If you have LPR you ABSOLUTELY NEED to Read this

dax,

you might have gut problem or sensitivity to certain type of foods.

look into the fodmap, SCD Diet. these eliminate hard to digest foods..

even drinking too much water can flare up LPR.

you need to figure out if certain carbs bother you, or meats, gluten,etc. its all trial and error..

you should figure out your diet first, before you try elavil... if your still eating trigger foods, elavil wont help you...

basically drugs used to treat peripheral neurothapy can be used to treat hypersenstive larnyx.

its usually used as last resort if nothing else works...

Do you experience throat symptoms like burning sensation, feeling of the throat been swollen, ear drainage, burning tongue? I almost instantly get symptomatic if happened to eat something wrong. I do not see great help from H2 or neurontin but I am not yet on the full dose of neurontin at this time.
It is notable could be a vicious cycle: eat wrong, got flare up, then even when eating the ok food, still not symptoms free...

I was on scd diet. It helped, however, I got other "side effects" of the diet as was able to eat only vegetables, protein and eggs, some butter fat. It is very nourishing diet but may not be for everyone for a long time. May be it has to be reconsidered. That is where you get pretty much very slow food introduction and hopefully know what is causing your symptoms.... It is not an easy protocol

This thread really freaks me out.
Here is my story.
I used to suffer from chronic migraines. Finally, after prodding from my mother and wife, I went to see a neurologist.
The Dr. had me on so many darn drugs it wasn't funny. Nothing was working. The heavy daily doses of Naproxen, and other drugs made me worry it was going to cause stomach issues. I even explained that they were giving me a shoulder soreness, and slight stomach pain. I was told that I need to follow the prescriptions I was given!
Well, this went on for months and nothing worked. So, I stopped taking the 5 drugs I was on.
Well one of the drugs was "Amitriptylene".

Shortly after quitting the drugs, I began to have a mild tingle in my throat while eating. Come to find out I had an ulcer on my larynx. I was told from an ENT, it was likely from vocal abuse at some point in time and it would go away.

A couple of years later the soreness continued and I went to another ENT. I explained my chronic headaches as well.
He decided to remove the ulcer and biopsy it. He put me on Prilosec, Fluticasone, and Clarinex. The biopsy came back fine, and throat felt great for a couple months.
I was dealing with headaches every 2nd or 3rd day for the past 6 years. No kidding, I'm telling you, I could plan on a headache every couple days. On these new meds my headaches were reduced dramatically! Now, they are 1 every couple months or longer between.

The story continues.
My son brought home a Summer cold and I ended up getting it. Needless to say the chronic sore throat is back.
I went back, and he said everything looks fine. He only sees a bit of scar tissue but nothing else. Gave me some antibiotics, but they didn't work.
Like author of the thread stated, it's only on the right side and I don't ever wake up hacking or coughing. My throat usually feels best when I wake up.
The soreness is continuing and I'm going to have to go back.
This sucks, but God Bless, I haven't had a headache in a few months!

I think that I have some Amitriptylene left over. I'm going to talk to my ENT, and try going back on them.

I really hate going back on more drugs, cause I believe the Naproxen, and Sumatriptan caused all of these issues. I wish the neurologist would have listened to me about sinus pressure. I even told her I wanted to see an ENT or allergist. I should have listened to myself I guess.
Who knew Clarinex and Fluticasone on occasion would have fixed my headaches, and I probably wouldn't have all if these throat issues.

tomhalil said...
Daxter

You said: "... I have had the Peptest spit test, and only 1 of 3 samples showed pepsin. Moreover it showed it when I was symptom-free, and a research paper I was given says this pepsin falls into the NORMAL RANGE that people reflux - up to 3 times a day in controlled subjects."

Where is this research paper you're referring to, cause I can't seem to find it on google. Contrary to your statement, pepsin does not belong in the throat, and is absent in normal control subjects;

http://www.voiceinstituteofnewyork.com/activitystability-of-human-pepsin-implications-for-reflux-attributed-laryngeal-disease/

If you tested positive for pepsin with the peptest, than you have it.

Unfortunately I can't find the paper; I think I remember finding it when I still had access to a jorunal portal at uni. All I rememebr is the paper saying some control subjects without LPR still had Pepsin in their throats. To be honest, I feel like I'm just deluding myself. I'm just trying to make myself believe I DON'T have LPR, because if I give up and simply 'accept it,' I think I'll push myself over the edge and try to seriously harm myself. Sounds pathetic, but I just can't live with such a horrid disease for perhaps 60 years or more, with the highly-likely prospect of it turning into something much worse. I'd sooner "cure" my illness myself. :(

tomhalil, Thank you for the info about the Facebook group. I also just bought the Fast Tract book. I read most of it yesterday. It makes sense to me and I plan on trying the diet after Thanksgiving. I'll have to tweak the recipes a bit because I plan to do it without meat and I no longer eat dairy. But the idea of eating easily digested foods clicks with me and I think it's worth a try. I'm also interested in what supplements Marilyn takes. Hope to see you on Facebook too!

Here is my story....I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia years ago via endoscopy. I have Crohns and am on Remicade and Methotrexate and tend to get bronchitis several times per year. I also have asthma which is under control. Everytime that I get sick even with a basic cold I lose my voice. I got a bug the week before Christmas and lost my voice for 2 weeks. Last week during the extreme cold I went to my pulmonologist with what I though was an asthma attack only to have him call an ambulance because my lungs were fine but I was in Stridor. In the ER I had 2 more episodes of Stridor. They pumped full of steroids and Epi and called an ENT. The ENT scoped me and said that my larynx is sensitive but the Stridor was due to stress. They also did a C/T scan of my chest and throat which was clear. My symptoms are no voice, coughing and Stridor. I followed up with my ENT who diagnosed Laryngospasm caused by LPR and put me on ozemprazole twice per day. He also told me to avoid soda, caffeine, chocolate, alcohol and mint. I already follow a low acid no meat diet. My throat never hurts, I don't have heartburn or mirgraines or any of the classic GERD issues. I also don't relish the thought of being on osemprazole, eating early dinners and avoiding caffeine, chocolate, booze and mint for the rest of my life. Has anyone had luck healing/curing this naturally?

Jacket- I can see you haven't been on for awhile, but I was hopeful you might receive email notifications about the thread.
I am a singer, I write and sing bluesy rock with a band; about 6 months ago, I was working on a new song with my guitar player, pushed my voice too far, and lost my voice that night, and for several days following.
Since that day I have been chronically hoarse. I took breaks from singing at the beginning, and as of now our band is on a break (has been for about two months) and my problem remains.
I have had a laryngoscopy and I have no vocal damage. I have slight vocal paralysis on the right side. The surrounding tissue does look red and inflammed. I was diagnosed with LPR- meds didn't help, dietary changes haven't helped. I exercise regularly, I eat a very healthy and low fat diet.
Nothing. I do wake up with an acidic taste in my mouth in the mornings, and my throat burns. I don't experience any heartburn symptoms. I don't burp a lot right now- but there have been times when I did.
I guess I am wondering if any of that sounds like how your situation started; and, how long were you on elavil before you felt completely normal? I feel leery of taking antidepressants, but music is everything to me and I would try basically anything at this point to heal my voice.
Did you have any side-effects?
Were you able to come off the medication- did it heal you?- or do your symptoms return if you go off it?

I would really appreciate any insight you might have.
Thank you.