GERD/LPR & Cannabis Need Advice

[TokinChick]

Hi everyone,

About a month ago I felt a "stuck lump" sensation right above my collarbones in my throat/esophagus area. One doctor said anxiety and my ENT said reflux related.

I did some research and it sounds a lot like LPR which is silent reflux. At first I was terrified I had cancer but no one else seems to think so, also sometimes it seems better than other times and cancer doesn't come and go also I am 30 yr old female and my ENT says he really doesn't think it's cancer.

I figure it's probably some sort of injury or reflux from 15 years of drinking alcohol, smoking (yes I started young and partied hard for all those years), spicy foods, etc. I no longer drink or smoke but apparently some damage has been done I hope it can be healed.

I am taking Prevacid (Day 12) and Prozac and Xanax for my severe health-related anxiety. So far, not much relief.

I noticed that vaporizing (my method of choice I don't smoke) seems to make it worse. So I have given it up to try and let this thing whatever it is heal. I miss it but I want to get better!

I want diagnostic tests I want to know exactly what I am dealing with but I am uninsured and under limited financial assistance and the docs just throw meds at me and say reflux and anxiety.

Has anyone ever dealt with this before? Will I have to give up cannabis forever? I am really suffering with this whatever it is.

Thank You,
Angela

[TokinChick]

Oh, yeah, I've seen this disclaimer floating around the boards and wanted to add it to my post also:

Any posts containing illegal or illicit drugs or activities are for entertainment purposes only!

Although I really, really do want some help and advice regarding this reflux lump thing. Has anyone ever had this problem and did certain things help or hurt? Were you able to toke?

[birdgirl73]

Hey, TokinChick. Try and chill, OK? You're obsessing. Seriously, sweetie, you are. And that's making the reflux worse, which is making the anxiety worse, which is making the reflux/lump-in-the-throat feeling worse, which is . . . . Well, you get the picture. Anything you do right now is going to make your symptoms worse because that's the way anxiety works and because you're locked in that obsessive-compulsive mind loop of worrying about everything you take, eat, drink, smoke or vape and how it relates to your symptoms.

I'm very glad you've seen a doctor. You are only 30. Trust me, if they thought you had the remotest chance of having a deadly cancer, they'd have sent you for an upper GI/esophageal endoscopy and looked into it. Esophageal cancer takes a long time to develop and is not commonly seen in people as young as you are. I'd post a link or two here about the condition, but I fear more details about symptoms would fuel your anxiety rather than relieve it.

No one can tell you with any surety how or when or why to add or not add cannabis back into your daily regimen. You've gotta go with what makes you feel better, babe, and if not smoking and not vaping helps you feel better, then that's pretty simple, right? I know you miss it, but I'm increasingly beginning to think, after your worries about medical conditions you've shared with us here, that cannabis may be contributing to your anxiety, as it does for a number of people.

Hope you can start to ease up on yourself and step out of this current anxious mind loop. I worry about you and want you to feel happy, healthy, whole and calm. I know you do, too. Much love to you, hun. Keep us updated on how you're doing.

P.S. About that disclaimer! It's getting to be quite the fashion around here to put that up on threads. It's probably worth mentioning to everyone who sees it as a magic talisman of protection that from a legal standpoint, a disclaimer is worth its weight in cyberspace. Meaning it's absolutely meaningless. Just because someone says something is for entertainment purposes or meant to be fictional doesn't mean that, in a court of law, that would be taken seriously. If there were actual proof to the contrary, that'd be what'd be brought into a prosecutorial action. Just an FYI that everyone can save themselves the effort of those keystrokes!

[Coelho]

If you stopped using cannabis because it was physically harming you (irritating the throat/esophagus), you could try cooking with cannabis. There are several recipes to use weed without need to smoking/vaping it, so you could enjoy the cannabis without harm to your health.

[TokinChick]

Birdgirl, you are right. I am obsessing and I am seeking help for my anxiety. At this time I am on Prevacid, Prozac and Xanax and soon seeking counseling. I am a hypochondriac, not the kind who worries about germs but the kind who thinks every bodily symptom is life-threatening. It's torture.

I think a lot of what fuels my anxiety is guilt about the past. For 15 years I didn't care. I drank liquor like it was water, did all kinds of substances, smoked cigs, you name it. Now I don't, and I wonder what have I done to myself. So I bet a lot of my health anxiety is guilt fueled.

I am not going to tell myself I can NEVER have it again, but I am going to lay off until I can get things under control.

I have talked to my mom about all this and she consoled me by telling me I CAN have my favorite things including herb as long as I choose to have them in moderation rather than all the time. So maybe there will come a time when I feel comfortable with that.

Yeah, I know I have obsessive problems, in the last two years I thought I had a brain aneurysm, breast cancer, MRSA, the list goes on and on and I didn't have ANY of those things. The aneurysm thing is what started this mess, the "glitch" on my MRI was a normal variant that the doctors thought "could be" an aneurysm and that traumatized me and even after they found out it wasn't I can't shake this health anxiety.

Thanks for the responses...

As far as cooking with cannabis...I am on three different meds. I am concerned already about my liver because of the meds, could eating cannabis put more stress on my liver by chance? Just checking to be safe...

Thanks!

[Coelho]

As far as cooking with cannabis...I am on three different meds. I am concerned already about my liver because of the meds, could eating cannabis put more stress on my liver by chance? Just checking to be safe...

Well... i would say that surely cannabis is less harmful to your liver than any of the meds youre taking... and cannabis is used to treat anxiety and things related to this... in fact many people uses Medical Marijuana instead the usual meds... so maybe it would help you a lot... anyway... i would wait to listen what Birdgirl or any other of our resident doctors think about this.

