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Inhaling Acid Reflux (I think)

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GERD & Acid Reflux
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Posted 1/9/2014 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
I'm a newbie to this board so maybe this has already been covered:

I wake up with what feels like acid in my lungs. It takes up to an hour to cough it all up and I have a sore throat for days. This can happen several nights in a row. I worry about so much irritation causing throat cancer of esophegeal cancer (sp?). ANYWAY, I've been on PPIs for many years now. My Dr just keeps prescribing them instead of doing a GI test to see what's going on. I feel like the sphincter muscles don't close properly but he doesn't do anything but try me on a different PPI. Isn't it bad for you to be on them 100% of the time for years on end?

The only time I was able to go off was when I went on a 10 day juice fast (juicing veggies and fruits).
Posted 1/10/2014 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Posie,
Welcome to Healing Well!
You could definitely be getting acid, or even bile, refluxing into your lungs. The PPIs have been widely used for a long time now, and if you're not getting bothersome side effects, I wouldn't worry about taking them if they're helpful.

That said, lung tissue is very susceptible to acid/bile reflux, and it should be avoided. It can actually do permanent damage if left untreated. The esophageal cancer is much less likely. Here's a study of the effects of reflux on lungs.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2714564/

If you're having repeated reflux affecting your lungs, be sure to pass this information on to your doctor. Follow lifestyle guidelines, take the PPI's regularly and properly. (here's another link to a document that tells you how to get the most out of your PPI: www.practicalgastro.com/pdf/January07/Jan07FrankArticle.pdf)

Good luck getting to the bottom of your problem!
Glad you've joined the forum!
Best wishes,
Denise
Posted 1/10/2014 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
Posie, I had the problem that you describe until I raised the headboard side of my bed 6 or so inches. In a matter of days I noticed the acid burn diminished, as well as the sore throat and that nasty taste in my mouth. I was able to get off of PPIs after one year.

I was told by my GI doctor that at night the acid backs up into the esophagus if the sphincter valve doesn't close properly. Even while on PPIs, the acid gets into the esophagus if you are laying flat in bed and eventually causes ulcers or worse. By raising the bed, the acid stays in the stomach due to gravity. During the day, gravity keeps the acid in the stomach so the issue is resolved.

I also found that taking liquid Gaviscon at night before bed helped. When you take it, it forms into a foam barrier and any acid that comes up into the esophagus/throat gets neutralized by the antacid.
Posted 1/10/2014 2:54 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Posie,
Healing98 is so right about elevating the head of your bed. There is tremendous evidence that if you're experiencing nocturnal reflux (even silent reflux), raising the head of the bed is one of the most effective lifestyle changes you can make.
Good catch, Healing98!!
Take care,
Denise
Posted 1/10/2014 6:16 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your advice. I've actually had my bed raised on blocks for years. I think it has helped to a degree but I still go through periods of severe reflux. I'm very concerned about being on the PPI for probably 8 yrs now with my Dr. not really doing much else.
Posted 1/11/2014 9:27 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Posie

