[Noah930]

If it was a one-time episode following a particularly adventurous night of debauchery, I don't think getting an upper endoscopy is the right first thing to do. There are risks (and costs) associated with the procedure that aren't justified by the history. Sure there are stories of asymptomatic esophageal cancers that make us all go wow, but there are reasons that we don't encourage screening upper endoscopes, like we do sigmoidoscopies/colonoscopies.

If you're having repeated incidents, that's a different story. If you've been taking over-the-counter meds or proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), that's a different story. But for now, I'd simply wait and see, and mention it to your PCP at your next visit.

That's not to downplay the risk of esophageal cancer, which is on the rise. One thought is that acid reflux from the stomach gets by the muscle (lower esophageal sphincter-LES) that is supposed to close off the lower esophagus from the stomach, which then causes changes in the cells lining the lower esophagus. These changes (called Barrett's Esophagitis) don't necessarily constitute cancer, but are lined to higher rates of cancer. The esophagus is in the center of our chests, so if there's a cancer there, it can spread to other vital organs easily. And the esophagus has one less connective tissue layer than the rest of the GI tract, which also makes it a bit easier for any malignancy to spread. So don't ignore things if you're having recurrent problems. But if this was a single episode, you shouldn't necessarily be signing up for a 'scope, either.