Risk Factors of Schatzki's Ring
Schatzki's Ring is always associated with a hiatal hernia.


Symptoms of Schatzki's Ring
Most are over 20 millimeters in diameter and are asymptomatic. Solid food dysphagia (difficulty swallowing solid food) most often occurs with rings less than 13 mm in diameter. The dysphagia is usually intermittent and is not progressive.

Large, poorly digested food such as steak are most likely to cause problems. Drinking extra liquids or regurgitation may relieve the obstruction.



Diagnosis of Schatzki's Ring
Lower esophageal rings may be diagnosed clinically and confirmed by barium swallow (a radiological study to assess swallowing) and upper endoscopy (using a tube to enter the mouth in order to view the esophagus and stomach).



Treatment of Schatzki's Ring
The majority of symptomatic patients can be treated permanently with the passage of large (17 to 20 millimeter) dilators, which disrupt the mucosal ring. Single dilations of symptomatic lower esophageal rings are safe, easily performed, and well tolerated. Recurrences can be successfully treated by repeated dilations.

Hope this helps
Erin

[weirdsymptoms]

Saw your post about dizziness, vomiting, blurred vision, etc. After an intestinal band removal after a year 1/2 of being undiagnosed, I can relate to your frustration - I still continue to have problems and immediate "physical" reactions.

I learned from numerous doctors and extensive gastro testing (from pH motility to gastroscopy):

-Extreme reflux can trigger syncope or fainting in some people which can begin with dizziness, blurred vision, light-headedness, choking sensation, then vomiting.    
-Testing does not always show the problem. For most tests, you have to fast or not partake in any food - during the test you can't reproduce your symptoms because you don't have the same amount of food in you or you are drinking liquid. However, some testing DOES eliminate or rule out stomach conditions in most cases (CT scan, abdominal ultrasound, gastric emptying study rule out some major issues).

I am still trying to determine if my reaction is food allergy related, reflux-related or some type of intestinal emptying issue. It is very immediate - two to five minutes after eating - all the color runs out of my face, my blood pressure drops, I become incoherent (almost passing out) and begin vomiting - trying to find a pattern of when it happens. I am taking Aciphex and it has helped reduce the number of these REAL physical "reactions." I hope you find an answer soon...keep trying!

[Cathrine]

Like Astros 18, my husband and I and about 16 other family members have been on the Probiotic-(this is the opposite of anti-biotics)-- "Primal Defense" by Garden of Life for 2 years now. One of my brothers told us about it- you all should look it up and see if it's something you're willing to try for all it's benefits! (This particular brother was tired of pills that just cover up but never heal a problem. He decided to start following a natural supplement way of life.) Primal Defense is an amazing product to say the least. Even though the creator of it- Dr. Jordan Rubin- was dying from Crohn's disease and after making it, it has saved his life-- you will read the list of diseases it helps. So many besides Crohn's---Unreal! (Look up his before and after picture.) My brother first told a family member with Dr. Rubin's particular same illness to start on it- she has taken it for almost 3 years now- she was stunned by it's effectiveness and today is off med's and steroids she's had to take since her teens!-(late 40's now.) The most important thing is to take it following EXACT dosage directions. (It is going to go down to your colon and remove old waste matter that has attached to the lining through the years.- that's where diseases stem from to begin with.) Also, I'm asking that you please read up on "Alkaline Water" and it's benefits--(same brother has us drinking this now too) sounds like it could be of great help to all of you- another absolutely amazing natural thing you won't believe when you read up on it. You will read how when the body has too much acid, it causes many problems and the Alkaline water balances out the ph level, the cells get oxygen, etc. --some of its benefits are to help with kidney stones, and a host of other things. (another of my brother's just started drinking it for about three weeks now, also takes the Primal Defense - his Arthritis is gone! And he's a huge skeptic.) Thank you for taking the time to read all this. Good luck to all of you, I hope my two suggestions will be of help. ps, also please read testimonials about both things.

[littlebull]

I am a 46yr. woman who has been experiencing the feeling of choking and discomfort in the thyroid/esophgus area. I do not seem to have acid reflux, and prilosec doesn't seem to help. Sometimes it feels like a sharp blade has been inserted and it also causes pain between my shoulder blades. I also get weird episodes of breathing apnea now. I have to gasp involuntarily every now and then (usually while lying down). I have had a lung exray and breathing test which shows mild asthma, but I know something else is wrong. I am scheduled for a scope in 2 wks. Does anyone else have these symptoms? Is is GERD like my Dr. thinks? Thanks

[astros18]

You are one of the ugliest acting people on this forum. If you don't know of what you speak, then you should keep your mouth shut. It must be so wonderful to be the one so superior to those of us who think differently than you. I feel sorry for you. It must be horrible to be so close minded.

