Two Questions - Acid Reflux / GERD Message Board

4dad · 06-05-2006, 07:54 AM

Hi all,

I've posted in the past about my GERD but I think I may have LPR too. I am seeing a gastro doc who is trying to help me. I still have problems and made an appointment with an ENT. Does it make sense to do this? Meaning bypass my gastro and have an ENT check out the upper portion of my throat for LPR? I want to do this before asking the gastro doc for a double dose of a PPI. I definitely have GERD (diagnoised with an endoscopy) however I have very uncomfortable swallowing problems and mucous (cough it up) that have never gone away. When I swallow it feels like there is something there and it only feels that way with liquids and my own saliva. It is driving me crazy. The gastro doc put me on Prevacid once a day which worked for two weeks. He also wanted me on Buspar and the side effects of that were awful. I had to stop in only 4 days. My gastro doc doesn't know yet that I stopped it. I'm still on Prevacid. I've had no ill side effects from this one thankfully.

Another question I have is about magnesium. I take 500mg a day. I love it for helping me to relax but is this dose too much or bad for GERD/LPR sufferers if it relaxes the muscles? It helps me sleep better so I would hate to give it up completely.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!

aswander · 06-05-2006, 11:20 AM

To stop the LPR symptoms, you'll need to up your Prevacid dose to 2 pills a day. You'll need to experiment to find out if you should take them at the same time in the morning or split them up 1 in the morning 1 at night.

As for the magnesium, I'd probably skip it, but if the LPR symptoms go away with 2 Prevacids a day, then you could probably keep using it.

4dad · 06-05-2006, 03:35 PM

Thank you again aswander (you've helped me b4). I want to but do that but would like to ask (or tell) the doctor first. I see him on June 14th. That is my next step. But I am curious about the magnesium, it helps me sleep and I like it but can it have the opposite effect (meaning relax everything too much) and be a negative for us? Do you know if there is a max. amount? I'm taking Magnesium Oxide.

4dad · 06-05-2006, 03:37 PM

I meant 350mg RDA.

aswander · 06-05-2006, 03:45 PM

I think it "all depends".

Before I got my diagnosis of LPR, I visited every type of doctor and natural-type "doctor"/naturopath I could find. Sometimes they would ask me to take supplements that would "relax" my chest, thinking that my lungs were spasming. One of those things was magnesium. I was also given thyme and oregano oils and various enzymes that are used to treat asthmatics.

Sometimes they would make me feel better for just a few minutes. But this was all before I got an LPR diagnosis and PPIs. I don't know if the supplements helped or harmed me.

Currently, I take Advil as necessary, and ibuprofen is a muscle relaxer, but if taken occasionally, it doesn't make the reflux any worse.

So, I'm not really sure, though my inclination would be to stop anything that isn't really necessary so you can focus on the reflux problem. But if it's not causing any harm, then who am I to say to stop? Maybe you should ask the doctor you're seeing.