Aa
LPR Portal (Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (Silent Reflux))
I wanted to share my LPR story, and hopefully begin a fresh thread for LPR sufferers. I have seen 100s of posts on regarding LPR, but found none by people that have actually cured their symptoms. If you are out there, please post replies - these are important for moral and confidence building.
June, 2013
Here’s my story. My symptoms started all of a sudden - I choked on a bit of water, and when I coughed it off I tried to burp and realized I couldn't. Felt like my throat closed up, but it went away after about 20 seconds. However, since then I have these feelings in my throat - lump, feel like gas bubbles trapped and I keep swallowing a bit of air to try to clear it. Sometimes I feel its lump with mucus. A good burp helps for a few minutes. Recently I also started to experience tight chest, and I noticed that I occasionally try to take deep breath through my mouth, as if not enough air is coming in. Usually this deep breath turns into a yawn.
I went to ENT and he expected my throat with scope and found nothing unusual. Esophagram (X-Ray, Barrium Swallow) found no issues with swallowing. Upper endoscopy test found gastritis and hiatal hernia. They said that acid reflux could cause some irritation of the throat, but I never had any heartburn or stomach issues. Also, it seems that it started all of a sudden.
I agree that some of the symptoms could be anxiety, although I am not particular anxious and do not have any stress. When I am busy doing something the symptoms subside. I am taking Dexilant 60mg for stomach acid, although I doubt it will help with my throat issues. I hate pills and really do not want to go on any anxiety medication.
I read a few of these posts. I hope someone posts that had this issue and no longer has it, and they would tell us what they did.
August 2013
It's been 3 month since my symptoms started. Since that time I have been on PPI (Dexilant) for 30 days without much help. I then went on vacation, and have been off any diets and pills, and eating everything in sight. The symptoms would come and go, without any particular pattern.
In July I have seen the LPR expert in NYC. She confirmed that I have LPR (of course), and put me on some mild PPI (Pantoprazole 40mg, Zantax 150mg), as well as strict 2 weeks diet without any acidic ingredients. I have been on the pills and diet for almost 3 weeks at this point. My main symptoms got a bit better but persist (e.g. lump in through, mucus, difficulty to draw breath). However, I also started to experience some other symptoms such as dry cough and chest tightness, especially after eating. I attribute this to the drugs, but doctor has said they should not cause this. Overall, the treatment so far has not been successful. I will be getting in touch with doctor on the phone to determine my next step.
One item doctor mentioned that intrigued me. She asked me if I had a cold or have been sick recently. I went through a virus back in January, and was coughing my lungs out for 3-4 weeks. She mentioned that this may have done something with my vagus nerve and the nervous system in general, which may have led to LPR symptoms to become more prominent.
September 2013
This is an update to my post from August, 2013. I spoke to the doctor and she advised me to continue taking my prescriptions (Pantoprazole 40mg, Zantax 150mg). She said that it takes on average 2-3 month to start feeling better, and I have been reading on other posts that it takes up to 12 weeks to get any results.
The doctor also told me that I can stop the detox diet and slowly introduce different ingredients to my diet. I still must avoid the citrus and chocolate. I keep log of what I eat in hopes that I can catch anything that aggravates my symptoms.
Last 3 days have been really horrible with mucus. I started feeling the lump on Tuesday again and lots of mucus. Today is Thursday and it is a little better, but I haven't had an episode like this in few weeks.
I will be back once I finish my next prescription refill and speak with my doctor.
June, 2013
Here’s my story. My symptoms started all of a sudden - I choked on a bit of water, and when I coughed it off I tried to burp and realized I couldn't. Felt like my throat closed up, but it went away after about 20 seconds. However, since then I have these feelings in my throat - lump, feel like gas bubbles trapped and I keep swallowing a bit of air to try to clear it. Sometimes I feel its lump with mucus. A good burp helps for a few minutes. Recently I also started to experience tight chest, and I noticed that I occasionally try to take deep breath through my mouth, as if not enough air is coming in. Usually this deep breath turns into a yawn.
I went to ENT and he expected my throat with scope and found nothing unusual. Esophagram (X-Ray, Barrium Swallow) found no issues with swallowing. Upper endoscopy test found gastritis and hiatal hernia. They said that acid reflux could cause some irritation of the throat, but I never had any heartburn or stomach issues. Also, it seems that it started all of a sudden.
