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Barretts. always have sore throat .bad cough on throat . and feel rubbish

Posted , 6 users are following.

dean48614
dean48614

Posted a few times over last few months.

Have barretts osaphagus.

Ibs.acid reflux.

Asking for bit of of help or advice.

I always have a really sore throat and a nagging cough. I always feel really run down and feel like crappie . No energy. Like flu symptoms. Always have bad stomach . Back ache . All in all I feel unwell everyday .

I have been on 40 milligram of omeprazole for about 6 years or so . But I don't no if they are working very well .I am due a scope in early summer I think .

And do people no if being on ppi for long can affect me.

Also I am lactose intolerance .so I only have a little bit of soya milk each day .

My throat always feel like it closes up and goes very red .

Bit worried and would like to feel healthy for once as I am only 29.

Thanks for advice anyone

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Barretts
    Barretts dean48614

    Posted

    Hi Dean,

    Your symptoms sound so familiar. The reflux that caused your Barrett's may not be so acidic now because of your omeprazole, but it ca still travel full column and, breaching the upper oesophageal sphincter, aspirate into the respiratory system.

    It's now the reflux that needs to be addressed.

    Please visit www DownWithAcid org uk and scroll down the contents (home) page to find the chapter on Extra-Oesophageal reflux.

    Subsequent chapters of the book also deal with the management of it.

    I have suffered with reflux all my life (and just turned 68). For me, the answer was surgery but you may be able to reduce your reflux with the lifestyle tips.

    • dean48614
      dean48614 Barretts

      Posted

      Thanks for your help pal I will look into that .I also have congestion in my nose and get a weird smell when breath in .body aches from head to toe constantly .I eat general clean and still have no look with symptoms but will look into this .thanks again .
  • janzz
    janzz dean48614

    Posted

    I have hiatal hernia and the acid reflux travels to my esophagus. I also take omeprazole omegard and itopride ganaton 50 mg. Perhaps a change of lifestyle is needed for us. I believe we have limited food to take. You may try to avoid eating any food that is being cook or prepared with oil, foods that comes in dairy, drinks that are carbonated and citrus, foods that are spicy and foods that has vinegar. Doing some exercise such as walking  or stretching or doing yoga may also help. I am also a lactose intolerant and my doctor is giving me lactase medicine to take before drinking milk. How ver, there are some lactose free milk in the market so you may try it. I do not drink fresh milk instead I use milk powder and incorporate it with my light meal in the morning. I eat 4 tbspn of oatmeal,milk powder, honey in it, cinnamon powder and a slice of my banana fresh fruit combine altogether. Right when I wake up, before I take my meal, I drink warm water or sometimes warm water with tbsp of honey and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Then stand with tiptoe as much as I can and hands sidewards both then bend my elbow towards me then do the jolting for 10 times. Then I do a quick short breath in and out as if I am pushing my stomach outward for 15 seconds after jolting. No alcohol and smoking. The only beverage I take is regular water and malt drink like Milo for a change but with less to no sugar. As of the moment I am only eating vegetables and fish and fresh fruits and oats in vice versa. I am still observing my routine though and hoping for good results by God's mercy. Eat less and chew foods to give your body a signal that you are putting food in the stomach. No need to hurry, take your time when eating. Drink plenty of water. Preparing your own food is better than buying a ready made or for to go. Avoid processed foods. If you can find aloe vera juice no other acidic fruits in it, You may try that also. Papaya fresh fruit and Okra vegetable is also good for acid reflux.

    We also need to feel less tension or  stress or worry as the stomach will secrete acid. We can't help to worry thinking about our situation. It is not easy and when I am down, I just pray to God and strongly believe in his words and promises in Jeremiah 30:17 "For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the LORD, becasue they have called you an outcast; It is zion for whom no one cares." Isaiah 58:8 "Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and YOUR HEALING SHALL SPRING UP SPEEDILY; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the  LORD shall be your rear guard." Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanskgiving. Let your request be known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus." And somehow I feel relief. I hope this finds you well. 

  • robtheprint
    robtheprint dean48614

    Posted

    Hi Dean

    Very unfair that you feel this bad at only 29 years of age, I am more than double that so maybe I should feel thankful that I lasted this long. After having an Endoscopy and the version where they put the camera in the nose I have been told that there is nothing too serious, although on a bad day this doesn't really help. I have opted not to take any medication after hearing that most who do take it are no better. Instead I have started a healthy (if boring) diet and a little exercise.

    Too early to say if I feel the benefit of this but at the moment it still feels as though someone is sitting on my throat. I have also read that if the PH in your body is not correctly balanced then this gives similar symptons so I wondered if anyone out there has any knowledge of this? I am sure that eventually we shall all feel better again.

    • Barretts
      Barretts robtheprint

      Posted

      There are many quacks on the internet. The talk of your body's pH balance tends to originate on their sites.

      If you do research the internet, you must always be very circumspect about the things you find. My immediate rule of thumb when visiting  a new site is to search the page, usually at the bottom to find out what they're selling.

      Snake oils salesmen abound whose only interest is making themselves money at the expense of the gullible sufferes who desperately cling at anything that may have a crumb of hope.

      That is why, when I wrote the book and website www DownWithAcid org uk, I decided it would be FREE. I am not in the business of making myself rich but helping patients undertsand the condition.

      The medication you have been prescribed will reduce acid reduction to make any reflux less dangerous. It will probably not hep reflux.

