In complete & utter agony for 2 months now

Digestive health
1

Hi everyone,

Long time viewer and first time poster. 

Here's my story for all of you. It all started in January this year, when I bought a bottle of orange juice that was a tad bit too sour. When I drank the juice, I started getting a bitter mouth. I immediately stopped drinking it, and went back to my usual ways. I woke up every morning for the first month with a bitter mouth, stuffy nose, and sore throat. I didn't think too much of it - I am actively trying to conceive, so I thought - hey, lucky me ! I may be pregnant. Of course, as I later realized that turned out not to be true.

When I realized I wasn't pregnant, but still had a bitter mouth, sore throat and constant phlegm at the back of my throat (I do nasal rinses, but even that didn't help), I thought, let me see my GP. So off I go to the GP. She says it's acid reflux, take Zantac 150mg, in 6 weeks you'll be fine.

Meanwhile, I go from being able to eat 3 meals a day, to not being able to eat normal sized meals. My stomach is constantly full, i'm belching like nobody's business, I have a sour mouth every morning, my ears are stuffy, my throat feels tight. I stopped eating 3 large meals. I stopped eating  my staple Indian diet of Rotis. I am on soft foods like rice, etc. I don't even eat lentils anymore. 

I bought a wedge pillow, made some major changes to my diet (drinking Indian buttermilk 3 times a day: cooling for the stomach), eating smaller meals, eliminating wheat, eating softer foods, etc, etc. I STILL CANNOT GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP. I still have STUFFY EARS, a horrible mucus feeling in my throat, swallowing issues, food seems undigested, regurgitation. Basically I have THE WORKS !!!

I have an endoscopy scheduled in 2 days' time. I also have a barrium swallow next monday. Let's see what it says. 

Here's what I'm doing to releieve some of my symptoms (it's really giving me A LITTLE relief, not much!)

- Turmeric water + salt gargling 3x a day (gives some relief to the sore throat)

- Sleeping on a wedge pillow (horrible for neck & back, and I still have a sour mouth which means acid is still backing up into my throat!!!)

- Fresh Coconut Water 1x a day (soooo refreshing and the only pleasant thing aboutmy day)

- 100 ug Vitamin D3 capsules 1 x a day

- No Rotis or hard food items as they hurt my throat

- Zantac 150 mg as and when I feel like it. I am loathe to take acid-reducers as they have bad long term side effects and create mineral/vitamin deficiencies.

Tests I have done:

Vitamin B12: Normal range

Thyroid: Normal range

Vitamin D3: Mild deficiency

Things I am planning to try:

Gaviscon Advance Aniseed UK 

A question which I need advice on: I have read in many places that the problem could be low stomach acid. How do I know I am not producing enough? I know that I have enough Vit B12 in my system. I also tried fasting one night, and had a horrible burning sensation in my stomach --- maybe the hunger/lack of food made my system produce more acid. 

Is there anything else I could do to find out? I don't want to take Betaine HCL and suffer a massive acid reflux attack...Please advice !! 

 

2

Hi Veebee, i have suffered increasing acid/stomach problems for the past 3 years. I too have had stuffy nose, sore throat and ear aches at times, my doctor said she was certain they were caused my acid refluxing and irritating  during the night. I have been told its better to raise the bed head on bricks rather than a wedge pillow which will allow pressure on your stomach.  I tried a ppi but had side effects . I have tried to manage it with Ranitadine 75mg once a day and Gaviscon at night if i felt any acid.  My symptoms have been really bad these past few months so my doctor advised 150mg Ranitadine twice a day for 1 month to allow healing of stomach lining.  I also wondered about low stomach acid and if you search on here someone  put how to test for high or low stomach acid. I have not tried it myself yet. 

