starting to freak out - is it indigestion?

[danj]

Hey All,

It's been a couple of months since my last major HA scare.

Yesterday I woke up feeling a little sick, I had a small sick burp. Since then I've been feeling sick a lot, I feel like there is food stuck in my esophagus all the time. It's especially bad after eating. It's mainly uncomfortable I don't get the painful heartburn symptoms.

Because of the symptoms, I'm scared to eat so just been on soup for most of the past two days.

Anyway, as it has been two days of this, I'm starting to freak out. Is this normal? I've never had this before. Should I go to the doctor?

As is usually the case for me when I have a health anxiety, I imagine it to be cancer or something else sinister.

Advice anyone?

Thanks,

Dan

[danj]

I forgot to mention that I am burping a lot as well.

[yorkylover]

Anxiety causes many different problems and symptoms in different people.You may have been feeling sick because of anxiety and now worrying about the symptoms your making yourself feel even worse.

You could see your gp may put your mind at ease.

I would just eat something light for a few days,I have similar symptoms when Im anxious,and reach alot.I dont think its anything serious,if you look through the forum you will find alot of us with the same problem.:hugs:

[mick_uk]

Hi Dan,
I would make an appointment with the doc. It can't hurt getting it checked out. I'ts probably a little bug/virus or might be something you've eaten just irritated your digestive system. The anxiety is probably making it worse. Go see your doc, they will sort it out easily enough.

all the best

mick

[Jan63]

I had the same symptoms last September before I realised that I suffered anxiety. I think I was anxious about my daughter starting a new school and in early September I got this lump in my throat and I convinced myself it was throat cancer.:weep: I also had awful feelings in my chest and back - like pains and a blocked sort of heavy feeling. I had blood tests done which all came back okay except for one and the doctor said that he thought it was acid reflux so prescribed omeprazole capsules which I had to take one a day. One of the blood tests was for Helicobactor and that came back positive so he gave me two types of antibiotics to wipe it out and I have been so much better since - the lump went after a few weeks and I feel totally fine now - I only take the omeprazole every few days or so.:yesyes: I also used to keep burping a lot too but I'm sure it was all down to anxiety in the end.:)

[danj]

Thanks everyone for replying.

I am trying not to let me fears spiral into panic.

Will see how I feel over the next couple of days before going to the doctor...

[jack00]

Hi Dan,

I'm not sure if you're describing the sensation of globus, which you'll find lots of mentions of on here. It's completely harmless and can be caused by anxiety, reflux or both. (I get both!) It was also my first ever health anxiety symptom and it really knocked me out for a couple of months until I understood how common and harmless it is.

I also went through a spell of really frequent burping last year for a couple of months, which really worried me, and which was made worse at times by the type of sick burp you mention. I mentioned it to the doctor but she wasn't worried. And I've suddenly realised that it disappeared completely without me noticing, which is great.

Have you read a good book about health anxiety? I really recommend doing so -- I'm not symptom-free yet and at the moment my bowels worry me most, but understanding how health anxiety works and how you can manage it has been really helpful. The one I've read is "It's not all in your head" -- very good.

I hope you don't mind me suggesting, but eating a full meal will really help. When I'm anxious it's the last thing I want to do, but it's a good way to break the cycle.

Hope this helps, let us know how you get on.

Jack

[jack00]

Sorry, should have said the other thing that really helped me was to find a GP who takes my anxiety seriously -- actually there are two in my practice who have really helped.

As we all know, stomach and digestive problems are far more likely to be caused by anxiety than anything more sinister, and it is great to be able to discuss that with the doctor while also knowing that they take the threat of cancer seriously.

[danj]

Jack,

Thanks for that.

I'm not sure it is globus.

The main symptoms are not at the back of my mouth/throat. they are further down, behind my chest in my esophogas. The feeling is that the food is stuck there, sometimes it feels a bit acidy. It's mainly discomfort rather than pain. That doesn't sound like the descriptions of Globus that I have heard, what do you think?

[jack00]

That does sound familiar although I'm not a medical expert. Reflux for example has lots of symptoms like that which are worrisome but harmless. It's a very common condition.

But maybe it would be a good idea for you to pop into the GP -- not because I think it's anything serious (I really don't) but because they'll be the best person to reassure you and give you treatment.

[justdontknow]

I was told that my similar symptoms were due to drinking far too much alcohol - in particular neat spirits. They called it 'self medication'. Cutting down did help.

[danj]

Thanks, I drink very little alcohol.

Dan

[danj]

Hi All,

My latest symptom is that this morning I woke up with what feels like water/food sitting in my upper stomach(?) am not good at the physiology but it is just below my ribs and above where I usually get stomach sensations. I then felt that area rumble a lot then got up and burped a lot.

Managed to drag myself into work but finding it hard to focus on anything else. Too scared to eat. I've been taking antacids and pre/pro biotics.

Any advice?

[paulskin]

this is my main case just lately which has caused me to realise and accept my anxiety more,i suffer with hisory of indigestion problems(could of been anxiety in the past but i wasnt aware) having really bad episodes lately,with chest pain,then i get a pain and tingling in left arm and "im having a heart attack" so i went to my new gp who i hadnt seen before an mentione both problems,he didnt seem to take much to the anxiety and told me to see a free counsiler. he gave me stronger medication for the acid indigestion but i still get it along with my fears of health problems.

[danj]

I have been seeing a therapist for 9 years, I think I would be a lot worse if I didn't have that!