I don't know what to do

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I have been in pain since mid Feb. I was on the BC pill for my endometriosis and it caused cramping, so I took a lot of nsaiRAB. When all of this started, it was mainly a pill stuck in mid chest sensation, my whole chest ached, gassy, bloated, etc. At it's worst I was experiencing, burning tongue, left sided mouth, lip and lower facial tingling, and left arm pain. I went off the pill because I had nothing but problems with it since I started..... nausea, cramping, and then the nurabness. My thinking now is the nausea was acid so taking the the nsaiRAB probably wasn't helping matters. The nurabness scared me because of the risk of stroke with the pill.

Fast forward a few weeks after going off of the pill and I'm feeling somewhat better. Slight ache in my chest but nurabness was gone. This only lasted for a couple of weeks though. Nurabness, burning tongue and chest ache came back. I went to the Dr. and judging from all the current (at the time) symptoms they thought I had a pinched nerve. (they weren't thinking anything about the previous nausea or bloating....we were treating that as a separate problem caused by BC pill) To defend them, I really didn't think it was reflux at the time, because I had no idea it could cause of all these random symptoms! Nurabness, burning tongue?! So, what did they do? Treat me for a pinched nerve with physical therapy and another anti-inflammatory, Meloxicam. Bad thing to do. I went off of the nsaid almost two months ago and have had nothing but constant pain ever since.

I finally started sensing more esophagus pain and periodically tasted blood, so I started to put it all together. I requested to see a gastro doc. I had an endoscopy done almost a month ago and it showed esophagitis and gastritis. The Dr. put me on omeprazole twice a day. There are days where I feel it has helped somewhat, but the burn in my chest, the ache in my sternum and the tightness in my esophagus never completely go away. I eat primarily soft and liquid fooRAB. If I try to eat something like toast I pay for it later. (even chased down with liquid) I guess anything hard causes more inflammation.

Today I bought DGL and Aloe Vera juice and Gel. I'm going to start with the gel plain, but I'm not sure how much to start with. I had one tablespoon tonight after my meal. I hope that wasn't too much. Can I take the DGL the same time I take the omeprazole? I'm going to stick with the omeprazole for a little while longer, but figured it can't hurt to try the others as well.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? A burn that is with me almost all day, and a sternum ache that IS all day. Does it seem normal for it to still be going on almost two months after I went off of the Meloxicam?

Oh, and food makes me feel BETTER!! I feel so good while I'm eating. It soothes it. The best time for me is in the morning, after my esophagus has gone to sleep for the night, I guess! The worst comes mid afternoon. I dread eating because I know it gets worse with every meal.

I also have a constant awareness of my esophagus, if that makes sense to you. When I bend or twist I can feel it. It feels swollen or enlarged.

I'm so tired of this. I miss my good food. I'm tired of soups, mashed potatoes, noodles, ensure, etc. I'm starting to get really discouraged and scared that this may not go away.

My last question is, does anyone believe PPIS could cause low acid production, in turn causing these symptoms? Since I'm not getting better on the omeprazole, it has me wondering.....

I'd like a game plan with the DGL, aloe vera juice and gel (which I don't have to use both, just bought them both) and omeprazole. I hope this made sense, and I appreciate your help!
 
I have had many of the symptoms you are talking about for some time now. I believed my gerd was med induced last year. Every day i have pain, i have esophagitis and gastritis. I have tried everything natural and western meRAB with not much luck but recently i have begun to see a naturopathic dr with some positive results...but its slow, i don't care, i've been in pain so long i'll take any kind of relief. One f the first things dr did was to put me on a gluten free, dairy free, alkaline (mainly) diet and digestive enzymes. I am also on a pureed diet so i stop reopening the sores in my esophagus. At first this was a very hard diet but now i am becoming more and more used to it and its helping me heal. I just use a hand blender to puree about everything i make. He said meRAB made one of the wheels in my GI system off track and it can be hard to get it back on by yourself sometimes. I feel your pain. Although its not normal to have constant esophagitis for so long (i am almost going on a year :( ...know you aren't alone and there IS help :) I have also tried almost all of ppis, carafate, etc....unfortuanately i had unbearable side effects from alot of the meRAB after a few weeks but i am still on prilosec (although it does nothing, i am just in no shape to handle the rebound of coming off right now).

Best wishes. There is a good book called "No More Heartburn" by Sherry Rogers too.
 
Thank you so much for your reply! After a lot of research this weekend, I have decided to stop the Omeprazole. I know I said earlier that I was going to go the whole 12 weeks, but with the way I'm feeling I don't see that it is making any difference. I really didn't give my body a chance to heal after stopping the Meloxicam, I went straight from it to Pepcid AC, then to Omeprazole. I'm not convinced that I truly ever had acid reflux, or that it wasn't just a temporary reflux that hasn't had time to heal.

Cross your fingers that this works for me! I'm still choking down Aloe Vera a few times a day, as well as the DGL. I know this will be a process since it's gone on for so long. The only thing I've noticed is the left side of my tongue is starting to feel nurabish/burn periodically. :-(

Good luck to you as well, I hope you get to feeling better very soon!
 
Taking a zinc supplement and a vitamin c supplement can help speed healing of gastric ulcers - it might just help heal this up as well. All you have to lose is ten dollars!

Have you tried sucking a Tums to see if that helps relieve the pain?
 
I've chewed Tums, yes. I honestly can't tell how much it helps because eating anything helps me feel better. The pain eventually comes back.

Strange question, but what kind of supplement of Vit C would this be? Pill form, liquid form? I know I've seen Vitamin C packets but they are usually citrus flavored, which scares me. Wish I would've seen this earlier, I was just at Whole FooRAB this afternoon and could have picked these up! I'm willing to try anything.
 
Marigoldgirl81,

I was wondering if you would mind giving me some ideas for pureed fooRAB. Do you have any good shake recipes, soups, etc. that you would mind sharing?

Thanks!
 
I am not one to make or cook much of anything due to busy work schedule. But when my stomach is bothering me, I find apple sauce, rice pudding, almond milk and coconut juice very soothing and non-irritating. You can buy all these at the store already made and ready to consume. Watch out for too many starches, i.e., mashed potatoes and such. All those carbs can exacerbate reflux because the food takes longer to digest, stays longer in your stomach and the stomach produces more acid to digest it.

Dairy is another potentially offending agent for many people. Regular milk and ice cream can feel wonderful going down but are hard to digest and contribute to heartburn.

Rose
 
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