laryngopharyngeal reflux disease

My name is Scottie and I'm 16 years old. I've been to the ER 3 times for shortness of breath and they diagnosed me with acid reflux. I have had blood work, chest xray and a test to see if there was a clot in my lungs which was all clear. My symptoms are: shortness off breath especially when exhaling, feeling like theres a lump in my throat, chronic clearing of my throat, excessive post-nasal drip, insane burning in my throat, hoarse voice and difficulty swallowing. My throat hurts right now and I only at two pieces of toast with jelly, butter and orange juice. Does this sound like laryngopharyngeal reflux disease? If it does please tell me so I can go back to the doctor and tell them so I can get this taken care of. Thank you for reading.

[CalGal]

Scottie, this does sound a lot like GERD with high reflux into the area of the throat. It could be LPR, but only a doc is going to be able to tell you yes or no.

If you've been diagnosed with acid reflux you should have been told to change your diet, make some lifestyle changes and been placed on meds. You should have also been checked for H. pylori and if positive, treated for that.

You're going to need to do a bit of taking care of this yourself by making changes, as well as getting your doc to follow-up. Meds alone don't always take care of all the issues related to acid problems. You may want to take a look at dietary recommendations for GERD at www.gicare.com.

[lizzy100]

try googling it, gastric reflux disease is usually associated with indegestion type pain and if its coming further up ur GI tract i expect it would stiff cause alot of discomfort . i take it the bloods included H pylori which causes infection. can they give u some antiacids, or can u take gaviscon?

[ScottieJonny]

It only comes around when I'm stressed. Like when I'm doing algebra 2. But even when I'm not it's still there. I'm going to a specialist soon but until then I raised my bed 7 inches I stopped eating foods that trigger it. I'm only 16 will I die from this?

[CalGal]

You've got a long way to go before you can even think about dying. You'd have to be found to have Barrett's esophagus and not doing a lot to keep it under control at that point. Barrett's is suggested to take quite awhile to go from there to cancer.

What you do need to think about it finding out exactly how bad the reflux is, if it's being caused by H. pylori, and find out the best things you can do to keep things under control.

[ScottieJonny]

Okay do I go to an oncologist or a gastroenterologist? I'm trying to keep stress levels down & I hate to bother my mom about the doctor again. How do I find out if its caused by H. pylori? I'm taking over the counter antiacids. They gave me prescription peptin or pepsin I think and it worked for about 2 or 3 weeks. It came back 2 days ago.

[CalGal]

You need to seek help from a GI person. But you may need a referal from a PCP to see a GI person, so find out. Checking about H. pylori can be done with a simple blood test, ask the doc about it.

[Rorosh]

it doesnt seem major so dont worry about it as worrying triggers the symptoms..
also saline water gargles would help u twice a day..
also have a glass of warm milk with a teaspoon honey a bit of turmeric powder and a pinch of salt before going to bed.. this would act as an anti septic and soothe your throat getting rid of the small infections if there are..

[ScottieJonny]

Thank you guys a lot. I'm going to try the tips you gave me Rorosh thank you. I haven't had any symptoms lately since I'm not doing algebra right now but I'm still going to change my lifestyle & go to a doctor. Thanks for you guys advice