[birdgirl73]

I am on three different meds. I am concerned already about my liver because of the meds, could eating cannabis put more stress on my liver by chance? Just checking to be safe...

Thanks!
All indications point to the likelihood that medicinally used cannabis by way of vaping or eating is non-toxic to the liver. In fact, lab rat studies on synthetic cannabinoids, as you can see if you peruse Granny Storm Crow's links to health-related abstracts, show that they're downright beneficial to the liver. We can't conclude that that means precisely the same thing for people, but it's a fairly safe assumption that cannabis is probably a heck of a lot less harmful than narcotic pain meds, Tylenol, and ethanol (drinking alcohol) when it comes to liver toxicity.

OK, so that being said, you still have a choice. Eating cannabis probably isn't going to stress your liver. But no one can say that for sure because your liver enzymes aren't being tested daily nor is your liver being regularly biopsied. Considering that you've a tendency to worry more rather than less and that it's not practical for you to undergo regular liver function tests--and considering the fact that you're already taking some prescription medicines that you worry about your liver with--wouldn't you perhaps want to think about giving your liver a break from further substances? For now, I mean.

Tokin, do you have any sort of access to a free or sliding-scale clinic where you might find some counseling services that would aid with the anxiety? And do you ever take any exercise? Those two things would make a huge difference in helping alleviate some of your concerns. I'm sure of it.

Sending good thoughts your way, Chick. I suspect a lot of us are here. Anxiety is a bear, and it's a good thing that you're checking this stuff out and talking about it.

[TokinChick]

Thanks birdgirl, I'll take all the good thoughts I can get. I am actually under a reasonably decent financial assistance plan and in the intake process for getting into outpatient counseling.

Exercise...that is something that I'll do, then get sidetracked and forget about, then start up again. I'm working on consistency.

I actually called my doc and asked him if I needed liver tests or anything now as I am on three different meds and he reviewed the bloodwork I had about six months ago and said no I don't because my profile was "excellent"

So I think my biggest problem is the anxiety, it is like fighting demons every day.

Thanks for the support and advice everyone! I really appreciate it!

[Storm Crow]

Have you tried drinking something while you vape? I was wondering if vaping's "cotton mouth" effect is setting off a physical reaction in your poor, abused throat, even before it hits your mouth. Vaping always dries the heck out my throat and having a glass of tea along with the vape sure helps. :thumbsup: Maybe even some chocolate milk? It really coats the throat.- Granny :hippy:

[birdgirl73]

Thanks birdgirl, I'll take all the good thoughts I can get. I am actually under a reasonably decent financial assistance plan and in the intake process for getting into outpatient counseling.
Good! This is great. That's going to make you feel lots better. I think you may find out that perhaps the aneurysm scare triggered the current bouts of anxiety but that the tendency to get into that loop has been with you even before. More and more we're learning that there's a unique sort of brain chemistry and possibly even anatomy, much of it genetically driven, that sets people up for anxiety disorders. I'm proud of you for pursuing this! Takes courage.


Exercise...that is something that I'll do, then get sidetracked and forget about, then start up again. I'm working on consistency.
Consistency's the key. Seriously, movement makes a huge difference for people with anxiety. It burns off the stress hormones that help trigger the anxiety episodes and helps you chill. This is how I deal with anxiety. I learned this too late, too. Could have saved myself a lot of prescription money.


I actually called my doc and asked him if I needed liver tests or anything now as I am on three different meds and he reviewed the bloodwork I had about six months ago and said no I don't because my profile was "excellent"
This is the best news of all. You needed to hear this. And it sounds like you have a nice doctor who's very good about providing some much-needed reassurance when you need it. That's a good sign! Hey, nothing wrong with an excellent liver panel, either. You can brag about that to your great-grandchildren, whom you'll be bouncing on your knees when you're 105!

[RevoCWN]

i knew from the moment you said "stuck lump" what it was. your asophogus slammed shut, possibly due to a laceration in your asophogus, or it might have something to due with a hiatal hernia. as for the reflux, you may have GERD, which i guess is a hiatal hernia's annoying little brother. GastroEsophogeal Reflux Desease basically means the plug that keeps your stomach acids in your stomach is too week and allows acids into your asophogus. ask your doctor what he thinks about those possibilities. what's funny is, i went to the hospital because of one of those "stuck lumps" and they just figured i was choking. it ended up fixing itself the first time. the second and third i thought it needed to be checked out because they kept lasting longer and longer, and it was impossible to swallow even my own saliva when it happened. so i went to my family doctor and luckily his brother had the same problem, so my doctor knew how to treat it. basically, at this point all they can do is dialate your asophogus when it slams shut and it should prevent it from happening for a few years, only to happen again, only to get it dialated again. unfortuanately, it is a problem to live with, but simple changes in diet and sleep (as well as keeping an antacid handy) could majorly make you life easier in between.

as for the effects of marijuana on those problems, go for it. it relaxes the asophogus. not to say it will cure any of the problems, but hey it won't hurt it either.

just ask your doctor about the possibility of GERD, a hiatal hernia, and / or lacerations in your asophogus. damn, that was a mouthful. :smokin:

[birdgirl73]

Moderating

Just a reminder to our new member above, RevoCWN, that we encourage members to refrain from diagnosing other members' conditions on these medical boards. Our standard policy is to encourage people to seek in-person treatment from their own doctors and let any diagnosing and medical advice-giving come from licensed professionals who see patients personally. Thank you for limiting your future sharing of information to first-person "This was what I had" sort of statements instead of hazarding guesses of your own or telling another member what her specific problem may be based symptoms you have had. It's also always a good policy to check the dates of last activity on medical threads. You'll notice that this conversation is several weeks old.

[RevoCWN]

sorry i was just trying to help. wutever no big deal. :hippy: