Posted 5/27/2013 4:53 AM (GMT 0)
I have symptoms of both GERD and LPR. The heartburn is usually manageable, but right now the throat pains and sensations have really been getting to me. I have to swallow, cough, or clear my throat every couple seconds, or else my brain tells me that I'm choking. For a while, I had thought that the only thing triggering the choking feeling was the habit of having to cough, but recently I discovered that it comes from a buildup of liquid in my mouth, blocking my breathing.
I have concluded that this liquid cannot be mostly acid since there I'd such a small amount of acid present in gastric juice, from studying molar concentration. My last 24 hour pH probe recorded 156 instances of reflux during the day and 0 at night, which confused my doctors. I actually had to wait an entire month for the results because they got the entire department together to look at my test results, and the answer they came back to me with is that my esophagus might be pushing acid up instead of down when I swallow. This was a very vague guess from my doctors, but I want to test if this is true or not.
Right now I am trying to figure out a way to test if I am creating too much saliva and post nasal drip or if these liquids are constantly creeping up my esophagus, during or between swallows. When I resist the urge to cough, it feels like liquid is building up on my tongue. I looked up where the salivary glands are located and it is not likely that this is being created in this spot, but I am not confident that this is enough proof.
I realize that this topic may seem a little abstract, but does anyone have any good ideas for how to test whether I am creating too much saliva or my esophagus is functionally broken? I will be having a manometry in a week, but I do not think that those results will help with this.