Hi I started having symptoms nearly three months ago. My symptoms are excessive saliva , choking feeling constantly, burping which my kids find embarrassing. Bloating where my stomach hurts, and I find it had to walk and chest tightness which resulted in me having crackling on lungs and prescribed antibiotics and inhaler.
I m currently prescribed lansoprazole on 60 mg from 30 and I m waiting for endoscopy.
I ve lost 7lbs which I don t need as very thin anyway.
I ve been eating a bland diet, but symptoms are nt improving.
Any help or advice would be appreciated as can t lead a normal life, work or look after my children as I used to x
Hi Sharon you sound like you have really bed Acid Reflux? I seem to get the bloating, wind at both ends ( my youngest finds hilarious ) I know how awful it is and just embarising. Other than Lanssoprazole have the doctor given you anything else? Have they mentioned acid reflux to you at all? It's very in depth acid reflux ( as you'll know if u go on look up on it). I would go and see your go again and get some reassurance ?. Sorry that's the only advice I can give you.x
Hi Sharon,
Symptoms canbe distressing and it can take a lot of experimentation to find a regime that works.
Excessive saliva (water brash), choking feelin, chest tightness, crackling lungs are all symptomatic of extra-oesophageal reflux - when refluxate via lower oesophageal sphincter has traversed the whole column of the oesophagus and breaches the upper sphincter whence it may be aspirated into respiratory system.
Bloating and burping may be indicative of poor stomach emptying which can cause reflux.
It is unfortunate that burping is not considered polite as it's an important and necessary function and if the gas is not released can lead to great discomfort.
Gas in the stomach can have different origins:
1. It may be ingested. We all swallow some air as we eat. This may be minimised by small mouthfuls well chewed and carefully swallowed.
2. It may be a by-product of a chemical reaction between our food and the stomach acid - as baking soda and vinegar produce carbon dioxide.
3. It may be form fermentation of fodds remaining in the stomach too long.
It is best released as a burp. It's retention will give rise to that feeling of bloating.
It may sound counter-intuitive but slowly drinking some carbonated water can help the management of gas release.
To help ingeneral, you should eat little and often. I'm guessing the former part isn't so difficult but it is equally important to have 5 or 6 small sized snacks / meals a day.
It may not be necessary to only eat land foods. Determine for yourself which foods cause you the most problems. I sympathis with your condition as I experience these symptoms myself. However, personally, I find I manage curries better than salads.
All the best
Chris
I would suggest that they do the pH testing with the Endoscopy. Based on the results of that the doctor may be able to prescribe a different PPI. I was taking them twice a day. (Be sure you are taking your PPI at least 20-30 minutes before a meal.) Also my GI doctor said a bland diet doesn't really work. Everyone is different, so you need to find out which are your trigger foods. My suggestion is to eliminate carbonated drinks and things normally high in acid. My trigger food was muffins!
Thanks for the info and explanation of what's going on in my body. My doctor said it was reflux and maybe a hernia, she does nt know herself, that's why endo has been booked.
I eat now mainly banana, toast, peaches and veg, and drink lots of water. My stomach barely tolerates them.
This all started when I started on b12 injections. I expected to feel energised and ended up with my acid problems. I don t know if the b12 had anything to do with it.
Anyway thanks for explaining things for me, it makes me feel a bit better knowing what is happening in my stomach.
Sharon,
I was diagnosed about a month ago and my symptoms include dizziness, tingling in the arms, constant rising of water in my throat, burping up food and water, feeling like I can't breath ( this is my biggest problem) excess mucuse, out of breath when walking or doing anything straineous and just constant anxiety that I'm not going to be able to breath. It has made me constantly worried and scared to go camping or hiking or things that I love! Because I constantly feel like j can't breath. I also have had my throat hurting a lot and when I talk to much I feel like I am dying!
