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Acid Reflux(GERD or LPR)

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prakash54321
prakash54321

I am 32 years old guy. My life went very happy without thinking of food & lifestyle. Any  time I will eat without limit, anytime I will drink and anytime I will sleep without thinking of anything. Life went very well without illness. Few months back continuously 20 days i suffered with throat  pain and irritation. My voice changed totally but I never took it as serious issue. One day after dinner I went to bed lay-down  and started to watching the TV. Suddenly I got huge cough in that time my breath and voice was stopped. I thought I am going to die and try to recover my breath and voice    after long struggle few mins back I came to normal. Immediately I went to hospital they took me to ECG, Blood, chest/lungs x-ray and nasal endoscope. Doctor told me that due to throat infection it was happened and gave some tablets. I returned happily to home since I thought there is no major problem. After two days back while sleeping on night time i got same breathing stuck issue and struggled. I put my fingers on my mouth and try to take vomit and recover my breath. It took very long to recover again by releasing some air by mouth. I went to may hospitals and took various tests but no use. My breathing issue started to come regularly. I started to fear lot and thought I am going to die soon. Since it is suddenly coming in night time in between sleep I can't imagine or explain by words. After long struggle I met on doctor he told me that it may due to acid reflux problem and took endocopy. Results shown as Lax LES on OG junction. Doctor gave me few antacids to reduce acid. But still my throat pain, cough and breathing issue not recovered. Finally I met one doctor he also gave some medicine to reduce stomach acid and getting positive reply. I recovering slowly. Now night time breathing attack fully stopped but sometimes getting cough and making me wakeup. Due to fear or some stomach issue my food intake got reduced lot and my weight got reduced 11kg in 4 months. Doctor reduced step by step in dosage. Currently only night time I am taking antacids tablet before food.  I have lot of work stress, pressure, sudden angry type of character. Still I am facing little bit of throat issue, body pain, fear and night time cough. Can anyone help me on right remedy, treatment or medicine to fully recover from this issue.

1 like, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • Barretts
    Barretts prakash54321

    Posted

    Hi Prakash,

    Your symptoms do sound like reflux. You rmedicine will reduce the acid but not the reflux itself.

    Even without the acid, reflux can continue up the oesophagus and into the airways (LPR). Medicines will not help reduce reflux.

    It's good that you've lost weight. This can be the biggest cause of reflux. Do not overfill your stomach: eat small portions and more often. But leave at least 3 hours between your last meal and going to bed.

    Raise the head of the bed by 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches) on blocks and sleep on your left side.

    If lifestyle doesn't help, you may need reflux reduction surgery ( a fundoplication).

    • vergil91786
      vergil91786 Barretts

      Posted

      Hi Barretts,

      What do you mean reflux without acid? Can you expand on this I think it might be some useful knowledge to look up. I always assumed reflux means acid pushed upwards. Thanks.

    • Barretts
      Barretts vergil91786

      Posted

      Reflux is the backwards movement of stomach contents through the lower oesophageal spnicter into th eoeosphagus.

      Usually the stomach contains acid. However, if the aci dlevels are depleted through satiation or by suppression (eg with acid suppressant medication), reflux can still occur of other contents. Reflux can cause damage whether acidic or not. However, non acidic reflux will not harm the oesophagus in the same way.

      Reflux + acid + bile can cause Barrett's Oesophagus, a permanent cellular change that can mutate to cancer.

      However, Non-Erosive Reflux Disorder (NERD) can reflux through the upper oesophageal sphincter and aspirate into the respiratory system where it can result in many complications including life-threatening pneumonia and bronchiectasis.

      So it is important to reduce reflux as well as (or instead of) acid.

      See the book I've been writing at DownWithAcid org uk to learn more.

    • prakash54321
      prakash54321 Barretts

      Posted

      Hi Barretts,

      Thanks for your great suggestions. Currently I am taking pantoprazole 20mg at night time before meal. Doctor told me to take this tablet for this month full then he ask me to manage 2 weeks without taking any medicine. If problem comes then he told me to admit in hospital. Last few months I totally changed my food habits/lifestyle and getting step by step improvements on my issue(I already following all the recovery steps mentioned by you). My concern is about my weight loss. I have reduced huge weight around 10KG in 3months( my hight is 5feet 8inches and weight reduced from 73KG to 62KG). But I don't know the reason of weight loss.Anyway My food intake reduced a lot. Due to fear or stomach discomfort I can't find the root cause. If i take less food then I don't feel any issue but if i take little more food then I am feeling discomfort in breathing and stomach full kind of thinking so I have reduced my limit.  Is that ok? or do I need to go for some test to find the reason of weight loss?

