Sorry candyfluff I went off out! Been up now since 4 o'clock because heyho, my throat is burning (sigh and whimsically) It always has to be the weekend before I can get to the doctor when it flares up. Went out tonight and had one sip of alcohol (half a glass of red wine) and am now regretting it big time!
It sucks that you have to stop the Zantac! I remember thinking what the heeeellll am I going to do? and 'of course my bleeding throats going to be ulcerated if I stop for that long' and they don't give you anything else that's natural instead, just Gaviscon, like that does ANYTHING for longer than ten minutes. I remember really feeling despair, and the nurse handing me the instructions being really blase' about it. i don't remember how I coped other than that I brought the biggest bottle of Gavi and slept sitting up at night. Go to a good natural medicine shop. One of the smaller independent ones, not Holland and Barratts. Love HB but the staff aren't always very knowledgable. Explain your symptons. There may be a natural thing you can chew on or drink that will tie you over until you can get back to the Zantac again.
I was awake during my endoscopy, and I wouldn't suggest that you do it awake as its not a nice experience. It affects your ability to breathe and your body panics. So you have to resist the urge of your body to throw up and dislodge the tube (have you ever stuck your finger down your throat when you had that sick feeling and wanted to throw up but couldn't? Imagine you could literally stick your finger all the way down your throat and you'll get the idea.) They have to attach a monitor to your finger to check your oxygen levels throughout.
But the advantage to doing it awake is it's quick, and you don't have to be put to sleep which I personally have a phobia about. My throat was a little sore afterwards but not much strangely. The whole thing lasted about 5 mins (recalls that fact with a bit of haze)
They did suggest an operation to tighten my splincter, which is a small muscle at the end of your throat that kinds of acts like a trap-door and protects your oesophagos by 'opening' when you swallow your food so it can pass down to your stomach and then 'closing' after you've swallow so that the acid in your stomach doesn't escape back into your throat. It's a very delicate muscle and can become/is weakened in people with gastric reflux allowing the acid to pass up through the throat.
But they weren't keen to do the OP as there was no guarantee it would work. Some people had great success with it but some found it difficult to swallow , eat etc and their symptons sometimes returned. A friend of mine had it because her G.R. was very severe. Afterwards she was barely able to eat for a few months. She seemed O.K. the other day though, and said she was feeling 'better' but we didn't really talk about it so it's speculative as to what she meant by better IYSWIM?
And I really don't think it has anything much to do with weight per se. I am slim size 10-12, was only in 20's when symptons occurred, rarely ever drank or ate fast food, mostly cooked from scratch. Because I couldn't eat when it got bad, I went down to a size 6-8. SO if they try and tell you it's purely about your weight/food you eat etc, they are trying to cover the fact that they really have no idea what else the problem is.
Until you get sorted the only thing I can sugggest is only eat small portions of food and don't eat past 6 o'clock. Eat small amounts of natural yogurt, take a high dose gut flora supplement (for the wind etc) fish oils liquid, charcoal biscuits, They say Manuka Honey which you can buy in the supermarket or health store has a natural ingredient that helps curb unwanted bacteria in the gut, (you may not have that prob but it all helps) Aniseed/liquorice tea, and chewable ginger and liquorice for nausea etc.
One trick told to me by a Holistic Practicioner put some linseeds (flaxseeds) in a cup and fill with water. Leave overnight it produces a gel. Drink the gel it soothes the oesophagos.
It's good that you don't seem to have HP, hopefully it will settle with time. You must insist that they get to the root of the cause. Post again if they say its a Hiatus Hernia as it would be intersting to see what they can do for you.
This is ages long but awake all night and HTH. (hugs too if you're feeling rotten)