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Posted 9/26/2011 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Guys I'm new to this forum...First of all let me just say that I really feel for those of your suffering from this nasty LPR...I hope you don't mind but I wanted to share a bit of my background...In 2008, I was drinking a caramel mocchiato and remember feeling as if I had a long piece of hair stuck in my throat which was accompanied by difficulty swallowing. I have had severe anxiety for years and blamed these symptoms on my anxiety, as I've never heard of LPR reflux before. After some time, the symptoms became unbearable and I went to visit my GP who immediately referred me to an ENT. He immediately diagnosed me with GERD and sent me home with nothing but a prescription for mylanta and mucinex which needless to say did nothing! I then bought OTC prilosec and was symptom free within a few days. However, I discontinued treatment after 14 days and my symptoms came back with a vengeance (Throat clearing, excessive mucous, extremely thick saliva, coughing, non-stop burping, and difficulty swallowing). I then visited a gastro who prescribed prevacid for me and I took 60 mg every morning, as splitting them up during the day did not seem to have as strong of an effect on me and at the time I really had very few symptoms at night. During this time, I was working with a psychologist who believed that my reflux symptoms were caused by anxiety so I kept telling myself I did not have reflux, and went on with my life free of all medications and ate anything and everything I wanted. For two years, I was symptom free, aside from a tickling cough and burping here and there. At this time I was a smoker, so I'm still not sure what this cough was from. about three months ago I got hit with severe throat clearing, coughing, and excessive mucous and saliva. I have been on prevacid again, and most of my symptoms seem to be controlled (all though I am still dealing with extra saliva). If my medicine was working, would I still be experiencing this symptom? On top of it, I just started sneezing and have a runny nose and am worried this is reflux related. Will this symptom ever go away? I'm just so depressed as it seems that even surgery isn't a final solution.

Anyway, thanks for listening and any input would be greatly appreciated =)
Posted 9/26/2011 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
hi faith,

you have an interesting story.

so you controlled your anxiety and the LPR stopped? no diet changes?




Seems like your LPR is not too bad.

you could try the koufman diet (its described in a recent thread)

LPR you have to worry about your dietary acid intake as well as stomach acid (PPI handles that).

try the diet for 2 weeks let us know ur progress.

Jesse.
Posted 9/26/2011 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Jesse,

Thanks so much for your reply. My therapist really believed this was caused by my anxiety and so, I basically told myself I was fine. I can't really explain why I was basically symptom free for so long, perhaps I did not pay as much attention to my symptoms? I'm not sure, but this makes me think that maybe my LPR isn't so bad after all, however when it flares up, it is a living nightmare. I basically live on the Koufman diet, although I do drink ginger-ale and coffee in moderate amounts, as water seems to bother me. I also have TMJ on the left side of my face and was wondering if this could be related to the LPR as well?

Have a good day...
Posted 9/26/2011 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Faith-
Welcome to HealingWell.
I am just curious as to why you say"I'm just so depressed as it seems that even surgery isn't a final solution" ? Also what kind of testing have you had done?
Not everyone gets the same results from PPIs. Some times you have to try a couple different ones or change dosages.
sometimes it takes a combination of meds. Have you tried raising the head of your bed about 6 inches?
Some PPIs have some strange side effects for some people. Not sure if excessive saliva is one for prevacid or not.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 9/26/2011 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
hi faith,

yes flares are indeed horrible and depressing.

trying chewing some gum (something without citric acid in it) helps alot with the symptomps.

u could switch to prilosec something like 40mg twice a day...

or nexium 40mg twice a day...

consult your doctor first.


i would try cutting out the coffee and soda.. see if it helps.

hang in there.

Jesse
Posted 9/26/2011 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Bill,

Thanks for the warm welcome. Everything I'm reading about LPR just seems so negative. As far as surgery not being a final solution, I heard that often times, the Nissen doesn't even work for people with LPR. I guess I just have't seen anything too encouraging lately and am afraid to be stuck like this forever. In addition, I am highly anxious and am always fearing the worst. For example, I have a cold right now and am sneezing but still feel like LPR is causing this, although I have never had these symptoms before and the mucous in my nose is green. Or if I cough, that acid is going into my lungs even though I am on a high double dose of prevacid daily and don't seem to have any breathing problems or asthma. I have been scoped and have been too anxious to get an endoscopy, but will get a barium soon. I didn't even know extra saliva could be a possible side effect, thanks for responding to me.

I'm trying to understand how I made it off PPI's eating everything and anything I wanted with very little to no symptoms. Does anyone think this could be related to anxiety?

 

Posted 9/27/2011 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Faith-
i suppose anxiety could worsen the symptoms. since you seem to feel acid at your lungs there is a chance your LES isn't functioning correctly. I myself am perplexed when I hear repair of the LES won't help LPR. If it's stomach acid or bile whatever, if it is coming from the stomach fixing the LES would stop anything from coming up.
I did have times early on when I would be symptom free for a while and then get it bad for a while. Unsure as to why though.
stay with us, there some members who have had lung issues also and had very good results after their nissens. Denise and Joy I know for sure had bad lungs before their nissens.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 9/27/2011 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Bill,

Thanks for your support. The thing is I'm not sure that I have any lung issues, as my breathing doesn't seem to be affected at all nor have I had bronchitis or pneumonia. However, being so anxious makes me worry that I have lung issues anyway. However, I did have a cough from the reflux and this seems to be controlled by prevacid for the most part.
Posted 9/28/2011 6:58 AM (GMT 0)
Faith-
The other members who had lung issues have allergies, not sure about asthma though. If the prevacid is controlling your cough, that's great. I pray prevacid works well for you and you don't need to switch meds and such all the time. Actually, I think if your cough starts again that will let you know if the prevacid ever stops working for you.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 9/28/2011 3:25 PM (GMT 0)
Faith,

lpr is not the end of the world altho at times for many... if not all of us, it feels like it is. many of us have additional health issues an as these problems pile up we look back and wish we could "just" have lpr amazing as that might sound.

i agree with you that emotion is a factor in reflux

as for your " remission" that is, the period of time when things got better for a while and you could eat pretty much as you wish...

yes one can me progress and then have set backs with this disease...one gets better, then one gets worse, an then better and worse, but for many gerd is often but not always a degenerative disease

thats why theres surgery!

but there are many choices out there, many medical strategies (various PPIs, H2 antihistamines, carafate, and supplements that can calm a person down)

plus there are medical procedures, like fundoplication and depending on your county, linx, and others.

so please dont give up hope, we are here to give support to each other and share information. you are in good company

hang in there
best wishes
mock turtle

Post Edited (mock turtle) : 9/28/2011 9:44:01 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/28/2011 4:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Mock,

Thanks so much for your support. At this point, I feel what's left of my LPR is anxiety. A couple of days ago, I had a runny nose and forgot all about the sensation of mucous in my throat and extra saliva. Now that my runny nose is gone-- I keep focusing on the mucous and saliva--so now it's starting to bother me again! You're right, it's really not the end of the world, but is certainly annoying and uncomfortable. I think the main thing for me now is to go on with my life and stop paying so much attention to every little symptom, as I believe this is not allowing me to heal.

Hope you're feeling well =)
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