The varied and strange symptoms of acid reflux....go visit the GERD board where you have lots of company.

The throat symptoms are from the acid geting into your throat. The systemic symptoms are probably related to esophageal acid.

So give it a chance - a lot of people go "nah, it can't be acid" well not all acid is heartburn. And there is a really easy way to see if this is the problem. Start on PPI med therapy - 2 doses of a PPI a day (Nexium, Prevacid, Protonix, or Aciphex). Start with Nexium. It's the "latest and greatest".
Go visit the GERD board and mention your symptoms - you'll find lots of company.

Read my old posts - I'm more of a larygeal (throat) refluxer, but there's a lot of info there.

should i try Nexium? and is it available from a drugstore?

Nexium is available by prescription only. If you want to prove or rule out acid reflux quickly, take a double dose (2 pills a day) instead of a single pill a day. Give it a week, if you symptoms don't improve, then you probably don't have reflux. This is an indirect method - but what we all use. What I tell others is that if it is reflux, get it under control with doses a day, then only after that switch down to 1 dose a day, and see if the one dose a day is enough.

Nexium is really expensive, so I hope you have good insurance. Typically, an insurance company will not cover 2 doses a day without special permission from a doctor, so what I'd recommend doing is getting the prescription for 1 a day and then doubling up. After all, you're just testing a hypothesis for now. Also, your doctor should have loads of free samples in his drug rep cabinet.

I don't get any side effects from my 2 doses a day (and I've been on Nexium 2x a day for 3 1/2 years) but some people do - typically, the most common complaint is nausea and tiredness. People metabolize the PPIs differently - and we have no idea of knowing who will respond in what way.

If you get these side effects, don't continue taking the medication.