tiffMy experience with LPR/Sore throat Lump / Painful Ear& Neck

Digestive health
1

Hi ... execuse me if my english is not perfect as its not my 1st language.

i'm a 22 years old Male , and i'm a dentist by the way , but i'm writing this experience as a patient suffered from LPR and its consequences , sore throat , lumb sensation in one side , stiff neck & painful ear

i have followed the discussions in this forum for nearly a year , and when something worked for me , i registered to tell you my experience as it may be beneficial to someone .

from nearly 2 years, i suffered from an asthma like symptoms , i went to a specilaist , and in just 10 minutes , he diagnosed me with LPR ,i was shocked because i never felt the famous " heartburn" , i tried to follow his instructions regarding my food habits , but it didnot work , after that a lumb sensation in my throat started to appear in my right side , and my right side of neck became heavier & more stiff , my right base of the tongue also appeared to be enlarged with prominent taste buds .

for a while i thought its " cancer " , i visited 2 specialits who confirmed the LPR diagnosis and all them nearly prescribed the same medicines with different trademark names " PPI & ranitidine "

and it didnot work , i became hysterical regarding my throat sensations , i started reading about the nature of LPR , its possible causes , its triggers , & how it affect your throat in detail ..

i started talking with specilatists personally regarding my problem , and i had discussions with some of them , i'm working in a Medical college so it wasnot that hard to have a personal talk with some of them  ..

after understanging the nature of this condition and its triggers/causes , i did a radical changes in my life that Finally worked ...

- i swapped sleeping rooms with my brother who is living with me in the same house

- i fasted 2 days/week   

- Eating only Home-made food

- eating alot alot of Rice

- Drinking small sips of water continuesly 24/7 ( dont fill your stomach with water , just small gargling sips to wash your throat )

- No tooth paste and no Mouth washes for a month

- using a small soft tooth brush to brush my teath

- Medicines - Daily :

PPI 20  ( 1 tablet )

Ranitidnine ( 2 tablets )

Domperidone ( 2 tablets ) - For 2 weeks only

digestive enzymes ( 3 Tablets )

Carbamazepine ( 1/2 tablet ) - for 2 weeks only

Nystatin Mouth drops ( Gargle & swallow - 4 times/Day - For 1 week only)

________________

after 4 days of this i started to feel better , after 2 weeks , its disppeared , but i still take PPI and ranitidine till now .

what i've written above is my experience as a patient , and all the drugs i used are used after a prescribtion from a specialist , what worked for me may not work for you , i hope what i have written is beneficial to someone ...

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If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

2

Thank you for your story. Why did you swap bedrooms with your brother?

3

Hi Anazz, what an interesting post. Did the specialists devise this plan for you to get better or did you? As you've maybe read from previous posts I'm interested in digestive enzymes and wondered who suggested that you take these? And do you think that they were effective? How long is it now since you've been better? It's so nice to hear a success story!

4

if you are allergic to something that you dont know , and you exposed your body to this allergy daily , your body will never heal

throat and abdominal allergy are not related to foods and drinks only ,but the air you breath also , i started suspectig everything in my bedroom , the air freshner , the carbet , the bed cotton , so i decided to swab the room and find the difference , and it actually worked .

5

sadly , doctors were treating my symptoms separately , and LPR is a condition that combines more than a branch of medicine, and this combination of drugs and life style plan i never found with any specilaist , so i had to figure it out myself , i fortunately had the chance to talk personally to alot of specilaists in different branches , and my career backgroud was very helpful too , so i made the plan , and consulted alot of specialists regarding the best choice of drugs that cover all the aspects of my condition ...

regarding the digestive enzymes ... a specialist suggested it to me ... but i never figured out if they really work or not , becuase  i took them with other drugs ....

its more than a month now since this lump feeling disappeared and the the neck back to normal

6

So did your sore throat and tightness dissapear?

Do you feel completely normal or just better? and what was the reasoning behind the fasting and eating a lot of rice?

 

7

my complaint was throat lump sensation and heaviness of the neck for nearly 6 months ...Now both completely disappeared ... 

