Successful Pharma Regimens of LPR Patients - Acid Reflux / GERD Message Board

aswander · 08-06-2006, 04:56 AM

I'm seeing a lot of new LPR posters - Welcome! I'm glad you found this board. Sometimes it can be hard to find a pharma solution when so many posters haven't been successfully treated yet, so I thought I'd start a new thread about LPR treatment success.

If you have LPR, and if you've found a truly successful pharma and lifestyle regimen, please share it with us. I'd like to limit this thread to the truly successful regimens - where you feel like you're at least at 90% of your old self, under control, and have gotten your ***quality of life*** back. I'd like to help out all the newbies with our wealth of experience in the matter - especially since many LPR patient stop posting after finding a successful drug regimen.

Thank you - and let's keep bumping this thread to the top!

aswander · 08-06-2006, 05:06 AM

LPR for 4 years. A+ successful treatement for 3 1/2 years now.

I take 2 doses of Nexium, together, each morning. Each dose is 40 mg, so I take a total of 80 mg of Nexium each morning. (The doses are ineffective for me if I separate them into morning and evening - they must be together). The Nexium alone controls about 95% of my symptoms, provided that I am following a low-fat, portion-controlled diet. (But I eat everything - including some of the triggers that bother other people like garlic onions, tomatoes, milk and coffee).

The double dose of Nexium typically gets me through until about 9 PM, when I take it at 6 AM. If I have any breakthrough symptoms at night, I now take 1 dose of Zegerid, a different PPI. I use Zegerid instead of Nexium because my insurance won't pay for more Nexium. However, I have discovered that I can also substitue 2 doses of Zegereid for my morning dose of 2 Nexiums and achieve the same results.

I don't raise the head of my bed, take apple cider vinegar, or engage in any kind of naturopathic remedies. In the past (4 years ago) I tried all of the "natural alternatives" like Magnesium, Calcium, Herb Oils, Apples, etc. and suffered terribly. But I only tried the natural alternatives because no doctor had prescribed a PPI yet. I have to hand it to big pharma - they came in and saved me, as I went from an "F" to an "A" in terms of quality of life.

Side effects of the PPI regimen: I have very intense dreams every night, and a lot of nightmares. They don't really bother me, so it's a side effect I can live with. It's certainly a strange side effect!

suelynn · 08-06-2006, 02:22 PM

I hope it's ok to post here, as i have a dumb question, I think I have LPR, but is there some defining sympton that says yes for sure, i have not been back to dr to discuss this yet.Also, again dumb, but what do you mean by pharma?
sorry..

Thanks
sue

aswander · 08-07-2006, 05:03 AM

Usually no one defining system, but one of more of these:
-Sensation of "lump in throat"
-Difficulty swallowing
-Chronic Cough (Severe and Unrelenting)
-Sinusitis-like symptoms that don't respond to antibiotics (post-nasal drip, stuffiness, pain)
-Asthma-like symptoms that don't respond to asthma medication
-Mystery pain in chest or back or upper arms

Most people with LPR don't list heartburn as a symptom, which is why it can often be hard to get a diagnosis of acid reflux because so many doctors only associate acid reflux with heartburn. You can get heartburn, but it' a much less common complaint, or you experience much less frequently so you don't associate it as a "symptom".

"Pharma" regimen is simply the medications that you are taking. If you have LPR, the standard therapy is 2 doses of a PPI (Proton-pump inhibitor) per day. But there are about 6 PPIs on the market so you sometimes need to experiement)>

suelynn · 08-08-2006, 08:08 AM

You are so great, and know so much about this, thank you. I do have the chronic cough and you know I have had a pain that comes and goes in my chest, right side, not a pain that concerns me about heart trouble, but i assumed that i pulled muscles..interesting..I am hesitant to take 2 pills without Dr ok, but the other night I did thake the 2nd one before bed, and I swear I coughed more..I know one pill could not make it worse, so it is in my head.