Lots of people who have been through our treatments have similar symptoms and there are many things to consider, both physical and mental.
Reflux disease or GERD is really common, and I have danced with this for 10 years. Prilosec and Nexium are the same animal, here in the states one is OTC and the other is Rx. Proton pump inhibitors, the family of drugs these belong to, has others in it as well if these do not work well for you. First thing to understand is that these are not like normal anti acid drugs. You don't just take them and have the problem go away. You take them, and a week or so later they begin to take effect. Go off them, and the problem comes right back. I have been on them long term and have no negative issues from taking Prilosec every day. My reflux was so bad that even this did not control it completely, and I had a surgical procedure a while back called a nissan fundoplication which tightens the opening at the top of your stomach where the esophagus attaches to it, preventing some of the acid from exiting north. This was done through an endoscopic surgery (one day hospital stay) and after about 3 weeks of discomfort, it has helped things a great deal. You can Google the procedure and learn more about it.
Having said that, we have plenty of people who have pain which is "referred" from reflux disease. Upper chest, behind the sternum, even between the shoulder blades are not uncommon places for you to feel real pain from GERD.
MY discomfort is worse at night when laying down (easier access for the acid to exit your stomach and cause problems). I now do not eat after 6 PM as this aggravates things. It would not be uncommon for me to take a swig of Mylanta at 3 AM for immediate relief of some acute symptoms when they occur and wake me up. Certain foods aggravate the whole thing, for me things that are too fatty (I have no gall bladder that secretes the enzyme that helps digest fats) can trigger problems within an hour of eating something that is greasy or fatty.
When all this started I was sure that i was having a cardiac event when the pain in my chest got bad. I went through all the tests to ensure that this was NOT cardiac related, and even went to a new shrink, as one doctor was sure that I was having panic attacks.... he was primarily wrong but partially correct. But for sure my nervousness about what I was feeling before I understood it, caused a cascade of additional physical problems/symptoms.
You would be surprised at what the mind can cause. Sure that I was having some kind of heart problem, my mind would cause my heart to race, which of course convinced me even more that it was a heart issue, which once the tachycardia was well developed, would cause me to actually sweat - particularly my hands, feet, and other weird places.... then the shortness of breath would begin. THESE additional things were actually mentally caused physical manifestations, and not disease related. Once I got my GERD under control, the next thing was to talk myself (reason my way through things) down from the escalating cascade of physical manifestations, which I can now do as I understand I am not about to go bye-bye from a heart issue. Fear is a powerful thing. Much of it can be subconscious, or can be something that doctors looking for physical causes omit from their list of considerations. Survivoritis manifests itself in many ways.
My take is you need to stay on the PPI's and quit going off and on them. You also need to watch what you eat that might cause additional problems. Second, you need to have all the tests that eliminate cardiac issues from your list. Pressure behind the sternum is a classic MI symptom, and you what that OFF your list. Some of the other things that you mention like the numbness can be symptoms of cardiac insufficiencies, but the locations that you are having them seem out of place for classic cardiac problems. Those localized numb feelings of the face I get all the time. If you know too much about medicine, you can start thinking about localized TIA's and really crazy stuff, but for those of us that have been through head and neck treatments, there are more logical differnetial diagnosis things at the top of the list.
Rule out ALL cardiac issues. Put that out of your mind afterwards. Deal with the GERD to the point of complete control. See a neurologist to talk about the facial numbness if necessary. Make sure all the doctors talk to each other and compare notes. Take whatever meds are necessary to stay calm. Talk to your doc about trying clonazapam to deal with times when it seems to get out of control emotionally or in relation to perceived fears (taken at times when you perceive acute anxiety setting in, not all the time). Learn to mentally talk yourself into a calmer state when you feel anxious. Believe me, I have a repetitive mantra that I say to myself to prevent the cascade. It is real, it is fixable, and even a guy who used to think he could walk through the valley of death and fear no evil, because he was the baddest SOB in the valley, can turn into something that is more like his grandmother after what we all go through.
