New to GERD... looking for answers

Folks:
 After coming off a cold a few months ago, I noticed I was having some shortness of breath. Turns out my lungs are perfectly fine, but then I started getting chest pain.

 My ENT suggested I might be getting acid reflux. I'm 44 and have never suffered from heartburn before, but now it seems to happen after every meal... either heartburn or shortness of breath.

 She gave me Protonix 10 days ago, to take twice a day, but it doesn't feel like it's helping. And I always feel like I have gook in my throat before and after meals... excess mucus that I can't get rid of by coughing.

 Does this sound like acid reflux/GERD?

Thanks!

Thanks Tammy.

Just came back from my ENT doctor, who looked at my throat and said she doesn't see much corosion due to a lot of acid reflux. It seems to be a small amount at this point, and she recommended I continue on Protonix 40mg twice a day and that I also take 75mg of Pepcid or Zantac at night at well.

If it doesn't get better in two weeks, she said it would be best to see a GI.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Just came back from a week's vacation and I didn't have one symptom. Yeah! A day after I returned, though, I felt that mucus-like feeling in my throat again and I had to clear it a bunch of times. Also, slight shortness of breath.

Went to my scheduled appt. with my ENT and she said my throat looked fine. She said that stress can cause acid reflux, and that returning home from vacation, which was stress free, was the reason symptoms returned. She also said the shortness of breath could be allergy related. When I first noticed the shortness of breath months ago, I took a Claritan and it seemed to help. Other times it, didn't though.

She said I should stay on Protonix 40 mg twice a day, and the occasional Zantac and if not better in three months go to a GI doctor. My ENT also said there have been some reports that Protonix can draw calcium out of your body -- but she would only be concerned if I had osteoperosis -- and I read another study that said longterm use has caused cancer in the stomachs of rats. Didn't mention that one to her. I didn't mention that one to her, though, because I didn't want to sound like an alarmist.

Do most people here take Protonix once or twice a day? What is considered long-term use?

Thanks,
Stu

Thanks Tammy.

Actually, shortness of breath was my first symptom. I went to an internist and pulmonologist right away to check my breathing and lungs, and they were fine. I took an asthma test, too, and that was fine.

Is the reason you have shortness of breath because the acid gets in your bronchial tubes?