3

I had all the same symptoms. Since March 2017 i have not been able breathe thru my nose and my left ear always hurt. Pressure in upper abdomen below rib cage, chest pressure, burning in my throat, sore throat and alot more. Had barium swallow said I had mild narrowing of the distal esophagus. Had blood work everything was fine. GP put me on omprezole 40mg. Told me to eat smaller meals, 4 to 5x a day. Had an endoscopy showed an inflamed esophagus, 5 biopseys taken. Continued Omprezole! I took vit. B12, vit D3, Calcium and a multi. Vit. Stuck to strict diet. No spices, no caffeine, no soda, I also added honey 1 tsp. 3x a day. Happy to say 21/2 months later slowly getting off meds. My nose is clear, no mucous in my throat, no earache, all pressure and pain in chest and throat gone. I am finally back to myself! Big issue try to be stress free! Amazing what anxiety can cause. Best wishes

4

Hi nancyphn,

Can you tell me how long you were on omeprazole? I am currently on Zantac 150mg daily...some relief but it still isnt enough. 

I agree with you on the anxiety part. I think my symptoms started at a very stressful period in my life...and that triggered myhealth anxiety, which triggered the GERD/LPR symptoms.

5

21/2 months.. slowly getting off meds!

6

Hi I am suffering right now the same symptoms you pointed out please if you have any more pointers for new sufferers do tell as I am losing my mind with the pain I feel. 

7

Hi nancyphn,

Unfortunately my symptoms have gotten slightly worse. Due to some life changes , I wasn't able to follow a strict diet and have been eating out for the last 2 weeks

I had the endoscopy done. It didn't show anything in the esophagus except for mild redness in the stomach region. I also had a barrium swallow which showed mild reflux

I find it strange that mild reflux can wreak such havoc in the body. Currently my symptoms are: excessive mucus in throat , ear pressure and feeling of fullness in ears, sour taste in mouth upon waking up

I'm taking gaviscon advance at night, but I still wake up with a sour taste in my mouth.

I'm also taking Zantac 150 Mg but so far it has not helped

I'm feeling very frustrated because of th constant mucus and sourness. Please advise !

8

Hi,

I am also a GERD patient for 4-5 years I think and I always go back to my Gastro doctor many times in a year. I have experienced all the symptoms related to this disease and have taken different kinds of medicine such as Omeprazole, Pariet, Dexilant from once a day to 2x a day. That's on and off depending on the occurrence of my GERD. Sometimes I also experience panic attacks and tingling in my left arm or right arm. My gastro said that it's because of anxiety. It makes sense because whenever my GERD flares up, I panic and think of a lot of things like having a serious disease or if this doesn't have any cure at all, stuffs like that. I got tired actually and recently I realized that this disease is mainly triggered by STRESS!! I'll stress that out, it's all about Stress friends.  I realized that back last December 2017, when my GERD flared up for a couple of months and I was about to do a PH test  procedure (research it online )which will cost me a large amount of money. It was suggested by my Gastro since the medicines are not working for me. Since there was no available equipment yet that time, I had to wait and I had the opportunity to go out of town with some friends. We stayed there for 3 days and it was literally relaxing and enjoying. I got nothing to think about. My GERD did not flare up that time. Then when we went back home and got to work, my GERD flared up again. I have food restrictions and I follow it mind you. I do not eat spicy food, anything with tomato, dairy or with wheat. I noticed that the difference was that I was stressed at work. 

Whenever I feel stressed, symptoms of acid reflux and belching occurs. As I mentioned, GERD can also cause panic attacks due to anxiety. My gastro suggested to get a small brown bag, put the opening in front of your mouth while holding it and start breathing in and out. The air should not come out as you need to breathe in the carbon dioxide. After noticing a few days, I also decided to check for yoga exercises online to calm my body and do some breathing exercises together with it. And it was EFFECTIVE!  I noticed that when I calm myself and do some simple yoga and breathing exercises (deep breathe in and breath out a couple of times), the GERD symptoms go away.  It was amazing. Since then, I did not have GERD symptoms anymore and I'm not taking any medicine for it. Thank God!

Try it and notice the difference. Do some breathing exercise (you may use the brown bag exercise) until you are finally calm and your symptoms will go away.  

PS. Continue to avoid food restrictions like spicy food and milk and tomato. 

I hope that this helps you somehow. Let me know if it works for you too.