Inhaling acid whilst asleep - Acid Reflux
Posted , 59 users are following.
Hi I have had acid reflux for 2 years and been on Lanzoprazole 30mg once a day as a PPI
I am 42, male and overweight
Recently I have had teh most frightening experience of waking up in teh middle of teh night choking and unable to breathe. It lasts about 60 seconds but feels like 10 minutes
The doctor says I could be inhaling acid whilst asleep.
Has anyone information or experience of this and know what can be done about it - its VERY scary.
Thank you very much
6 likes, 91 replies
stwj.suze
Posted
How on earth have you managed to put up with this disease for so long? Oh you poor thing - but well done for sounding still positive! Have they never offered you a nissan fundoplication? My doc said this is one option once I have tried everything else and I would love to hear how people have got on. Can you eat any normal \"junk\" stuff or do you have to be perfect like me (one step off my diet and I am thrown weeks back into agony).
Have you had any side effects on the nexium if you have been taking them for so long?
I am due my next endoscopy soon - they need to go into my lower intestines this time - stuff going on too grim to talk about!
Suze :oops:
anthi99776 stwj.suze
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NSMechanic Guest
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I have been suffering with this for 15 + years. I am a male, 53 now and work a job that prevents me from sleeping and eating in a normal pattern which seriously aggravates this problem. But here is what I have learned. Some meds make it much worse. I occasionally take sleep aids and for some reason things like Xanex almost garentee I will have it. I am not sure about everyone else but I actually get acid and sometimes food particles into my lungs. I have damaged my lungs horribly from this. If you wake and feel the acid or fluid going into your breathing passage, immediately drink antacid, Gaviscon if you like it, I prefer the simple regular strength antacid normally in the blue bottle. Then drink a couple large swigs of Pepto Bismol. I have learned to fight the erg to try to cough it out until after I have drank this cocktail of antacid and coatings. The reason why is if you start trying to cough it out before coating the acid, you can actually just cough more acid right from your stomach. Then do your best to cough out any acid or broke down food that may have made it into your lungs. Unfortunately on me, this happens no matter if I have an empty stomach or have recently ate. If I drink very much water before bed it is much more likely to happen, especially on an empty stomach and that's when it's most dangerous. When it happens on an empty stomach the acid is much more potent or acidic. I have coughed out acid from my lungs that actually burned my skin when it got on it so you can only imagine what it does to my lungs. The good news is, if you dilute the acid with antacid and coat it with Pepto Bismol, the damage will get better fairly quickly. After a bad burn with mostly just acid, I can cough it out and feel better in the next few hours. But it will cause my lungs to make a form if pneumonia that takes weeks and even months to get cleared up. My lungs wheeze, gurgle and make horrific noises until I get the burns healed up and the fluid goes away. One thing that does help is eating dry food for your last meal before sleeping, no matter how long till sleep. Meaning, don't eat soup or fluid foods. I think it gives the acid something to work on. I can tell you in my case, taking antacid pills or pills that stop the acid pumps or production just doesn't help. I just produce WAY too much acid and can't always time my eating and sleeping schedule good enough to prevent this. Pretty much all my family all suffer with GERD. I have spent thousands with docs trying to correct it but it always seems to come back when I least expect it. All I can say is hopefully you work a job that allows you to get in a regular schedule and train your digestive system when to produce acid and when not to. Good Luck.
Guest NSMechanic
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NSMechanic Guest
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Guest NSMechanic
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helen5555 Guest
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I was on Omeprazole for 2 years until last May when I weaned myself off of them. I've had an endoscopy (tube down the throat) and a colonoscopy (tube up the backside!?!).
Endoscopy showed mild gastritis (inflamation of stomach), but that was 3 years ago, and colonoscopy showed some narrowing of the bowel, which was 3 months ago, and has helped a little to maybe understanding some of my symptoms, I had constipation pretty bad for the first time in my life.
Now I'm not saying my acid reflux is caused by these findings, although they could well be!....but I wanted to say I have researched my symptoms over the years and as I'm sure most of you, who may have also researched, there are so many things that can cause this reflux, it's hard to explain all I have discovered in a short post!!
What I will say, in the hope that anyone searching for an end to this nightmare, for it is a nightmare, and one I am still trying to end, is:
PPI's or proton pump inhibitors are given to stop acid production, which for some people works very well, and should be taken if they are prescribed for you. I would never recommend for anyone not to take them.
BUT, after they did not work for me and wondering why, I researched and found that they CAN alter the good and bad bacteria in the gut. Stomach acid not only digests food but also kills off bad bacteria in the gut.
When too little acid is produced (remember PPI's stop acid production), there can sometimes be an over-production of bad bacteria in the gut, this causes pressure to build, hence any bloating, and this pressure forces the LES (lower oesophagal sphincter) to open and acid to enter the oesophagus (apparently it only takes a small amount of acid to cause problems).
Obviously, I need a healthy gut to prevent complications of the narrowing, so I feel PPI's are not for me.
