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My Acid Reflux Produced Phlegm-Filled Cough

Posted , 6 users are following.

WittyKat914
WittyKat914

I have severe Acid Reflux , a Hiatal Hernia and Barrett's Esophagus and, in the last year, it has caused a chronic cough with excessive phlegm production, to the point where I feel like it's choking me. Not to be gross, but I tend to swallow it as I usually find it impossible to bring from the back of my throat to the front of my mouth to enable me to expel it. It bothers my boyfriend, especially when he is watching TV or trying to sleep.

Since lying in bed, even with my wedge pillow, results in me waking up an hour or two later, coughing my guts out for the next few minutes, I frequently sleep on the couch, which is not really designed as a comfortable surface for regular sleeping, so I wake up frequently. All in all, this is causing me to grow increasingly irritable.

I am carrying over 80 lbs. of excess weight, which is not good for the acid reflux and now have developed arthritis, especially in my knees. I am a 63-year old woman with a severe addiction to sweets that is almost impossible to control for more than a few months.

It has reached the point where I am strongly considering a gastric bypass, as it would help me to lose weight and, I'm told, cure my acid reflux. In many ways, this terrifies me, but I have to do something. It would probably cure my sugar addiction, as consuming any more than a bite or two would cause me extreme discomfort.

Any helpful advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,

WittyKat914

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • alexis18213
    alexis18213 WittyKat914

    Posted

    Hello,

    This seems quite serious. I'd suggest harassing your GP and/or gastro-enterologist for an operation for the hernia...

    And stop sweets once and for all if you think that's a trigger. It may be hard but see this is as a life or death choice. Would you have oesophagus cancer just to satisfy your sugar addiction?

    • WittyKat914
      WittyKat914 alexis18213

      Posted

      Thank you for your response. Obviously, you are correct, but I have been struggling with this since my teens and am now 63.

      My gastroenterologist told me that the hernia wasn't a big concern, when she first diagnosed it last year and she is well aware of the coughing problem. She has me taking a protein pump inhibitor, Pantaprazole in the morning and evening, the final dose combined with ranititidine She does not want me to eat after a certain point in the evening, which is difficult as I am sometimes up for most of the night. One issue is that I can become nauseous if I have nothing on my stomach and, unfortunately, sweets are the easiest and habitual thing to reach for. I hardly ever have coffee anymore, something I truly enjoy. What I need to do is to do an overhaul of my eating habits and come up with healthy snacks that I can reach for, like watermelon which I've found to be quite soothing to my stomach. Exercise would also be advisable, but arthritic knees can make that challenging. It's kind of a Catch-22; losing weight would improve the arthritis, but it makes it hard to start. Fortunately, I do not smoke, but that is only one good health habit. I have been reading up about my gastroenterological issues and found that I need to: 1. Plan and eat healthy meals at consistent times / 2. Stop eating after 8:00 pm, or earlier once I improve my sleep patterns./ 3. Drastically reduce or eliminate altogether baked goods and candy.

      A gastric bypass, which is advisable for patients with acid reflux, as the sleeve can exacerbate the problem, is not a panacea, but it could be helpful. I would have to discontinue consuming sweets altogether, as eating them can cause unpleasant effects. It's not something that I plan on impulsively pursuing. I will definitely need to research it entirely.

      I realize that you may be one of the fortunate people who always have a handle on their eating habits and weight and, thus, tend to look at people like me as weak-willed gluttons, but it is not that simple. I have lost and regained weight far more times than I can count. Gaining it back is like being in a psychological pool of quicksand that keeps sucking me further in, very depressing. There is definitely a major psychological factor to my problem. Oddly enough, I was a slender child and didn't go from intermittant plumpness to compulsive overeating and obesity until my 40s. I would love to become a person who eats to live vs. lives to eat and/or to have a metabolism like my son, who seems to be able to eat anything without gaining extra weight.

  • glamour
    glamour WittyKat914

    Posted

    Hi WittyKat,

    I have the same problem with the same symptoms. I have tried various methodologies including changing my diet.

    I am now on a dairy free diet and up to now matters have improved.

    I am 79 years of age and I got this condition having contracted GBS some 2.5 years ago.

    At the minute things look good

    cheers

    G

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