Muscle Issues and GERD

Has anyone developed GERD during/after your taper and also had strange muscle issues that went along with it?

 

After my c/t from Xanax last year I developed what I can only assume was silent reflux or LPR. I had never really dealt with heartburn or acid reflux before (aside from occasional indigestion) so I attribute this entirely to the benzo. After settling for a bit on Valium (which I am still tapering from) the silent reflux morphed into more classic acid reflux which has been an issue for me ever since. Zantac seems to help and I take it occasionally but it might just be a placebo effect. I've figured out that sugar, dairy, and alcohol seem to be the biggest culprits and if I stay away from them I feel much less burn.

 

That being said I have some other symptoms that are strange yet seem to be related. Anything that involves straining (e.g. lifting heavy objects) or lots of bending/twisting usually leads to an achy/tight (wouldn't really call it pain) feeling just below the center of my lowest left rib (front and back). Sometimes this feeling "migrates" up so that it is either directly under my rib cage, just below my heart, or even just below/along my sternum. On rare occasions I will also feel it a bit under or near my right ribs. Sometimes I will feel actual spasms in these spots as well, especially below the left rib. I will also sometimes feel like there is "something" under or near my rib (it almost seems to click). These symptoms generally go away after a bit but the timeline seems completely random - from just a day or two to a few weeks.

 

I can't make a direct connection but it seems like my reflux symptoms - burning, fullness, bloating, feeling of a ball at the base of my throat - are worse after "irritating" whatever it is that is being bothered. It's probably also important to note that I've had extremely shallow breathing ever since my c/t shock, along with muscle tightness and feeling like I'm constantly hunched over. Could this be vagus nerve issues? Weakness in my diaphragm due to w/d and breathing issues? Is there a chance I rapidly developed a hiatal hernia after my c/t and now that is causing issues? It would be one thing if I had been suffering from reflux before this nightmare began but again, it is something that only started after my fiasco last year.

I will put money down on that this is a part of withdrawals and will clear up when you heal some more...  I had very similar symptoms. 

I have the muscle stuff at extreme intensity, whole body especially, neck, back legs and feet. It is mostly on left side which caused head and body twisting by the uneven muscle contraction. Feeling very crippled like a Crap. Recently the muscle tightness and contraction got up to my brain feeling a danger of head just losing consiceness.

 

 

 

I will put money down on that this is a part of withdrawals and will clear up when you heal some more...  I had very similar symptoms.

 

Thank you Leslie. Did you have reflux issues as well? Did it take a while for yours to clear up?