I have mentioned this, only for information purposes to anyone interested or still having problems with their PPI's.
For myself, I have read these posts and learned some interesting stuff, which I have seen before, but was not strict about, so I will be: raising my bed, not eating or drinking for 3 hours before bedtime, taking Gaviscon before bed, oh and eating regularly (another research tip, which supposedly helps your system to regulate acid production, as opposed to irregular eating which puts it out of sync!)
Good luck to anyone suffering these awful symptoms and I am always interested to hear anything that has helped anyone, whatever it is.
dolynda38135 helen5555
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Dorinda64 NSMechanic
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You have NAILED my symptoms to a T! pneumonia is exactly what I feel like I get after one of this episodes! It's horrible! Thank you for your post, I am so sorry you suffer with this like I do! I will try your burn relief suggestions because I have never tried that combo! I would do just about anything to get rid of the horrific burning in my throat, wish there was something for the burning lungs . Best wishes to you!
anthi99776 helen5555
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Im dreading acid coming into my lung, as I am on sedative medication and have asthma, They knock me down (my medication). Once I had it up to my larynx and a few times up the oesophagus, Omeprazole works wonders so when I take it all these do. So I don't care I'll take I'll take it forever. I take probiotics to help the gut, I also take alternative herbals,looking into homeopathy at the moment. My psychotropic medication have many side effects too, but I tried 15 years to cope wkth the mood swings and I lost jobs, I went throught hell. I am not doing the same with Omeprazole. The side effects can be controlled, I take B12 every day, as it depletes it, I eat a lot of greens and almonds to replenish the calcium that also gets depleted and it works. I changed my diet to to organic vegan, that helps too, as it gets digested easier, so I don't need a lot of gas of acid to digest it. My gut builds good bacteria quicker with whole grains.
My GP keeps me on 2, I only take 40 if I have an ulcer or H Pylori. If worse comes to worse and can't take it anymore, I'll take Ranitidine instead, it's not as good, but it has minimal side effects. Gaviskon is for short term I think, but so it's omeprazole, bu they use it for longer.
My eating is not disorganised anymore, as with veganism you automatically become more careful.
Risk of Pneumonia with Omeprazole and Salmonela, yes I am worried, but it's unusual, although it has the potential. that's why I buy everything organic now and I eat a plan based diet, majority of food I eat is vegetables and fruits. So, building up immune system.
All these for now for me, who knows what the future holds, but a burned oesophagus is worde that all these I think.
Anthi
john80670 anthi99776
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I have had acid reflux for 8 years waking up choking most nights and only last year found out what it was, all the doctors told me it was a dream ? and now i have emphysema and was told it's could be from acid splashing into my lungs. The hospital told me i am waking up every 5 minutes while i sleep suffocating but wont remember doing it and they still say it's not bad enough to to have the operation to fix my acid problem.
PS i have weak muscle / hiatus hernia and gallstones
anthi99776 dolynda38135
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You need to take Ranitidine for a couple of weeks or even a month if you have been on PPI for years. Otherwise the symptoms will spring back up, Omeprazole acts as a spring.
If you can be on Ranitidine as it has less side effects and only take Omeprazole when it's really bad?
I am hearing in this forum positives and negatives of taking them and non-taking them and not sure whihc way to go either, as I don't want want eosophagial cancer either.
miamia Guest
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tata40402 miamia
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Hi. I am suffering from this now. I am scared to go out and eat, embarrassed I'll cough the whole time. This just started. It's been a wk. I've had no sleep. I cough all night. I've been sitting up sleep, leaning on pillows. Does this stop
biospot Guest
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I ate some food from a low class grocery store and It was "funny". Not funny Haha, but funny tasting. 20 minutes after eating it, I had acid reflux disease when I have mostly licked now. I was surprised, but I felt light headed too. I went to bed and NEVER woke up during the night.
I did wake up in the morning. I knew something was wrong right away because my lungs were on fire. The damage was long done when I finally woke up. I wondered why I never woke up during what had to be excrusiating pain. All I can say is the food poison must have knocked me out like a doctor did. and the damage was done.
I agree. It is the most painfull thing in the world. The only time I felt similar pain was when I was stabbed in 1973, and had open heart surgery to save my life. They would stick a plastic tube down my breathing tube and into both lungs untill it hit the bottom of my lungs and forced me to cough. That pain (coughing afte having your chest cut open,, sternum cut, and all the muscles in the way cut apart and then sewed bck up again? That is the same pain I felt when I inhaled some stomach acid. Makes me wonder if it happened to me in 1973 when they operated.
In any event, I have been working to get rid of my gerd and dependance on anti-acids. I have succeeded. I take nothing any more I used to take ranitidine all the time but I read that the idea of antiacids is wrong. The problem is not too much stomach acide but too little. If you have too little the body can't digest right and it makes more. If you supress with pills. It works.. but any chance the body get's it trys to crank up the acid to get the digestion back in sync.