[JackieG]

You can forget the 16th century remedies like "Colon Cleansing", "liver flushes" and "gallbladder flushes".  They have been around for a long time, peddled like snake oil, and have absolutely no benefit whatsoever.  Only quacks and misguided folks push this garbage.  Use a real doctor, not some of the quacks that post here.

[astros18]

I wonder if you have been on any medication lately, such as an antibiotic. Do you take birth control pills. If yes, you may have a systemic yeast problem in your gastrointestinal tract. That is most likely what is causing your excessive gas. Yes, gas can be felt that far up. I have felt gas all the way up my left side to my shoulder before! Extremely unpleasant. Yeast in your intestinal tract works much like the yeast found in bread. It feeds off of sugar and starches and anything unhealthy(but good!) that you eat. I recommend Garden of Life Fungal Defense or you can start taking a strong probiotic and see if that helps rid you of gas. Hope you feel better!

[Juliebrat]

Wondering if someone could help me here.  I am a 35 year old mother of two that was diagnosed with IBS over a year ago.  I always have some kind of lower abdominal pain with excessive gas that is usually trapped, but for the past week, everyday I am getting a horrible pain/pressure/burning "feels like someone stabbed me over and over again" pain in my upper abdomen.  This usually happens in the afternoon and lasts for about 5 hours.  During that time it's all I can do to breathe or move.  I can't get into any position that is comfortable.  I do not have heartburn and have no history of ulcers.  My neighbor rushed me to the emergency 2 days ago because the pain became unbearable.  I was a little tender when the dr did his exam but not too bad.  Nothing was out of the ordinary except I was extremely gassy, yet passing gas would not bring relief.  They ran a complete abdominal u/s on me thinking it was my gallbladder, but it came back normal.  Can IBS cause severe pain in the epigastric area for 5 hours at a time?  Can gas be felt way up there?  Yesterday I ate nothing for 8 hours out of fear and I felt great.  I have no pain yet today, but I have only had a piece of toast.  I am at a loss as to what is wrong and fearful that the pain will come back.  Can anyone help me?

[astros18]

I encourage you as well to consider a systemic yeast connection. Yeast in the digestive tract causes a host of symptoms in the body and on the skin, as well as an inability to lose weight. If you crave sugar or bread and lack energy, you may very well suffer a yeast problem. See above posts to babbles in regards to my recommendations. Hope you feel better.

[fedupwiththis]

Hi

Thank you replying to the comments i posted. You are correct in saying that when i stop the zoton my heart burn returns with in 24 hours.  

After reading your comment i have decided to stop taking the zoton for a while to see if there are any changes and if the symptoms i am experienceing in my throat go away. You mentioned my colon that is one area i have no problems regular as clockwork.

I am beginning to wonder if there could be something more wrong than just reflux.

I am going to go back to my doctor to discuss theses symptoms further.

Thanks for listening.

[astros18]

I just want to reiterate that the drug you are taking has not cured you of your acid reflux. When you stop taking it, it will come back. Many times , these types of drugs make the problem worse causing more symptoms. You can read all my previous posts regarding digestive food enzymes and other therapies that I believe are much better than stopping acid production in your stomach. When you have no acid in your stomach, your food is not digested properly. The reflux you feel in your throat is probably your undigested food coming back up. You must also work on your colon. If your bowels do not move at least 2-4 times per day, you have a backed up colon. A backed up colon causes many health problems including reflux. Once your bowels start moving correctly, your nutrients are better absorbed and you feel less hunger. You will probably start losing weight as well. I wish you luck and good health.

[fedupwiththis]

Hi all

I have taken the time to read some of your comments, and i thought i was suffereing my heart goes out to you all.

This all started end of last year i was experiencing lots of belching, heart burn and discomfort in the diaphram area.

I visited my doctor who put me on zoton (Lansoprazole 30mg) i havent found this to be of much help other than to cure the heartburn.  He also stated that i need to lose weight yes i have a spare tyre around my waist but who doesnt these days especially after 2 children.

My symptoms have now changed i am now experiencing my food/fluids returning to my throat (possible reflux ?) and sometimes even a lump in my throat.  I also have of late been experiencing a dullness,sometimes numbing feeling in the back of my throat, especially on the left side this can also cause discomfort in my ear.

I have seen a ENT specialist,nothing to find, and also a gastroentologist ( hope that is spelt right ) who feels that as my symptoms of belching have reduced there is no need to take further tests, ( he did explain to me about Globus ??)

