Alejandra1219 said...
Hi everyone! I posted in another LPR thread but that one doesn't seem to have any traction at the moment. Please help me, as I am feeling scared at the moment regarding my GERD/LPR! I am 38. I started having heartburn in June, and seemingly overnight, I had dysphagia. It went on for three weeks until finally the PPI I am taking started to kick in (omeprazole). In early July I had my first endoscopy, which showed mild (Grade A) esophagitis and mild chronic gastritis, with no H Pylori. The gastro doc also did not find a hiatal hernia (even though I suspect I have one). Around that time, my difficulty swallowing finally showed signs of going away. I was told to resume my regular diet, but I've tried to be very careful about my eating habits (no caffeine, chocolate, soda, tomatoes, etc.)
I was told to continue taking omeprazole twice a day, and I supplemented that with a probiotic (PB8). The probiotic seemed to work wonders. For about a month, I was able to eat normally again, just in smaller portions, and to regain the weight I had lost (about 5 pounds). I was so relieved! I was suffering from other side effects of the medication (constipation, excessive urination, possibly a UTI?). I had just gone to my GP to discuss the excessive urination. We chalked up to me drinking a lot of water, almost overhydrating. I was told it was OK to lay off the water a bit.
Eating-wise, everything seemed to be going well until Saturday night. I took my evening omeprazole with
a glass that was about 3/4 full, and I thought the pill went down smoothly, like normal. I didn't worry about it. I went downstairs to talk to friends before dinner as I waited for a half hour to begin eating. At some point, during dinner, I realized that food was not going down as well as it normally did. It wasn't getting *stuck* but my throat felt a little dry, and an acid-y feeling kept creeping in while I was eating. I realize NOW that I may have been dehydrated and perhaps I had started eating before the omeprazole had made its way to the stomach? Is that possible? Not realizing that I had made any mistakes, I also took my probiotic with a 12-ounce Gatorade a couple hours later.
Yesterday was more of the same, if not worse. I was able to eat if I made my food VERY small and liquidified. I started worrying that pills were stuck in my throat, even though a nurse friend told me that that was unlikely. At night, I tried sleeping on my left side, as I heard that was better for acid reflux. But I woke up in the middle of the night feeling as though I was choking on phlegm.
Today, I am able to swallow somewhat, but the dreaded lump in my throat is back! I took my morning omeprazole, and I thought it went down fine. But when I had lunch, I could feel pain under my left breastbone. And when I tried to take the pill before dinner just now, that pain was intense as I was drinking my carrot juice and water to try to get the pill to go down. For awhile, it felt like the pill was stuck at the base of my throat before I drank about 16 ounces, and the feeling went away.
My question is this: Have the events of this weekend erased the progress I had made up to this point? Or is this just a setback that will right itself soon? I was very much hoping that my esophagitis would heal by mid-September (about 12 weeks total) and that I could slowly wean off the medication. Now it feels like I am back at Stage 1, and I am panicking that perhaps I have developed a stricture -- or worse!-- and that healing is now an additional 3-6 weeks away (if this EVER goes away).
I am new to GERD/LPR, and while I haven't been perfect, I have tried to follow the rules. I sleep on a wedge pillow, try to not eat 3 to 4 hours before bedtime and stay upright after meals. Everyone else I know who has had GERD or heartburn says that they had to be on the medication for months but now are back to normal. I am afraid that my case is very severe, and that I may never be able to get off of these medications. I have been so anxious, frustrated and afraid because every day seems to bring discomfort of some kind.
Could someone please offer me some guidance or words of wisdom? I'm beginning to feel hopeless. This level of discomfort and fear (of Barrett's or throat cancer) might be something I learn to live with. Please help if you can.
I can relate to a lot of what you are writing because I also have chronic gastritis and a grade B erosive esophagitis. It's sent me to the ER in the past year 3 times, so I'm very familiar with the pain and discomfort it can cause.
First off, I want to give you hope. You can get healed from this and that there is light at the end of the tunnel, though the tunnel might be a little longer than you'd like it to be. I'm on my 2nd month of recovery (using my last trip in June to the ER) and realize that I have many more months to go before my esophagus fully heals.
The attacks that you are describing sound very similar to mine. They can last for a few hours to several days. What I do after these attacks is that I stick to 7 to 8 basic foods. I only drink water and ginger root tea. Gatorade is loaded with salt and sugar, so I'm not a big fan of it.
I focus on soft and pureed foods for a few days. I like organic bananas and organic peeled red apples. I'll usually eat a small banana and half a peeled red apple for breakfast. If these are not your trigger foods then they are very good at helping keep your stomach alkaline and they go down easily. On my really bad days I'll eat organic baby food or I'll make my own (plenty of recipes online).
It doesn't sound like you have IBS or SIBO based on what you wrote, so eating light portions of steamed white rice (jasmine or basmati) should be okay. Another thing I like to do is boil some carrots and one potato and then mash them up with a little bit of organic beef or chicken broth for some flavor (stay away from bullion because it's mostly MSG). I focus on organic foods because I have found them to irritate my digestive tract a lot less than non-organic foods.
If your symptoms do NOT improve after a few days, then I would go see your doctor asap. Preferable a gastroenterologist or ENT. It seems odd to me that you were doing well and all of the sudden you started getting these symptoms. What was it that you ate and drank that night?
I remember eating some fish about a month ago with some steamed rice and then after a few minutes I started getting one of my painful attacks (centered where the esophagus is located). I asked my friend what spices or herbs she used and she stated she used a little bit of white and black pepper to season the fish.
Just that tiny amount of pepper caused me grieve for the next couple of weeks. Sometimes it's the smallest amount of something that can cause us to have bad reactions. So that's why I am asking what you ate.
I hope you start feeling better soon.