It turns out there's no easy test for heartburn. That really surprises me. In fact, there are expensive tests for all sorts of other things that have similar symptoms as heartburn -- and I've had a whole bunch of those last fall and winter. But I never once got tested for heartburn, and in fact the only reason I'm sure that that's what I have now is that (a) I've been tested for just about everything else and (b) the massive doses of heartburn meds I'm taking seem to work.
For something like two years now, I've noticed that my voice has been getting raspy. I had no idea what was causing that, and my primary physician basically said, "well, that kind of thing happens". I figured I'd try strengthening my throat muscles by singing (although I've since learned that ENTs say the best cure for a sore throat is to rest, not to keep stressing it). Still, I had fun singing and learning voice exercises.
About eight months after I started the singing stuff, about August of last summer, I started noticing that I'd occasionally have an odd pain underneath my right rib. Also, sometimes a bit of stomach pain.
In early September, my raspy voice turned into a sore throat that would eventually bother me for several months. All of these (I now think) were symptoms of heartburn, but I didn't know that at the time. I also had a tingly arm (which my physical therapy friend diagnosed as sleeping with too many pillows, curing that condition overnight in mid-September, yay!) and I had a lump on my stomach that was completely benign but wigging me out because of all the other funky issues I was having.
My doctor sent me to an ENT (for Test #1), who declared my nostrils were "perfect" and that my throat looked perfectly fine, too. I have "cryptic tonsils", he noted, but they probably weren't the problem. He suggested I'd be fine soon, and it was probably just a cold.
But the rib still hurt, and so at the end of September, I went for a Sonogram (Test #2). It tickled, my belly looked good; the experts said my problem was probably just the lipoma -- the benign belly lump.
Toward the end of October, the throat still hurt, and the rib pain still bothered me. Not knowing what the heck was going on bugged me, too, and so I restarted my anxiety meds. So far, it had been two months and nobody (not even me) had thought of heartburn, but here I was, getting expensive meds and expensive tests for unrelated things. I'm not complaining -- I'm just still surprised at all the round-about aspect of this. But there was more to come.
In early November, my throat was bad enough that I was living on cough drops and having trouble falling asleep. My doctor recommended a sonogram of my thyroid (proposed Test #3). But just before I got that test, I suggested that maybe the feeling in my throat might be related to heartburn, and I ought to try those meds first. And what a great suggestion, because the throat pain subsided a bunch.
But the rib pain was still there, and becoming more constant. And sometimes it would turn into a belly pain that made it hard for me to teach. At the end of December, I had the lipoma removed (actual Test #3), hoping that somehow that would help (maybe it was pressing on a nerve?). My doc, seeing that the lump had come back as benign, suggested that maybe I was doing some repetitive action that gave me a pulled muscle.
But just to be sure, at the end of December my doc sent me in for a chest X-ray (Test #4), which found nothing wrong. And the doctor doubled my heartburn meds and anxiety meds. I'm so glad they did, but of course we still had no way of knowing whether this dosage was enough, and it turned out it wasn't.
After being on the doubled heartburn meds for a week in early January, the pain started spreading from my rib to my belly, and I was super tender there -- if I crossed my arms in front of me, it would hurt my stomach. The constant pain was starting to freak me out, in spite of all the tests I'd had saying I was fine. Because, I didn't feel fine. That Friday night, my belly hurt so much that I called over to my doctor's office and talked with the nurse on call, who referred me to the emergency room.
So I walked over the emergency room. They did an EKG (Test #5) and confirmed my heart is fine. Then they did blood tests, urine tests, and Cat Scans (I'll count that as Test #6), and reassured me that it wasn't pancreatic cancer. Don't even ask me why I was afraid that pancreatic cancer was causing my heartburn -- I know better than to self-diagnose via the web, except when I don't. Sheesh.
The ER decided that what was probably going on was that the heartburn acid was spilling over into my belly cavity, and that's why I was so tender. They put me on a bunch of monster heartburn pills and sent me home, encouraging me to meet with a gastro doctor.
Which I did. My gastro doctor adjusted the meds here and there, and then ordered an endoscopy (Test #7). Again, everything checked out fine. The gastro doc refilled all my meds and told me to hold the course.
What causes heartburn? My gastro guy says it's a weakness in a muscle called the "lower esophageal sphincter". Me, I'm all about strengthening muscles, and I asked for exercises that might help, but apparently there's no such thing. It's either meds or surgery, and he recommends meds as the preferred course.
My dad has been on heartburn meds basically his entire life, and at 83 years old he's still climbing ladders, hiking, working out on the treadmill at the gym. I take after him in a bunch of ways, so I'm adjusting to this life of Many Medicines, glad for his example.
This heartburn never actually felt like burning (except maybe in my throat) and it didn't really ever cause pain in the area of my heart. It was my throat, my right rib, and my belly. So maybe it's not really heartburn after all --- I keep being surprised that there's no test. On the other hand, taking heartburn meds has cleared up my belly and rib pain, as well as my sore throat. So for me, the way I keep tabs on how well my meds are working is to think about how my throat feels.
And also, my voice isn't raspy any more. So . . . awesome.