Have you had any of the tests to see if it's reflux?
Posted 1/11/2014 1:42 PM (GMT 0)
I encourage you to get it checked. I had silent reflux for years and, depending upon what I ate, it became very acidic. I often woke in the night coughing and trying to clear my throat of the acid. Sometimes it would spill over from my throat into my trachea. It was almost impossible to clear it out by coughing....it would take hours. Finally, one night I woke up in the middle of the night with extreme pain in my chest....For some reason I knew it wasn't a heart attack so I didn't immediately go to the emergency room. The next day I went to the military hospital and the Doctor and he ordered a Cat Scan and it showed an abscess in my left lung. Although I hadn't noticed it prior to my appointment, I was coughing up blood.
At the time they didn't relate it to reflux and they told me it was normally associated with alcoholics who frequently vomit during their binges and don't take care of their health. Since I dont drink I told them about my reflux problems but they didnt think much of my diagnosis. They referred me to a senior Doctor who specialized in communicable diseases and he prescribed high strength antibiotics for several months. After that treatment it seemed to be getting better and then I had a relapse and he treated it with even stronger antibiotics. It took a total of about 4 months to finally cure the infection.
Since my HH repair and NF last march, I haven't had any reflux what-so-ever and everything is back to normal.
Posted 1/13/2014 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
Retired Seabee thank you! This is exactly what happens to me! I feel it in my trachea and lungs and it takes HOURS to cough up. 8 yrs on a PPI is crazy to me. I don't drink either. I've had tests to see if I had Celiac disease (didn't). My doctor won't even send me to DO the tests to see if I have an HH or other issue. He just keeps giving me another PPI rx. I've explained to him my issues. On every one of my other health issues he's very helpful but not this one. I am overweight so I'm thinking he wants me to lose weight before he does anything HOWEVER, I've lost up to 40 lbs in the past and he STILL didn't do anything about the gerd. What is NF? I'm guessing the HH is hyatle hernia (sp?)? My mother has that. BTW it doesn't matter what I eat I still get stomach contents in my lungs. Sometimes it's acidy other times not so much.
Posted 1/13/2014 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
Also, I have a very slow metabolism. Even though I'm overweight I don't eat a lot. I can't eat large amounts or I get sick. I can't exercise much due to fibromyalgia and migraines. I'm thinking of doing a juice fast again (did one for 10 days once and felt wonderful though going off was very difficult and felt awful once again after about 2 weeks). I am very health conscious. I KNOW what is healthy food wise and not (probably more so than most) but it's difficult to eat healthy when you're in bed with fibro for long periods of time. I'm sure it contributes to the GERD. The FIBRO probably causes most of my problems: migraine, gerd, panic disorder, anxiety disorder, obesity. I used to be thin and active and healthy so it's difficult going through all this over the last 10 years. I'm actually a pretty positive person but sometimes I just get "sick and tired", pun intended ;D
Posted 1/13/2014 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
I was tentatively diagnosed with a Hiatal Hernia, (HH) in the mid 60's but at that time they didn't have many of the tests that they have today and couldn't do much about it without really major surgery. They prescribed Donatol and "Tums". So I lived with the HH for 40+ years. Through trial and error I learned what would set off my reflux--acidic food and carbohydrates. All of the foods that I like contain those two things so my diet was like a crap-shoot as to whether I would be awake all night with coughing.

The root of my personal kind of reflux is that only the stomach and large and small intestines have an acid-proof lining. The esophagus isn't acid-proof. If stomach acid infiltrates the esophagus, your body begins coughing trying to get rid of it. That is why the Lower Esophagael Sphincter (LES) is important. The LES is supposed to close off the lower end of the esophagus to prevent food and acid from refluxing back into the Esophagus. An ordinary Hiatal Hernia, (such as I had), means that the hole in the diaphragm (Hiatus) where the esophagus passes through becomes enlarged. That permits part of the stomach to move above the diaphragm into the chest cavity. In my case the LES was not working at all because the upper part of the stomach had ballooned into the chest cavity and that prevented the LES from working at all. Food would be swallowed and then it dribbled into the upper part of the stomach and just gravity flowed into the lower part for digestion. I don't know if this problem is hereditary but my Dad and my Sister both also had HH's.
In an over-simplification, during the repair of the HH, they first pulled the stomach back where it belonged--into the abdominal cavity. Then they sewed up the hole to reduce its size so that the stomach couldn't pass through. As part of the same operation they did the Nissen Fundoplication, (NF). They wrapped the upper part of the stomach around the lower part of the esophagus outside the area where the LES is located (like wrapping a scarf around your neck). Then they sew it in place. That increase the diameter of the esophagus to prevent it from going back through the hole in the diaphragm. It also allows the contractions of the stomach to reinforce the LES to prevent acid from refluxing. Remember. this is an over-simplification!!! The actual operation was very complicated. However that is basically what they did to me. I don't know what percent of HH repair and NF are sucessful. However, it worked for me 100% and I haven't experienced any reflux since they did it this past March.
Posted 1/14/2014 5:22 PM (GMT 0)
That's great that it worked. I actually wake up with stomach contents in my mouth a little (it comes all the way back up) and then while I'm sleeping my breathing seems to send it into the bronchials. I feel like I'm suffocating on acid and sometimes it's just plain food stuff (ew) because the PPI takes the acid away. I STILL have food coming up. Not all the time but often enough.

I JUST got ANOTHER answer from my DR. saying he sent an RX of Reglan and Protonix to the pharmacy and gave me the list (for like the 6th time) of all the things I should and shouldn't do. It's like they REALLY don't even want to find out if there's anything wrong with me.

I'm getting so frustrated, I just started crying when I got that e-mail AGAIN.
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