Horrible heartburn for the past few weeks. Generally I always have a little heartburn at all times, but recently I get these really intense waves where it feels like I'm being stabbed in the stomach by a soldering iron and I get clammy and sweaty like I'm having a heart attack or something. Waking up in the middle of the night from the pain just to sit up in the dark until it subsides.
I'd say that qualifies as a good enough reason to go to the doctor.
Not an option my man. Not an option.
Why
No medical insurance, and I don't really feel like paying $400 for a doc to look at my file for 20 seconds and tell me to come back later.
Well that sucks. I knew a guy who had insane heartburn since he was 14. Smoked weed hard to cover up the pain,'for a dozen years. Turns out his stomach acid destroyed his flappy thing. They ended up trying his stomach up to create some new system so acid wouldn't splash up. Worked real good.
FYI... I have had that surgery, about 10 years ago now. Worked terrific for me. It is called Nissen Fundoplication surgery.
My first gastro doctor just kept prescribing me heartburn medicine... more and more. I went for a second opinion and he told me he knew what was wrong and with one test he could show me. He did a swallowing test and showed me that my valve between my esophagus and my stomach does not work properly to hold the acid down. He said, "Nissen surgery or esophageal cancer, your pick."
I am really not trying to scare you. I am just strongly recommending you get it checked out. Over time, I got to the point with my heartburn that about a third of the time after I ate, my heartburn would be so bad that I would throw the food back up. It doesn't sound like you are at that point. There are many heartburn medicines out there, you may just need to find the right one. They all work differently. Medicine was just not an option for me.
