Can Gerd/LRP be temporary?

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and the temporary nature of flare ups seems to be a theme for some, but not for others. I think it really depends on what the cause of your GERD/LPR might be. Whether it's a psychological or physiological thing.

For me, I developed GERD 8 years ago at the height of my depression and anxiety. A few months of taking PPI's and a round of anti-depressants sent it into remission for me after several months to a year, if not more, of dealing with it. When I felt better I got off both meds cold turkey and went through acid rebound as well as maddening brain shocks from quitting the anti-depressants that way. But I was still able to ignore my GERD for several years to this point and fatten up significantly.

So what I've learned is that flareups do seem to come and go if your GERD is caused by anxiety/depression at least. And that you should always have a tapering off plan rather than just going cold turkey. You can take less dosages of your PPI per day at a certain rate and add Zantac 150mg to help with extra acid.

As for LES/UES valves themselves, the LES valve can be damage from overeating and irritated by eating food that causes a lot of gas. As for the UES, I suspect that I damaged mine after a terrible dry heave back when my recent GERD flare was at its worse and that's how I developed LPR. But I also believe that the UES is more susceptible to acid damage than the LES because I know that's another thing I dealt with. I don't know whether the valves improve after they have been damaged, but I hope so.

For now I wouldn't worry about getting off your PPIs. They are meant to protect your esophagus from damage while you make the lifestyle changes necessary to send this flare up into remission. You can be on them for a few months til the doctors figure out what's going on and then ask your doc for the taper plan.

I'm in the same place in regards to doctors. I have a great doctor, but he doesn't really know much about reflux other than to treat it aggressively. He referred me to a GI in hopes that he will give me more answers and I will be pushing for a scope.

By another coincidence, my current GERD/LPR also surfaced around finals week of university, and peaked to the extreme over the summer because I was unable to de-stress from the entire school year, and overeating. The thing I've noticed about anxiety is that it builds up little by little over a long period of time, and then before we know it, it comes out in full force due to being triggered by a difficult event (we both know how stressful finals week is) and wreaks havoc on the body. It's difficult to tell which event will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but finals week is definitely one giant piece of straw. In addition to that, you have been through a lot, and I'm sorry for your loss, but also congrats on your new baby! I hope your baby grows strong.

Not to fully restate my point on PPIs, but they are better off used as a platform for launching your new healthy lifestyle, rather than relying on them to reduce acid and the subsequent reflux from eating trigger food. However, I know how difficult it is to ditch the coffee, and even more difficult to launch a new healthy lifestyle, as I've had a lot of trial and error these last few months, and I've had more errors than trials (I ate a lot of tilapia and lima beans/brussel sprouts not knowing that the fish had a lot of fat and that the gas caused by the vast quantities of these veggies irritated my LES valve). But I seem to have found relief *knocks on wood* eating cod, brown rice, and other leafy greens the past 2 days. Which brings me to my last point, you don't really have to worry that much about damage to your LES/UES as long as you find the foods that work for you, and the proper time and portions to eat them.

Oh and one last idea that I read up on, something that I plan to employ that might also help you. Once you do feel better and the flare ups pass, it's important that you continue taking your meds for a little while longer, and continue your new diet for even longer in order to prevent a relapse. Once I feel better I plan on giving the meds an extra month before tapering off, and maybe the diet an extra year before gradually introducing new things (If anyone else reading can chime in on this idea it would be great). This is something that makes sense to me, or so I think.

Hoping for the best!

Ginger ale was my favorite of all fizzy drinks, I know how sad it is to let it go. I've learned that with LPR you have to be careful with liquids, both the type of drink and the quantity. I drink only water now a days. A few weeks ago even water caused me reflux, but sipping at smaller quantities throughout the day fixed that. Sipping it in small quantities at spaced out times throughout the day even. I tend to sip more an hour or so before or after meals, it's possible to push for 30 mins before and after a meal - it's critical not to get dehydrated because that makes things worse.