I have visited my doctor on many occasions to try and get to the bottom of this, and all i get from him is you need to loose weight, and that the feeling in my throat is possibly coming from my stomach. I am not in anyway trying to find fault in my doctor but telling me i need to lose wait everytime i see him does not make me feel better about myself when i know i need to lose some weight.

can anyone help me, is anyone experiencing the feeling in the throat i am having, i must add i dont have this throat discomfort first this in the morning or whilst i am eating.

HELP...NEEDED

[astros18]

I use Nature's Sunshine and Garden of Life products. They both can be found on the internet. I use a hi lipase enzyme for fat digestion and Food enzymes for everything else. Papaya is not strong enough on its own. They are soothing, though and taste good, so they won't hurt you to take. I also take Primal Defense probiotic from Garden of Life. It is also possible you have stones in your liver(doctors say it is impossible). You can check out curezone.com for the liver/gallbladder flush information. It is essential that your bowels move frequently. A normal bowel movement should be the consistency of soft serve ice cream and the "ideal" is for your bowels to move at least 30 minutes to 2 hours after you eat. Nature's Sunshine has a lower bowel stimulant to help you regulate your bowels and they also have many colon cleanses. I am not a doctor, so I cannot comment on drug interactions but you can ask your doctor or check on the internet. I have taken all of the above supplements while on meds and while being med free. Digestive food enzymes are enzymes your body is supposed to produce naturally and probiotics are harmless as well. I hope my info helps you. It is always a good thing to become proactive with your health. Keep me posted.

[babbles]

Also I might add after having my endoscopy the doctor told me to minimize caffeine which I completely quit drinking anything that contained caffeine until I went to refill my medications and the pharmacist was telling me about the metoclopramide and how it tightens down the LES to prevent food and acids from splashing back up into the esophagus and I said oh really well I have problems with my stomach emptying and he said really well alot of people drink caffeine for that he said that is why alot of people drink coffee after or with a meal and so I questioned him as to why and he said because it helps empty your stomach as well as helps you urinate and gets your bowels moving. So I came home and started having a little coffee once in a while and it seems to be helping me some. Not saying it will help everyone but it is worth a try. For a little more then two weeks I would drink and drink water and still couldn't urinate and my doctor of course says well your not drinking enough, I wanted to laugh in his face and tell him how stupid he was because I got up that morning and drank four 16ounce glasses of water and still couldn't go to the bathroom and he tells me that I am not drinking enough. It may be worth a try.

[astros18]

I responded to your previous post, but I didn't know you were without your gallbladder. You should be taking digestive food enzymes especially a hi lipase to help you digest fats and things like cucumbers, apples, and nuts. While you can live without your gallbladder it definitely changes your digestion, despite what the doctors say.(I think they all still have their gallbladders, so they don't know!) The feelings on your left side sounds like possible gas to me, but I don't know. If you work on detoxing your colon and the feeling goes away, it probably was gas.

[babbles]

I saw you responded to the previous post but I can't find it anywhere. But thank you for responding. I plan on keeping people updated on my condition because what I don't see any of is if people who are suffering with these symptoms improve after time or not. Anyway yes I had my gall bladder out, which seems odd to me because I was on protonix taking it for a couple months when my gall bladder went bad, and then this time they put me on protonix originally and I started having all these weird pains in arms, hands, bilary pain,urinary tract, kidney stones, trouble urinating, there were too many to list but anyway I went and looked at the adverse effects on the hand out I was given for protonix and all the problems I was having were listed so immediately quit taking the protonix and within a week all these new problems cleared up,all except the problems urinating which I think is actually due to my stomach not emptying correctly. I am actually getting to where a feel pretty good until I try to eat and then I have difficulties for 1 to 2 hours. I do have some reflux still but from what I can tell it is reflux of not everything I eat but the fatty foods like meat,I have pretty much eliminated all meat and dairy everything fatty no oils butter etc.  so I am going to try the enzymes.Which do you suggest? I read papaya enzymes were good, have you heard that? Also can I take them with the medicines I am taking like methoclopramide and cimedidine? Yesterday I tried to go without the methoclopramide and made it actually 29 hours before I took it again. Do you know anything about how that medicine works, does it make it so the LES or stomach muscles eventually work well on their own again or does it only treat the problem? Thank you any input would be great. Have a good one.

