new here, looking for ideas

well dont know where to start.....Im a 34 year old male, healthy and active, not overweight and never have been, always been athletic and in good health.

my issues started when I was 21 or so, prior to this never had any problems, iron stomach, never so much as a hiccup/heartburn/nothing and grew up in the deep south so loved fried/spicy foods.

my symptoms started with severe chest pains outta nowhere it seemed, after several visits to th ER and being sent home with the $1200 mylanta treatment it always came back... blau blau blau all tests and thousands of dollars later GERD diag, ok couple years meds/etc had first nissen fund done in 2005, seemed to help on the pains but started CHRONIC sore throat, all the time. so lived like this for several more years, tried everything but only thing that ever gave me relief was nexium, but after taking it 60days or so it would loose effectiveness, so did 2 or so years alternating 60 on 30 off, again not chest pains anymore, seemed like stomach side was fixed besided occasional bloating/regurgitation/common upper GERD, but all the while STILL SORE THROAT ALL THE TIME, i think I keep "halls cough drops" in business.

so skip forward to 2008, moved to new area, so new doctors.... we spend thousands more on all the same tests over and over again, guess what, they point to crappy nissen performed by last doctor...ok i want relief from CHRONIC SORE THROAT so I say whatever lets do it all..

so ANOTHER  nissen is performed by pretty well known doc, seems to be good for a few months, again no GERD syptoms i can detect but still moderate SORE THROAT but i figure give it some time. sore throat comes back same as before, been through thousands more tests...several barium swallows, results look good, BRAVO tests negative, Hpylori neg, seems like reflux is under control but STILL SORE THROAT EVERY DAY

flash forward to now, Im pretty sure I dont remember what its like to NOT have a sore throat, Im only 34yrs old and walk around with a pocket full of cough drops all the time, I feel like its made me depressed for several years, I have pretty much lost all trust in the doctors, I have seen them so much, ENT's, they scope my sinuses/vocals and say "yea it looks irritated, take some nexium" after doing this for the past few years I feel like they blow me off....but i argue, I know its not normal to have a sore throat every day, i ask them if they do, of course not so what the hell is wrong with me?

again I feel totally depressed about it all and have pretty much givin up and realize that the cronic pain means something is wrong and figure its eventually going to kill me.. none of the doctors help at all, its like they dont know so we just stare at each other. they say everything from gastritus to esophogitis....but never give me anything/tell me what to do,

just say take some more nexium

I write this at 5am after being woken up with guess what...A SORE THROAT

any ideas/comments would be appriciated

 

badreflux,

I am sorry to read of your problems and the many years you have suffered through with sore throat.  Chronic sinusitis can certainly be considered. 

Another possibility can be allergies leading to chronic post-nasal drip.  A referral to an allergy specialist can be considered for further evaluation.

Followup with your personal physician is essential. This problem has gone on way to long.  I would be very depressed about the merry-go-round you are on.  Don't give up looking for help.

Kindly,

Kitt

badreflux-

not a snorer (according to GF of 4years, very light sleeper)

and no apnea i notice, i sleep well usually, but might get up once during the night to bathroom and always notice crazy dry sore throat, so ill geta sip of water or something, seems to dull it a little,

lately ive benn taking huge shots of liquid mylanta just before i lay down, seems to help a little

what is a CPAP ?

ADAMC

I hear ya...yeah its sore throat all the time every day for me too and a feeling of tightness and varying degrees of difficulty swallowing.

For me finishing dinner at least 4 hours before lying down is a must. I also keep the dinner meal smaller and lighter than the 3 other meals i eat earlier in the day. For me the acidity of a particular food has little to do with whether or not i reflux. For example I eat tomatoes without more (or less) of a problem than most other foods. However the foods that weaken the les (lower esophageal sphincter), chocolate, spearmint peppermint alcohol, and coffee, i avoid like the plague.

Heres a biggie i learned the hard way. Some candies, cough drops, gum, lollipops, etc just rip my throat up hours after. I dont notice it at first because of all the saliva while im sucking on the lolly pop or chewing the gum... seems to sooth at first, but later, what ever the chemicals are in the gum or candy are very very irritating to my throat.

How did i find this out? I made my own candy! I bought a bottle of karo syrup (no additives except vanilla) and boiled a cup of it adding a little more than an equal amount of brown sugar, cooking at a fierce boil for about 3 minutes. I make a mold with aluminum foil using an ice cube tray to form the aluminum into deep pockets and then after removing the plastic tray from the aluminum, I spray the aluminum with a thin coat of cooking oil and then pour the molten sugar mixture into the form. By eating home made candy with no additives my sore throat is calmed and never aggravated. For me, also excellent for calming the throat pain is chewing DGL which is a form of licorice root. DGL is commonly found in health food and supplement stores.

But when all is said and done the throat pain , and difficulty swallowing are very problematic and scary. and how bad or better the pain is on a given day is a good indication of what going on during the previous 24 hours with regard to diet and reflux.

I sleep sitting in a recliner and never set the chair to recline more than 45 degrees.

Hope some of this helps...hang in there!

best wishes, mock turtle