I am on omeprazole as well as taking gaviscon extra strength (which is what helps me the most) I sleep on a wedge and go to a special chiropractor which also helps! It's called back in motion. My ENT honestly hasn't helped at all and I see a speech therapist November 1st 2015 so we will see if that helps at all!
I wish I could tell you I have found relief but there are days when it's worse and days when it's better but it has effected my life so much! So if you didn't relief please let me know! I know a lot of people on here have done alkine diets
Hi Jess. Sounds as if your problems are mainly due to reflux rather than acid. You may wish to consider reflux reduction surgery (fundoplication).
And alkaline diets are a myth. Alkaline foods will be around pH 7.7. If meeting a litre and a half of hydrochloric acid at pH 1, it would require an immense quantity to make any difference - far more than your body could take in one go.
If food entering the stomach is highly alkaline, the stomach reacts to make more proton pumps and produce more acid. The net effect is always the same: however acidic or alkaline the foods entering the stomach, the stomach will try to normalise it's highly acidic environment when food is there. That's why PPIs work: they prevent the formation of some of the proton pumps.
Any effects people report from alkaline diets are purely placebo.
Don't know why but my answer is n=being moderated. there were no links within it. I'm sure it will be released when the moderators have checked it, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait. It was far too detailed for me to attempt to recreate it.
Hi Sharon --
Going back to my original posting. The thing is you need to know why you are feeling this way. For me the culprit was a sliding hiatal hernia. My dr did do a test for a gluten allergic/intolerance and that came back negative. I know some have gone gluten free and had good luck with it. Diet wise it is really hit and miss. What works for some may not work for others etc. A food diary really helps pin point what causes you problems and is a good thing to show your doctors. Good luck!
Hiatus Hernias are actually quite common and in most people cause no problems.
The top part of the stomach protrudes (herniates) into the thoracic cavity through the hiatus (hole in the diaphragm the oesophagus passes through. There are two types: the sliding and rolling (paraoesophageal). The former is the more common where the oesophagus has pulled or been pushed up taking the stomach with it. Rolling hernias are where the stomach has protruded beside the oesophagus.
There is an excellent illustrated item explaining on this site: https://patient.info/health/hiatus-hernia-leaflet
There are many reasons why these hernias occur. Some may be born with them. Some may be due to excess abdominal fat pushing up on the stomach.
In themselves, hiatus hernias cause no pain but may exacerbate reflux through impeding the crural musculature of the lower oesophageal sphincter.
Barrett's
Yeah I will need to do something because it's miserable! I always feel like I can't breath and my throat will kill me and when I burp I always burp food up like when you puke in your mouth! And I just constantly have so much mucus in my throat! It just honestly causes me so much stress and anxiety! I feel as though the doctors never help me and my omeprazole doesn't help! When I talk a lot it is worse as well!
Some doctors still don't get it. Acid and reflux are actually two different things that can cause problems seperately or in cobination. Omeprazole may reduce acid but may not reduce reflux.
Just earlier today I was reading a report in the Summer 2015 edition of the Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Medice entitled, "Chronic Asthma and Gastro-Esophageal Reο¬ux Disease: The Treatment Plans" in which the authors from Mashhad University in Iran state: "Medication treatment via proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), such as Omeprazole, H2 receptor blockers (Ranitidine), and other antireflux medications, is appropriate for ameliorating GERD and asthma. Moreover, surgery is another useful approach to GERD and asthma treatment."
To ameliorate reflux, to quote another study I was accessing today (from Respirology, March 2014): "surgery [is] indicated to control severe GER since fundoplication eliminates reflux of any kind."
Have you considered this? For me it was the best thing I ever did.
Barrett's
So you had surgery?! Because I was diagnosed with "LPR" laryngopharyngeal reflux and honestly I just can't handle the constantly feeling like I can't breath! I went to the fair last night and was walking around and couldn't catch my breath! It is so miserable! I will talk to my dr about what I can do next! What were your symptoms
My main symptoms were typically reflux related, having got my acid symptoms of horrendous heartburn tamed years before with high dose omeprazole.
