Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: HorsesHorses on December 14, 2016, 04:25:32 PM
-
Hello all
I've just had a vile couple of days. It all started Monday afternoon with teeth and jaw pain which then built up and developed into full blown agony in my chest area, shoulders, and squidgy bit at the bottom of my neck. If it wasn't for the fact that I've had this before and was also very gassy and burpy (still am) I would have called an ambulance convinced I was having a heart attack. I felt like I couldn't take a big breath in due to the pain and it was worse crouching or bending over. It seems better now and has calmed down loads but I'm still sore and weak as I've hardly eaten. I couldn't go to work yesterday or sleep Monday night due to the pain. I've booked a docs appointment but can't get in till early Jan.
The reason I'm posting today is for advice and support. This is my third episode like this since August and I'm trying to work out what it is and why it keeps happening.
My thoughts are it's my hiatus hernia playing up. I did have a lot of fruit juice, lemonade and half a bottle of wine over the weekend. I wondered if it was possibly gallbladder stuff (Dr Google is to blame for that one) but I haven't been sick so guessing not. Maybe it's just really bad GERD.
Any info from you lovely lot would be much appreciated. I'm worried but not really sick enough to go to a&e but need to stay calm till my appointment.
I turned down HRT in the summer but if this is going to happen frequently due to crazy ass hormones, I may have to reconsider.
Yours burpily
HorsesHorses
:-\
-
I would be tempted to just go and get checked over before your Jan appointment. Even if it's nothing to worry about it will give you peace of mind?
It won't be a waste of anyone's time, having pain like that in your chest area must be horrible and needs to be checked even just to make you less anxious surely...I would get it checked before Christmas and get it out of the way x
-
Heart attacks in women present differently to those that men suffer from. I would see my Practice Nurse for advice if I couldn't get to see my GP. Every time I get reflux with some of the symptoms you describe, I think 'heart attack' but it's always at the same time of night after I've eaten …….. usually between 11.30 p.m. and 3.00 a.m. …….. 2/3 Rennies and sitting up sorts it.
-
Thanks ladies. I knew you'd reply Sparkle as I figured if I was suffering from this then you would be too ;) x. Excellent advice re calling to speak to a nurse CLKD. I tried that and actually managed to get a cancellation for the doctor on Wednesday -yay! So now I only have till then to wait. Both OH and I have decided that if I get another bad bout before then, then I'll go to a&e but I really don't like to go unless I feel it is a proper emergency otherwise I'm just filling up space and making waiting times longer for everyone else. Last time my OH went to a&e (and that was after weeks of agony) there was someone in the queue ahead of us because he had sunburn! What a total *#*#!!!
Anyhoo... the meds I used to be on Sparkle were Lansoprazole but I stopped due to the bloated side effect. Maybe that was a mistake. I'd rather be bloated than in the kind of pain I was in this week. I'm taking gaviscon again to tide me over till I see the doc. What was the result of your H pylori Sparkle?
Ps, I've got bad lower back pain today to add to it all and panicking about possible kidney infection now but maybe that's the wind and gas moving through my system. Have you had lower back pain with acid reflux and gerd and general digestion problems at all peeps?
HH
:) :-\ :-\ :)
-
Lanzso-whatever-it-is can sometimes cause more problems than it solves!
When I am in pain Himself rubs my back from the waist upwards. Moves the wind around ::)
-
It's because I eat too quickly or because I take my meds too close to going to bed :-\
-
I get these symptoms too and doc said its a combination of hiatus hernia, ibs and anxiety, but who wouldn't be anxious with chest pain? If I drink wine I am sure to have chest discomfort and weird aches and pains the next day.
-
Yeh, very annoying alright, if I splash out and have crisps , snacks or even chocolate it's agony with stomach bloating and pain, I also find I yawn a lot which I turn makes more wind which in turn causes more pain, a vicious circle
-
Sure is, and then the menopause on top of everything else, just while I'm here anyone else suffering with their sinuses,
-
I think I read somewhere on this site that hormones can effect your sinus, but mine definitely get worse after alcohol
-
i've just had gastritis for no particular reason that I could pin point except maybe stress. I'm usually on 10mg omeprazole for a hiatus hernia which has been upped to 40mg for 14 days. My symptoms were just like yours - awful, awful chest and rib pain. :(
-
So, I've been to the docs now and she doesn't think it's cardiac related which is good but I'm having an ecg tomorrow just to be sure, and she put me on a month's worth of Lansoprazole and wants to see me after that. So pretty standard and what I expected really. Am really hoping the tabs don't bloat me badly especially as it's Christmas soon. Nevermind, hopefully it'll work and I won't have the vile oesophageal spasms/gerd attacks like last week. She didn't seem interested in talking Menopause and hormones, what a surprise!
