Lung cancer?

[anxiousoutcast]

I my doctor told me I have acid reflux but I haven't seen a specialist for it. He prescribed me the equivalent to Pepcid or other gerd medication. I've been taking it for about 3 days.

I get pain in my left chest, sometimes going into my shoulder and sometimes moving to my right chest. Accompanied with this the feeling that I have shortness of breath and belching. The thing that freaks me out is that it will last all day. I'm scared of lung cancer. I have had my heart checked at the er and they cleared it so I don't think it's that. I don't know much about acid reflux/gerd but can it last all day? Can i be in pain even after the medication and taking rolaids? (rolaids seem to help temporarily, but never takes it away completely). Or is it anxiety heightening the bloated/painful feeling in my chest?

When reading forums about gerd it seems a lot of people with gerd also have anxiety, or the other way around.

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.

[Chiliphil1]

I have it as well, and yes sometimes it can last all day, another thing is that you have not been taking the meds long enough yet, it takes a few days for them to work.

I take omeprazole (prilosec) it seems to work ok, but sometimes it looses its effect and I have to stop it for a week or so and restart. All in all acid reflux can feel like many things.

I get a balloon sensation in my chest, pain from front to back and everywhere in between, sometimes a serious burn from my stomach to my teeth, it just depends on the day.

The best thing to do is read up on an acid reflux diet, cutting certain foods and loosing weight can help. And yes, anxiety and ar go hand in hand because anxiety messes with your digestive system, thus acid is sent back to the esophigus (spelling?) from the fact that your digestive tract is not functioning properly due to being anxious.

If there is one thing I have learned from all of this it is that EVERY single thing in our bodies affects another, thus why eastern medicinal practitioners as well as those in the olden days believed that certain natural substances cured ailments and believed that eating the proper food in the proper proportion made one live a long and happy life, I don't think that anything in the modern age can make you realize this better than an anxiety disorder.

[Chiliphil1]

Oh, one other thing.

If you are worried about lung cancer, have your doctor do a chest x ray to check, im sure he will find nothing at all. The fact that certain antacids help you, even if it is only temporary should give you confidence, these meds would do nothing for cancer.

[anxiousoutcast]

Thank you so much for your reply, the balloon feeling is a good description. I tend to freak out cause its mainly on my left side. The medication my doc gave me is the same as yours do I hope it begins to help.

Thank you again, you have helped to ease my mind.

[anxiousoutcast]

Also, can gerd make your tongue swell or lips tingle?

[Chiliphil1]

You are very welcome. My pain is also on the left, do you know why?

Because your esophigus is over there! It curves down to your stomach which is also on the left, this is why the pain twnds to be on that side.

I don't generally reccomend this, but look on Web md at the acid reflux symptoms, that should make you feel much better.

[Chiliphil1]

Well, it could possibly do that, I find an acidic taste in my mouth from time to time and I suppose that it could cause some swelling. Are you sure it is in fact swollen?

As far as the lips, that is most likely anxiety, and not Gerd. I have had that as well, but from what I can figure it was from the nerve stimulation of anxiety itself.

[anxiousoutcast]

Well it seems swollen, it feels weird, tingly, and I have indents from my teeth on the side. It's not all the time. I concentrate on breathing to reassure myself I CAN breathe and my throat isn't swollen. I will check webmd, but only for gerd :)

[anxiousoutcast]

Thanks for the explanation of the left side! Holy cow that makes sense! Funny how our anxiety will rule out rationality