LPR Update (important to read for LPR sufferers)

Incacognito, I sure hope it works for you.  If I could make one important suggestion, please please take a Vit D test first before you start Vit D.  You should know your base line level.  It's important.  I took Vitamin D3 drops under the tongue.  I'm a little heavy so I took 6,000 IU for 11 months to get to 65.  To maintain I'm taking 4,000 IU.  When I feel the vestages of LPR I up it to 6,000 IU for a few days.  I'm am considering pushing my D level to 80 and then dropping to a maintenance level of 40.  When one has a chronic illness one has to sometimes push the upper safe limit of D levels.  I am only experimenting and evaluating how I feel as I go along.

Well, my doctor prescribed this to me. We'll see if this hypersensitivity theory works or not first hand.

Also, can't this make heartburn worse? I thought that was one of the side effects of these medicines.

Hi strat923,

Interesting information! You didn't have any chest pain though?

Highlandgirl,
please let us know if this does end up helping you!

Hi - I am totally new to all of this - LPR stuff - even forum stuff - though not the symptoms of LPR. I, among other things, am a singer, and was really bothered by what has been happening to my voice. I normally live overseas and am back in USA only for couple of months. While I have not ignored what has been going on with my throat - my options were limited where we live. Now I am somewhere where I can learn and do something about it. I went to ENT yesterday and was told that my vocal cords are inflamed and that he is quite sure I have LPR. ...What ever that is! I had no idea. He handed me a brochure and my husband and I looked at it - and of course, I have every symptom except the heartburn. Today, as I have been researching, I must confess, I feel a bit overwhelmed. I just about want to cry that I have to give up salsa, which is my favorite food to make and eat....But I do want my voice back. I also feel overwhelmed to read posts where people have been experiencing symptoms for 5 months, etc - when mine has gone on for 3+years. They are doing another test in 2 weeks, some strobe camera thingy where they can get a real good look down there. I am really praying that I have not done serious damage to my vocal cords. I just read about the 2 week Dr Kaufman diet - and am considering it - just to really wake myself up about the adjustments I need to make and see if it makes a difference. I guess, I would really appreciate any wise words, or encouragement. Thank you. Blessings...

Disclaimer: first-time poster, and this might be a little long-winded. My apologies ahead of time.

I know this is a post that has mostly gone dormant, however I thought it would be helpful to add to this rather than to start a new one. I have many symptoms I am beginning to think might be attributed to an issue with the vagus nerve. In addition to digestive issues and occasional heart palpitations, I also have many of the associated LPR symptoms. To begin with, for about 8 months I was on a PPI (protonix) at the behest of my GP. She was not very thorough in doing any examinations, she just prescribed the medication due to complaints about my voice going out randomly and often, which for someone who likes to sing, is torture. about 2 months ago I decided to start to ween myself off of the PPI because I did not like the idea that I would have to take them forever, as she suggested, and they deprive certain nutrients absorbed through the stomach. The PPIs did seem to help, although I still had intermittent vocal problems throughout the course of taking them. I was able to ween myself down to half a pill until I finally quit about 6 days ago. about 4 days before I actually quit taking the PPIs they seemed to lose their effectiveness (maybe they knew the end day was coming and started to give up).

Well, after quitting, I almost immediately had what could be described as acid reflux rebound. The irritation to throat and sinuses came on strong - stomach was very upset, gas issues, chronic throat clearing, light-head feeling when standing up, metal taste on tongue, etc. I did have some of these issues before the PPI and even some to a lesser degree while on the PPI, however they were full bore once I quit. They have leveled a little the last few days, though they are certainly still there.

So here is what lead me to start contemplating the vagus nerve hypothesis. After doing a lot of reading, this post included, I start to analyze the symptoms that a dysfunctional vagus nerve can cause. When I had throat and sinus issues in the past, I had gotten so used to them that I didn't really pay much attention to the fine points. Now, actually paying attention to my symptoms, I realize they are all on the left side of my head/throat. The sort of raw and inflamed sensation in my throat and back of mouth is only on the left side. My ear feels irritated, not really painful, but irritated and only on the left side. It is only my left nostril that is running. A lot of people have mentioned a metallic taste. The metallic taste on my tongue was new to me. It was one symptom I had never experienced at all prior to any of this. At least a few have inquired about this. But I noticed, again paying closer attention, that is was a sensation only felt on the left side of my tongue. I noticed the metallic taste is not noticeable when I open my mouth wide and lift my tongue, so that no parts of my mouth are in contact. Then I touched the right side of my tongue to the roof of my mouth and there was no sensation or taste of metal. When I did the same with the left side of my tongue, sure enough, there was the strong metallic taste.

So this forces me to raise the question, if this is LPR or GERD (though I highly doubt the latter because I've had heartburn only a handful of times and those were usually the result of strenuous activity after a large meal - not smart, I know), then why is it only coming up or presenting symptoms on one side of my body? I also forgot to mention I have slight jaw pains on the left side only. The icing on the cake is that for as long as I can remember I've had a pinched nerve feeling that I get occasionally just to the left of my spine in the back of my neck, which seems to be right where the vagus nerve runs.

It all just seems to make sense. I've lived with the vocal problems and the digestive issues for a long time but just sort of was of the mindset that "that was my lot." If I've always had it then that's just the way it is. Then I researched a lot of LPR and GERD therapies, but it always seemed like these approach didn't quite hit the mark. I'm definitely not discrediting either LPR or GERD, I just questioned it for myself. I will say some of the healthy approaches (i.e. vitamin supplements, probiotics, etc.) I am still going to try, just because I believe in a healthy balance.

So now I need to start down that road or figuring out if a problem with the vagus nerve is truly the case. Unfortunately, another part of the reason I quit the PPI is I knew I would be quitting my job because of a move that I had to make. As a result I no longer have insurance and cannot afford medical treatment out of pocket at this time. Hopefully, in a month or two that will change.

The original poster mentions amitriptyline treatment as being highly effective for this particular situation, however I am also curious to know if chiropractic work might be helpful also, as I don't like to be on medications if I can avoid it. Apparently, the vagus nerve passes the atlas vertebra and can become constricted if this vertebra is out of alignment. It seems like a possible re-positioning might be useful/helpful. If it is not the case, I would gladly take the amitriptyline if it meant the end to these symptoms, or even an improvement. I'm not counting on these solutions to be a cure-all, however, for the first time in a long while I am optimistic about what is going on and possible solutions. At any rate, I think these discussions are of great importance to all who have issues. The different systems of the body are so interdependent and it makes sense that a symptom or symptoms might be the result of something totally unexpected not functioning properly.