:-\
-
I'm on the 30mg a day Sparkle also topping up with Gaviscon. Doc said if I can take this for a month then she might put me on it long term afterwards. She dismissed any menopause and hormone chat and said she wanted to try and treat this first separately and talk about menopause later on. Seems bonkers to me to put it off, mind you, I am the one suffering so it's easier for her to wait tut tut. Good idea re booking a double appointment. I think I'll try that when I go back and try again with the menopause talk. I'm yet to find a GP who knows enough about it to want to discuss it and help! They don't see it as being linked and how I was perfectly fine before all this menopause business started, they just see it as separate issues but obviously after all the tests I've had showing extremely low oestrogen, I'm convinced its all connected and my life suddenly started getting difficult the minute my hormones started playing silly buggers! I did explain how my previous GP offered me hrt but to no avail. Oh well, I'm getting somewhere hopefully albeit slowly!
HH x
-
Hehe, yes, similar here. All I'm hoping for personally is a wind free, pain free discomfort free Christmas. Don't think it's going to happen though. :-\ Last night hubby and I were discussing 'splashing out' on a second bottle of Gaviscon for the bedroom for when I've forgotten to take it and don't want to get out of bed in the cold and go downstairs to the kitchen again lol! Oh dear, simple pleasures.
HH x
-
My guts are definitely getting better , since I've been seeing a nutritionist upper burning almost gone and reduced by 50%. However you do need to be very strict
-
Symptom checker time... (nothing new there!) I'm getting shivers and back ache after eating. Is this normal indigestion/acid reflux/hiatus hernia stuff or something else? Does anyone else get this?
Thanks in advance.
HH x :)
-
Hi Sparkle :)
It's middle to lower back ache which comes and goes (which gave me the idea it might be when my body's digesting food) and I keep getting the chills and shivers, and again I was wondering if it was to do with digestion. I'm a hot flush sufferer generally but I've read about people getting cold chills instead of hot flushes so it could be that I suppose. My upper body pains are still there but less painful at the moment but my tummy goes from feeling icky and unsettled to pains and mild spasms or just nothing. (I do get moments of feeling ok and pain free -it's lovely! But doesn't last for long) Am Persevering with the Lansoprazole. Taking it first thing in the morning and then waiting before eating. Feeling bloated but know that's the Lansoprazole. Really not feeling great at all most of the time. I've got my follow up with the GP mid Jan and am going to make sure she doesn't rush me out. I've managed to eat a bit over Christmas but have avoided alcohol, stuffing, fruit, mince pies, sprouts, chocolate etc... It's been challenging! Oh and I've been trying herbal fennel and twining digest teas too.
How are you doing now? Have your pains eased? It does feel never ending doesn't it? And I long for the days when I could eat anything and not feel sick or uncomfortable. I've been second guessing all holidays and trying to work out what's wrong from bacteria, to an ulcer or just reflux or something worse. Trying to stay calm and not assume the worst but it's not easy when you have some pain or nausea every single day!
HH xx
-
Trouble is HH - if you add too many 'alternatives' to the mix you really won't know what is/not helping!
I had the chills when I took Tamoxifen [a drug that almost killed me :-\], it felt like 'flu within hours of swallowing the first tablet.
-
It also surprises me how far round trapped wind can get :o. I suppose it has to 'go' somewhere B4 it moves down and out. We haven't been to a Panto for years++ - maybe another thread ;)
-
Hello all
I'm really struggling with this acid reflux pain. I've had constant different wind and gas pain for weeks now before Christmas and now after a particularly bad few days I'm finding it painful to eat. The pain comes as I feel the food move down my oesophagus. (Even soft food) I'm on Lansoprazole and Gaviscon and have got a doctor appointment on Monday. I've read up about inflamed oesophagus stuff and am now worried all the acid reflux has damaged it. The rational side of me is telling myself it's temporary soreness which will ease and fade in time. The anxious side of me has already accepted I'm gonna need surgery to fix this! I will be telling my doc about this pain on Monday obviously but in the meantime has anyone experienced this sort of pain as the food goes down and can reassure me it could just be short lived and get better?
