6th May 2005
I posted this on another thread, but it has a lot of info that has helped me, so I am posting it in a couple of others as well:
Hi all,
I'm a newly (self diagnosed) LPRer myself. On March 4 I went to the ER with hot fire in my lungs. After a complete cardiac work up (5 days in the hospital including a cardiac cath to investigate what turned out to be a shadow of my breast tissue), a visit to a pulmonologist (and treatment for pleurisy including steroids which really did a number on my stomach), a GI (who treated me for GERD with Nexuim and Zantac) an ENT (who sent me back to the GI), and back to my family doc I decided to get on the internet and figure out what the heck is going on. As soon as I saw the first LPR post I knew what I had.
I called my family doc and got on Nexuim 40 mg twice a day. That was 3 weeks ago and already it's MUCH better. :) I had to fight my insurance company to get them to cover it, but they finally did.
I've been fighting this for two months now and so I have learned a few tricks.
Some things that have really helped me:
1. The Nexium 40 mg twice a day - the only way to go. The others aren't as good for me. Protonix didn't help at all. They say I will need to take this for 6 months before I even consider tapering back down.
2. Sleep with a warm mist humidifier right by your head.
3. Drink at least 5 big glasses of water per day.
4. Rest your voice. Write notes - especially in the evening. No yelling and try not to cough.
5. Eat a GERD-friendly diet. No it's not exactly what we have, but the principles of food choice are similar. You want to eat only low acid and low fat.
6. Try standing up or walking around after you eat. The exercise seems to help me keep stuff in my stomach and out of my throat.
7. .25 mg of Xanax helped me when my throat was really tight and constricted. Yes, it has been shown to lower LES pressure, but it works for the strangling feeling and a couple of my doctors don't even believe it effects LES pressure.
8. There was a study in Belgium regarding the use of Baclofen for increasing LES pressure. It appeared to have great results. My doc prescribed it (cause I asked for it) but I only tried it once and refluxed it onto my already raw vocal chords so I didn't try again.
9. NO CARBONATED SODA. It really acts on the throat thing.
10. Visit a speech therapist for "vocal hygiene" (how to talk and cough and not hurt yourself - that kind of thing). There's also an exercise that helps relax the "cramp" in the throat and helps that mucous to drain.
11. Should be #1 - PRAY. God has really been active in helping me through this. I am a better person and much stronger in my faith.
Hang in there and if your doctor isn't listening (or has no idea what you are talking about) find another one. I've never been a doctor hopper before, but this is a tough illness with few experts (except us patients )
God Bless!
Hi all,
I'm a newly (self diagnosed) LPRer myself. On March 4 I went to the ER with hot fire in my lungs. After a complete cardiac work up (5 days in the hospital including a cardiac cath to investigate what turned out to be a shadow of my breast tissue), a visit to a pulmonologist (and treatment for pleurisy including steroids which really did a number on my stomach), a GI (who treated me for GERD with Nexuim and Zantac) an ENT (who sent me back to the GI), and back to my family doc I decided to get on the internet and figure out what the heck is going on. As soon as I saw the first LPR post I knew what I had.
I called my family doc and got on Nexuim 40 mg twice a day. That was 3 weeks ago and already it's MUCH better. :) I had to fight my insurance company to get them to cover it, but they finally did.
I've been fighting this for two months now and so I have learned a few tricks.
Some things that have really helped me:
1. The Nexium 40 mg twice a day - the only way to go. The others aren't as good for me. Protonix didn't help at all. They say I will need to take this for 6 months before I even consider tapering back down.
2. Sleep with a warm mist humidifier right by your head.
3. Drink at least 5 big glasses of water per day.
4. Rest your voice. Write notes - especially in the evening. No yelling and try not to cough.
5. Eat a GERD-friendly diet. No it's not exactly what we have, but the principles of food choice are similar. You want to eat only low acid and low fat.
6. Try standing up or walking around after you eat. The exercise seems to help me keep stuff in my stomach and out of my throat.
7. .25 mg of Xanax helped me when my throat was really tight and constricted. Yes, it has been shown to lower LES pressure, but it works for the strangling feeling and a couple of my doctors don't even believe it effects LES pressure.
8. There was a study in Belgium regarding the use of Baclofen for increasing LES pressure. It appeared to have great results. My doc prescribed it (cause I asked for it) but I only tried it once and refluxed it onto my already raw vocal chords so I didn't try again.
9. NO CARBONATED SODA. It really acts on the throat thing.
10. Visit a speech therapist for "vocal hygiene" (how to talk and cough and not hurt yourself - that kind of thing). There's also an exercise that helps relax the "cramp" in the throat and helps that mucous to drain.
11. Should be #1 - PRAY. God has really been active in helping me through this. I am a better person and much stronger in my faith.
Hang in there and if your doctor isn't listening (or has no idea what you are talking about) find another one. I've never been a doctor hopper before, but this is a tough illness with few experts (except us patients )
God Bless!