GERD Questions???

[pauly j]

At my last visit to the ER from a panic attack 3 months ago, the doctor, before discharging me, said that I had GERD!  He wrote me a prescription and I never filled it!  I have some questions about GERD!  How are you diagnosed with GERD?(doctor didn't even perform any tests, just blood test and hooked up to heart monitor)How does he know I have GERD?  Is this a serious condition?  I don't have any issues with my stomach, never have (I have an iron stomach!  Does this need treatment, and does it go away!  I do have some burping sensations, but not frequent or out of the ordinary!  What are the main symptoms of GERD?  I also heard GERD is somehow related to anxiety, how is this so?  Does GERD cause anxiety symptoms?  Should I get a second opinion from my Pdoc?   Thanks!

pauly j

[janaboo]

Those are great questions.  My understanding of GERD is that the only way to know for certain is an endoscope (camera in the esophagus).  I too was diagnosed with GERD by the ER doc after checking my heart and doing blood tests (and of course hearing my reason for being there).  I scheduled and appt with a gastro doctor to get to the bottom of what has been going on with my stomach.  I don't have the "typical" GERD symptoms I read about either.  At least not the one I would think is the main symptom (reflux). 

[pauly j]

hi janaboo,

Thanks for the reply!  Maybe I should make an appointment to get an endoscope done!  I don't want to ignore the issue if I do indeed have GERD.  What would make the ER doctor say, to both you and I, that we have GERD when there was just a blood test done?  Hmmmm???

pauly j

[janaboo]

This is merely a guess, but unless you seem to have something life threatening or seem to be in extreme distress and pain,  they (ER doctors) may take the less expensive route and of course go with what they recognize to be the probable cause.  Then you sign the paperwork to leave and it stresses to follow up with your GP especially if the problem does not resolve itself.

While trying not to google to the point of obsessing about every deadly disease I might have: (rather than GERD), I DID manage to learn more about it online and there are many cases of people not having the reflux or at least not having the bitter taste, the sore throat etc...  SO it is possible for either of us to have it and not even recognize that some of the symptoms we feel, that we thought were something else, are actually GERD. 

[pauly j]

Makes sense to me now!

Thanks janaboo!


pauly j