HH :(
-
Guess who!! That's what I had last year HH, it has got better, about the only thing that has! I fully expected my endoscopy to show an inflamed oesophagus but it said it was ok, it was the stomach that was inflamed instead. I'm seeing gp Monday too, the increase in meds has sort of helped the gastritis pain but I've got the worst taste at the back of my throat and nose, mucus is horrible so I'm wondering if it's bile in my case as I've read ppi's can make bile reflux worse! Can't bloody win!! Feel nauseous too so eating us tricky so weight is dropping off adding to the worry. Feeling generally crap if I'm honest!
Sorry that's not much help but I do I know how you feel!!
S x
Really sorry that you are having a bad patch Sparkle. :( I had some irritation in my stomach this morning but it was probably to do with eating a full meal after having had no appetite for 2-3 days. In just that short period I lost 3-4 pounds in weight. Quite useful as i want to lose a little weight. one of my reasons against trying PPI's was to read that they can worsen reflux.
-
Thanks Katejo, I agree about PPI's but I'm between a rock and a hard place as my GP was insistent I had to get rid of the gastritis because of the implications of not. I'm still waiting to hear the results of the h pylori biopsy, hopefully she might have an answer on Monday.
S x
Yes you mentioned the need for PPI's before. I half expected the hospital or my GP to try and push them on me but they didn't. I didn't have any H pylori fortunately.
-
Sparkle, my sista from another mista ;), I know exactly what you mean re the H pylori and I'm the same. You want them to find something wrong but easy to fix so that it finally gets sorted and goes away. I've checked everything I'm doing and eating to see if I'm making my symptoms worse and I'm not and it's so frustrating because there's nothing else I can do to get better. I don't smoke, drink alcohol, eat or drink any of the stuff I shouldn't, or when I shouldnt. I don't take many nsaids tabs, I walk lots and I'm not overweight (mildly chubby let's say :)) and those are all the things that can aggravate what I'm going through. I'm reliant on the GPs sorting it out for me and it's time consuming and frustrating to say the least. However, I am going to stand firm on Monday at my appointment and push towards an endoscopy so we can actually find out what's wrong and hopefully treat it accordingly instead of wasting months just guessing. I'm suspecting some sort of bacteria or inflamed stomach or food pipe etc. Really just want my digestive system to calm down and stop causing me pain. That yucky lump thing in my throat is back again too along with the urge to throat clear 24/7. >:(. An out of sorts digestive system can really make us feel quite ill and 'meh' can't it?!
I hope you get some answers and help on Monday too. It was reassuring for me hearing you've had the pain in your oesophagus as you eat too but I'm glad it's eased. It is worrying when it happens. Hard not to think the worst and actually very unpleasant.
HH x
-
How did you get on at the docs Sparkle?
I've been given a double dose of Lansoprazole now, a blood test request to check my blood count in case there's too much erosion in my oesophagus and some bleeding (I don't think there will be) and a referral for an endoscopy. So, I'm getting somewhere! Hopefully, the camera will show nothing bad or something treatable. GP thinks it may be my hernia has got bigger as she said this last month's worth of a Lansoprazole should have sorted it for me but I've explained my symptoms aren't easing and at times are really awful! She wasn't concerned about the throat clearing but just asked me to monitor it!?!? Not keen on double dose of Lansoprazole but she says just try for two weeks and see if it makes a difference. I remember you being in a similar position. Did you manage to up it to what your doc wanted? It makes me ever so bloated. I also can't seem to even take one sip of water without producing a ridiculous amount of burping. Not sure if that's my stomach acid and gas or the medication.
Interested in hearing your latest update. :) :)
HH x
-
Hi, sorry for slow reply Sparkle. Been mad here!
My gp said to take Gaviscon as much as needed too. I pretty much live on it and I'm still not used to the taste of it...vile stuff!
I'm not getting on well with the double dose of Lansoprazole. Half the time, i forget to take it and it's difficult to plan it around food. The morning one is ok as i just take it the minute i wake up. And also, the extra wind and bloating is not pleasant. I'm already suffering from so much gas and burping i really dont want to make it worse. :(
Spoke to the appointment line and have got at least a 6 week wait on the endoscopy. Couldn't even book in and was told to call back in 3 weeks! I've put it on the calendar so i dont forget! And laughingly so, i received a reminder letter the other day telling me i havent booked it yet and to call up haha! Stupid system!!!
Any news on your H Pylori?