I agree that some of the symptoms could be anxiety, although I am not particular anxious and do not have any stress. When I am busy doing something the symptoms subside. I am taking Dexilant 60mg for stomach acid, although I doubt it will help with my throat issues. I hate pills and really do not want to go on any anxiety medication.
I read a few of these posts. I hope someone posts that had this issue and no longer has it, and they would tell us what they did.
August 2013
It's been 3 month since my symptoms started. Since that time I have been on PPI (Dexilant) for 30 days without much help. I then went on vacation, and have been off any diets and pills, and eating everything in sight. The symptoms would come and go, without any particular pattern.
In July I have seen the LPR expert in NYC. She confirmed that I have LPR (of course), and put me on some mild PPI (Pantoprazole 40mg, Zantax 150mg), as well as strict 2 weeks diet without any acidic ingredients. I have been on the pills and diet for almost 3 weeks at this point. My main symptoms got a bit better but persist (e.g. lump in through, mucus, difficulty to draw breath). However, I also started to experience some other symptoms such as dry cough and chest tightness, especially after eating. I attribute this to the drugs, but doctor has said they should not cause this. Overall, the treatment so far has not been successful. I will be getting in touch with doctor on the phone to determine my next step.
One item doctor mentioned that intrigued me. She asked me if I had a cold or have been sick recently. I went through a virus back in January, and was coughing my lungs out for 3-4 weeks. She mentioned that this may have done something with my vagus nerve and the nervous system in general, which may have led to LPR symptoms to become more prominent.
September 2013
This is an update to my post from August, 2013. I spoke to the doctor and she advised me to continue taking my prescriptions (Pantoprazole 40mg, Zantax 150mg). She said that it takes on average 2-3 month to start feeling better, and I have been reading on other posts that it takes up to 12 weeks to get any results.
The doctor also told me that I can stop the detox diet and slowly introduce different ingredients to my diet. I still must avoid the citrus and chocolate. I keep log of what I eat in hopes that I can catch anything that aggravates my symptoms.
Last 3 days have been really horrible with mucus. I started feeling the lump on Tuesday again and lots of mucus. Today is Thursday and it is a little better, but I haven't had an episode like this in few weeks.
I will be back once I finish my next prescription refill and speak with my doctor.
Hi kaththi, I had the same thing the numbness and tingling I mean, its because I stopped eating calcium rich foods and stopped taking vitamins. Make sure your getting enough Calcium. Numbness and tingling is usually always caused by some type of vitamin deficiency. So look at what your eating and if your like me and cant take vitamins, try to get them all in with the food you eat, its very important! I have been struggling with this for almost a year now, I feel your pain and you are not alone!
hi im 23 now....im having numbness,tingling,shaky hands, and body pain past 4 months...and most of the time im been worrying about my health.this symptom all started after i gt acid reflux. and i also got high blood cholestrol. my BP and diabetic are normal and most of the time i worried about my health and cant relax. i already do a anxiety test in online and the result come around 80% and its prove that i got anxiety , is this caused by anxiety or something else?? anyone can guide me??
I am approaching one year since I started having throat issues which later have been diagnosed as LPR. It has been a year of ups and downs, and I wanted to share some interesting observations.
> I have taken PPIs and Zantax for about 6 month. It takes very long time to get any type of consistent relief, so be patient (pun). I have not taken any medication in the past 2 month, and has been ok for most of the time.
> LPR will come and go. In my case the typical symptom is mucus in throat, and sometime difficulty to breath in fully. When I do get symptoms I typically can attribute them to some of the triggers below.
> When I have LPR I also get numbness in my hands at night during sleep. It seems to be a rare symptom. I read that it has to do with acid reflux occurring close to some nerve cluster in the chest.
> My workout regimen causes my LPR. My workouts are mostly cross-fit, so a lot of jumping, pulling, pushing. Almost guaranteed to cause reflux If done too soon after a meal (3-4 hours). As precaution I also take Gaviscon prior to workouts. Chew it and swallow the powdery mess to coat your esophagus, and prevent reflux.
> Overeating causes my LPR. I try to keep portions small.
