Esophagitis symptoms and conditions

I am 39 years old and have been on Omeprazole for 6 years. I have had the worst year ever. I was always a healthy and fit guy until 2008. I had chronic headaches and extreme fogginess which led to me having an MRI and seeing a chiro(all negative). I had chronic chest pain which led to EKG's, stress tests, ER visits, and tons of blood work ranging from cardiac, glucose, liver, renal, thyroid, etc...(all negative). Did gastroscopy and found esophagitis and gastritis. Upped the dosage of Omeprazole. Then I started getting tremors, muscle cramping, muscle pain, fatigue, blotchy red skin, and continued fogginess and lightheaded.

Did I mention i still have constant heartburn despite all the Omeprazole. I have done everything...tilt up head of bed, bland diet, no coffee or alcohol, no eating late evening etc....

Doctor put me on Fluoxetine (Prozac) for all my stress and anxiety from these crazy symptoms. After seeing this site and reading all your testimonies I am now thinking it is from the Omeprazole!!! Scary thought to stop since my chest pain and heartburn can be pretty severe and constant. What do I do? Feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place here.

This is my second round with Doxycycline for a Staph infection (probably MRSA - the culture isn't back yet); the first round was unpleasant, especially in terms of feelings of heat in my head, wooziness, and rather severe stomach upset and esophagitis due to reflux. I am a Chinese herbalist, and tried going that route with the first bout of the infection (which fortunately is at the skin level), but didn't get much relief so went the route of the 'big guns.' The infection cleared up, more or less, but three weeks later I began to get another new lesion. Grr. Back to Doxy. This second time I've been more proactive, however: Ginger is used in a lot of chinese formulas to help with digestive upset, so I've been taking a couple of pieces of candied ginger as soon as the stomach upset gets going, and hey it works! By the way, I am taking capsules, and I find that lying down on my LEFT side actually helps prevent the reflux pain - the exit of the stomach is on the left side, and since capsules float, lying on my left side keeps the med closer to the exit than the entrance... or so it seems. Whew - I'm glad this stuff is out there, but I'd really like to be done with it - forever....

I took Doxycyline Hyclate for one week. After the fifith day, I woke up feeling like a golf ball was stuck in my throat. It progressively got worse over the next few days. When I swallowed, I had this sharp pain in my upper back. It got to the point where I could hardly stand the pain. I went to the doctor and they put a scope down my throat after a battery of other tests. The doc said I had signifigant changes in my esophagus due to the severe reflux that was caused from taking the Doxycycline. I am now on meds to help with the esophagitis I now have.

I had been on Yasmin for 1 yr/1.5 yrs. I just stopped taking it about 3 weeks ago due to horrible side effects. In the first 3 months I had the dizziness, mental confusion, vertigo,etc. I told my OB and she just said to take it at a different time of day. I did and seemed to be ok.

However, then the next set of side effects came into play! The horrible GI problems! I'm talking about the severe nausea (like motion sickness that just doesn't go away no matter what you eat or how many antacids you take), bloating, horrible abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and the smell of food makes you sick. I went to a GI specialist and had the whole series done, barium upper GI series, ultrasound, HIDA scan (my gallbladder was only functioning at 24%!), and a gastric endoscopy. They diagnosed me with esophagitis and gastritis due to the lesions/ulcers in my throat and stomach. I've been on Nexium for over 2 months and was still having problems. My GI specialist was great and told me that she was not convinced that it was my gallbladder causing all of the problems. I could tell that she was racking her brain trying to figure this all out!! Nothing was making sense.

That's when I started doing my own research. This is the only medication that I take! I thankfully came across this site and saw the responses of other women who had my symptoms and worse. I stopped Yasmin the next day and switched back to Loestrin. I had switched to Yasmin due to insurance and the recommendation of my OB.

I have been getting better every day but have to get Vit B12 shots once a month and now have too much potassium in my system (hyperkalemia). I drink a ton of water each day especially when it is "a bad day" and I'm on a low potassium diet. Each day I get stronger and am able to exercise (not just get through the day!) and feel more like myself, young 34, active, sexy and happy to be alive! My heart goes out to all of you and hope that you are all getting better and getting the help that you need to get better.
Well wishes to all!
B