My throat 'gunk' is there a lot and it's really annoying me. >:(
Oh and Ive found the first difference between us Sparkle...our weight! I am a couple (or 3) stone heavier than 7 and a half hehe! I'm going to put it down to my height and assume you're much shorter than me. ;) ;) But in fact I have lost a bit over the last few months with all this not being able to eat certain things and eating smaller meals.
Hope you're feeling better.
Oh and I too would have panicked with the whole aorta/nodule thing. Glad to hear that was explained straight away. :)
HH xx
-
Bad news today...well in my opinion at least. Received a letter in the post for an outpatient consultation with a Gastro doc rather than going straight for an endoscopy appointment like I've been waiting for. The secretary says my referral was vetted and they want to do that first. Cost cutting /avoiding unnecessary spending I guess. But after talking to him (which is at the end of March I must add) I might not even get the camera appointment in the end if he says it isn't needed. I appreciate that he's the specialist but after my gp thought I should have one and after persevering with the Lansoprazole all this time and coping with daily pain and discomfort, I'm annoyed that I might not get it looked at properly. >:( :( :'(
I'm on two lots of 30mg so I think I'd burst if I took both at the same time haha! I think I need to try and squeeze it in sometime in the pm before dinner.
Sparkle...5ft 4 is only 2 inches shorter than me. There goes my argument then! ;D.
HH
-
Hi Horses. Just wondering from your name if you have horses (?) and if you ride(?) and if you wear a sports bra when you do (?) I always used to wear one when I rode and it played havoc with my reflux/HH. It took me a while to realise what it was, and I'd had a couple of visits to GP thinking it was my heart ( long family history of cardiac problems). So, now on Lansoprazole and Gaviscon and mid way through elimination diet to try to find the triggers ( so far: white wine, coffee, bread, some cooking oil, garlic). Xx
-
Sparkle. I am trying to do it by myself. It is taking months, but I think I'm finally winning.
I am omitting dairy, coffee, white sugar and bread. I am managing on one Lanzoprazole every two days and my eczema is also much better. Hope this helps.x
-
Hi ladies, may I join you?? :) Sparkle and I are old friends ;D and I have been having very similar digestive problems for some months past now. The worst thing at the moment is the yucky throat - feels constantly clogged up and I am woken at night feeling like I have swallowed a spider and am trying to cough it up! :o
I suspect that a change of diet might help but can't work out what is setting it all off - I think wheat may be a culprit and possibly dairy in any quantities. If I find out I can't drink wine I think I'll go into a decline though!
I'm very interested to know how your elimination diets go or what a dietician says, Sparkle - I could do with losing some weight so wouldn't mind having to cut (some) things out.
Puffin x
-
Hi ladies, may I also join you? I have read your posts with great interest and empathy. I have previously posted in a couple of other streams on this informative and helpful site. My story in brief (fingers crossed) is I decided to try and reduce my hrt, for reasons I don't remember now, and weaned from elleste duet conti to kliovance. When I started on kliovance full time I began suffering with headaches, tinnitus, shooting pains, nasal pain etc. and what I can only describe as a burning feeling around my left ear when I ate or drank hot stuff, drank alcohol etc. GP gave me antibiotics. This was after putting up with it for a couple of months. After a few weeks, went back thinking it may be a side effect of the hrt. Was given lonsoprasole to take 30mg in the morning for a week, then as and when. Tried that, tried to stop.....no way! I have carried on. I said I wanted to stop HRT so went on alternate days to see if it was a side effect. Went back again 10 days ago. Given Beconase nasal spray to try and shrink tubes, and referral to ENT. Slight improvement. Tried to stop lonsoprasole yesterday, as am suffering from trapped wind (not funny) and struggling with the loo, and as I'm currently waiting for a prolapse repair op date it's really not good. I experienced terrible griping pain in shoulder blade and under left ribs. I have a menopause clinic appointment on Monday, and hoping against hope it may hold the answers. I stopped my HRT 3 weeks ago, thinking I would start again from scratch on Monday. During my search for answers, I have read that a lack of oestrogen can cause a lot of these problems, and as I had a LAVH and BSO just over a year ago and I presume no hormones, I am desperate for something to come out of a new HRT regime. I have also read that the lack of oestrogen can affect your body's absorption of fluids? Do any of you ladies have any opinion or experience with any of this please? Thanking you in advance, and here's hoping to one day get our lives back eh? :) xx
-
Hi Sparkle! *waves*
I can't take any of the 'prazole' family as they make me feel really weird and spaced out! Not sure my GP believed me when I reported the side effects but they were definitely there and most unpleasant >:( The only things that sometimes help are Gaviscon tablets - although I loathe the taste of them - and I have also discovered a herbal remedy called Digestisan (it's one of the Vogel herbal products), that does seem to help with the general feelings of 'windygestion' ;D. You do need to take it at least twice a day for it to be effective over time though and I often forget, only to get to work and wonder why I feel so uncomfortable!