> I have identified 1 trigger food - Craft Foods Wheat Thin Toasted Chips (Multigrain). Why - I have no idea. I eat other chips with similar ingridients without any issues.
> For relief from mucus I drink Throat Comfort tea, eat Manuca Honey. If I am getting LPR for few days in the row I also drink chamomile tea.
> When symptoms go away its very easy to forget that you have LPR, and go back to evil ways. Always be mindful.
> Finally, I have been traveling for 3 weeks prior to New Year. Lot of alcohol drinking, eating everything under the sun, binge eating late at night. Not a single symptom. Go figure.
I would say that I feel 90% better today than when my LPR started. It’s a manageable condition, and after I got it under control I do very little in terms of diet to prevent it from coming back. I generally eat what I want, but do try to eat smaller portions.
> I have taken PPIs and Zantax for about 6 month. It takes very long time to get any type of consistent relief, so be patient (pun). I have not taken any medication in the past 2 month, and has been ok for most of the time.
> LPR will come and go. In my case the typical symptom is mucus in throat, and sometime difficulty to breath in fully. When I do get symptoms I typically can attribute them to some of the triggers below.
> When I have LPR I also get numbness in my hands at night during sleep. It seems to be a rare symptom. I read that it has to do with acid reflux occurring close to some nerve cluster in the chest.
> My workout regimen causes my LPR. My workouts are mostly cross-fit, so a lot of jumping, pulling, pushing. Almost guaranteed to cause reflux If done too soon after a meal (3-4 hours). As precaution I also take Gaviscon prior to workouts. Chew it and swallow the powdery mess to coat your esophagus, and prevent reflux.
> Overeating causes my LPR. I try to keep portions small.
> I have identified 1 trigger food - Craft Foods Wheat Thin Toasted Chips (Multigrain). Why - I have no idea. I eat other chips with similar ingridients without any issues.
> For relief from mucus I drink Throat Comfort tea, eat Manuca Honey. If I am getting LPR for few days in the row I also drink chamomile tea.
> When symptoms go away its very easy to forget that you have LPR, and go back to evil ways. Always be mindful.
> Finally, I have been traveling for 3 weeks prior to New Year. Lot of alcohol drinking, eating everything under the sun, binge eating late at night. Not a single symptom. Go figure.
I would say that I feel 90% better today than when my LPR started. It’s a manageable condition, and after I got it under control I do very little in terms of diet to prevent it from coming back. I generally eat what I want, but do try to eat smaller portions.
Thanks Baed, I have posted a response on your thread.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/GERD-Acid-Reflux/GERD/show/2002852
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/GERD-Acid-Reflux/GERD/show/2002852
I posted a thread about how I cured my LPR/GERD naturally. My symproms started as LPR. I could not swallow, had post nasal drip, mucus and phlegm everday. I treated it all naturally. It got better within 3 weeks with what I did. Noticable difference in three weeks. It's still improving everyday. I realize that sometimes I get mild heartburn here and there, but nothing like before. Please, refer back to my old posts.
I read that you cannot burp or vomit after FN. How does that feel? I typically burp a few times after I eat or drink, so I am curious what happens to that trapped gas after FN.
You asked three questions, and #1, I really can't answer because of other medical problems I have that affect my breathing. #2, identifying tuna fish was easy, every time I would eat it I couldn't swallow. I should qualify that, I'm referring to canned tuna, any variety, water-packed. I eat fresh albacore bought off the boat with no difficulty. #3, no serious complications, I followed directions, but it is a two month healing process. After a Nissen Fundoplication the diet has be severely restricted for a few months, and overeating is a guarantee for failure. I'm a number of years past the surgery, and still don't eat much more than the size of my fist. I can't burp or vomit. The payoff is that my pre-cancer cells are fewer in my esophagus my vocal chords are healing somewhat and I have NO indigestion. I feel that the Nissen Fundoplication was a more difficult procedure to recover from than my open heart surgery, but it was worth it.
It is a good theory as LPR is often referred to as Silent Reflux as the patient is not aware they have symptoms.
Raising the head of the new mattress may help get and keep those acids down where they belong while u still do not have a sag in ur bodies alignment.
So here’s a theory that I have been pondering. If I have LPR or reflux I could never quite grasp I got it so suddenly. I never had any symptoms prior to incident one day in May (see my earlier posts).