      Still facing dry cough in day time and little throat pain when I am thinking of my health. Since I am working in software field I can't spend more time on physical body excrecise. Always sitting infront of my laptop and thinking of health issue. It is increasing more stress and fear. Shall I quit my job and take rest or do some other job as I like? Is that fully recover me from this problem?

    • Barretts
      Barretts prakash54321

      Posted

      Sounds like you're making good progress but the weight loss could be worrying if it continues.

      Your previous BMI was 24.3 which is at the top end of the normal healthy range (18.5 - 24.9). Your new BMI at 20.7 is good.

      Are you just losing weight because you're not eating or some other reason? A mistake I've made is although it's easy to eat half size portions, it's more difficult to eat more frequently. Schedule in a couple of good snacks during the day if you can.

      Regarding exercise. If your job requires sitting at a desk all day, you may be able to fit in some walking on the way to or from work or during a lunchhour?

      If your weight continues to fall, definitely see your doctor again so this can be explored.

    • rex_44766
      rex_44766 prakash54321

      Posted

      Prakash this weight loss occurs with most detox diets. For instance I am in Day 13 of the SIBO diet at present and lose up to 500 gms a day. It does positively help to reduce symptoms. How are your bowels? If runny that is just nature doing its job and getting rid of dead bacteria that has died when you restrict its favourite food - sugar. You need to look at your poo every time and write down what is happening particularly with regard to colour. It helps your doctor a lot if you familiarise yourself with the Bristol Stool Chart. When you do runny motions its not necessarily diarhea. Your doc will want to  know times and frequency and if urgent or explosive. What nature is doing here is getting rid of anything toxic in the colon. Its a good move to learn how all this works. A great time to do this is when you are wide awake at 3am in the morning! You'd be amazed at how many forumites are on line during tgebwee small hours! Your colon recycles the water that it extracts out of your waste. Its a very very clever system and its all totally automatic. I am off all meds and supplements at present and have really turned the corner (at last!!!) . This sounds a bit rude but the reverse flow from your stomach is gas going the wrong way. The answer is do everything you can to get it to exit via the rear exit. You may have to explain to your partner that you have to do this and get it out as quickly as possible. What is happening here is gas is taking the easiest way out because your pyloric valve is in terrific condition (bottom right side) and your LES relaxes first. Its just physics in action. At 32 you are just toooooo young to think about surgery and there are heaps more options even though you probably think you are in a very dark place at present. Dont forget no matter what anyone tells you the Nissen is non reversable. You will find that your throat will heal very quickly once you reduce/stop the daily onslaught of acid so hang in there on your new lifestyle and in no time at all you will be 100% well again. You'llbe OK,
    • hilary07569
      hilary07569 Barretts

      Posted

      Hi Barretts thank you for the recipes which I will try out. I'd also appreciate your advice on medication . I went back to the GP and told her that I was getting heartburn every other day, with the 150 mg Ranitidine. She then put me on 300mg of Ranitidine and 40mg of Rabeprazole, throwing in Domperidone for good measure! Result: I have moved into spare room, on a bed with raised head , the heartburn is worse and some nights I am up til 3.30 because I can't sleep. Today I saw another doctor and she just said to stick to the same regime, even though I was suffering with heartburn at the time! The pain is no longer triggered by food, it just gradually comes on at any time. I can see the logic of what they are doing because my oesophagus needs to heal and a month of Rabeprazole and ranitidine last May gave me two months respite but I am wondering if I now have too little stomach acid.. I never wanted to go down the medication route but a careful diet didn't ttotally work for me. Think I will try cutting out one item of medication at a time, to see which one is making my symptoms so much worse.  Any advice on my dilemma would be great. I don't have any of the other symptoms like bloating, belching etc, just painful burning.
  • Ricardo007
    Ricardo007 prakash54321

    Posted

    Prakash,

    I suffered these similar symptoms for years at least 14 on and off.

    I used to eat what i wanted without a care of what i was shovelling into my mouth.

    I can tell you the drugs only give temporary relief. The only way i conqured this problem permanantly was to quit eating all processed foods, i.e, tinned, frozen, quit eating fast food. I quit all refined sugar, and quit all starches. 

    I still get some carbs, but that is from the vegetables i eat.

