Acid reflux: Anyone out there?

Thank you. I don’t think I can stop taking the medication because my acid reflux can also cause severe vagus nerve pain.

It has a lot of side effects and effects on absorption (watch your iron levels) but yeah I get it. Pepcid and Zantac are short acting and I got off Omeprazole and at this point take the others only as needed. A Reclast infusion has brought back pretty bad reflux and Tums isn't doing it!!!!! I am too scared to try omeprazole though!

I had pretty bad acid reflux until I got treated for sleep apnea. Using a CPAP put an end to the reflux (and it's been 25 years now).

Anyway, I had nasty effects from the acid. More than once, I inhaled acid while sleeping. Talk about terrible!

Along the way, my throat would go through varying levels of irritation, from a light scratching to feeling like it was on fire.

So yes, acid reflux can cause a sore throat.

Thank you Scott. I thought I had a sinus infection because of ear pain and sore throat, but ENT said sinuses were clear. I have an appointment with my Gastroenterologist so maybe he can give me some more insight about this.

I hope you get help soon! I had a lot of miserable days and nights until my reflux went away.

You can look into laryngopharangeal reflux and see if the symptoms there reflect what ails you. Dr. Jamie Kaufman has a good web site on LRP if you want to start there. She recommends diet as the main tool against acid reflux. When I stick with a low acid, whole food diet I feel better. Good luck!

When tapering off of Omeprazole with the help of Pepcid, do you take the meds every other day or together?

Bless your heart!! I use pantoprazole ( script from DR and works very well.. also supplement with a Pepcid once in a while.. tho not suppose to)..I'm also interested in your comment about that Vargus nerve.. I never heard about it until my GI referred me to a neurologist for that for ongoing extreme nausea.. I heard a guy on TV say "you have 2 brains...your brain and you gut and they are connected to that Vargus nerve..so I'm having an appt. in Dev to get an MRI of my head.. prayers for you!!

@anniegk I did it very very slowly as I remember. So start with replacing Omeprazole with Pepcid one day and wait a week if need be.

There is a rebound with stopping Omeprazole because the body has increased acid production in response to the drug over time. It passes! Based on my experience, just go as slowly as you need to in getting off and on to Pepcid. Is your doctor helpful with this? A pharmacist might be...

Windyshores,
I have been on Protonix for years. When I told the gastroenterologist that I wanted yo get off of it, he reduced it from 40mg to 20mg, but was negative about completely getting off.
I am in the throes of a pretty intense GERD attack now.
I think I might finally have to go on the FODMAP diet to see if I can figure out diet
triggers better. I’m a 39 year vegetarian and already have a pretty clean diet.
And, sore throat from GERD - yes!