Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR)

I was taking omeprazole 40 mg twice a day for only two weeks when I stopped it because of side effects and I had lots of the rebound effects for a couple of weeks until I started another PPI. Sorry, that’s probably not what you wanted to hear, I imagine this is probably true with most if not all PPI meds.

sanchopanza: Your doctor is correct; you need to see a GI doctor, a gastroenterologist. It sounds like you may need an upper endoscopy to sort this out. I put it off for a long time and finally did it -- very easy procedure but do make sure to be totally 'out' for it, i.e., general anesthesia. It's an out-patient deal, painless, and only takes a few minutes. You will need a ride home, however, because they don't want liability of someone driving right after anesthesia.

I had been taking Tums myself for years on occasion but within past year it was nightly. There are so many symptoms associated with indigestion and sometimes people have 'silent' GERD as well so they don't really know anything is wrong.

I am over 65 as well and life catches up with us. My GI doc wanted endoscopy plus abdominal CT scan. The scan was fine except it found several small kidney stones in one kidney. Totally surprised by that and have to deal with it now, too.

The endoscopy was not expected to show much but doc found Barrett's Esophagus tissue in lower portion (you may need to research that); a growing problem around the world and can in some cases turn to adenocarcinoma of esophagus . Chances of having this happen are small but it's good to get the upper endoscopy to check, especially after age 50. These days, though, this problem is being found in people in their twenties and thirties, too.

I would go see a GI doc and get the endoscopy if it is recommended. My best to you.

Thanks, bonnieh218. No, not especially what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate the heads up!!

Thanks for your concern, courtneyt. Yeah, aging isn't all it's cracked up to be. I was hoping to avoid the endoscopy, but I think you're right; I need to know what's going on. I'm pretty sure this is the silent GERD from the reading I've done. And yes, I ran across the Barrett's esophagus and I'm hoping that's not what I have. I did see that if not treated, it can become cancerous, and that esophageal cancer is the fastest growing cancer in the U.S. My problem is trust. I'm on Medicare and Medi-caid and I worry that some GI doc will perform unnecessary procedures on me. The hardest part is changing my diet. I'm losing weight and getting weaker because I still haven't figured out exactly what I can and can't eat. Most of what I used to eat doesn't work anymore. Again, thanks for getting back! I really do appreciate it. I'm living alone and don't have anyone to run things by.

Some time ago I was diagnosed with same symptoms did my own research come up with some things that helped me: started drinking alkaline water only, elevated my bed four or so inches at head, started sleeping on right or left side at night never on my back or stomach however God made people individually so what is working great for me maybe not work the same for everyone. You have to try to see for yourself

Thanks, patrickl! I had always thought that alkaline water was a hoax, but I'll look into it again. I already sleep only on my right, and lately my left side. I've never slept on my stomach or back, although I've noticed that I sometimes wake up on my back if I was lucky enough to get some REM sleep. At this age, most men wake up 3 times a night.I"m going to try and elevate my mattress several inches and see if that works for me too. Thanks again for replying to my post.

Sorry to hear about your illness. First thing is don’t take any aspirin or ibuprofen unless your Dr. says to. These caused me to have a bleeding ulcer. I was in the hospital for 3days and had my small intestine cauterized. They told me I had silent reflux and the Barrett’s esophagus. So I guess it was a good thing that I found out early about these conditions. So no I’m on a low acid diet. No fried food, no Mexican food, no Italian food, no tomatoes, no booze, soda, chocolate, mint, no regular coffee, only low acid coffee like health wise brand, ph is 6.18
I’m eating baked chicken, turkey, baked fish and fresh steamed broccoli, cauliflower, baked potatoes, spinach. Try these and see how you feel.
Don’t eat anything 3hrs before bed. Drink lots of water. I also walk 5-7 miles a day. Good luck! Steve

I also have GERD that has been going on for over a year if not longer and getting worse instead of better. I had endoscopy done, results said inflammation of esophagus and stomach. I went to a different Gastro Dr. He did a test called EGD Bravo, they put a capsule the size of an eraser on a pencil in my esophagus and I wore a monitor for 48 hours. They do it like a endoscopy. I just did 2 more tests. A esophageal manometry, then a stomach emptying test.
I go July 16th for my results. So far the first test did show I had a higher acid level but not as high as most people. I told him I probably wasn't off the protonix long enough to show a more negative result. I told him I did try to go off of GERD prescription med because I also don't want the side effects, and that I was in a lot of pain being off of the med. The Manometry test , looks at how your esophagus is working. I feel that may be my problem, because I feel full after I eat something, like its just sitting on my stomach and not moving down the tract like it should.

My husband has the gastric disease Gastroparesis. He has had it for a long time and has trouble eating. I would try some protein drink or mix to supplement your diet. I use a tasteless Collagen powder in my drink, food for protein. I also bought the book "The Acid Watcher Diet" off of Ebay. for more information.

I also follow a Digestive Health group on Facebook for up to date Info and articles on Digestive Issues.