Winwahoo

Hello....I was wondering if I might get some feedback from those of you who maybe suffering from LPR...my rather long, sordid tale, in a very condensed version, goes like this:

I'm a radio broadcast veteran and voiceover artist. I was diagnosed with GERD back in 2003, but had actually been taking a regular regimen of Prevacid daily before that. I also developed adult asthma. Since then, my chief complaint is that fact that my voice...just doesn't feel or sound like it used to. I have strong projection and depth early in the day, but as the day progresses, it becomes more weak and "strained". After seeing numerous ENT's, a few "voice therapy sessions", and more, I visited a local Voice Center (world-renowned) and was diagnosed with GERD and muscle-tension dysphonia. In addition to more therapy, we also talked at length about diet modification. My tests showed probably more damage done via LPR than by GERD. Some of these modifications I made (salsa, citrus) and some I didn't (coffee, beer) I finally decided to take my doctor's advice and have the Nissen Fundoplication surgery. That was in '06. I also stopped taking Prevacid.

Since then, we moved to a another location, and things started to not really get remarkably better with my voice. I'd do the bulk of my client recording in the morning, and as my voice became weaker and the more I "strained", the more I would put off afternoon and evening work to the next morning. It's a routine that, sadly, has been a part of my lifestyle for some time. Needless to say, something that I've loved to do for a long time has become more of a bother...and not much fun as it used to be.

About a month ago, I had rotator cuff surgery. Following it, I suffered, what I think to be, an excessively long period of time with some issues involving the intubation tube. (scratchy throat, no projection, weak) After 2 weeks I visited my family doctor and he mentioned that the after-affects could happen up to 6 weeks after surgery. He put me back on one Prevacid capsule a day. After almost 2 more weeks, it wasn't getting any better. So, my wife scheduled a visit to this local voice center. They did yet another videostrobe and discovered that, although there wasn't any lingering damage from the tube, there WAS an excessive amount of redness surrounding my voice box, with the pictures looking eerily similar to the ones taken before the Nissen 2 years ago. My doctor said that there may be a possibility that the Nissen surgery wasn't a raging success. BUT, he also said that because my damage was more LPR-related than GERD, that I REALLY needed to modify my diet. He put me back on Prevacid twice-daily, and then asked me to do a 1-to-2-month experiment. RIGID following of the non-acid-reflux diet. (his contention is that people just DON'T want to believe how important diet modfication is!)

I LOVE my 2 cups of coffee in the morning. I don't drink it through the day but morning java is a must. And, I'm a dedicated craft-beer LOVER! I live for well-made, hand-crafted beers and ales. I write a beer column, and my wife often indulges me with trips to far-away places, just to try the beer!

So...I'm going on 7 days of NO COFFEE and NO BEER! I also cut out salsa (which I love) chocolate, citrus, and anything spicy.

My question for those who have LPR: has anyone who's gone through severe diet modification seen improvement? It kills me to give up the things I really enjoy. But, since I'm a professional (and as the doc here says, "the stakes are higher for you!"), I would really, really like to have my voice back!

Any feedback would be great!

Thanks!