Stomach burning. 7months post covid. So freaking confused.

[Jstorm87]

This is 7 months in the making.
January caught something viral.
Minor fatigue. Body temp spikes and dips.
Heart racing. Anxiety. Sleep all over the place.
My throat/esophagus tightened up and I still get food stuck in my throat (achalasia?)
Had a CT of chest/abs
Bloodwork x3
Urinalysis
Throatscope by ENT
Breath Test for HPylori (neg)
Ironically weight has been consistent.
Stools too outside of changing PPis
No nausea
Had a lot of tests except an endoscopy.
Will be scheduling one this week with my Gi.

I had like coat hangar pain in my back that moved around. Center to the sides. Varied.
Thought it had to be my Gallbladder but since the PPI did offer relief initially it didnt make sense. No RUQ pain.
Sternum/chest pain. During this time I did 8 weeks of a PPI Pantropazole 40mg. It helped mentally. Had a month and half feeling good. Then I flared after a really stressful week before a wedding giving my first speech
Went back on the PPI for two weeks and felt okay.
During the worst of it I’d have to wake up and eat something. Gastritis? Or a side effect of the PPi.

Then one night I was eating watermelon earlier in the day and forgot about it. Went to spit and freaked myself out that blood was in my mucus. I again flared hard and now I have like stomach burning/pain that moves around. This symptom has only been two weeks.
I have gone to a bland diet. But the feeling stress of the diet makes things worse it feels like.
I tried Pepcid, Nexium, and back on Pantropazole in the span of three weeks. But it gave me insomnia and depression real bad. Plus its own set of stomach sensations.
I’m sure I’m missing stuff. My anxiety and stress around all this does not help and do my best to stay distracted.
Did anyone deal with burning along the way?
Would love some wisdom from some long haulers.

My theory is that I stressed myself into actual gastric inflammation/gastritis.
Cuz there would be no reason to have the burning show up all these months later.

My whole life has been TMS and everytime something big happens you just wonder. Which is the problem I know. Just have never dealt with anything like this. Complicated.
I feel like I’m in too deep sometimes to get out of it. After months of obsessing.

 

[Rabscuttle]

I dealt with the GI stuff, chronic gastritis diagnoses via biopsy, ibs, likely sibo, I’m actually deal with this GI stuff now, which is partially stress and partially me being naive and thinking that since all my other symptoms are pretty much gone or going and I hadn’t had a GI flare in a few months I could eat whatever I wanted. Nope lol. I definitely still have some food sensitivities, are my sensitivities 100% TMS, I can’t really say for sure, GI stuff can be wonky, I’d get flares and not realize that a new nasal spray or tooth paste I was using had a sugar alcohol in it (big trigger for me) and once I stopped using it the flare went away. That said my GI issues 100% started from a stress response and being in fight or flight from chronic pain from a vasectomy. I also had a bunch of GI issues as a kid.

You sound all over the place in your faith of the TMS diagnosis. Reaching for different meds in response to the symptoms, different diagnostics, etc. I get it, GI stuff is scary because it’s more internal and organ related, but the obsession and panic as you mention is absolutely killing you. Even if it’s a true physical issue like gastritis, or ulcers, do you think you’re giving your body a chance to normalize by stressing out and obsessing? Or should you start treating yourself better. I’ve gotten over pretty much the bulk of my symptoms, I can say for certain it is necessary to have enough believe in the TMS diagnosis that you can definitely tell yourself that you’re accepting this symptom or flare as non emergent and something that is not fixable by obsession or physical treatment.

I think you’re wise to go for the endoscopy, because the closure can be good for you. But you need to sit down with yourself and really decide whether once that is negative are you will to buy in and let go of the hunt for the ever elusive answer?

What are you doing to destress, what TMS work are you doing? How are you treating yourself better? It’s not about distracting. Distracting is a band aid. It’s conscious decision to change your response to symptoms and thoughts. Absolutely engage in hobbies and things that bring that joy, but acknowledge they aren’t distractions, you deserve to feel joy and have fun in your life.