For something like two years now, I've noticed that my voice has been getting raspy. I had no idea what was causing that, and my primary physician basically said, "well, that kind of thing happens". I figured I'd try strengthening my throat muscles by singing (although I've since learned that ENTs say the best cure for a sore throat is to rest, not to keep stressing it). Still, I had fun singing and learning voice exercises.
About eight months after I started the singing stuff, about August of last summer, I started noticing that I'd occasionally have an odd pain underneath my right rib. Also, sometimes a bit of stomach pain.
In early September, my raspy voice turned into a sore throat that would eventually bother me for several months. All of these (I now think) were symptoms of heartburn, but I didn't know that at the time. I also had a tingly arm (which my physical therapy friend diagnosed as sleeping with too many pillows, curing that condition overnight in mid-September, yay!) and I had a lump on my stomach that was completely benign but wigging me out because of all the other funky issues I was having.
My doctor sent me to an ENT (for Test #1), who declared my nostrils were "perfect" and that my throat looked perfectly fine, too. I have "cryptic tonsils", he noted, but they probably weren't the problem. He suggested I'd be fine soon, and it was probably just a cold.
But the rib still hurt, and so at the end of September, I went for a Sonogram (Test #2). It tickled, my belly looked good; the experts said my problem was probably just the lipoma -- the benign belly lump.
Toward the end of October, the throat still hurt, and the rib pain still bothered me. Not knowing what the heck was going on bugged me, too, and so I restarted my anxiety meds. So far, it had been two months and nobody (not even me) had thought of heartburn, but here I was, getting expensive meds and expensive tests for unrelated things. I'm not complaining -- I'm just still surprised at all the round-about aspect of this. But there was more to come.
In early November, my throat was bad enough that I was living on cough drops and having trouble falling asleep. My doctor recommended a sonogram of my thyroid (proposed Test #3). But just before I got that test, I suggested that maybe the feeling in my throat might be related to heartburn, and I ought to try those meds first. And what a great suggestion, because the throat pain subsided a bunch.
But the rib pain was still there, and becoming more constant. And sometimes it would turn into a belly pain that made it hard for me to teach. At the end of December, I had the lipoma removed (actual Test #3), hoping that somehow that would help (maybe it was pressing on a nerve?). My doc, seeing that the lump had come back as benign, suggested that maybe I was doing some repetitive action that gave me a pulled muscle.
But just to be sure, at the end of December my doc sent me in for a chest X-ray (Test #4), which found nothing wrong. And the doctor doubled my heartburn meds and anxiety meds. I'm so glad they did, but of course we still had no way of knowing whether this dosage was enough, and it turned out it wasn't.
After being on the doubled heartburn meds for a week in early January, the pain started spreading from my rib to my belly, and I was super tender there -- if I crossed my arms in front of me, it would hurt my stomach. The constant pain was starting to freak me out, in spite of all the tests I'd had saying I was fine. Because, I didn't feel fine. That Friday night, my belly hurt so much that I called over to my doctor's office and talked with the nurse on call, who referred me to the emergency room.
So I walked over the emergency room. They did an EKG (Test #5) and confirmed my heart is fine. Then they did blood tests, urine tests, and Cat Scans (I'll count that as Test #6), and reassured me that it wasn't pancreatic cancer. Don't even ask me why I was afraid that pancreatic cancer was causing my heartburn -- I know better than to self-diagnose via the web, except when I don't. Sheesh.
The ER decided that what was probably going on was that the heartburn acid was spilling over into my belly cavity, and that's why I was so tender. They put me on a bunch of monster heartburn pills and sent me home, encouraging me to meet with a gastro doctor.
Which I did. My gastro doctor adjusted the meds here and there, and then ordered an endoscopy (Test #7). Again, everything checked out fine. The gastro doc refilled all my meds and told me to hold the course.
What causes heartburn? My gastro guy says it's a weakness in a muscle called the "lower esophageal sphincter". Me, I'm all about strengthening muscles, and I asked for exercises that might help, but apparently there's no such thing. It's either meds or surgery, and he recommends meds as the preferred course.
My dad has been on heartburn meds basically his entire life, and at 83 years old he's still climbing ladders, hiking, working out on the treadmill at the gym. I take after him in a bunch of ways, so I'm adjusting to this life of Many Medicines, glad for his example.
And also, my voice isn't raspy any more. So . . . awesome.
I had an EKG about ten years ago for the exact same reason. I'd gotten my will done and everything because I was sure I was going to have a heart attack.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's really scary having pain and not knowing why. Especially because I'm getting to the age where I have friends who had unexplained pains that wound up being renal cancer [for another friend, stomach cancer], in both cases fatal. So on the one hand I know that I have lots of good health factors on my side . . . but then there's the "we don't have any idea what it is" pain on the other . . . Sheesh.
DeleteI was also on the massive doses of heartburn meds, until I had surgery to tighten that muscle (the sphincter muscle). Only *after* the surgery did my PCP mention that the heartburn meds have some really grim side effects when used long term.
ReplyDeleteMaybe have a look at the side effects on the meds you're using?
Will do. I keep trying to see if I can lower the dosage a tad, really slowly . . . but nope, the throat burning comes back pretty quickly. So side-effects of these meds will *definitely* be something to look into!
Delete