Fasting was a way to give my Throat a peaceful time to heal , the rice was an advice from an allergist i met , he told me that rice is " Neutral " food , its not alkaline nor acidic , it balances your stomach

at first , i tried it for 2 days to find if it will work , i ate nothing but healthy cooked rice with no fats , and i felt alot better after those 2 days , so i decided to make 2 days a week for rice only .

8

how interesting. ive never heard of that. what type of rice or does it matter?

i like white rice. also, what did you drink during that time, i drink alkaline water.

ive had a sore throat/ lump for about 8 months or so now. ive been on ppis for about 3 months. my diet has somewhat changed but not much if any improvement has happened. im waiting to see if i can get an endoscope to confirm its lpr but so far all the signs point to it. ie asthma earlier this year, throat clearing, sore throat, lump, off feeling in esophagus, tightness in  neck. At this point i guess id be happy with gerd/ lpr and not something more sinister like cancer or a tumor. 

PS... it all started earlier this year after round of antibiotics, I remember throwing up badly and feeling very nausious like ive never felt before and even fainted for a minute. I also had high stress at that time, I still do but not nearly as much. 

and... the last GI said I may have bile reflux instead or in addition to lpr. she asked if i had a bitter taste and i realize that i do but its very suttle. 

9

Hi Jay, are you following a special diet? I'm like you trying to find any advice to help get rid of the throat issues. I've been off work with this but have to go back soon. Don't know how I'm goin to cope with this.

10

Ive tried different things. They typical "stay away from caffeine, chocholate, tomatoes, spicy foods, fried foods, etc." 

I think eating less may help but has not done much for me.

Theres a book called "dropping acid" on amazon that everyone suggests. Ive read a lot of it an it tells you what you can eat. 

Personally, I believe this is what I have but dont know how it "suddenly" came about. Im hoping it will go away as it has with some people but sadly others have had it for years or a lifetime. 

And whats more complicated is that everyones symptoms are slightly different and to different degrees. And its also hard to describe the symptoms. When I started talking, the doc said its hard to describe, this is because he heard it many times from different patients. Most dont know our throat anatomy, all we can say is something feels off or its sore. This could mean many things. 

I suggest you keep seeing specialist and try different things. 

11

Thanks for the reply Jay. Yes I think that I've had this for a while but was diagnosed with asthma which I don't think it was. What I don't understand are the two diets that seem to be around to help LPR. One is the Kouffman "dropping the acid" and the other is Norman Robillard. They list very different foods so how can they both help with this condition?

12

you may very well have had asthma. if the acid/ bile goes back into your lungs, you will have a hard time breathing. Thanks for reminding me of another reason why I think I have lpr/gerd and not something more sinister. Ive never had asthma in my life but earlier this year when all my symptoms started, I had a few bad boughts of asthma, I went to the my doctors office and told her I couldnt breath and that I was dying. she said that I wasnt and she was right. she said patients come in all pale and they really might be dying. 

she gave me an inhaler which i used a few times, this really helped and ive never had to use it again. so... asthma is a condition tied in with gerd/lpr.

i have a sore throat still but am thankful that the asthma symptoms were only that one short period of time because its very scary when you cant breathe. 

13

Have you tried Gaviscon Advance? A lot of people seem to get relief with this. I'm going to get some digestive enzymes but can't take them until I have my motility test next week. 

14

i havent tried that but its very popular on the boards. 

i have been taking probiotics but it hasnt helped.

15

Hi Jay, going to see my GP tomorrow and maybe get referred to an ENT specialist to take a look at my throat. It was checked about 2 1/2 years ago and was supposedly ok. I 've had endoscopes which have shown gastritis, so I do have reflux. I just hoping that things settle down soon.

16

Your ENT can scope up to the back of your throat but if you get a referral to a GI, they can scope down your throat to your stomach. 

Ive had several scopes from ENTs this year and im hoping I get approved for a further scope from the GI referral. 

17

Have been to GP and got appt for ENT so hopefully they can check out my throat. Hope there's nothing serious.