I have been doing that and it's working for me. I eat small meals of many different kinds of things. That's part of the trick. The next part is NEVER EVER DO WHAT I DID. I know this. I have learned it the hard way for years. Listen to this.
I was 50-60 lbs overweight. I went on atkins in 2003 and lost 45 of those 55 lbs. It was easy. I had NO heartburn. I had NO stomach acid. I ate (for the first "induction" phase) only meat. I also ate fat. I ate as our fathers have for the last 1 million years. No sugar, not artificial fat (margerine) NO LOW FAT. Fat is required for body to be healthy and contrary to what we have been brainwashed into believeing fat in the diet (butter, meat with fat on it, etc...) does NOT instanly go from teh stomach and add it self to the middls of your stomach. No.. it gest burned for food, though rather inefficiently. I remember atkins book explained that only 13% of calories converted from fat to sugar (for energy to run the body) is available after the conversion process.. Ergo you eat 100 calories of fat and it only gives you 13 calories of sugar. If you keep all intake down and survive on that fat only, your body will melt the fat off magically. I lost exacly .4 lbs per day (point 4.. not four) So every 10 days I lost 4 lbs. in 100 days, I lost exaclty 40 lbs. I was sick of the diet but I kept it off. Still I learned a great deal doing that.
the biggest all time failure for me was (and sometimes still is) to eat something before bed. I found this out by walking my dog for 5 miles a day just before bed. I mean brisk walking. If I rushed it I could alomst do it in 1 hour. Usually 1:05 or 1:10 was average. The trick? Is that at the 45 minute point, I would not think anything, then suddenly I would burp. 2 or 3 times. I did it so many times I ignore dit bye eventually I realized that burp was the esophagus and or teh stomach was digesting it's contents. And I could feel it. I felt better, and I felt like my stomacn was pretty empty. I would then finish my walk, go home and go to bed. I was tired every night.
No antacids. no beta blockers. no PPI's. no noghitn. Just sleep
I have had that burp wait for over 1 hour and sometimes way faster like 25 minutes. In any case the trick is to go to bed on an empty stomach. You know like the old saying? We think just becaue they are old they are not true in this day of computers and everything else. No.. they are still true. Eat as much as you want, but walk for 1 hour, then go to bed. That's the trick. The rest is all window dressling and mis-information by the food industry (which are NOT your friends)
you have to walk fast. Put effort into it. No cheating. If you don't work hard, then you need to do it longer.
shazzybib biospot
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Found this and what a breath of fresh air. I have a sticky valve, I take antacids (omoprazole) and last night suffered the burning sensation in my lungs. My poor husband was absolutely beside him self and was going to call an ambulance. I stopped him, said just give me the Gaviscon and I will be fine, and within two hours I had calmed down and I could breathe properly, without throthing in the mouth, rather a scary moment of my life. I am trying to find a way to sort this issue out myself as I am awaiting surgery, which currently may not be as effective as promised, with Scar tissue etc. Therefore I have found your article very interesting and I wanted to thank you for taking the time and effort to post the information. I think a lot of are issues are based upon our diet and some strange eating habits. Drugs that suppress acid production (that are needed to breakdown nutrients into more manageable doses for absorption into the body) doesn't sound like the right thing to do. So I am glad to see someone else has been very successful in endeavouring to find a solution themselves. Best wishes
Jmariep513 biospot
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Hi biosot!
Oh my gosh!! I was just thinking about how much better I was doing on Keto a few months ago & wondering if I should go back on it! I am 50 lbs. Overweight & am a person who has been there & done that with all the above!! Since 5th grade I've had digestive issues. Diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus about 2 -3 years ago. But have a hiatal hernia & awful GERD!! So many terrible nights of gasping for air, sternum pain not able to get air (asthma too) .. my GI Dr has me on Dexilant (the only one that works & I've tried them all!) Plus he put me on Zantac before bed. Since then it's gotten way worse!! I go to sleep & about 2 hours later I wake up gasping with acid burning my esophagus so bad I can't speak or do anything. I do coconut water, coconut milk, soda water, then after the worst part. I let Raw Manuka honey just sit there while I'm look up. It's like ahhhhh! Gaviscon worked before too. Anyway... I'm currently searching desperately for which diet would be best for this while trying to lose weight? & control this acid attacks ... Keto & Paleo both seemed ok. But it's confusing sometimes! I love your idea of after eating dinner to walk my dogs an hour! I have a park nearby. Fitbit etc. I'm a (mostly) healthy (no other major health issues) 63 year old woman & all I want is to feel good again!!! Thank you for the lies carb info!! Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!? Thank you!! Jmariep513
Cpatriot Jmariep513
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Jamie Kaufman Md. may have real help for you. newyorkvoiceinstitute. She coined the new term 'airway reflux' and you must change your diet completely immediately and ask to be weaned off PPIs safely. Her videos and cookbook are very helpful on YouTube.