I do need to streamline my diet, I think, but this is a very stressful period at work so this morning so far, I have consumed a muffin with Marmite and a Crème Egg ???
Doolou, I'm not sure about absorption of fluids but I do feel quite dried out sometimes and I get a lot of joint aches, so maybe those are a symptom?
Puffin x
-
Hi Sparkle and Puffin Mama, and thank you for your comments. Although it's sad, it's good to converse with you both having similar experiences and know you understand, sadly unlike a lot of our GP's. I am really putting all my faith in the menopause clinic. Do they give miracles on prescription? :D The annoying thing is I was given Lansaprosole for what my GP thinks is silent reflux? For the burning head? Is there any way to stop taking it without the awful griping pains? Looks like I'll be back to see her too next week, subject to my miracle cure on Monday. Thank you again, and wish you both a fabulous weekend x
-
Thank you Sparkle. I may try to reduce to one a day in the morning to start with. Your response is much appreciated. X
-
Hello and welcome everyone. The more the merrier! :)
I too feel a bit stuck at times with the Lansoprazole giving me similar pains and symptoms to what im trying to get rid of and why I went on them in the first place!
Just like Sparkle, my hormones and stress/anxiety levels really do mess with my digestion and Puffin Mama I too feel a bit 'weird' and spaced out when im on the double dose of Lansoprazole.
KazziCas, yes I do ride, and that is the reason for my name. :) Really interesting point and I do wear a sports type bra when I ride but actually every other time as well as I had to give up on normal bras a few years back when all this meno business began as I couldn't stand the discomfort around the strap bit and I find these much more comfortable, if a little ugly! I found it was the standard type underwired bras that weren't helping my pain and discomfort but maybe it's just any bra full stop. Im not a big booby type of girl but I dont think I could go totally bra free unfortunately haha.
Did you get your H Pylori result yet Sparkle?
My gp called me to see how im doing (no change at mo for me. Good days, bad days) and she insisted I stay on double 30 mg Lansoprazole and regular
Gaviscon.
::) :)
HH
xx
-
Hi all
Ive had my appointment with the gastro specialist now. (Was meant to be end March but got a cancellation). He wants to do an ultrasound to check my gallbladder. Got that next week, on my birthday!!! :( and it's a fasting one too so can't eat before :'( ha! Never mind.
He thinks what I had was oesophagal spasms like you Sparkle and said it's so painful (yep) and does feel like a heart attack (yep yep) but is probably being managed now by the lansoprazole. He says I probs wont have an endoscopy as that's, in his opinion, more a tool to look for cancers and lumps etc. He wasn't really bothered about my hiatus hernia. I won't know more till Ive seen him for a follow up afterwards.
Any news from you?
HH xx
-
Ooh good intel on the g/b wall Sparkle. Thanks for that, will do. :)
Cant believe how long your h pylori result is taking!! My throat clearing is just like yours. Such a pain. Hubby lost his voice the other day after a week long exhibition with work and as it's coming back he's having to clear and cough and he actually uttered the sentence ... "You know that annoying thing when you just can't clear the stuff out of your throat?" I just looked at him and he immediately realised what he'd said hahaha. Dufus!
I'm trying to be positive too. Easier said than done. ::) Get knocked down all the time with those pesky little waves of anxiety but working on it. I am...promise!!! ;) :D Good days, bad days!
HH xx
-
Hi all
Just a little update...
Have seen doc now and he did a scan on g/b, stomach, etc and didn't find anything worrying so that's good. Have been told that all the acid reflux and gerd is defo down to the relaxing of muscles and sphincter caused by hormones playing up in meno. He didnt want to do an endoscopy as he said that was more for looking for cancer and he didn't think it would be that. Advice was to stay on Lansoprazole once a day indefinitely as very safe and could help stave off the episodic attacks of heartburn and oesophageal spasms etc.
No other news really. Am still the same. Have good days, bad days and never really sure whether I've caused it with food or drink or whether it's out of my control and happening regardless thanks to hormones buggering about.
So that's it really.
How's everyone else doing with their acid reflux?
Sparkle, have you got your H Pylori result yet?
Not been on here for a while so sorry if a bit behind the news.
HH x