Being driven mad with irritating dry cough and have heartburn symptoms. Does anyone else have experience of this ?
Hi
How long have you had the symptoms. Ive had a combination of heartburn and sore throat, cough etc for several months. I have to watch what i eat. Nothing spicy or fatty. Cant drink alcohol either. I sleep on a wedge pillow of a night which helps to a degree.
Thanks for reply. It has got worse over last few weeks. Trying to reduce fizzy drinks and chocolate as well as spicy food. Started ranitidine last night so hope that helps.
Hi,
I might not have the solution, but here are some things that have helped me.
At a guess, I believe the issue is the acid rising up and aggravating your throat.
You can try to sort the symptoms, but for me, reflux can only be subdued by looking at the causes. The bulk of the problems stem from bed and food.
-
Sort your diet out. Start reading up on alkaline diets/ reflux diets and stick to them rigidly if you choose. My diet is Low Fodmap, crossed over with Non-Reflux, but for you, Alkaline/Reflux diet may be more important. The app store has 'Acid Reflux Helper' apps that show you what to avoid. Alcohol, Sodas, Fried and fatty foods are a complete no-no. It will take at least a couple of weeks for the diet to really start helping, but it really is key.
-
Use a sleep wedge to raise your sleeping position. In fact, if my reflux is bad (because I've been naughty with my eating!), I sleep almost sitting up as sleep wedges aren't enough.
-
NEVER EVER EVER sleep, or spend time, on your back, front or right hand side.
-
Omeprazole (from the docs), or Nexium might help reduce the acid in your tum. Zantac (ranitidine) is OK, but you need a reasonable dose.
If I follow the first 3, I can get away without the meds.
This won't get you a fix today, but will hopefully help in the long run.
Thank you so much for your very helpful reply. I will give your suggestions a go.