Two years ago, an ENT diagnosed me with LPR. I went through the whole LPR drill and treatment for about 5 months and gave up when nothing worked.
Recently I went to another ENT for a 2nd opinion. He felt LPR was likely, but did ask me to come back when I had stronger symptoms so he could confirm. He said my sinuses were okay and that my tonsils have small holes but he didn't see any debris or stones.
One main and annoying problem is that sometimes and randomly, I release an odor that simply put is akin to flatulence. I know it's coming out of my mouth and not the other end. It is a socially distressing annoyance that is really bumming me out. It usually happens when I'm talking which makes it worse because that means there is at least one person close to me. You can imagine the discomfort when this happens at restaurants, in cars and crowded trains, etc.
My ENT thinks it's from when I reflux acid. Can this really be the case? That my upper and lower sphincter muscles are relaxed for a second or two and this odor comes out? I didn't have this problem until 2 years ago. So if you have heartburn, does the fact that your upper sphincter muscle staying close prevent this odor from escaping? But for people with LPR, the odor escapes because both of our sphincter muscles are screwed up?
Anyone else with this problem? Related to LPR or not?
I have the same trouble as you, although the odor actually comes from my mouth when I feel this thick stuff entering my throat.
I've had an endoscopy for GERD but that showed everything to be normal. However I believe it could be LPR instead of acid reflux causing the thick smelly stuff coming up into my throat. It could be mucous from post nasal drip though.
When I lay down flat on my back last night I could feel faintly a sensation of reflux but with no heartburn, and when I got back up I had an odour coming from my mouth (before I lay down there was no odour). So I think it could be LPR.
I definately do think reflux causes Bad Breath as I've read other articles on this site from people complaining of the same thing.
I just need to pinpoint exactly what this thick stuff is (mucous or stomach contents). Do you get thick stuff in your throat or is it just the sensation of gas that causes your odour problem?
See the other thread on "funky taste in mouth". I won't repeat what I said there.
As far as if it's mucus, the first ENT said that my throat was producing mucus to combat the refluxed acid. And it does feel like mucus...But my current ENT thinks what's coating my throat is the refluxed acid itself, not mucus. I do have bothersome sinuses so for a long time I thought it was post-nasal drip but apparently it ain't according to ENT #2.
I do have to say that I do nasal rinses, have done so for the past 18 months. For the last 3-5 months, my sinuses have gotten a lot better. I used to rinse 1-2 times daily. But I find I can get away with only rinsing every other day now. I don't have as much gunk in my throat anymore and my "LPR" as a daily hassle is pretty much gone or under control...Coincidence? Don't know.
The problem is that I still get random attacks of odor. These attacks may happen for a few days in a row and then not show for weeks...In any case, it's more a social thing as the odor is the equivalent of a rotting meat. I can live with occassional acid attacks but why oh why this horrible odor?
