Please excuse, just venting... 4 months ago, my chest got really tight. Could've been due to stress at the time - not really sure (I was pissed off at my job more than stress itself). I also had an anxiety kinda feeling in the upper part of my chest. Almost 2 weeks later, this tightness continued (I wasn't worried about it being serious)....I went to the ER and everthing turned up normal (EKG, lung xray, blood pressure, etc). They suspected stress and/or asthma. Gave me an inhaler and Xanax. Xanax relaxed me but that anxiet feeling didn't go away and the inhaler didn't do anything either. Went to the doctor - blood tests, pulmonary tests, all normal. Gave me Advair (which cleared up the tightness and eventually the anxiety feeling).
However - as soon as chest symptoms went away, I developed a strange throat sensation/soreness. I was on Advair for 3 months before getting an appointment wit Pulmonary specialist. Took me off Adviar and on Singulair - assuming I have asthma (I have a history of allergies). Throat soreness is still there - feels like a large lump in my throat. About 4 weeks later - still taking Singulair ...and the throat isn't improving. Feels 'restricted' now.
Went to a Gastroenterologist last week - very nice doctor - prescribed me with Protonix and scheduled an endoscopy for Dec 7th. Since then, I discovered my mom is on protonix and my father has had esophogus type problems also.....

My throat has been feeing better (not 100%) during the day - but after having 4 tacos (a normal meal and amount for me) this evening....feels like the food is taking forever to digest and I'm clearing my throat a lot (I have a long history of this also) and my saliva glands are working overtime it seems.

This is sooo weird to me....I've never had any problems in the past with heartburn or acid reflux related symptoms. Most things I've had over the years... (clearing my throat a lot after meals, drainage in back of my throat, allergies, etc) These things I just considered normal....

So I'm reading information about GERD and seeing how all this stuff can be related to GERD..... Is it possible that you can be symptom free for years and all of a sudden be hit with symptoms & problems?

Here's hoping they find 'something' during the endoscopy test - and hoping they can prescribe something to relieve this issue I've been dealing with for 4 months now.... Right now...about 6 hours after I ate, the lump in my throat is back and feels like something is stuck in there. Go figure...

The saga continues...
Oh and....since Protonix prevents your stomach from producing too much stomach acid - how's that affect your digestion ? Compared to how you've been accustomed to it over the years? Does that mean, less acid - longer digestive times? Or will it simply mean I'll feel uncomfortable till the food is digested?