    My main diet now only consists of steamed vegetables, if the vegetables are raw, they are normally salad type vegetables. I eat nuts and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, pistachio, almonds, walnuts), normally ground up in a coffeee blender first, and added to a smoothie (using coconut milk, not dairy). This is easier on the digestion. I still eat chicken and fish. Has to be grilled though, with no bad oils.

    I think the problem is with todays food industry. They are dumping in hydrogenated oils, refined sugars and all sorts of other additives and preservatives in our foods, causing all sorts of illnesses.

    You can't even get a loaf of bread nowadays without it being loaded with hydrogenation and refined sugar. Our food industry is definitely in a bad state.

    Go back to eating as natural as you can, and you will find it will clear up in a couple of weeks.

    The GAPS diet actually worked for me, but it is tough to give up all the foods in one go, so some people find it hard.

    I wish you all the best.

  • rex_44766
    rex_44766 prakash54321

    Posted

    So sad you are having these problems at such a young age. Thank you for such an excellent synopsis of your symptoms. I have been in your exact position. You have both LPR and reflux. This does change and you can go 100% one way or the other. You will know when this is happening. Do you get hoarse after talking more than 5 minutes? If so try spraying a product like Aqua down your throat. This soothes and lubricates and I dont think you can use too much. If you think back you will probably remember that you used to wake up nightly with an extremely dry mouth as if you had been sleeping with your mouth open. As this worsens you start to get the choking and latter latter you can get burning in all nasal tubes and cavities and then your wonderful body tries to protect you by laying down heaps of mucous. What is happening here is acid gas is coming up and super irritating your throat. Acid blockers do ease this for a while particularly easing any coughing but in my experience at least will not treat the problem at its source which I now know you MUST do if you want live anything like a normal life. Any of this sound familiar??? If you have full blown reflux which for me was the next step, you will feel actual liquid acid coming all the way up into your mouth and at its most horribliest, start burning your lips. This can scare the socks off you the furst time it happens and yes if not treated will lead to complications. Again acid blockers will ease this but you possiblely need to take more and more. Your doctor is actually easing you off these now as it is unadvisable to take them for tooooo long as clearly stated on the label. So what to do? Lifestyle, lifestyle lifestyle. This is the key!  The answer  for you is in Ricardos post. I reckon if you do what he says you will start to improve within 7 days. I know this because both my wife and I have done it and we are old codgers! In the meantime start look at healing your body spiritually. To me your trigger was probably stress as I think you have already worked out but are yet to accept. Am I right? If so read up on spiritual healing, learn yoga, involve yourself in your religion if you are that way inclined and of course the number one helper for all this - meditation. Hope this helps. Its best not to dwell on the negatives of what could happen to you. You my friend CAN heal your broken body just by doing the simple very low cost things outlined here. Best of luck.
  • Curtis1973
    Curtis1973 prakash54321

    Posted

    LPR was my first symptoms many years ago along with acid pains in my stomach. Treatment helped then but now its returned along with heartburn and it seems chronic.
  • hilary07569
    hilary07569 prakash54321

    Posted

    Hi, I've been trying to eat healthily but still get reflux and still need to take Ranitidine. I saw a dietician yesterday who suggested I try things out gradually, with the result that I'm sitting here with really bad reflux, unable to lie down!  Can anyone recommend a diet that I can follow in detail, day by day, so that these lapses don't happen? It's confusing because sometimes something is all right and other times it gives me reflux. Similarly sometimes supplements like Aloe Vera seem to help and other times they don't. I have also lost a lot of weight but it's not surprising, given that coffee, tea, chocolate etc are now out of the question. Since I got this horrible illness I have been amazed at the number of people who take a ppi every day, often for years, and can then eat just about anything. Reflux is affecting my marriage too. At first my husband was very sympathetic but he's getting fed up with it now.
    • Barretts
      Barretts hilary07569

      Posted

      Difficult providing a diet becasue we're all different and react to foods differently. That's why "Banned food" lists should actually be termed "common triggers".

      I've sent you a link via private message that may be helpful.

    • hilary07569
      hilary07569 Barretts

      Posted

      Thank you very much but I can't work out how to access a private message on this site!
    • Barretts
      Barretts hilary07569

      Posted

      If you click on your own name where you've posted, you'll get your profile page where you should find on the right, near the top, a "Messages" button.

      Otherwise, if you can find the BarrettsWessex org uk site, click on "downloads" which is on the dropdown menu of the LINKS tab.

      You may download the Cool Food book at the very bottom of the page.

      Or go to the SALES tab, scroll to find a picture of the COOL FOOD book and click on it.

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