This is one of the most frustrating situations I think I have ever dealt with. 9 months ago I went to the hospital for what I thought was a heart attack. After blood work and EKG came back normal, the ER doc said it was probably G.I. related and that I was free to go. As the months progressed following the ER visit I found myself more frequently needing to take a pepcid A/C to relieve the pain. I wasn't able to sleep at night, had chest pain, was constantly burping, felt like food was coming up into the back of my throat, would get shortness of breath, etc. Finally, I started taking Prilosec OTC daily and I felt normal again. After several weeks of the Prilosec I decided I would stop using the pills and see if I could manage without (At this point I had assumed it was GERD and had stopped drinking alcohol, coffee, using chewing tobacco, eating spicy foods, started exercising, etc). After a week with no Prilosec the symptoms came back twice as bad as before and my attempts to silence them by using Prilosec OTC again didn't work so off to the primary care physician I went. I explaied to him my problems so he put me on Nexium and told me to come back for a physical. I'm 23, a male, 235 lbs, everything on my physical came back normal, bloodwork for H Pylori was negative so he recommended I go see a specialist and we switched my prescription to Prilosec 40mg b/c the Nexium made me feel terrible. What I do know is that I haven't had any strong episodes while I have been on the 40mg Prilosec, however, most symptoms persist but just in a dulled down format. After seeing the specialist he put me on Zegrid, which again as helped, but hasn't alleviated the problem. I went in for an endoscopy recently and he said everything looked normal. The problem that I am having is that in the beginning when I went to the hospital, it seemed like my episodes were spread apart, now, over the past 2-3 months I haven't had one good day. The most recent troubling symptoms are that I have a very hard time sleeping. Everytime I try to go to sleep, it feels like I stop breathing and wake right back up. I've tried drinking chamomile tea (sleepy time) before I go to bed, sometimes it works, but for example tonight, I went to sleep at midnight, and finally got out of bed at 1:15am b/c I just couldn't fall asleep. These problems are persisting even though I've changed my diet, lost weight, don't drink, have never smoked, and don't drink caffeine. The doctors say everything is normal, but I know it's not. This came out of nowhere and is not going away. I've done lots of internet research and it seems like the chest pain I usually have during the day isn't associated with cardiac problems, but my dad (pharmacist) thinks it might be due to constriction in my veins. Does anybody know what is causing me to feel like I stop breathing when I try to sleep? Has anybody else had similar issues and gone through the gauntlet of medical tests just to be told everything is normal? This is starting to affect my relationship with my g/f, my job, etc. I'm a pretty outgoing guy but this has completely sidelined me. How can something like this come up out of nowhere, not go away, but yet doctors can't diagnose it. Any helps or related scenarious are greatly appreciated...