I would get the chronic reflux cough so bad I'd practically pass out coughing at least once a day. At night, I'd sit up between 2:00am and 4:00 am coughing and swigging far too much cough suppressant from the bottle. (And I had my bed head raised and hadn't eaten nor drunk for hours before going to bed.)
When I wasn't coughing I'd get the mucous build up in the throat that caused constant throat clearing. And a whole list of other reflux symptoms; ears, nose, throat , sinus, mouth, even eyes were affected.
But the fundoplication cured all that. Well, to be honest, I still get a slight cough but nothing like what I used to experience.
The operation itself took just over an hour. I felt no pain afterwards other than some bruising to te abdomen. I had one night in hospital and went home the next day. I gradually progressed form small meals of soft foods (You feel full very quickly) to normal solid foods and normal quantities over a few weeks. I was off drugs, my energy came back and I lost about 20 pounds in weight (although I wasn't overweight before). For me, it was thye best thing I ever did, even though it came loose a few years later following a violent bout of norovirus that turned my stomch inside out retching continuously for 5 hours. I have since had a Collis-Nissen revision that is far less likely to come loose.
Wow so what is the surgery exactly? And yeah I am only 23 and am a very active person this is affecting me so much and j don't think my stress is helping I have lost weight from it as well and am not a big person only weighting 143 lbs at 5"6. I don't drink or smoke! So it's just frustrating feel like this!
I get the constant mucus build up and will caugh and swallow and try clearing my throat, and it started as I think acid cuz I had chest pains and honestly the symptoms
Have changed over time then gotten better then gotten worse it's just no winning!
The surgery is called a fundoplication. It involves wrapping the top part of the stomach, the fundus around the oesophagus and stitching it in place. (They also repair any hiatus hernia at the same time.)
The operation has been carried out for 60 years, the last 20 of which laparoscopically (keyhole surgery). There was a recent paper published following up on nearly 200 patients who had the Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication 20 years ago. It revealed 94% satisfaction.
If you find the DownWithAcid or uk site, at the bottom of the Contents list (home page), you'll find a NCE Option grid as Appendix 2 which discusses the pros and cons of lifetime medication vs surgery.
You'll also find a chapter on the various fundoplication procedures on the site, too.
I ended up having surgery to repair the hernia etc. Best decision (for me). My hernia was caused I believe due to severe Bronchitis and Pneumonia that had me coughing so hard I actually cracked a rib. From there is just got worse and the GERD developed. I suffered for over 30 years with it with the last half being on medications to the point they were no longer working. Everyone is different, go slow and see what works for you.
I don t think I have a hernia as i thought that the protrude so visible.
My symptoms are improving slowly, I used to not be able to walk far without feeling I could not breathe, now it not as often. I m continually clearing my throat. My excessive saliva was all day now only after eating. Still get burning in upper abdominal.
I think lung infection might be back as lungs hurt when I inhale, which scares me as don t want scaring in lungs.
I don t want to be on meds forever as can lead to osteoporosis. And as I don t do dairy I really don t need. Thanks for info,and for letting me know I m not the only one suffering. As when u say acid reflux to people, they see it as heartburn or indigestion. But it s a lot more than that.
I remember my ears feeling blocked was my first symptom, my doctor dismissed it and said my ears just had a bit of wax and to use some olive oil.
Thanks again
Sharon
I know I need to find out what's causing all these symptoms . Hopefully endoscopy will show something.
I will defiantly start a food dairy and what happens when I eat certain foods.
Thank you for the information π
Hi Michelle they just mentioned reflux and did nt really go into depth about it. I seem to have all the symptoms of acid reflux. Fed up with not being able to eat much and no energy. My meds are starting to help a little and gaviscon after meals helps a bit. But my lungs are hurting again, which is good, neither is the weight I have lost, I can t eat much food to increase weight which I need for energy.
Thanks for your reply π