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PPI's not working, bad reflux, need advice!

Posted , 6 users are following.

Guest
Guest

Hey guys, 20 year old male previously very healthy athletic person but 14 months ago came down with a virus that i never recovered from which impacted me massively. I have had many health problems since then, including stomach problems and gerd.

In July 2014 i was diagnosed with duodenitis and gasritis after an endoscopy no Heli bacteria. They prescribed me omeprazole and i have been on those types of PPI's ever since, they did initially help my symptoms but now they don't really do anything but i can't just stop taking them or i will get a rebound effect. My reflux has been on and off and never really troubled me TOO much. 

However my reflux the last 3 weeks has been awful, it really came out of nowhere. Ony 5 weeks ago i was at a friends stag do and had 3 beers for the first time in over 9 months and an all you can eat chinese and surprisingly it wasnt bad at all, so i was really happy and thought i was making progress! Fast forward two weeks and my stomach all of a sudden is majorly acidic, constant gurlging and i can feel the acid coming up into my throat, i have had bad phlegm buid up, blocked sinuses and a sore throat with constant need to clear my throat. The symptoms ease throughout the day but then come back at night, with the constant gurlging when i'm laying down, i don't eat 3/4 hours before bed, take ranitidine before bed and have raised my bed up too. So i struggle to see why i am having these symptoms. I saw a ENT 3 weeks ago who did a nasal endoscopy and said i did have acid reflux and just to try PPI's and gaviscon ( been doing that for 8 months) But ever since then the reflux has been bad, if there is a connection i'm unsure. But this is the worst reflux i've had in my life and as my immune system is low, i'm worried about the potential risk of damaging my throat.

My diet before this last 3 week painful stint was not too bad, I was doing pretty good just avoiding the things that would aggrevate my stomach/reflux, acidic foods, fatty, caffeine etc. But i could still have dairy, snack on digestives, have tomato based foods and as i said even the chinese went down okay. Now i'm literally having bland fish, plain pasta, lentil soup, fruit and veg etc and its just not easing up, i use esomperazole 20mg every morning, ranitidine at night and sometimes gaviscon but none of them ease the reflux. 

I am slightly stressed as the doctors think i have chronic fatigue which limits me to doing exercise and playing football which i love, but even on days i feel slightly better the reflux can sometimes be worse! 

I really would like to get a stomach endoscopy as I want to see if my stomach is still inflammed and could be the cause for the reflux, if my stomach is fine then i know its stress/dietary related but i am sure my stomach is still damaged and i want to know why and how bad! 

Anyway, if anyone read all that, then well done! :P And i would appreciate any suggestions as i'm 20 years old and really can't be doing this for the rest of my life because i'm missing out on a lot in life because of this and i don't want any permanent damage to be done or anything worse! 

Thank you smile

2 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • gale99224
    gale99224 Guest

    Posted

    GERD is one of the many (there are over 300) symptoms for Celiac Sprue (an autoimmune disorder) which I have. Was misdiagnosed for over 40 years bc Drs want to treat the symptoms & fail to connect the dots plus many aren't up on this very hard to detect disease. It will lie dormant in the body at times then be triggered by a trauma , surgery or even a virus. Gluten is the substance that triggers it & is in most of our processed food, even lip balm, toothpaste, medicines, etc. There is no known cure to man except a strict diet.

    I can totally relate with your symptoms as I suffered for many years... Felt fine a lot of the time but then for no reason I could think of, would feel crappy. I experienced over 50 different symptoms/conditions the majority of my life & never knew what "normal" felt like until about a year ago after an endoscopy detected major damage in my small intestine. GERD, sinus issues, body aches, fatigue, IBS, bloating, stomach pain (it even hurt terribly when my stomach growled), depression, brain fog, mouth sores, gas pains that mimicked a heart attack, heart palpitations, arthritis, early menopause, miscarriage, infertility, nosebleeds, chronic hives... I won't bore you with my complete list but you get the point. CD manifests in many many ways bc it affects the small intestine & in turn almost EVERY system in your body can suffer. It will also lead to other very serious illness if gone undetected. 

    there is a blood test the Dr can order but you need to be very proactive with this disorder bc the test isn't always accurate. Load up for weeks on gluten before taking it & ask for an endoscopy that checks the stomach AND duodenum if it comes back negative & you are still experiencing symptoms. They will take biopsies that will help detect if the villi are being damaged as is common with CD.