Keep in mind that food with high grams of fat require more production of acid to digest, so that explains the pizza and the alfredo sauce (two things which I love a lot as well).

Food has always been a great source of comfort for me. I know a lot of fitness enthusiasts say it's better to look at food as a source of nourishment rather than comfort, but there's no denying how good our comfort foods make us feel, along with all of the happy associations that come along with it as you mentioned. I remember how I used to just buy a gigantic breakfast burrito during the morning and then skip lunch and dinner. Or even sometimes grind out the entire day of school and then buy some late night chinese take out.

In retrospect, I don't feel bad about saying goodbye to those days of eating randomly as long as I find relief. And who knows? There's plenty of stories online about how people manage to sneak in their favorite foods on occasion. Once we've made the necessary adjustments to our lifestyle/diets, and our systems are humming, and with use of moderation, I'm sure we'll be able to sneak in most of those foods that bring us happiness again. So don't let giving up your favorite foods/drinks bring you down, because I'm confident that the cup of coffee that you drink one year from now when your symptoms are in remission will taste thousands of times better than the coffee that you have on a daily basis.

I've had dysphagia for the last two months and it only let up the last few days when I finally found some relief *knocks on wood again*. It's an extremely common symptom, and I'm sure everyone with GERD has plenty of stories to share about the assortment of berries or beans that have gotten stuck in their throats. In addition to the dysphagia I also had an inflamed esophagus (it was probably esophagitus because there was some painful swallowing), a ton of mucous dripping down which made the food easier to get caught, chronic cough while I chewed, and shortness of breath which made chewing/swallowing even harder. The only solution to this problem is to take smaller bites and chew to a near liquid consistency. It would take me forever to finish a meal compared to before, but it was the only way I could eat. At the end of the meal, you can sneak in a few sips of water, but don't chug it down. Regurgitation was also very common for me, and it would actually cause me to heave.

Currently, from low, moderate, high, and severe, I'd say that my GERD has gone from severe to moderate. I can eat peacefully for now, and I haven't gotten a lot of reflux at night like I was a few days ago, so fingers crossed it stays that way.

I have seen significant improvement thanks to PPIs. I lost my voice for the last two months but it's back now, so I'm ecstatic! Also less mucous, so even with setbacks I know that I am healing overall. Look for small victories like those along the way to help you in your recovery. My new motto is to always keep your spirits up!

Haha, it's good to hear your family has your back.

Glad to hear you are feeling ok. If you find relief from the popsicle then that's great. For me the cold seems to trigger it, so I don't even drink cold water. I recently started sipping on Chamomile tea though and at the least it doesn't seem to hurt me.

I don't mind taking PPIs for life at a standard dose assuming that there is something in the endoscopy that warrants that (Hiatal, barrets, etc). Otherwise I plan to continue my weight loss and eat my healthier diet to see if my symptoms improve from that. Then I will slowly begin to wean off PPIs and be off them like before.

Surgery is really the last resort. Assuming that I can manage the symptoms well with diet or with PPIs, then I won't really consider it until I have exhausted every other single effort for an extended period of time.

In regards to the future and the condition, I really do believe that you will be able to find a lifestyle balance where you can manage your symptoms just fine. In an earlier post when my symptoms were at their worse, the user KitKat880 told me not to lose hope and that I'd find what would work for me. Turns out he was right, as I said my symptoms have currently dropped to "moderate" from "severe", so take it one day at a time and hang in there.

I haven't been formally diagnosed with LPR either, just GERD as well. But I know acid was coming up to my larynx because I lost my voice and felt the burning in my throat, so for me it's definitely LPR. Similar lump in throat feeling and dysphagia as I pointed out earlier. I plan on asking an ENT for a 24hr ph study to find out if my current refluxes are acid related or aerosol related.

Do let me know how the test turns out, and I'm hoping for the best.