Dr Cheng was slow to get back to me after I answered her questions via Stanford MyHealth. After 12 days, she finally responded with next steps. The reason for the wait was because my case was very unusual; to better serve me, she wanted to discuss it with some of her colleagues first.
Anyway, her diagnosis was that “the nerves in the esophagus are not moving appropriately due to inappropriate sensitivity to liquid or solid contents in the esophagus.” She suggested trying out either “low dose diltiazem (60mg four times daily) [or] amitriptyline (25–50mg nightly)” to help decrease nerve sensitivity.
After some back and forth, we decided to test out diltiazem. I picked it up from CVS De Anza on Wednesday and had my first dose at 7:59pm. Following the recommendation of the pharmacist, I started with a smaller dose. Instead of taking the 60mg pill four times a day, I’m currently taking it twice (once around 7am when I wake up, once at 1:30pm to prep for afternoon snacks / dinner).
As for side effects, I’m glad to report none so far. Both the CVS pharmacist and Dr Cheng were sure to warn me about possible dizziness (which can be strong enough that I was told not to drive after taking diltiazem), but I haven’t experienced any yet.
