Questions about LPR..

Digestive health
1

First a bit of background:

I basically started about 4 months ago with a constant burning feeling in my throat and roof of mouth, at the start I had the odd burst of bad pain in my chest area but have not had this since.

The burning on my throat / roof of mouth has stayed with me though but just become milder over the 4 months, 1 month ago I seen an ENT specialist and he looked down my throat and said its red and giving my symptoms said it’s typical of LPR, so that’s what he diagnosed me with.

He told me to carry on with taking ppi's (my gp had previously told me to take these), although I doubt they are doing anything at all, the ENT surgeon also said to stay on them but in his opinion they won't be doing a great deal for LPR.

He also told me to start taking gaviscon advance after each meal and before i go to bed, i must say i feel the burning has gone down a lot since, but it will not go away fully

I often get a tingerly burning feeling around my tonsil area and the back of the roof of my mouth by the uvula.

Does this sound like I have been correctly diagnosed with LPR?

I have another appt with my ENT surgeon in 2 weeks, could anyone tell me if there are any tests I could ask for to determine if its definitely LPR I have, and can anyone tell me what them tests would involve?

Also once I tell him it’s not gone yet what is the next thing he is likely to do / recommend?

Also I tend to drink a lot of tea / coffee, I have read caffine is not great for LPR sufferers, can anyone tell me do they find tea / coffee is really bad for their LPR?

Any other tips or comments would be good.

Thanks

James

2

hi james

I dont know if i can help much as i havnt been properly diagnose myself yet but have similar symptoms to you with burning sore throat but also get chest pain quite bad too.

My symptoms started about 6 weeks ago out of the blue. i was so ill (unable to eat or sleep) i was admitted to hospital.

I had a chest x ray and endoscopy done but nothing was found do i have been referred to ent so waiting on appointment.

Have been prescribed lansoprozole which i have been taking for 2 weeks now, i am starting to just get some relief from the chest pain but still suffer burning sore throat. i also take gaviscon but what i found really helps is sucking on a sugar free werther original and chewing sugar free gum! I think doing this produces saliva and in turn helps neutrilize the acid at back of the throat, it sound simple but it helps.

Please let me know how you get on at ent.

helen.

3

Hi James,

My symptoms seemed identical to yours and I have now had assumed LPR for just over 5 months.

To be honest I have obtained more information from the internet than from my own GP's.

Some do not even seem to be familar with the term LPR.

It seems it is a poorly understood condition. From what I have read, it can take many months to settle, and that is providing you are taking the PPI's.

Some people are even affected drinking water, but it is thought that coffee, tea and chocolate may be bad for it. I stayed off them for a few weeks and to be honest did not note much difference. The one thing that does make mine worse is spicy food.

I think it is one of these conditions that if you are showing all the typical signs then it is assumed you have LPR.

I believe the typical plan is to see if it will settle after about 4 to 6 months and then try and stay on the lowest dose of PPI's that works for you. I have found very few cases where people seem fully recover from it, however most people once under control seem to live a normal lifestyle once the condition has settled.

It may be worth keeping a diary for food intake to see if there a any triggers.

Good luck.

Peter

4

It annoys me intensely that GPs seem to know nothing of LPR. I also have found much more information on the internet. I have only recently started suffering with the burning feeling in my throat which is worse if I eat or drink certain things. Red wine is bad, chocolate, ice cream, coffee, anything high in fat-all these things make mine worse the next day. The doctor I saw last week gave me a nasal spray because he felt my throat clearing/post nasal drip/cough etc., was due to allergic rhinitis!!!! I could have thrown it at him! I mentioned LPR to him and all he could say was 'its treated the same way'. According to what I have read you need to be on omeprazole 20mg TWICE a day for LPR as opposed to 20mg once a day for GERD. Doctors nowadays tend to prescribe a drug, tell you to take it two months and come back. My doctor didnt even look at my throat!! They are also very wary if they think you've been checking up on stuff on the internet. They dont like it if you have more information that them!!! After all surely its responsible to want to look up your ailment and try to treat it as best you can without having to take drugs. My doctor didnt as much as mention cutting back on anything in my diet!! Suffice to say I have little faith in doctors of today. ANyway watch this space!!