Gastroparesis & LPR

Last June I developed a chronic cough. It didn't go away w/ antibiotics, in fact it got worse. The throat clearing issue came into play. My doctor was ignorant but I did research and found out it was LPR. She sent me to the gut doc in October last year. I had the upper endoscopy and I had a small hiatal hernia and gastritious. The put me on Protonix. It didn't work so they upped it to 2x a day. That didn't work. So here come the tests, 24 hour Ph, barium shallow and a motility study. Conclusion almost a year later is Gastroparesis & silent reflux. So now I'm on eurythramycn.(my spelling sucks) 4x a day. It hasn't help. I have changed my diet and lost over 50 pounds. Reglan is not an option because I was diagnosed 10 years ago with bipolar disorder. It can have psychiatric side effects.
I hack and cough from the time I get up until I go to bed. It's maddening. I see my surgeon next week. I'm sure he's going to tell me I need surgery. As far as surgery, what are my options?

Post Edited (Linky59) : 5/16/2013 11:49:44 PM (GMT-6)

Linky59

Welcome to Healing Well.

The gold standard surgery is the nissen fundo, either full or partial wrap. The linx is showing promise, but is still relatively new. There is informaton about the Linx on several threads here.

Reglan can be pretty nasty stuff. I can't take it either as I got some facial muscle issues on it.
Have you raised the head of your bed about 6 inches or so or gotten a good wedge to,lift the whole upper body when you sleep? This can help some too.
On our resources thread at the top of the forum one of our mods, Denise, has a recovery journal after her Nissen for reflux causing severe lung issues. It's a very good read.

Take care,
Bill

Oh hey! This is what I suffer from also! my T 1/2 is 170 mins and I suffer mostly non acidic acid as a result of my gastroparesis. I have tried 40mg x 2 a day and nothing. I've also tried erythromycin with a little benefit. I'm currently on reglan and hate it. I'm all over the place, I've cried every day I've been on it lol. It's a horrible drug. it's not safe to be on if your already depressed, suicidal or have anxiety. I'm trying a lower dose right now to see if it will help with my LPR/ breathing issues or I'll stick to the erythromycin.

Anyways, I'm meeting with surgeons at uw- health in the weeks to come. I've already had a tif and nissen is officially off the table as a result of my gastroparesis. All that gas over 8 hrs of stewing has to go somewhere and it's usually up. My ph impedance study showed I have 35 proximal refluxes. My surgeon is thinking gastric pacemaker, pyroloplasty, or as a last option Roux en Y.

He does seem reluctant on any surgical means. Hoping he helps me out.

If you have any treatment that helps you, post it lol. I've tried everything for this. Gastroparesis is just a nightmare, plus having LPR. It's impossible to control because we are not the typical patient. We have gastric explosions that get propelled upwards from all the pressure in our stomach. It's kinda hard to stop.

I know the feeling, I meet with my gi doctor on weds and my surgeon on thursday. I go into these meetings hoping that relief is right around the corner! but it's not.

I'm hoping to get the gastric pacemaker installed. In other news, drsintac suggested to me a natural herb called triphala for GP. Apparently it's comparable to reglan in a study.

http://jpgmonline.com/article.asp?issn=0022-3859;year=1997;volume=43;issue=1;spage=12;epage=3;aulast=Tamhane

I think I'm gonna try it. I did better on reglan than I did with erthromycin, so I'm hoping this herb can help. Also, my doctor told me that erythromycin losses it's effectiveness within a week or 2. Either way, it's still better than nothing. I have actually gone to the point of crushing up the tablets, so they get absorbed quicker...expect lots of burning with Diarrhea. lol It seems to work though

I agree, reglan is not even an option. I was too messed up on it. From my impression from meeting with my surgeon the first time, he was very reluctant to perform the Roux en Y even if it would benefit me. Also, my doctor mentioned to me that getting the nissan done would result in symptom remission because of my gastroparesis, so the nissen maybe a waste.

I had the TIF/ hiatal hernia repair and my doctors are thinking since I have gastroparesis, this may explain why I have so many symtpoms despite the surgery being done. I always thought though, if you have a good nissen done and have gastroparesis that you would just have extreme bloating instead of reflux.

Carafate doesn't help me all that much, it does kinda coat things, but I need relief in my chest and neck. Also, I heard of people ordering doperidone from a canadian medicine website. Either way, the drug still has some side effects that aren't favorable. This however would be a lot better than reglan. If that doesn't work out I heard of this herb called Triphala that may bring some relief. I just ordered it. I'll let you know if it helps my gastro problems.

Another thing, how was your gp diagnosed and what was your emptying time?

Let me know how it goes.

Yikes! that's awful!

I agree though, it seems like everything is going wrong for me too. Just had my wisdom teeth out and I've been having horrible jaw/throat tightness. Been getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night because of it and this has been going on for 3 weeks. I'm afraid to find out what's going to be wrong with me next...It always seems to be the worst of the worst... Like refractory GERD/LPR due to gastroparesis. Wish I just had heartburn :-(

Anyways, hang in there! Hopefully we find relief with our GP/GERD + neuro issues. I have lots of depression, anxiety, bi polar in my life also...

Linky59,

I know this thread is like 5 years old, but did you ever resolve your issues? I'm scheduled for the Nissen Fundo on 2/20 for my LPR (specifically breathing issues). I just found out however that I have Gastroparesis. So now I don't know if I should go through with surgery or not...

..... also do you know what caused your delayed gastric emptying? There are many medications which can cause gastroparesis. I developed delayed gastric emptying from taking a PPI. It has slowly reversed after weaning off all acid suppressant medication.

Hi Hennie

I developed delayed gastric emptying from taking a PPI. It has been slowly reversing since I quit all acid suppressant medication. I've documented my recovery below:

https://www.inspire.com/CAGU/journal/ppi-warning-gastroparesis-delayed-gastric-emptying-proton-pump-inhibitor/