Heartburn & Swelling

[pataz]

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this but here goes...  I've recently started having heartburn a lot. I'm a 47 yo male and have only had heartburn a couple times previously in my life and never severe. When this first started happening I went to the ER because it was so sever one night that I thought I was having a heart attack. This was the first time I had gotten it in years. After a battery of heart tests nothing was found to be wrong with my heart-- Strong like bull! :)  The heartburn continued on and off and eventually found that Rolaids or Mylanta would not work. I found Pepcid to work pretty well but that eventually stopped working as well. I just finished a 14 day Prylosec treatment (self prescribed) but continue to get the feeling like heartburn is coming back but in never really does, probably due to the Prylosec is my guess.

The odd thing is that throughout all of this is I have had various swelling occurring around my body-- mostly in my finger tips & palms and on the soles of my feet but never the whole foot or hand, usually just 1 finger tip or the heal of my palm and on one spot on one foot or the other, or just below the fingers or toes.  It's also been swollen on my lower right lip, right side of my tongue. The swelling usually lasts 24 hours per area and then moves to another spot. I can tell before the swelling starts that it's going to start by an itchy feeling I get there. I workout 2-3 times a week, am not overweight, 6'3" 186#, don't take any meds and otherwise feel good.

Thoughts anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Pat

[outspoken1]

I'm sorry I was trying to hit the highlights for you and in the process I must have left a few things out.
First of all we both know allergies are hard to pin point when it comes to what causes them. Sometimes it's constant exposure to allergens such as is the case with latex allergies.Your age also has something to do with developing allergies. Since repeated exposure to certain allergens can cause an allergic reaction, it makes sense to develop allergies when you're older, as you've had more time to be in contact with dust, dander, mold, and pollen. Childhood allergies are something different and irrelevant in our case.
In my case I noticed that my feet burned, itched, and swelled when I stepped on a cold or cool floor,that my hands did the same thing when I washed them and allowed them to air dry or held a cool glass or can, my whole body reacted when I got out of the shower and that got so bad that I would itch while fully clothed in a cool room,and the heartburn symptoms were bad.I could actually feel my throat squeezing as I drank or ate something cold or even cool!
The only thing I had done that was new was start taking vinegar for problems with my tongue and stomach.(one swallow three times a day, and it was working). So I cut back to one swallow one time a day and the symptoms were still there but not as bad. When I cut it out all together the heartburn went away (except when I ate something spicy or greasy etc.) and the really pronounced burning, itching, and swelling went away. I do still itch when my skin gets cold.
After I got a handle on that I remembered that I had some of the same symptoms when I was taking medication for and ear infection. A look back at my records showed that it was for a bacterial infection. The vinegar was being used to combat an over growth of bacteria in my digestive tract thus the connection.
So for me I would say that the medicine and the vinegar were the triggers for the allergy and the cold is the trigger for the reaction. Complicated I know but yes I would take stock in what I have eaten,medications taken even in the form of herbs,and what I may have been exposed to externally.I would see if other family members have or have had any of your symptoms as well as we can't rule out heredity.
Please understand that I, like you have not been formally diagnosed but I do know my symptoms and my own body.

[pataz]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, my throat feels almost normal at the moment. The tight feeling I had as recent as this morning that preceeded the heartburn is all but gone. And still no swelling anywhere. 2nd day on Clairitin.

I haven't had any anti-bacterial or antibiotics recently. I was in France in late Sept last year and took some OTC homeopathic alergy tabs. Not sure what they were but the pharmasist there recommended them. Things started about a month after that so it may or not be connected. Haven't taken anymore and not even sure if I still have the rest of them. I think I threw them away. I also don't do vinegar for anything except on my salad occationally. :)

Let me get this straight, what is the the trigger? the cold? or what I eat?

Maybe I should start keeping track of everything I eat for a while?

Thanks again!

[outspoken1]

You  know I was the same way once I figured out what was going with me. It may take a few days for your throat to recover.
By the way, have you taken any anti-bacterial meds for ear infection or do you use vinegar for any medicinal purposes? Just asking because those are the things that started the whole thing rolling for me.
The good thing is that since I know what triggers my reaction I know what to avoid. The bad thing is that even though I am avoiding triggers,
I still have smaller less annoying reactions to the cold. I do not know if this will ever go away.

[pataz]

Had a rough night... Heartburn kept me awake all night. Nothing work relieve it. I took a Clairitin with dinner and have had heartburn ever since. On the plus side the swelling in my hands is all but gone and none in my feet or anywhere else for that matter. I still have that tight, full feeling in my throat but at least the pain is gone. Hungry. Tired. Will keep up the Clairitin for a few days and see where that leads.

[pataz]

I Googled 'allergies to cold' as you suggested and this is actually the first thing I've heard/read that makes any sense:
http://www.drgreene.com/21_650.html
This all started when the weather turned cooler here. I live in Arizona so it's usually not a problem. But for the past few months I've felt cold almost all the time. I was never usually one to complain about the cold weather or wear a sweatshirt to bed but lately I have had to because I wake up freezing at night and the blanket on the couch has become my best friend. This also corresponds to setting our programmable home thermostat to a lower temp at night to save a few bucks in energy bills. I remember back a couple months ago I got the chills one night so bad I thought I was getting the flu but it never materialized, I was fine the next day. And to top it all off, we move offices to a brand new building and the AC is running constantly. I know, hard to believe in January and February but last week it was 82 degrees here. I sit at my desk as I type this and can feel a cold draft all around me and my hands are ice cold. The website above recommended Claritin which I will try. I need something that's not going to put me to sleep and I believe it is non-drowsy. Wow, I'm a bit stunned...allergic to the cold... and anxious to reset my thermostat at home to see if this will work permanently. Let me know if you have anymore words of wisdom and I'll keep you posted. Thank you!

[outspoken1]

The reaction period is usually more pronounced during the warm up process. And you wouldn't have problems swallowing the food or drink it would happen after ingestion when the throat is warming up. At this point you would feel a squeezing and burning in the throat area.
Google allergies to cold.