Oh well. According to the ENT, sinuses out, LPR in. My ct scan showed only cysts and slightly large turbinates which the ENT said they would not explain my symptons.

I admit my current symptons do fit classic LPR, but they only cropped up while I was on the antibiotics for my 'sinus infection'. I did have a heavy coating in my throat for about 3 weeks in May while I was going through emotional turmoil. I went to the student health center and was prescribed Rhinocort Acqua. Now I look back and wonder if the coating was reflux acid rather than post nasal drip. The coating didn't feel thick, more like the feeling you would get from drinking a cup of vinegar.

I'm on nexium for the next 3 months and of course there's always the desperate hope that this will help with the bb. Does the bb come from the residue in the throat and tonsils? Or is it from the gut because of the open sphincters? If it's latter, I wonder how much suppression of acids will help.

I'm also starting counseling...the counselor brought up the possibility of medication because she thinks I'm clinically depressed. Yeah, fix my bb, trust me that would go a long way in treating my depression.

Quote from ginger65:

Hi everyone,

Alex8,

How do you know when you are PND free ? You may still have drainage but do not feel it. I have never really felt the sensation of mucous coming down though I have seen it by flashlight and cleared my throat enough times. The gas smell that you get is possibly a release of the sulphur that has built up on your tongue and throat from the bacterial break down. I do not think it is from the stomach by way of the loose sphincter. Even on days when you are PND free you are still battling with the reflux which maintains the bacterial imbalance.

Well, I guess if there is drainage that I'm not aware of, then yes I would never know if I have it or not. All I can say is these days I have little pnd because my throat feels very dried out and not wet and gooey like before. The combination of nasal washing, rhinocort and nexium decreased my pnd dramatically...as far as I can tell.

I have two odor problems. One is the bb which I can't smell and then there is the occassional whiff of something truly gross. I googled hernia and bad breath and some sites linked hiatal hernias with bad breath. I can imagine if you have part of your stomach which does not have a valve, pushed up and open to the esophagus with stomach content exposed, this can't be pleasant. I notice that my breath is particularly bad in the evening and this may be due to the odds of more food to decay in the hernia and also the esophagus. I brush. scrape, floss and rinse after lunch/early dinner. Some of the bb is definitely due to what's on the tongue, teeth and upper throat, no doubt. But the Death Breath part is helped by GI problems. I think the only way I can dim this odor is eat a very bland diet...which I have yet to be able to do. I'm thinking like clear broth, fruit and cooked veggies.

I believe I have a hernia. I have chest pains daily and thought they were esophagul spasms. Some are, probably due to harsh food items, but I have also noticed a pain very specific to my left side. This sounds to me like a hernia. It's only been two weeks since I started the nexium and it has worked to decrease the acid, my throat is not as sore anymore, but for how long do I put up with the chest pain? According to the ENT, I have 10 more weeks to go before she will see me.