Is there a connection between GERD and Anxiety?

Does anyone know of a connection because between GERD (acid reflux/indigestion) and anxiety/panic attacks? Any information that can be shared would be most appreciated.

Elijah

One of my mates suffered with reflux for years, she could barely eat cause just about everything was triggering it. She was on medication for her reflux that had little to no affect.

But from talking to her, a lot fo things she said to me made me feel she was extremely anxious. Constantly worrying about her health, washing her hands to extremes, fear of dying...

I suggested she may have anxiety (as I used to suffer from the disorder) ... I spent a lot of time with her explaining how I overcame it and showed her how she could apply it to her lifestyle.

A couple of weeks later she emailed me to tell me that her fears of dying had diminished and her reflux was almost gone and was feeling much happier.

So yes, I believe there is definitely a link between anxiety and reflux.

Al lthe best,

Jo

There is a strong connection! The digestive tract is usually the first thing to be affected by anxiety disorder... it's where butterflies are present in mild anxiety and where IBS can form in extreme cases. I had acid reflux through my whole anxiety disorder, howver, it disappeared with the anxiety.

Digestive complaints are a direct symptom of anxiety disorder and will be eliminated with your anxiety. You need to address the anxiety directly though!

Charles

Hi Elijah,

I've experienced a very strong combination of GERD and panic attaks - especially the ones that wake me up with a sensation that I'm choking or have acid that is hurting my throat to the point that I feel I can't swallow or breathe sometimes. It can be both extremely frightening and also very uncomfortable.

My reflux meds aren't helping much anymore, possibly because my panic attacks have worsened...I'm constantly scared that the "lump in my throat " feeling is some serious obstruction but I suspect it may simply be a manifestation of my panic.

I also experience excruciating back pain that radiates from my esophagus and can feel like a heart attack. I have this almost 24/7 now.

Wish I could offer some advice, but all I can say is you're not alone.

Cathy,

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I've reached a point where I convinced my anxiety is worst than the GERD. It's a long story, but in a nutshell my GERD triggered a lot of old fears of choking, can't breathing, obstruction in my esophagus, etc that I had when I younger.

My acid reflux had gotten better over the past few months (with meds), but I've still been having chest pains especially after eating. I now know that is anxiety. A while back I had an endoscopy that revealed that I had GERD and esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus). This was very helpful psychologically as well becasue I had about 50 questions for my doctor (Could I have cancer, a tumor, Will this condition cause me to choke to death when eating,etc.) This knowledge alleviated my anxiety some. A definitive "no" from the doc. helped to ground me so to speak. When I have these chest pains I know it's just anxiety. When eating I now know that GERD won't cause me to choke to death or anything like that).

If you haven't done so please see a gastro-specialist. This way you can clear up what's definetly GERD and what's anxiety. Having the doc. show me the pictures and break down the whole process was helpful. "The lump in the throat" I still get that a lot, but I tell myself it's just anxiety. But this was very frightening before I saw a doctor because the fear of the unknown was driving me crazy especially since I was convinced the doctor was going to find a huge tumor in stomach when doing the endoscopy.

In terms of my anxiety I'm still not where I want to be, but things are getting better.

Elijah

I agree that reflux is linked to anxiety, my doctor has confirmed this to me. Apparently the stomach has a little nervous system of its own and, so my doc tells me, when your mind in out of balance (ie anxious) then your stomach can react to this inbalance.

I went to the doc with what i thought was indigestion and he prescribed me meds for it, needless to say their effect was minimal. After a few more visits to my doc and a referal to a psychiatrist I am now taking meds for panic/anxiety disorder and strangely enough my indigetion is greatly improved.

Is this coincedence of is there some truth in the link??

That was me above, I dunno why it didnt log me in... :roll:

I registered here just because of this thread. I have had this for around a year. I tried plenty of different things for acid reflux and none of it worked. I have been on fluoxetine for almost 2 weeks now. Mine's like a social anxiety disorder I think. After a week taking fluoxetine I feel better around people, but I feel like I worry about things more and feel sick more.

Whoever said they treated the anxiety, and the acid reflux disappeared, what did you take for this? How long did it take to go away? I hope mine goes away soon.