I am a 22 year old female who had a sudden onset of about a year and half of GERD (more specifically, LPR) symptoms. While I have no heartburn, I feel the need to clear my throat hundreds (maybe thousands) of times a day. It causes headaches and a loss of voice. For the past 6 months I have used multiple PPI's (Aciphex, Protonix, Nexium, Prilosec) and other medicines such as Reglan, Zantac, every antacid there is, Mucinex, etc. I still have this problem and none of the medicines have done much to help. I have had Upper GI's which show a severe reflux, and have been tested for allergies without avail. At the end of April I will be having surgery on my vocal cord as I have developed a cyst (which I partly blame on the throat clearing). In the morning I do not have any throat clearing problems until eating, then after every meal I have about an hour to three hours of terrible throat clearing. The nighttime is really terrible. I have made adjustments to my already healthy diet, I am thin and exercise so that is not the issue.

Do others have similar problems? If so, is there ANYTHING you do for relief? I am at a breaking point. I am going to a gastroenterologist in about two weeks and am seriously considering one of the plicator or stretta procedures. Does anyone know anything about them and their success (or not)?

Any advice would be helpful. I'd love to hear from anyone out there with advice. This has been going on for a long time and it never gets any easier.

Thank you and I hope to hear from someone soon.

Thank you for all your suggestions, unfortunately I've already tried them all! I took Mucinex for about a month and half, didn't do much. I have tried Flonase, Astelin, Nasonex, etc. No help at all. The headaches are more from the clearing of the throat than they are from the medicine, however. I think the biggest issue is that there is almost no mucus its just something there that I need to clear my throat for-i guess the acid. My ENT thinks it is partially a habit, but I make a very conscious effort not to clear it...but have to. I thought it was a post nasal drip and went to an allergist, but after multiple tests it showed I had zero allergies. Additionally, I have been taking the highest dosage of Nexium, Achiphex, Protonix available...80 mg per day. I'm just concerned that I've run out of options.
Kathy, what have you heard about the stretta procedure?

Basically at one point I was taking about 8 pills a day...2 nexium, 2 mucinex, 2 reglan, 2 zantac...plus nasal spray. I'm young so this seemed so excessive. I stopped after about 3 weeks and have switched only to protonix, which also is hopeless.

So theres my story folks...:dizzy: