Hi everyone,
I have posted so many times with a slew of issues in ear, nose throat, neck and shoulder for which I am going to physical therapy tomorrow. I finally went to my GP last week and we discussed Myofascial pain syndrome as a possibility for my intermittent symptoms. I think there may be something to this trigger point therapy as I have found some relief with home treatment, thanks to my husband! Anyway, I have since delevoped a pain behind my mid sternum that has once again sent me into a tail spin. I also have intermittent numbness in my chin. Had EKG which was normal. As I write this, I feel like a hypochondriac, but these symptoms are so real to me. I have always been a strong person, never went to the doctor, very athletic, but this cancer has brought me to my knees. As I am typing this the tears are streaming...i just want my life back, I feel so controlled by my fear at times, when the pain starts. i am seeing a spiritual counselor who has helped and take xanax, which has helped a little. However, this has been going on for about 2 weeks. Mid sternum discomfort, a feeling as if someone has a hand around my windpipe. I dont have problems swallowing, except for really dry things due to the saliva issue. sometimes though it feels like food is stuck. my throat mildly burns on occasion. Last year in may, went to MO with similar problems, not so specific and severe, he put me on prilosec. it seemed to work within 2 weeks, so i went off it. the symptoms came back, so i started again and had to double up for the symptoms to stop. i stopped taking them after about a month, was never told how long to take them. anyway, went to ent 1/4/08 who scoped me and said my vocal cords were red, told me to start taking prilosec. I did and this sternum pain started. I had another scope 1 week later by my RO who said I looked good inside and out. Anyway, went to gastroenterologist last thursday with symptoms who has scheduled me for endoscope tomorrow. she said she thinks its gerd however with my hitory of H&N cancer, she wants to be sure. I am glad she got me in so quickly but have to admit that her urgency has me freaking out. What are the chances the cancer has gone to my esophagus. Can gerd cause this much discomfort. could i have a stricture or just plain spasms. Dr Mike sent me a link about the muscle groups of the head and neck and wondered if the sternocleidomastoid muscle could cause pain in my mid sternum. I am reaching, searching for answers other than the C. I am scared out of my mind. I hate what this has done to me. Does anyone have similar symptoms they can share? Anything would be appreciated. Thanks again for listening. You guys are the best.

I was dx'd abought the same time you ended Tx and am having many of the post Tx issues you describe. Muscle spasms in the neck - from collateral damges to the muscles from radation - that took 2 years before it started to appear. Tried PT to no avail - just use meds to control the side effects now. GERD and hiccups have also been recent issues, so much so that they just did a spiral CT of the esphogus and lungs as a precautionary measure. I have toned my diet down a little and take Prilosec occasionally. It seems to help. Depending on where radiation was targeted or what type, the muscle groups that Dr. Mike mentioned may well be involved also. Probably just the new "normal" that many speak of.

Philosphically, it still beats the alternarive... I have a great life today a few more annoyances perhaps but I am alive and having a blast.

You are not a hypocondriac these are real side effects from treatment.

PS Read your instructions for usage on Prilosec very carefully. They are much more effective when followed precisely as the manufacturer recommends. Other OTC antiacids may help you as well.

GERD is nothing to fool around with.

I had some of the same problems before I had OC. I have had several dilations of the esophagus because I have dysphasia. I also have terrible pains such as you describe in the stermum. Some of the indigestion is from GERD. I took Nexium for a while but when I was in the hospital for OC surgery I questioned why I was being given Zantac instead of the Nexium. When I was finally eating I went on Prilosec for a while but the pains were so bad I requested a Rx for Nexium. I went to the Gastroenterologist in November for dilation and told him that sometimes the Nexium was not enough. He told me that I could take Zantc later in the day if the Nexium was not enough because it works differently than Nexium and Prilosec. I also had those terrifying pains before I had my gall bladder removed and still get indigestion from certain foods. Sometimes when I am alone I find releif by belching really hard which relieves the pressure. I "belch" myself like a baby with a thump of my fist to the middle of the back. Any 8 year old boy who heard such a belch would be very jealous!
As to the dryness many here have offered good diet tips. I find that I am better off sipping liquids during the day than drinking large amounts at once which can overwork my bladder and lead to further dehydration.
I am haoping that your visit to the gastroenterologist tomorrow will result in relief for you physically and emoyionally.
Malka

I have had surgery for barretts esophagus and have been put on just about all the anti acid reflux scripts. Some nade it worse for ny condition, such as nexium and prilosec, I ended back taking zanatc and some mylanta. This combo keeps the pain at bay and works very well for me. A new gastrointologist and myself tried many things before going back to what I had been taking. Zantac can be taken along with the mylanta. I wash the zantac down sometime with mylanta and a little water. But like they say, we are all different. good luck

Hi again,
I went for my endoscope on Monday with good results. No evidence of erosion, strictures or anything of the sort. she said she couldnt even tell where i was radiated. she said she found very little acid. I took it upon myself to stop taking the ppi's even though my discharge orders stated to continue. I have had very little heartburn and have taken a zantac or 2 throughout the week. I guess the reason why i am writing again is that my ekg came back abnormal-evidence of left atrial enlargement, for which i see a cardio today. my gp doesnt think i have anything to worry about because there were no significant abnormalities on the ekg. Anyway I still have chest pressure behind sternum, with numbnes in chin, around lips. I also have numbness/tingling in both arms, especially when I lay down. I wake up in the AM with this. a couple hours before my test on monday, i had crushing pain behind sternum which radiated upward, to my throat. it lasted 3-5 minutes. I got a little panicky in that i was sitting in the waiting room for physical therapy. I thought i just was stressed because i double booked myself that day. but as i thought about it, the same episode happened in middle of night a couple of months ago, just not so severe. I thought maybe spasms in esophagus. but coupled with an abnormal ekg, it makes me wonder. I also had chest xray during all this which came back clear. I also see a pulmonary specialist next week. My questions are plentiful. Would a left atrial enlargment cause this pain(I know it is out of most everyones area but I thought I'd ask). provided my stress echo comes back ok(for whatever reason, i dont think that is my problem), what are the chances this is my lungs, that the xray missed something? What about the crushing pain episodes i had? Has anyone ever had esophageal spasms. I know how i must sound. i have appointments set up, just was looking for some input before so i dont drive myself crazy( I am very close!) I just feel like a hamster stuck in his wheel. Any input would be appreciated.

Hi there
the condition you describe will cause what is called mitral valve regurgitation.That means the valve to one of the chambers of your heart isnt closing properly and some of the blood flowing through the chambers can flow backwards. In lesser degrees it is relatively well documented in women over 55(dont know how old you are) and gives rise to few symptoms.You may experience a little light headeness and shortness of breath when lying down,but you shouldn't be getting acute chest pain i dont think.

You mention taking Zantac so i guess you are suffering with reflux or indigestion.Both these conditions can cause severe retosternal pain caused by acid and air getting trapped.There is also the possibility you could have a hiatus hernia which can mimic severe chest pain.I would say if your scans and x-rays of your chest are clear then you dont need to worry about your lungs.

whatever the cause,getting stressed will only make all the symptoms worse,so please try to chill out a bit until you see the doctor.

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.

Brian, we have had the same procedure for reflux. It works well for me and it has been well over 10 yrs since I had the surgery. I think one can eat out of a garbage can and not get reflux after the surgery. I imagine , like me you are supposed to eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3 large ones. I seem to get a lot of gas buildup when eating to let me know when I have had enough. When I want to burp I quit eating.

I should have added that during the surgery, the Dr wrapped 1/3 of my stomache around my esophagus to use as a block to stop the acid from coming back up. I still get scoped evry few months to keep a check on the Barretts.