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Aspiriating the lungs?

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Posted 8/30/2015 1:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone, it's been a while. For the last 2 months I seem to have gotten my GERD under control with a small dosage of Prevacid and diet! People are commenting how much better Im looking and just seem.

Last night was a rough night though and something happened that I have never experienced, just only heard others talk about.

I will admit, I overate a bit yesterday. It was all healthy but even at bedtime 3 hours after eating i still felt bloated. At about 3am I was awoken with heart palpitations and anxiety and needed an ativan to calm me down. I haven't needed that in 2 full months.

When I went back to bed and got up at about 8am...this is the new thing that happened...i needed to cough really bad...but it was hard for me to cough and the pain I felt in my whole chest and back when doing so was awful...like way high up there...i coughed upsome phlegm but it was just clear. This went on for about 10 min. I took a throat lozenge and the severity of the pain went away.

Does this sound like aspirating the lungs??
Posted 9/1/2015 6:00 AM (GMT 0)
That sounds more like something lodged in your chest that needed to come up, maybe exacerbated by extra pressure on your stomach from eating more than usual.

I am far too familiar with aspirating it used to be a nightly thing and it still happens day to day. It feels exactly like when you drink something and it "goes down the wrong way" because thats what aspiration is, breathing in liquid, when it happens your body reacts by coughing until whatever went in, comes out. With acid aspiration I have found that the coughing lasts a lot longer, and the pain lingers a lot longer. Its quite an abrasive pain in the back of the throat, and an achy chest from all the coughing.
Posted 9/3/2015 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
When I wake up aspirating it does feel exactly like I am choking on water that went down the wrong pipe. It is really an awful way to wake up. I just cough and cough and cough.
Posted 9/3/2015 8:17 PM (GMT 0)

spiritspinner said...
Hi everyone, it's been a while. For the last 2 months I seem to have gotten my GERD under control with a small dosage of Prevacid and diet! People are commenting how much better Im looking and just seem.

Last night was a rough night though and something happened that I have never experienced, just only heard others talk about.

I will admit, I overate a bit yesterday. It was all healthy but even at bedtime 3 hours after eating i still felt bloated. At about 3am I was awoken with heart palpitations and anxiety and needed an ativan to calm me down. I haven't needed that in 2 full months.

When I went back to bed and got up at about 8am...this is the new thing that happened...i needed to cough really bad...but it was hard for me to cough and the pain I felt in my whole chest and back when doing so was awful...like way high up there...i coughed upsome phlegm but it was just clear. This went on for about 10 min. I took a throat lozenge and the severity of the pain went away.

Does this sound like aspirating the lungs??

It's difficult to say what this really is because it could be cause by so many different things.  I hear you on the overeating thing, because I think just about everyone here has done it at one time or another.  Even as disciplined as I am, I have over eaten as recently as 2 weeks ago.  When my stomach and esophagus are feeling fine I feel like I can eat more food without having symptoms. 

And since my symptoms sometimes don't manifest until 20-45 minutes after I've eaten (sometimes longer), then I have this temporary illusion that I can eat more.  Without exception, every time I've over eaten this year, I've paid for it with a lot of pain.  Same holds true when I don't chew my food thoroughly.

The coughing could be caused my regurgitated food, bile (bile reflux), stomach acid, or stomach acid or something else acidic activating the pepsin that might still be in your digestive tract.  Heck, it can even be a malfunctioning LES (lower esophageal sphincter).  

I found this article very insightful in regards to LPR:

http://www.voiceinstituteofnewyork.com/silent-laryngopharyngeal-reflux-lpr-an-overview/

Posted 9/4/2015 12:08 AM (GMT 0)

LAWCHICK said...
When I wake up aspirating it does feel exactly like I am choking on water that went down the wrong pipe. It is really an awful way to wake up. I just cough and cough and cough.

I can second that, its like being waterboarded in your sleep
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