[babbles]

I too have been having many problems, it started out with a feeling of something being stuck in my throat, then stuff backing up into my esophagus and then vomitting it up, I have been to the ER three times, and have seen 4 different doctors as well as have been seeing a Gast doc. I had a EGD done and everything was good, the biopsies came back good, the doctor did say I had acid irritation, and signs of sluggish emptying. Over 5 weeks I have lost 30lbs,went from bad to worse. I am taking Cimedidine 800mg twice daily and Methoclopramide(REGLAN), I check back weekly with my gastro doc and give him a progress report, and when I tell him I have seen really no changes he ups my medicine, I feel like I am getting no help, I asked him what is causing this he told me the acid irritation. I am pretty much dianosing myself he told me I showed signs of sluggish emptying on the EGD and I am sure that is what this is my stomach doesn't emtpy correctly and this is what causes me to have the acid problem, besides the fact I am having alot of problems digesting meat, dairy, etc what I can eat today and digest tomorrow it doesn't. Very hard thing to deal with. With no help from doctors, I started out taking protonix and that caused me to have various other problems once I quit taking that after about 4 days the pains I was having in other areas of my body quit. I went over 2 weeks urinating very little which in turn caused a urinary tract infection and then kidney stones. I had my gall bladder out 2 years ago and am wondering if that isn't causing me problems now. All this was brought on all of a sudden. Does anyone know if acid irritation could cause delayed emptying or if it is vice versa? And does anyone have any movement they can feel in the left side of their stomach, I can always feel slight movements in my left side, kind of like when someone has a chest cold and has wheezing in their chest. Hard to describe, that started 2 weeks into all this and the doctor has never given me an answer on that one either. And does anyone know if the metoclopramide stregthens the muscles so they can eventually work well on their own again or if they just treat the problem? I read on a couple sites on here they make them work correctly again,but haven't seen that written on many of the sites. Any help or input would be appreciated. Hope we all get better soon or at least get some answers from our docs.

[AlwaysStressed]

I have felt terrible since last Sunday.It feels like my food is getting stuck when its going down.My stomach feels empty but when i eat just a little i feel full up.Im seeing my GP on Tuesday,i suffer from anxiety which doesnt help and now i think i have stomach cancer or something terminal.I havent vomited or had blood in my stool.Please please someone put my mind at rest.Im 22 by the way and dont drink,take drugs or smoke.

[AlwaysStressed]

I forgot to mention there is no pain just some discomfort.Thank you.

[SHEN]

If you are looking for self study in addition to seeing your Doctor, here is an excellent    
reference book http://gastroresource.com/GITextbook/en/chapter1/Default.htmk

One chapter deals with what your Doctor should ask:

The key to accurate diagnosis and effective management of gastrointestinal problems is flawless history-taking. Since up to 50% of gastrointestinal disorders are associated with no anatomical change, no physical findings and no positive test result, diagnosis and therapy must often be based on the medical interview. The gastrointestinal history must include an accurate description of the symptom itself, a past history of gastrointestinal disorders or surgery, a meticulous search for symptoms that might suggest organic disease (such as gastrointestinal hemorrhage, anemia or weight loss) and finally, a careful assessment of the patient's psychosocial state, with particular attention directed toward traumatic events or concerns associated with the onset of the patient's complaints.

[astros18]

Supragirl, I'm sorry about your diagnosis of Hep. C. Do not despair. There are many natural courses of treatment that can make you feel better. You need to be on an viral immune formula. Olive leaf extract is a good antiviral. You for sure need to be taking milk thistle. It is a wonderful tonic for your liver. Possibly a liver detox. I encourage you to find a naturopath medical doctor in your area. Make sure you check credentials. They should have a medical degree from an accredited school at least 4-6 years of schooling. Get busy, and you should start feeling better in no time. Good luck to you.

[Supragirl]

Hi, well, I'm not feeling well either !!! I have just about the same symptoms.  Mine did not appear after a bout with the flu though. Mine came after getting a dental filling !!! Composite resin; not amalgam. I did swallow some of the etching solution, I think it was phosphoric acid. Maybe that has caused some problems.

I found out as a fluke, humanly speaking that is, that I have HepC. It seems that anytime I complain about gastro symptoms, folks are quick to say it's the HepC. That gets the doc off the hook too !! Since "they" say so many people have HepC and don't even realize it, I tell everyone to get tested for it.

I'm not sugesting that you have HepC, I've had NO symptoms of HepC for 25 years, so I didn't mention HepC because of your symptoms, I just started rambeling.

Hope you feel better soon!

Supra

[Buffyfan]

I'm finally going to Duke to see an Otolarangologist this week. I've tried Aciphex since last post with only one good day of results. I'm getting down again. I am in the education field and school starts exactly one month from today. I'm so afraid I won't be ready to work. I've lost more weight- up to 3o lbs gone-and I'm worried about damage to my body. I'm praying this doctor can help.