I was born with Reflux and 43 years of suffering from GERD with a hernia and have scars and narrowing of my esophagus. It is painful, mine is usually in my upper chest and midsection from the stomach to the throat. It can feel like stabbing pain, pressure, burning or tickling depending on how bad the attack is and if I have had them frequently back to back. I do get the salivating issue too, numbness, feels like how others describe a heart attack. I am not on medication for this condition, seems like every time I see a doctor (we tend to move a lot) they want to redo the testing and I am given medication samples that help but only for so long. After dealing with this type of doctor for years, I have learned to avoid them. When they start playing games with my health its time to move on. So it can take years to find a good one. I have found that internal medicine doctors are more apt to get to the root of the problem quicker with annual testing and solid findings. Just make sure this leads to a medical solution that fits your needs.
I was told I had a panic disorder a few times, while having a GERD attack. PLEASE! Since I donât suffer from them outside of a GERD attack, I refuse to believe I have a panic disorder. I find it funny how a GI cocktail manages to cure a panic attack as well as the reflux attack. It is surprising how many people with GERD or Acid Reflux are diagnosed with panic disorders! I donât suffer from depression, or panic attacks, I have GERD attacks and they naturally raise the blood pressure and they hurt like heck. So If I beg for relief and show a elevated heart rate, its due to GERD! Not panic. I really wish doctors would not classify this together every time. One is not necessarily associated with the other. Pain naturally raises the heart rate. A great example is this is in the scenario I use after hearing this from a doctor : If you break your arm and are crying and whimpering for help even begging in a hurried fashion for the doctors not to tug on your arm during the examination. The end diagnoses should not be, you are having a panic attack and you got a broken arm.
Stress can trigger a reflux attack, as well as food, and how late you eat before lying in a prone position. Genetics plays a huge part in all of this too, as well as obesity but only to a point. Skinny people suffer from Reflux too. Reflux can also be linked to eating disorders like starving oneself while having a reflux attack, or feeding a reflux attack with acid neutralizing foods. But again this is just a manifesting additional symptom of reflux, GERD, heartburn problem.
Oddly enough after undergoing a lap band procedure I thought my GERD issues were nearly wiped out. However I managed to have a small attack once (eating the wrong food on vacation, combined with family stress) and this caused swelling around the port (ring) to the point I could not eat a thing for days. In turn the acid produced in my empty stomach just made things worse, my doctor had to open the port more, to allow for healing. I managed to have at least 6 more attacks before medication got it back under control and the port could be closed a bit again. Since then I havenât had an attack and I can eat without pain or minor attacks. I really think the key is the right foods and in small amounts as well as that band to keep my stomach from folding into the esophagus.