Mon expérience de reflux silencieux LPR, reflux des voies respiratoires AIDE !!

Santé digestive
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Hi All

My problem started around 12 months ago after a bad bout of chest/lung infection treated by anti biotics and i have not been right since. Im not saying it has anything to do with it but it seemed to start after that. I have daily the trying to clear my throat especially in the morning after i get up usually after i have eaten. This clearing is normally combined with a couch or tickle type cough in the morning. It usually subsides after an hour or so but  starts again anytime of day and during the afternoon usually. I also get Hoarseness sometimes in the throat the sort off feeling like you get if youve been shouting or none stop talking and you voice struggles. In addition i sometimes get a lump in the throat feeling to. When i go to bed i dont get any problems during the night its just the rest of the day. Im guessing after reading this thread/forum that its LPR silent reflux I have .

Does anyone else experience this as it really gets me down and I worry a lot. Im quite a stressful person and hate going to the doctors.

I have also just received the results from the biomed peptest which both samples tested positive one at moderate 99 ng/ml and the other at very high 250 ng/ml . Im not sure i did the test correct as i left it several weeks before doing it and didnt store the tubes in the fridge as i found out later i should have. I also did the 2 samples at the same time so am a little confused why one was 99 and the other 250 ??

Anyway is saw my GP today and explained what was going on and my peptest and she didnt seem to fully understand imho.. she as told me to take one Lansoprazole each night and if things dont improve go back in a month. I know they wont work as i have tried them before. I am drinking alkaline water but not really noticed any difference so know going to change my diet.

Has anyone got any tips , medication suggestions etc..etc.. I am desperate to get help as worried about the long term damange. Is anyone going through the same ???

Cheers Pete UK

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I think the world on this board empathises with you, Peter.  They are all your ship mates and wish you a speedy journey.  Don't forget DGL licorice and mm-mm-good Manuka Honey; a natural restorative.  Above all, don't forget the power of your own good faith; it will rocket you towards success.  

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Hi Pete,  your symptoms sound very similar to mine.  Mine started two days after Christmas, for no obvious reason, and got steadily worse throughout Jan and Feb.  My GP also prescribed Lanzoprazole, but the packet (and my pharmacist) says take it 30 -60 mins before food, preferably in the morning, so I keep mine by the bed for when I wake up.  I have found it has helped somewhat , but I'm still on it, in fact on two a day (another one before dinner) because I was worse recently.  Feeling better just now so will prob cut down to one again.  I got referred to an ENT consultant like lots of contributors to this forum, and he looked at my throat and vocal cords and confirmed swelling and redness.  Then I've recently seen a Gastro-enterologist who has done a gastroscopy (tube down to the stomach) and found a hiatus hernia.  This may or may not be responsible for my LPR.  He wasn't interested in testing me for pepsin so I got my own test and sent it off today.  Maybe you should do another one sometime and do it more accurately, and lay off the alkaline water for 48hours first.  My worst symptom just now is asthma, which I've never suffered from before, but had 4 attacks in a week.  Not sure of my next step yet, but went to see my chiropractor yesterday about an unrelated thing and when I told him why I was coughing and throat clearing he said he might be able to help, and has treated voice and swallowing problems before.  He does this by treating the nerve pathways in the neck which can affect breathing and digestion.  Like most sufferers, I'll try anything!  I'll report back if I feel significant benefit from this.  Stress definitely makes things worse, so try not to worry.  I have felt very low myself, but I find being proactive helps, so you feel you are doing all you can for yourself.  Certainly this forum, and other stuff on the internet has been extremely helpful, as the various docs don't always seem to know that much. 

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Hey Pete I feel your pain. I'll share my experience in the hope it may help. Mine started after a really stressful time. Classic lump in the throat, not being able to swallow, then waking in the middle of the night choking and gagging. Docs all said there was nothing wrong with my throat and I felt as if i was going mad. I had a constant awful taste too. Tried omeprazole but it made things worse. Eventually got referred to ENT who found a unilateral patch of red. He said it was impossible for it to be LPR but I knew it was. Had such a foul taste in my mouth all the time and my throat was always sore. Anyway they referred me for an MRI of the throat, meanwhile I had a gastroscopy which showed oesophagitis ( making swallowing difficult) and gastritis. I was prescribed a double dose of Lansoprazole ( so 20mg twice per day) and also Gaviscon Advance to be taken after meals and at bedtime. The Lansoprazole didn't do it for me and my gp changed me to Esomeprazole 20mg twice per day. I also raised the head of my bed by 8 inches (made a massive difference) and cut acid causing things out of my diet. 3 months on and my oesophagus and stomach have both healed ( had another gastroscopy recently) and I feel tons better. I'm not a fan of tablet taking but in my case the Esomeprazole really worked. I'm hoping to reduce the dose by half next time I go to see the docs. LPR is hard because you can't tell your trigger foods as easily as someone with classic heartburn, but it is treatable. My throat was the first thing to heal. It may be worth going to your doc and asking to try the Esomeprazole. They are top of the heap when it comes to ppis. Least side effects for most benefit. I'm so glad I changed. Good luck with everything and any questions just let me know .

