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GERD with no heartburn

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GERD & Acid Reflux
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Posted 7/7/2006 5:55 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, I am new to this board but have been reading the posts with great interest.
My Doctor just told me I have GERD and prescribed 20 mg Pariet, a PPI. He came to that diagnosis after I've complained of a severe sore lower throat for a few weeks. I've been taking the meds for about 3 weeks now but the sore throat has not gone away even though I'm making sure I don't eat at least 3 hours before bed and sleeping with my head elevated above my chest. The level of pain fluctuates from day to day. I also have aches and pinching pains in my upper abdomen but these pains don't stick around for very long. They usually come on after dinner.

My throat is so sore that I can feel it inside my ears. My question is, is it possible to have GERD without heartburn? I'm concerned I'm getting misdiagnosed.

Thank you.
Posted 7/7/2006 2:39 PM (GMT 0)

Hi

Yes it is possible to have it without the "BURN". I have it and my only symptom is trouble swallowing. I am on Prilosec and it is slowly starting to feel better.

Marsha

Posted 7/9/2006 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for letting me know.

Is it normal to have no improvement in my throat even though I've been on medication for 3 weeks already?

Sorry I seem so ignorant. I really don't know very much about this condition.
Posted 7/9/2006 12:57 AM (GMT 0)

Hi

It can take a while for it to go away. I have been on the PPI's since the beginning of June and am now just starting to feel better.

You are not ignorant that is why you are here to get information and support from everyone else who has gone through the same thing. yeah If it was not for this Board I would have made myself ill from worry.

Marsha

Posted 7/13/2006 2:42 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you all.

I have to wait till September to see the Gastroent. In the meantime, I'll have to live as if I have GERD, eventhough I don't have a firm diagnosis.

How does one get LES anyway? Does it just 'come on' all of a sudden? Will it ever go away?
Posted 7/18/2006 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
Mine was caused after a night of drinking. I didn't even drink that much. I was on Prevacid 20 MG 1x day and Nexium 40 MG 1x day and I still had this sore throat 4 out of every 5 days.

Finally I switched doctors, Nexium 40 MG 2x day and I have been pretty good as far as not having sore throats. I do get the post nasal drainage as mentioned above.

It kind of sucks to have to take drugs every day for the rest of my life, but after having symptoms for 8 months, its nice to go back to feeling "normal" or as normal as I can possibly feel. Maybe down the road I'll look at surgeory
Posted 7/23/2006 2:23 PM (GMT 0)
thank you thank you THANK YOU!  the information i got from this thread is better than that i have received from 4 docs!  pugandher, you are a jewel!  your post has explained more to me about my condition than i ever could have imagined!

I was first diagnosed with lpr about a year ago.  the gi dr siad that it was because i had no symptoms of gerd.  i was complaining of what felt like postnasal drip.  i had previously been to another dr who had ruled that out.  but the dr never told me that the post nasal drip was a symptom of lpr.  i just went to another dr who did the thing with my throat and his camera and he told me that there was no damage but that i had lpr because of a hyatal (sp) henia.  it didn't make sence to me and again i couldn't get any straight answers from the doc (i had been sedated for the camera gig).

i also have little or no appitite.  is this normal with lpr?

i have been given no direction about food or lifestyle changes (except to stop smoking - less painful to cut off my arm and leg).  what should (or shouldn't) i be eating?  AND DON'T SAY I HAVE TO GIVE UP CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  stopping smoking isn't on the table.  but what other lifestyle changes should i be making?

so far this thread has my docs beatten to h***.  i would greatly appeciate your input.

god bless!

 

Posted 7/25/2006 3:14 AM (GMT 0)
wmnak, You asked for input, so here it goes.

I too, had to cut down on very comforting habits in order for my GERD to stop making my life hell. A lack of appetite is one of the symptoms that many people feel when their stomach does not empty with normal speed. It could be that your PPI inhibits acid production and this causes a very slow digestion, or it could be the bloatedness that comes with GERD.

They may have told you to stop smoking for one of two reasons: First, this is the hardest and most important but most stressful of the lifestyle changes you must make in order to the GERD to get better, with or without medication. Perhaps they are waiting to see if you'll get rid of the smoking to then tackle other changes. Or, maybe they assume that like most GERD sufferers you won't change your habits and are not bothering with further directions, which is sad but common.

Ok, so if you really want to know, this is what will definitely aggravate your GERD right now: Alcohol; caffeine; ANY fatty food; acid fruits and food, like oranges and tomato sauce from cans, old food like meat leftovers (acid), hard to digest food, like nuts, red meat and starches.

I am assuming you're not overweight or they would have told you this too. Please keep us posted, and good luck with quitting smoking! You can and will feel lots better, but it will take at least a few months of "lifestyle changes" in addition to medication and stress reduction. Try to be patient and keep writing!
Posted 7/25/2006 8:24 PM (GMT 0)

beb ster,

thank you for such a good and quick responce to my ramblings.  i have been disgnised with bi polar disorder and there seems to be something in the cigarettes (i think that it's the necotine) that increases seratonin, making us crazies feel better.  at any rate that's what my psyciatrist and psycologist both told me.  at any rate, i went off the coffin nails after back surrgery, but aftet three weeks in the hospital went back to the white beasties after less than a month.

but other life-style and eating changes i am tickled pink to make.  i didn't know about the acid foods, for example.  i love organges and they are dirt cheap in the rio grande valley of texes where i live.  oh, well.  maybe i can save a few sheckles on those.  mad   and have also given up coffee (i used to drink almost a gallon a day). 

as i said, from where we live, citrus is the only thing you mentioned that will be somewhat difficult.  but it certainly is do-able.

that's great!  any more suggestions?  swim the hellispont, maybe?

Post Edited (wmnak) : 7/25/2006 2:31:34 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/25/2006 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
eyes  Please somebody what is lpr? eyes I'm the old bleeding ulcer here and gave up the ppi's...no problem. Now am taking h2 histamine blocker. Can't take carefate anymore because it causes IBS. Waited about 4 hours today for the doc to call. He never did. What a mess. Our medical system sucks.

Post Edited (Joan Mack) : 7/25/2006 5:54:13 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/26/2006 2:48 AM (GMT 0)
 I went to see an ENT because I was having a lot of post nasal drip, constantly having to clear my throat and my throat was closing off in the night. He diagnosed me with GERD but I had researched it before and knew that one of the main, and most frustrating symptoms of GERD is heartburn. I told him I have no heartburn whatsover, so how could it be GERD? My symptoms didn't even seem to resemble those but he told me that there is another type of GERD that does not cause heartburn but has all the characteristics of the type I have.
I came home and researched it and found that the type I have is called Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease. My own personal symptoms are:
No heartburn
Hoarseness
Occasional pain in my throat, like a sore throat
Continual throat clearing (and I mean CONTINUAL)
Excessive phlegm the throat
Swallowed food comes back up
Post nasal drainage
Blockage of my breathing passage during sleep
Posted 7/26/2006 5:32 PM (GMT 0)
wmnak, yes, oranges and many others fruits/juices and even vegetables seem to bother us GERD sufferers. You should pay close attention to your body after meals to make adjustments in your diet. Also, GERD symptoms may not always bother you immediately after you eat, but could bother you up to days later.

Exercise and drinking plenty of water, especially after meals may be helpful.


Best wishes!

Vanessa
Posted 7/26/2006 8:30 PM (GMT 0)

I went to see an ENT today and was told I had LPR.  The scope showed no damage which surprised me.  I asked the ENT how it is possible to not have any inflammation when I feel such soreness in my throat and the ENT says it is quite common to have normal scope results.

My only symptom these days is the sore throat which is much improved.  I occasionally have to clear my throat and notice a weird feeling like there's something in my throat when I swallow liquids only.  I also burp quite a bit after drinking and eating. 

Hopefully I can stop taking the PPI soon.

Posted 7/26/2006 10:52 PM (GMT 0)
My constant, and I mean constant nasal and throat clearing is driving me bonkers. I asked my ENT how long it would take the Aciphex to take these away and he said up to a couple of months.
Posted 7/27/2006 1:55 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, thank you pugsandherpeeps...that's what I thought I had in 2003 and thought the old ppi/nexium stuff would help me. BUT IT DIDN'T. Ended up with a bleeding ulcer.

Spoke with my regular doc yesterday and he knows I had to stop Carafate and I'm taking h2 histamine block ramintidine (zantac). Took Carafate for approximately 2 months and it caused severe IBS symptoms.

Am beginning to wonder if the whole thing is a ANOTHER misdiagnosis. They thought I had sinus infections the first time. I have the sore throat, the awful taste in my mouth, blah, blah, blah.

I am a "known asthmatic" since 1984, sounds like a crime, eh? I don't want community pneumonia from ppi, thank you anyway, kind doctor and here it my small co-pay along with the big co-pay the insurance company is giving you.

I think dogs should be our doctors...I like them and they are doctor dogs tongue

Post Edited (Joan Mack) : 7/27/2006 7:59:23 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/27/2006 8:58 PM (GMT 0)
what kinds if veggies irritqate gerd? 

and i think cats should be drs.  they could care less but are no worse than most human drs.  and cats sleep so peacefully.

 

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