Burning Throat and Burping and Gas after Eating

Thank you so much for these recommendations. There is so much great information on Dr. Jamie Koufman's website.

Today I had an additional issue. I developed a rash of red dots on my neck and my throat is hurting more. I don't have a fever and the issues might be totally unrelated (the red dots could be some form of contact dermatitis) but I am wondering if possibly I could have strep throat or an overgrowth of yeast or some sort of infection. Any thoughts?

Mints are usually bad for GERD, so maybe they helped @gigipatula for a different reason.
Instead of coffee one can try decaf (water method) or cold brew to reduce the acid somewhat.
My experience is that not all ENT's can do the laryngoscope, so clarify first if they can do it.

Along with dinner mints I cut way back on caffeine I mix 1/2 caffeinated coffee to 1/2 de-caf and its actually really good coffee. That also helped me with my sleep, blood pressure and anxiety. I'm also a hot food fan, the hotter the better from cayenne pepper to habanero's etc. I have not given up those at all. Also I have a tiny hiatal hernia in my right chest side (found during a chest MRI). Now I keep a food journal and so far so good! But the big thing was giving up red meats and how it was causing inflammation and giving me a whole new set of symptoms I did not have the when I had Alpha Gal years ago. I really do think as any part of a GI or ENT workup that an AG blood test should be done. If it comes back positive see an allergist and go from there. Here is a link with some patient stories.
https://alphagalinformation.org/our-gi-symptoms/

Ppis are great-for acid reflux , Gerd esophageal burning etc. I was on Nexium 80 mgs daily for 6 months. My endoscopy (performed twice) showed reflux but not horrible. However my gi dt said it could actually be worse than the endoscopy revealed. Anyway, I slowly weaned off of the ppi. And switched the 49 mgs of Pepcid. Which is not as strong as my ppi. It definitely helped. However after a month or so I had to go back on my ppi. 40 mgs this time. I’m feeling better. I still have burning but definitely not as bad I don’t want to be on ppi forever. I know it can affect your bones. My gi dr as per my request ran lots of gi testing. Barium swallow monometry and other testing where I ate food with barium in them to see how fast my body breaks them down. Turns out I also have a paralyzed right vocal cord and dusmitility in my esophageal muscles. Taking tramadol low doses for pain in chest. Going to lower my Nexium soon. My point is go for all the Testung you can. Rule things out. Mine was not all from here at all. Good luck to you. Advocate for yourself line crazy!

Your symptoms are out of my depth. I hope they have abated by now or you have answers from a medical professional.

Hap8, I just responded to you about floating bowel movements and then found this. I told you I have severe gastroparesis, which means food sits in the stomach too long, and you can only imagine the toxins that creates leaking into the system. May I suggest trying to back off what you are doing. If there is fluid coming back up your esophagus when you are burbing that is GERD, but you may be on the entire wrong track with taking Pepsid to kill off the digestive acids you need to digest your food. It sounds to me like your stomach is also not digesting the food you are eating. Look up SIBO, which is the bacteria created way up in the stomach instead of the bowel because your food isn't digesting. You are killing off your digestive juices.
DO NOT eat or snack or drink anything except water after 5-6 p.m. Gargle with something like Listerine before going to bed and if you get up in the middle of the night with the dry mouth and tongue, get up and gargle again. Get yourself propped up in bed so your head is higher. You can do this by putting blocks under your front bedposts or prop yourself up with pillows. I don't know where you are located, but can you find any "Yoders, Good Health Tonic?" It's made with apple cider vinegar and spices like cloves and cinnamon. I can't use it daily because apple cider vinegar burns the lining of my stomach, but it can be used with common sense to start out lightly to get your digestive juices working, if you have any left. If you don't then you are joining the ranks with those of us diagnosed with gastroparesis, which makes you feel full for days without eating. When you feel full and just can't eat, I bought Pacific Organic Chicken Bone Broth. Good amount of protein, and you need to keep your protein intake at a good level to prevent break-down of your muscles. When you can't or don't eat meat to do that, turn to Bone Broth or start making yourself some of your favorite smoothies, using Protein Powder. Most have 20 mg. of protein in two scoops and I love getting just plain and mixing it with frozen fruits, like blueberries and peaches, a little plain yogurt and a small amount of lower sugar juice to allow it to mix in the blender. It's like eating ice cream when you let it stay thick and frozen. You can also make them thin and add your favorite things, I like Peanut butter and half of a banana but you find your favorite flavors and DRINK your meals for 2-3 days and find out if you feel better. If you do, you will know your digestive system needs a break from what you are doing to it. I would also offer a suggestion of typing in "Healthy Gut," or "HCL Guard", which is a capsule I find helps me a lot, because it actually creates more acid in your stomach and allows your food to digest. I only take one and not the 2, 3 or 4 they suggest, as that is all I need, but it helps my food to digest and left me with a gut without bloat for the first time in ages.
Like you, my gastroenterologist had me on Pepcid and Tagamet and all those lovely things to block the acid, when what I was eating wasn't getting enough acid to digest and leaving me in this pickle 30 years later. Type in HCL Guard and it should take you to the web site where it is sold and read all the information. The HCL Guard is the least expensive of their three main products, but it also KILLS OFF SIBO, but you have some work to do with finding out what you can and cannot eat without getting bloated and so full of gas that you can't breathe. If you use milk and yogurt but are having issues with gas and bloat, start using Lactaid milk, and yogurt made with coconut milk or almond milk, etc. There is also Lactaid Cottage Cheese which can be used for sour cream. You are headed down the wrong path right now. I took that path with a hell of a lot of bad medical advise, or maybe when this all started it wasn't understood. I know they knew little about gastroparesis when I got it over 30 years ago, but they are going to be learning a lot more about it because all this Metformin they are prescribing, as well as all these weight loss shots for diabetes, are causing gastroparesis and there are hundreds of thousands of people using those weight loss shots today. Good Luck Hap8.

Thank you so much for your message. I think I might have LPR (Silent Reflux) and some other issues too. I feel the symptoms of acid reflux in my throat when it happens. Right now I'm trying to follow Dr. Jamie Koufman's direction to eat several meals a day that are very low acid. I take Levothyroxine (for over 20 years) in the morning; Reflux Gourmet alginate (gum and product) after eating and I have been taking 20 mg of Pepcid at night and then the Reflux Gourmet before bedtime. I started a probiotic today. After a few days on the probiotic, I was thinking of trying to skip the Pepcid and see what happens? I don't want to do it yet because it would be too many variables with the probiotic just added. I take a Multi-Vitamin and D3 and Calcium in the afternoon.

I have an appt with my PCP soon to talk about testing options and an appt with a GI Dr. after that. I have a really good appetite and eat a lot, but my weight is low. Part of it might be the challenge of eating low-acid foods and no eating at night. I burp after eating; have some flatulence and have lots of bowel movements (some constipation and some large, smelly floating ones) I wonder if I have SIBO and am hoping that the probiotics might help. I hope that they will do a stool sample test and other tests.

Thank you so much! Any ideas are welcome!