      As to diet, many myths abound. Barrett's is a relatively newly identified condition (first noted in the 1950's). When the link with acid was first considered, suggestions that the acidity of food may make a difference were first mooted. Now we know much more but the mythology continues. Our bodies react differently to different foods. (This may be because of learned reflexes in growing up and/or be due to the different personal balance of bacteria in our guts.)

      You need to keep a food diary to see what your particular trigger foods are. Because something is bad for one person doesn't mean it's bad for everyone.

    • janzz
      janzz Barretts

      Posted

      5Barretss I am reading your comments a couple of days now and it really started to make me understand my situation. Thank you a lot for your generosity of sharing and caring for the people who are suffering for this disease.

      I would like to know if the barretts, GERD/acid reflux or hiatal hernia can cause damage to lungs? I am also experiencing a pain in my upper back since I had this acid reflux due to my hiatal hernia. Will I get any better? I am only 33 years old. Will this one get heal in time especially the hiatal hernia if accompanied by appropriate food and diet? My throat has a white patches and I am also having some mass or lymph nodes. I can't help crying everyday. I hope you can help me.

    • Barretts
      Barretts janzz

      Posted

      Hi Janzz,

      Aspirating extra-oesophageal reflux into the respiratory system can damage your lungs. I had reflux all my life (I'm 68) until I had the fundoplication operation. I had the cough ad all the other symptoms of aspirated reflux - but, fortunately have not done serious damage to my lungs which do have the ability to heal themselves.

      The www DownWithAcid org uk book does have chapters on pneumonia and bronchiectasis in the "Other related conditions" section towards the end of the book - and I know of a girl, now 16, who has bronchiectasis due to reflux, but it is probably rare.

      If you can manage to reduce your reflux, most damaged tissue has the ability to heal itself.

      There are no drugs to stop reflux, anoly reduce the acid.

      I see from your other posts you were switched from pantoprazole to omeprazole which I find puzzling. Apart from omeprazole being cheaper, they are both effective PPIs which in high dose over a long period can induce hypochlorhydria which causes the "side effects" people are always so unduly worried about. Your dose, and the fact you are monitored by a doctor, should provide no cause for alarm. (20mg omeprazole is equivalent to 40mg pantoprazole.)

      The Itopride you are taking is not approved in UK or US. It is an anti-emetic / prokinetic which is the nearest we have to an anti-reflux drug. (In UK, we may be prescribed domperidone or metoclopramide but both have possible side effects when used long term.)

      The hiatus hernia can slide back into position but is unlikely. And some chiropracters will charge a fortune to manipulate it back from the chest into the abdomen but in so doing actually loosen the hiatal hole in the diaphragm enabling it to slide back easier. Hiatus hernia is actually very common in the population as a whole but most people manage to live with it and not even realise they have it. It does, however, exacerbate the reflux. It's unusual to be offered any corrective surgery for this alone (unless it were the rarer rolling hernia - but you would know if you had that).

      If the reflux gets too much and you are unable to control it, surgery is an option - a fundoplication will necessarily include repair of the hitaus hernia.

      Meanwhile, although many are trying to offer you helpful advice regarding herbal remedies, there is nothing you can take that will heal a hiatus hernia, I'm afraid.

      Your best recourse is to make lifestyle changes to help reduce reflux:

      losing weight if necessary, avoiding over-filling your stomach by eating little and often, avoiding exercise after food that will compress or tip the stomach while it is full, avoiding tight clothing, not eating for at least 3 hours before bed and raising the head of your bed by 6 to 8 inches on blocks.

      I hope you manage to reduce your reflux.

      Chris

    • phyllis10549
      phyllis10549 Barretts

      Posted

      I loved your post Barretts. I have PMR and silent reflux mine is uncontrollable but I don't know,whete to go Ent or gastroenologist. Miss spelled I'm sure but I've been to both the gastroenologist doc says nothing wrong with down in tummy but ENT said I have redness in my throat. My mouth burns and treat I cough get congested with mucous in my chest. I'm a wits end. I take prednisone for PMR. And it's has made reflux or whatever it is. Please help with some advice. Ih, I'm on 80 mgs of omeprazole. Too much!!!!
    • Barretts
      Barretts phyllis10549

      Posted

      Hi Phyllis. Although your symptoms sound like extra-oesophaegeal reflux ("Silent reflux" ), it may not actually be the cause but rather from throat or respiratory infection.

      If you have extra-oesophageal reflux, it would start in the stomach, breaching the lower oesophageal sphincter and travelling full column to reach and breach the upper oesophageal sphincter and aspirate into throat etc. But if the gastroenterologist has found no evidence of reflux at the lower end of the oesophagus, the problem could be originating higher up.

      Although I have studied reflux related problems extensively, I am not a general doctor but I would guess the clue lies with your corticosteroid which is well known for reducing your body's immunity to infections.

      But why are you taking high dose omeprazole? Is it to control excess acid that may be produced because of your other drugs or did you have acid hypersecretion? Being on that could actually confuse the gastroenterologist as without the acid, there may be no evidence, eg oesophagitis, of reflux at the lower oesophageal sphincter.

      What happens if you miss a few days of your omeprazole? Do you experience burning sensations lower down your chest? But even if your omeprazole is masking gastro-oesophageal reflux and extra-oesophageal reflux is occuring which would certainly explain the cough and mucous, being non-acidic, it shouldn't burn your throat and mouth.

      Sorry if all that sounds confused and I haven't been able to provide you with a definitive answer but it may help you discuss it further with your doctor.

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