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Thank you Meunier and Jill, nice to know if nothing else im not the only sufferer

Keep me posted on your outcomes

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Thanks Stella

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You've definitely come to the right place Pete!  Everything you describe sounds like all the symptons the majority of people are suffering from on this forum.

The only suggestion I have that may help is to gargle with the alkaline water.  30 mins after every meal.  I find that just drinking the water doesn't quite kill off all the pepsin that can attach itself, but gargling usually does the trick.

I too did the peptest.  It may be worth contacting biomed direct with your concerns and questions as they are probably best placed to answer?

I think you've hit the nail on the head with the diet.  A lot of people swear by a book called dropping acid by Dr Koufman, and have found huge relief by having a more alkaline diet.

 

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I agree about exploring different things but I would also like to put this in context. I tried for months to make things better without tablets. I hate taking any tablets, but when I started coughing up blood, and then found I had barretts I decided that tablets were the route I had to take. From research and experience I can tell you that acid rebound affects less than half of the people on ppis, and it's only if you are on them longer than 3 months. At one point I was on 80mg of Esomeprazole a day. I cut this by half myself and had no ill effects whatsoever. My next step is to cut the tablets out altogether now I'm healed and take them as and when I need them, relying on the Gaviscon stop any rebound. Rebound if you do get it is temporary and resolves within a few weeks whilst your body readjusts.

I'm not an advocate of ppis by any stretch of the imagination, but just to let you know that if all else fails it isn't the end of the world, and they can actually help. Well, they have with me and I was the most anti ppi person in the world til I found out about the Barretts. 

Maybe the first step is to get a gastro referral and get a gastroscopy then at least you'll know what you are dealing with. In the meantime, the two things that helped the most before my diagnosis were raising the head of the bed and not eating or drinking after 7pm. Simple to do but very effective. 

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Thanks for all the replys and ideas its very difficult to know what to do for the best.. Drives you mad !

 

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Forgot to add I also get a feeling of something stuck feeling after eaten smack bang in the middle of My chest abut at the bottom of the chest between the rib cage right in the centre any one get this to ?

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Hey Pete, that sounds like a hiatus hernia. Do you have any answers yet? 

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Hi, i have recently had the same as you, chest infection and then coughing for a long time. I have had to chest xrays - first had a shadow/fluid which has cleared, but i am still coughing. I was diagnosed withan hiatus hernia a few years ago, but manage it by taking gaviscon or tablets if i over indulge,  My new sympton though is a hot/cramp like pain in my upper back. I am seeing my gp tomorrow to see how to deal with it.  I have to lose weight, but get indigestion if my stomach is empty. I hope you get some help with your problem.

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Petekd67, Can you give us an update on your condition? 

I have had a sore throat/ lump/ mucous/ etc since Feb of 2014. Im still going for tests. 

I have been on ppis for 3 months with no improvement whatsoever. 

This all started for me also after a round of antibiotics. Theres no way of ever knowing for sure but I believe that was the reason im going through this. The bacteria in my stomach got disrupted and something changed to cause this reflux. 

Ive had 2 barium swallows and they both came back normal. Ive had some scopes done with slight inflammation but nothing too bad except the ENT said I had a ton of mucous in the back of my throat. 

Please update us on your progress as we are all in this together. 

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If you have read many of the  threads on here you will find that diet ,diet  and more diet is the key to reducing your symptoms. Start with kourfman. then check ouy reflux MD for info on cooking and menus to try . We al have different triggers but eventually you will find your way , It takes time and lots of effort  but it works. Also ask the GP for a referal to a dietitian they can help if you are still struggling. It is a strict diet but worth it . Raise your bed up at the head around 6

inches too it stops the acid rising when you sleep.

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Stella, can we please talk..... I think I have these silent reflux but I'm going crazy with the lump and the phlem feeling think..... I don't have my appointment until next week can you confirm how tou treated yourself. Please.

