GERD, LPR, BILE or what?

[Jade]

Hi there,
Here's my story.
Started in May. Woke up and felt nauseous (bad in the mornings), loss of appetite and had some chest pains. (Don't have heartburn, never did). Had been feeling a little off the week before. Went to the Dr. and she did blood work and ECG (had 2 on 2 different days, 1 showed something and the other one didn't) on me and put me on Protonix. I went back later that week, still not feeling good, added symptoms were thickness in the throat, burning, clearing, hoarseness, and a feeling of a lump in my throat. By the end of the week, appetite was better.
Was on Protonix for 9 weeks and was changed to Nexium until September.
I stopped eating "trigger foods" and stopped smoking the day I got sick. I physically couldn't smoke and still can't.
I had a stress test, that was fine.
Had an endoscopy, couldn't find anything. (throat acted up big time after the test)
Went to an ENT in August because I still had throat issues. He just looked down my throat and said it looked good. He told me to go off the Nexium and said that I might have Bile reflux and also I could have had a virus going on in the beginning. At the time I also had some ring worm and I asked him if it had anything to do with what's going on, thinking that ring worm is fungal (that one cleared up but I have one in a different area now). He said it had nothing to do with it.
So now 6 months later and I still am dealing with my throat. (Still some mucus, something in my throat and once in a great while voice change). It's not where it was in the beginning but it's just an annoyance, some days are worse than others. I feel it everytime I swallow, sometimes it hurts when I touch my throat. Even when I do certain exercises, like bending my neck, it gets hard to breathe. Something is cutting something off. When I go to bed, things are fine, so is the problem when I move around??
Also I've had aches in my neck since Aug., have been going to the Chiro for that. Any link with that??
Can being a women in her 40's have anything to do with this? Hormonal?
Thanks for listening
Would appreciate any advice.

[bobtisoy]

Hi Jade,


LPR affects quality of life horribly, do not feel guilty, it is not our fault that people with perfertly good health have no empathy for us. I can totally understand people with life threatening diseases not having empathy, but those arent the people who show no empathy. I bet people with life threatening disease would actually have alot more empathy for us than fully healthy people.
LPR is a serious condition, and left untreated, can lead to even less pleasant possibilities, like laryngeal and esophageal cancers, and Barret's esophagous.
What you need to start with, is changing your meds regimen to the standard LPR regimen of 2 doses of a PPI per day. For me, that is 2 40mg Nexiums, for a total of 80 mg a day. I take them together first thing in the morning, then wait 30 minutes before eating. I am voracious about making sure that LPR sufferers understand that the treatment protocol for treating LPR is different than for treating GERD. 1 pill a day will not work for you. As someone who has had this for 3 years, I have personally achieved great relief from LPR with the 2 dose a day regimen. If your doctors haven't mentioned the 2 pill a day regimen, it's probably because they never heard about it. Most doctors have never even heard of LPR, it is barely known as a condition and most doctors do not know how to treat it. The only ones that seem to are doctors affilitated with major teaching hospitals, like Yale-New Haven, and the University of Pennsylvania. I recommend that you try Nexium first. Nexium appears to have the best response with the people on this board. It is also the most effective, probably because (i think) it has the highest concentration of medicine in it. If your insurance covers 1 per day, you may have to get special permission from your insurance company to get it 2x a day. In the meantime, you can get samples from your doctor (drug reps love to hand them out, so don't be shy about asking for a bagfull of them). Prilosec OTC doesn not work for LPR sufferers. The active ingredient is a slightly different molecule than Nexium, and it probably will not give you relief, even if you take 8 a day. I personally tried to switch at one point from NExium to Prilosec, and I just got sicker and sicker. If Nexium doesn't work, or you can't afford it, you may want to try Prevacid, Protonix, or Aciphex.
In addition to taking PPIs, you will probably want to supplement your PPIs with some H2s in the evening. H2s are the 2nd generation (before PPIs) of acid-reducing drugs. They are sold over the counter under the names Tagamet, Xantac, etc. The active ingredient in these drugs in what is known generically as ranitidine. Thank god these drugs are cheap. Since Nexium only lasts 17.5 hours, I take 2 Ranitidine before I go to sleep. I get my ranitidine generically from my insurance company, because I take it in such large doses and frequently, that it's cheaper for me to go through my insurance company for the generic than to buy the H2s OTC.
I really think you'll find much better relief if you start with these 2 steps. Diet modification is important, but just start with this and you should feel a lot better. No quality of life stinks. You need to fix that and get better - and this is the way to start.

It would also be best that you seek medical opinions from other doctors.
I wish you all the best of health.:p

[Jade]

Hi bobtisoy,

Thanks for all of the info.
In my beginning stage, is that common for LPR?
Is there a test that would say for sure that I have LPR?
And you're right about the empathy, you feel guilty about saying you don't feel good but physically you look just fine.

Thanks again, I'll probably be bugging you with more questions.

[bobtisoy]

Hi,

No problem, glad to hear that!
Just keep us always posted on your medical condition.
I wish you the best of health!:p