I feel like shit - worse than I've ever felt in my life.
I have developed severe acid reflux. I know what you're thinking - a little indigestion, heartburn, burping? Nope.
My reflux presents as an almost-constant tightness in my chest and throat (think heart attack without the pain in my case). I can swallow fine and my only breathing difficulty is that the meds are causing a huge amount of air in my stomach so it's hard to get a good deep breath, but it is BEYOND disconcerting to live with this 24-hours-a-day.
My heart is fine, thankfully, but it looks like I probably have a hiatal hernia which is causing the reflux. (That would also contribute to me having to sometimes strain to get a good deep breath.) I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist on Monday to get to the bottom of things and devise a plan of action.
I've been on reflux meds for a week but unfortunately they often take 4-8 weeks to work so I haven't seen much improvement. All I HAVE seen are the side effects of the medication which include nausea, stomach pain, and unbelievable anxiety.
Put simply, I have never been more unhappy or more miserable.
I have a mortal fear of surgery but at this point, it the doctor thinks I need surgery to resolve this, bring it on! This is an awful way to live.
On the IF-front, AF showed up right on time after my most recent round of prometrium but I didn't even make a CD2 appointment for an ultrasound. There is no way I want to pursue IF treatments with this going on.
As I told some friends via e-mail earlier today, I tend to go MIA when I don't feel good or am scared about something, so don't be surprised if I'm not around much. I'll be back soon, though, hopefully with good news.
Till then . . .
