Dr. Roger Wu

Yes, there may be a connection, although there may be other issues for your symptoms. Acid reflux is a condition where the acid made in the stomach can travel into the esophagus (and higher) causing irritation - commonly described as a burning sensation, although some may report a sharp, heart attack like pain as well. Certainly, if the acid travels into the throat area (this may occur when lying down/sleeping), this can cause irritation. You could try a short course of an acid blocker (such as omeprazole), or try to sleep at a slight angle (use a wedge or a few pillows, or put some books under the head of the bed) to try to minimize the likelihood of acid reflux at night. Additionally, sleeping on the left side is better than sleeping on the right side.

Certain medical conditions require endoscopy for surveillance, but many others do not. For example, surveillance may be recommended if you had a significant stomach ulcer (to make sure that it is adequately healing), or if you have certain conditions such as ulcerative colitis or Barrett esophagus (because of the associated risks of cancer with these conditions). Surveillance colonoscopies for colon cancer screening are recommended at different intervals determined by your overall risk for colon cancer (family history, prior history of polyps, etc). However, many other medical conditions do not require surveillance endoscopy (such as irritable bowel syndrome or constipation). Repeating an endoscopy may be recommended by your gastroenterologist if s/he is concerned about excluding other structural disease, if you developed alarm symptoms such as bleeding or weight loss, or if your symptoms are not improving, but would not be recommended on a routine basis. If you had a more specific disease or symptom in mind that you would like clarification on, please let me know.