Who has tried low-dose antidepressant as "pain modulator" for hypersensitivity?

My GI prescribed 10 mg of Buspar which is an older anti-anxiety med. I tried it for a month. I noticed a small difference in my globus at times, but it was never significant. The side effects were headache and dizziness and they were fairly minmal after the first few days. But, you had to take it 2x a day and regulate your food intake (always take with food or not). It wasn't worth it to me for the small difference, but I have wondered if another rx would be better. I had heard that Buspar is a quirky drug and works for some and not others. I will be interested to hear if anyone has had success with an anti-d. I did notice some on the net that were prescribed Lexopro with LPR, but my Dr. did not mention that.

Chuck, took what? How much? What LPR symptoms did it make worse?

I've taken amitriptyline, half the smallest dose, to raise serotonin. It does work to reduce pain, at least nerve-type pain like spine pinching nerves. But it didn't do anything for my food and chemical sensitivities, and I haven't read any studies to that effect (yet). If you have a reference to that I would be delighted to read it. Amitriptyline also did not affect my reflux at all, although I had a physical reason for the reflux: GPEH, giant paraesophageal hiatal hernia.

I controlled my sensitivity reaction - reflux leading to tachycardia - by learning what foods, drinks and medicines were my triggers and avoiding them. My allergist had me keep a very good journal of foods, etc. and my reactions. I keep a 6x8" notebook on the kitchen counter and note everything, with date, time. You can look up cardioesophageal reflex or linked angina on google or in the search box at the top of the page. Also, there are lots of forum threads on food journals and challenge testing.

I take paxil and it eased some of my nerve pains.

You might want to read the lists of side effects. I had to stop Elavil because I was getting restless and pains in my legs at night. I wish I could take it because it does relieve pain for me in low doses.

To me, the link between GERD and anxiety/depression makes the most sense when talking about symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain, perhaps globus (tight throat or difficulty swallowing). Particularly when there is little to no objective evidence of reflux on examination, e.g. "functional heartburn".

It does not make much sense to me in terms of symptoms like bitter taste, or even burning tongue.

So while I am hoping the elavil can do something here and I am giving it a shot, I am not convinced that it would help with symptoms not associated with "pain" or with the above-noted anxiety/depression related symptoms.

It should be noted that the dosages used for pain modulation are typically considered "non mood altering" doses.

Fass et.al have published several papers on refractory GERD. And in their treatment algorithm, if a person has regurgitation or sour/bitter taste, and the symptoms (on 24 hour PH monitoring) are associated with weakly acidic reflux (mine were), then the 3 treatments proposed are: TLESR reducers (baclofen), visceral pain modulators (elavil) or anti reflux surgery. In trying elavil, I am just jumping through the required hoops, hoping something works.

I do not believe Baclofen will help because I believe, due to a paper called "Towards a better understanding of upright reflux" by Hoppo et. al, that my LES is formed in such a way that it lets bursts of stuff through, even when not in an actual TLESR.

Now in my case, the docs continue to find inflammed vocal chords when doing their ENT exams, which can be an indicator of LPR. And with the bitter/acidic taste, and the possibility that whatever is causing the taste is irritating my tongue.. the answer seems pretty clear to me that even on strong acid blocking therapy, something is still creeping up there and irritating things.

I am currently working to see if I can get the raw data from my 24hr PH monitoring. The short summary I do have access to mentions nothing about proximal (throat-area) exposure.