In March we bought a new mattress. Our old mattress was 8 years old, and it sagged on my side. I kept getting back pains in the morning, and I could definitely feel that my mid-body would sag down more than my upper body, creating a sleeping angle where my upper body was a bit higher. The new mattress we got is extra firm. This has corrected the sleeping angle, and gravity was no longer preventing the reflux to start creeping into my throat.
In March we bought a new mattress. Our old mattress was 8 years old, and it sagged on my side. I kept getting back pains in the morning, and I could definitely feel that my mid-body would sag down more than my upper body, creating a sleeping angle where my upper body was a bit higher. The new mattress we got is extra firm. This has corrected the sleeping angle, and gravity was no longer preventing the reflux to start creeping into my throat.
HI Flycaster, thanks for posting. Verify interesting feedback. I overall notice that folks have very serious symptoms, nothing compared to mine which at this point I see more as inconvenience on most days. I read about NF, and see it as the last resort for situation with serious symptoms, similar to what you describe. It's good to know that it works as "advertised". Couple of questions for you
1. Did you have situations where you feel like you need to take a deep breath, but it only goes about half way? Not like choking or suffocating, but just feel like sighing.
2. How did you identify tuna fish as trigger food?
3. Did you have any complications immediately after surgery?
Thanks.
1. Did you have situations where you feel like you need to take a deep breath, but it only goes about half way? Not like choking or suffocating, but just feel like sighing.
2. How did you identify tuna fish as trigger food?
3. Did you have any complications immediately after surgery?
Thanks.
I did solve the problem you describe with surgery, but not everyone has the result I had.
A 'trigger' food I discovered was tuna fish, for whatever reason. I had identical symptoms as you describe, and little bits of water was my salvation to get past the moment. A visit with my Internist confirmed a hiatal hernia, caused by violent vomiting because of a bowel obstruction. I had a Nissen Fundoplication procedure which tightened the LES valve, and reversed a potential cancer situation.. Other symptoms were vocal cord erosion and also my teeth started turning black because of acid backup (it cost a small fortune to coat my teeth). My procedure was a complete success, no more issues with swallowing, acid reflux, etc., but it is an invasive surgery that requires great dietary restraints for a couple of months.
I had good luck prior to the surgery by taking very high doses of PPI's exactly as prescribed, raising the head of my bed, and avoiding any food for several hours before bedtime.
Since the surgery, I've had zero swallowing issues, and haven't taken a single med to relieve Gerd symptoms. I can eat anything, including broccoli, onions, tomatoes.
I wish you well.
A 'trigger' food I discovered was tuna fish, for whatever reason. I had identical symptoms as you describe, and little bits of water was my salvation to get past the moment. A visit with my Internist confirmed a hiatal hernia, caused by violent vomiting because of a bowel obstruction. I had a Nissen Fundoplication procedure which tightened the LES valve, and reversed a potential cancer situation.. Other symptoms were vocal cord erosion and also my teeth started turning black because of acid backup (it cost a small fortune to coat my teeth). My procedure was a complete success, no more issues with swallowing, acid reflux, etc., but it is an invasive surgery that requires great dietary restraints for a couple of months.
I had good luck prior to the surgery by taking very high doses of PPI's exactly as prescribed, raising the head of my bed, and avoiding any food for several hours before bedtime.
Since the surgery, I've had zero swallowing issues, and haven't taken a single med to relieve Gerd symptoms. I can eat anything, including broccoli, onions, tomatoes.
I wish you well.
Hi, and thanks for your comment. With strange desease like LPR it is important ot share stories, since finding patterns is very important. My symptoms come and go, and very hard to attribute to anything particular.
Share your stories, and let folks know what helps. On another site someone posted that DLG Chews work like a charm for acid reflux. I will try these next week to see if they help.
Share your stories, and let folks know what helps. On another site someone posted that DLG Chews work like a charm for acid reflux. I will try these next week to see if they help.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the GERD (Acid Reflux) Community
Learn which OTC medications can help relieve your digestive troubles.
Is a gluten-free diet right for you?
Discover common causes of and remedies for heartburn.
This common yet mysterious bowel condition plagues millions of Americans
Don't get burned again. Banish nighttime heartburn with these quick tips
Get answers to your top questions about this pervasive digestive problem
