Long-term heartburn and silent reflux..terrified I have esophageal cancer

[Ronan23]

I'm convinced I have esophageal cancer. I'm 27 and I've been suffering from chronic heartburn for about 4 years; I'm prescribed PPIs but I only take them when my heartburn becomes really irritating. In a given month, I might take my PPI med for 5-10 days.

In October 2016, I had a really weird symptom where I found it difficult to swallow food for 5 days. Anything I ate kept getting stuck in my throat, but it went away after taking PPIs.

Ever since then, I have had silent reflux in addition to my GERD symptoms. With the silent reflux, I sometimes regurgitate very small bits of food, which smell really bad. I have a constant bad/sour taste in my mouth. I get globus sensations too.

Lately, I've felt nauseous a lot, and I'm getting pains in middle abdomen. No weight loss and no real trouble swallowing or pain when swallowing. I've never had any imaging tests for my esophagus, and I'm convinced that the combination of GERD and silent reflux indicates cancer, as does the recent onset of nausea. Furthermore, it feels to me like the incident when I couldn't swallow properly was the first sign of the tumor becoming larger. Currently on waiting list for endoscopy but I could be waiting another 8 weeks.

Not looking for a medical diagnosis here; just some advice. Does this sound like esophageal cancer? Thanks for any input.

[Fishmanpa]

I'm 27 and I've been suffering from chronic heartburn for about 4 years; I'm prescribed PPIs but I only take them when my heartburn becomes really irritating. In a given month, I might take my PPI med for 5-10 days.

That's the problem right there! Starting and stopping causes a rebound effect where your stomach will produce more acid. You're supposed to take them regularly for them to be effective! You're really messing with your stomach doing what you're doing! Doubt me?... ask your doctor

Positive thoughts

[AMomentofClarity]

To echo Fishman, PPIs aren’t like tums or Zantac. They take a while to work effectively then they need to be tapered off slowly. You’re doing much more harm than good using them as an on demand treatment.

[WiseMonkey]

That's the problem right there! Starting and stopping causes a rebound effect where your stomach will produce more acid. You're supposed to take them regularly for them to be effective! You're really messing with your stomach doing what you're doing! Doubt me?... ask your doctor

Positive thoughts

I agree with FMP and AMoC

The fact that the 'food stuck in the throat feeling' goes away when taking PPI's proves that you haven't got OC/EC. You may have oesophagitis (which is benign inflammation) and can take quite a while to heal, sometimes months, so you need to keep on taking them.

Why are you stopping and starting the meds?