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The Ask A Doctor message board provided a medium for sufferers of Heartburn and Gerd to ask questions about medical and surgical options for heartburn and receive answers directly from experienced Gastroesophageal surgeons.
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From: Chris
Date: 08/27/00
Time: 03:22:18
Hello. I'll try to leave out as many cyrptic details of my medical travails as possible but still present an accurate yet short summation, with questions afterward. I experienced sudden onset dysphagia with solids about 9 months ago. At first it was intermittent, then it became a problem every time I would eat. Food would feel stuck, right after the swallow, or I would cough up little particulated bits of whatever it was that I was eating. After numerous harrowing experiences, visits to the ER with various complaints related to pills and food lodging in my throat, and uninformed reassurances from my general practioner, I sought out several specialist types; ENT's,an Allergist, Gastroenterologists. I've been EGD'd w/empirical dialation(result-Normal) Barium Swallows regular and modified Deluxe (result-Normal). Blood tests and throat cultures (result-Normal) My ENT suggested GERD as a possibility and put me on 30mg's of Prevacid/once a day. This didn't seem to improve my ability to swallow food comfortably so I got a second opinion. Still, I had NO OTHER SYMPTOMS. (At this time, and presently, I only consume liquids for nourishment.) Then, I developed a sharp pain in the area of my Larynx which felt like extreme extrinsic pressure and at the same time burning intrinsically. It felt as though my adams apple was going to implode. I was treated for a fungal infection but it turned out that the throat culture was negative. This DR. took me off Prevacid during the treatment for the supposed fungus and I (for the first time)experienced a host of reflux symptoms ranging from pain and burning in the chest to more burning and difficulty breathing due to the irritation in my throat. Finally, a new, observant ENT saw red swollen arytenoids, swollen UES, and edema. He said that I probably have GERD and we upped the dosage of Prevacid to 30mg's twice daily. My questions are; 1.) Is there a reason why I presented with dysphagia as my primary complaint, as it seems, in all of the postings to this site and other resources, I have never seen evidence of significant difficulty swallowing, esp. first? 2.) Do you suggest Double probe PH testing and Manometry testing? 3.) Do you acknowledge or refute the existence of laryngopharyngeal GERD? If you do recognize LPR, do my symptoms sound like it? 4.) I am a professional musician who must use my voice for extended periods (up to 12 hrs. per day sometimes, no kidding). Could that be a significant stress on the LES, enough to initiate GERD? Thanks for any advice and good luck to anyone in the same situation. Chris