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So not sure how your situation is, but mine was pretty much identical. October 2, 2 years ago, had a really bad lung infection and cough.

After delaying the doc, in jan i got antibiotics. by march it was fully gone. about April i had already put on stomach fat on my body from not being active and eating bad for all those months. 

The day that triggered my LPR was i bent down, and acid came up from my stomach and into my throat. after that i always had some form of post nasal drip and all the symptoms of LPR (cough, clearing throat, drip, etc etc). 

I did nothing about it for over 1 year. I finally saw a doc 3 months a year after that first LPR trigger point, and he gave me lanz. (heart burn meds. 20mg). so after that he basically told me if i don't change my lifestyle and lose the stomach fat i will eventually get throat cancer or other problems or be dependent on medications which was not an option for me. (i have a decent build, but males in general have visc fat - fat that surrounds organs not just outside belly fat.) so you can look fairly skinny but u have all the health problems a real huge fat guy has.

So.. after 5 months of being on the meds and then eventually only taking 1 pill a week. ive lost all my weight. im over 6'2 and was 235lbs and around 30-40% body fat. now im back down to 195 with 7-9% body fat. All my symptoms have dwindled away, the post nasal drip taking the longest (4 months after weight loss). I no longer eat bread, rice and i stopped all coffee and rarely eat sugar of any form other than fruits in morning. I no longer take meds either.

its a complete life style change, but after working out 6 days a week and eating healthy for the first month, i don't even crave garbage foods after that point.

end of the day the only reason people have this problem is because they allowed themselves to get to a point where it triggered. Change your lifestyle, get better, or expect to die early. I'm a lazy guy, so if i can do it, whats your excuse..

fast food, chips (crisps), cookies, chocolate bars and soda was a killer to drop the first 2 weeks. but after that, i don't even remember what its like to eat those foods nor do i care anymore at the sight or smell of them. I am back to eating spicy foods and all the foods i used to read about avoiding on the LPR forums.. im eating them all again with no problems!. just avoid sugar and try to cut most bread and rice until your fit.

(as for eating certain foods or drinking certain liquids or meds or herbs, throw all those ideas in the trash and just get healthy. WORK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DRINK WATER!!! and drop carbs and sugars. you will lose the weight and after 6 months you will be feeling amazing.) im proof of the remedy not just a stupid suggestion..

Only other thing i can think of, is a person may have waiting too long to remedy themselves and have permanent damage. but i basically waited 2-2.5 years after the initial trigger.. so you have to really be either more dumb than me to wait to fix the problem, or you didn't have a doctor that told it how it really was. “your fat, fix it”. AND YES I DID HAVE LPR not something less sever, trust me, it was awful and I had every symptom.

Hope this update helps someone. Good Luck!

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how long did it take your throat to heal? I was on Omeprozole as well and it did nothing, I tried to take esomprazole and I got diarehha the first two days so I went off of it. Should I try it again?

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Hi Stella

I have been reading your email  and have this silent reflux diagnosis back in November 2016 having had a sore throat for a few months. 

Went through the usual hoops antibiotics nose spray etc 

then went to see ENT consultant who diagnosed Severe LPR.

was put on 20 mg Pantoprazole twice a day and GAviscon Advance.

it has not really improved I'm watching my diet low alkali etc read Dr Kouffman's information.

Been back to see my ENT consultant has now decided to try me on Esomeprazole!

l really don't like taking pharma drugs but feel I should give these a go??

Felt some comfort that you felt a little better from taking them!

Also least side effects?

It's just comforting to share with people who have this LPR problem as the majority of people have never heard of this complaint!

i have quite a lot of stress over the last two years!!

i'm sure that has not helped!

I would appreciate tour thoughts!

I do hope you are better

CDLoti

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Hi Pete, I have only just seen your comments regarding silent reflux, I started the exact way you did I.e. Cold infection 16 month ago. My symptoms are identical to yours, in fact it's what I would have written myself. Been to Hospital and been on Lanzaparole and Pepsi medicine fora month but no satisfaction. I am desperate. Have you got any ideas? Pleeeez ..jean

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Hi I also suffer from GERD and LPR. I try as much as possible to do a Alkaline diet but sometimes something you eat either intentionally or by mistake when out causes the LPR again. When it's bad you're going to have to cook your own food. Drink alkaline water. I've actually lost a voice a few times due to LPR and have to sleep in a recliner until it heals. It's horrible. I hope this helped. Is anyone posting anything recently?