Burning Sensation in the Chest and Possible Case of GERD Posted: 02-25-06 16:39pm
Question: I have been suffering from
fatigue and digestive problems for the
past years, off and on. Most recently, my
fatigue has gotten worse, and I am also
suffering from chest pains that feel like
burning. It is really hard to get up in
the morning.
I have have a colonoscopy, barium upper
and lower tests, and endoscope, a
sonogram, and an abdominal ct. They showed
a little diverticuli and some gastritis in
the stomach area.
I have suffered with a feeling of nausea,
lack of appetite, and a strange feeling in
the stomach...Recently I have that
burning, too. I had two near syncope
events over the past year...Went to a
cardiologist who said they were not
cardiac..Took stress test, ekg.
This fatigue seems to be getting worse,
and so do the chest burning...I also feel
like the lining in by abdomen could be
affected, and that is causing the burning
feeling? I have considered anxiety and
depression, but really do not think that
it is them....Just that oppressive
physical problem.
An inflamed gastric or duodenal
diverticulum (diverticulitis) can cause
dyspeptic symptoms like those that you
describe; gastritis can also cause similar
symptoms. The most important diagnostic of
your examinations is that you’ve dshown
no signs of any serious disease. The
“chest burning” you are experiencing
could be caused by gastro-esophageal
reflux disease (GERD). During GERD,
stomach acid ascends into the esophagus
due to lower esophageal sphincter (cardia)
failure. The pH-index in the esophagus
needs to be measured to confirm GERD. To
reduce stomach acid, you can avoid coffee,
smoking, alcohol, fatty food, chocolate
etc....all foods with a high pH. You can
try to use antacids, H2-blockers
(ranitidine, cimetidine, famotidine),
anti-emetics(metoclopramide) and
proton-pump inhibitors(omeprazole,
pantoprazole) to help neutralize stomach
acids.
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