    I wish you all the best!

    live long & prosper smile

    • Guest
      Guest gale99224

      Posted

      Thank you for taking the time to reply and the detailed description! smile I'm sorry that you had to suffer for that long without knowing the cause of your symptoms!

      I think that is the problem with doctors at times, they try to find the simplest thing it could be, rather than actually looking harder for a less likely problem but the one which seems most appropriately matched to all your symptoms! I think not knowing the cause of the symptoms has to be one of the most frustrating things because you don't know how to ease the symptoms if you don't know what you're up against!

      However i do believe the doctors did test me for celiac disease, at least they said they did, is there a blood test that can be done for it, because i think i can remember having that done and they said it was negative. From my stomach endoscopy all they said was gastritis and duodenitis, are they common in cases of celiac disease? Although i may have more damage to my stomach, because its been 9 months since that checkup and my stomach if anything is feeling worse! Would you recommend i push for another endoscopy? 

      Thank you for help and i wish you all the best smile 

  • gale99224
    gale99224 Guest

    Posted

    Hi again, forgot to mention... The fatigue may be the result of low iron as this is often a common denominator with many people who suffer with CD. Mine was almost always borderline-low but not too much that the Drs would investigate the reason. rolleyes

     

    • Guest
      Guest gale99224

      Posted

      I always thought that i may have a deficiency causing my fatigue and muscle pain, but all my bloods have been tested 2/3 times in the past 6 months and there was 1 inconclusive test but apparently the 2nd time it came back normal.

      So no deficencies that i'm aware of! They have just said likely chronic fatigue and it should get better on its own! Its been 14 months and no improvement, which as a person who used to play football 2/3 times a week and was fitter than ever is no help at all! 

    • tata40402
      tata40402 Guest

      Posted

      Hi Riggs, i have the same symptoms, phlegm in my throat, making it's way to my nasal cavity. The noises in my stomach. I propped my pillow up so i am elevated. I take omeperazole and zantac at night. Nothings working. Look on chris kesslers website. Type in chris kessler on acid reflux or lpr. Its very helpful. The acid is just burning away at my voice box and esophagus. My life has been stolen by this disease
  • gale99224
    gale99224 Guest

    Posted

    Hi again, yes, both are related to CD although the gastrtis is rare. CD causes inflammation in the gut. Btw, Chronic fatigue syndrome is also tied to CD. 

    The blood test often is not accurate and unless the specialist took biopsies of your duodenum, that procedure would not be accurate for CD. Then there's always the chance that they took samples of tissue that was healthy... I've heard of that happening.

    It's a very frustrating thing pinpointing it bc of CD's nature... Being an autoimmune dis, it can lay dormant in the body for a season then be triggered & manifest in a whole new way. 

    I've had most of your symptoms you list esp the gurgling, GERD, sinus, throat, fatigue, high stomach acid.

    You need to be proactive concerning diagnosis bc the Drs won't. So, yes, I would push for the endoscopy again.

  • kiwikerry
    kiwikerry Guest

    Posted

    Hi Riggs006

    I feel for you, trying to work out what is going on can be so confusing, it's worse not knowing.  I have had the most relief from not eating or drinking at least 4 hours before going to bed.  I take a nasal spray in the morning Flixonaise and that stops the post-nasal drip.  I'm eating more raw food and steering well away from coffee that seems to be helping a lot.  

    I read the book The Acid Reflux Diet and Dr. Jamie Hoffmans other book 'The Chronic Cough' which I have, both were really insightful.  Since reading the books I have tried my best to try and reduce the amount of foods I consume that have pepsin in them as that seems to be the trigger.  Even some fruits like pineapple, blueberries, green apples are no, no's because they are too high in pepsin.  So even though you think you might be eating foods that should be ok like fruits they might be quite acidic.  

    What I'd like to know is when you do eat the wrong foods how long does it take for it to clear from your system, I'm picking a good 24 hours, does anyone have any other ideas on the pepsin issue?

    Hang in there Riggs006, you've got youth on your side and I'm sure you'll find solutions, it's all about getting to know what your triggers are.  

     

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