My only real symptom is throat soarness with some phlegm issues from time to time. This started last year when I was going through a very stressful time. I believe stress is the root cause of this condition.
By way of background, I first visited a gastro doctor, as I was coughing up phlegm after dinner, depending on what I ate. Gastro did an upper endoscopy. He thought I had barrett’s esophagus, but the test came back negative and advised I had reflux. Gastro put me on PPI, Dexilant. I tried this once per day and it didn’t seem to work. Symptoms of throat soarness would still come and go.
I went back to the gastro doctor and said I needed to see an ENT doctor, as there was nothing more that he could do. I went to see the ENT and went through that uncomfortable procedure down by throat with lidocaine, which made me nauseas. ENT confirms that I had a very inflamed throat (gee, no kidding?) and diagnosed me with LPR. He elevated Dexilant twice a day.
It’s been about 45 days since then and I don’t have much relief either, even with taking meds twice per day. It almost seems that anything that I eat could bring an onset of soarness. I’m not sure what to eat anymore. What do I do? Just eat crackers and drink water?
It’s frustrating and scary at the same time. I’ve read all the forums and am trying to stay away from citrus, tomato sauce, chocolate, etc. I am trying a glutten free diet as well. But seriously, this is getting ridiculous.
3 Questions:
1. Should I keep taking this PPI for another few months and ride out the pain? Some message boards seem to think this medication needs to be taken for 4 to 6 months and at the same time, stay away from all the no-no foods.
2. Is there a LPR specialist I should be seeing, as opposed to an ENT? Is there such a thing as a LPR specialist?
3. Does the stress issue that I have completely undermine any treatment measures that I try?
Very confused and am tired of this tightness in my throat. I have to wonder whether this will ever go away...
I had LPR over the summer and I am happy to say, it went away. I was on Dexilant for a week or so, but found that it made me very depressed and anxious so I went off it. Instead I took two Prilosec each day, while I also cut down my carbs and lost over five inches around my tummy in two months. I think that made a huge difference. My only symptoms were that sense of fullness in the throat and increased post nasal drip, as well as a lot of burpiness. The ENT diagnosed me with LPR. I do not believe that there is a different specialist you need to see if you're not having reflux problems that are something a gastroenterologist may be better suited for. If I were you I would call your ENT, tell him that you are not responding favorably to the Dexilant, and ask if he thinks you need to give it more time, or if he wants to put you on something else. PPIs are supposed to be the best course of action for LPR. I hope you feel better soon!
I have LPR , it comes and goes depending on how strict I can be with my diet. Big issue for me is not eating within 3 hrs of bedtime. Been on Dexilant as of late but tried others over the last 6 months. Still have to supplement with prescription strength Pepcid. GI doc says we need to keep trying but if it is just the esophageal sphincter relaxing at times and allowing the reflux to occur then it is unlikely to go away. It may be age related in my case, I am 55. Things just don't work they way they used to.
I am normal weight , in good shape otherwise, just this dam LPR , drugs work if I watch everything I eat, sleep on a wedge and live my life totally within the Gerd/LPR guidelines. Sucks !
I have LPR and I honestly believe the PPIs work a bit, but not that well. I still take them though because I can't function without them. I also take Ranitidine in between when it's bad.
Oh and I forgot to say, stress is an absolute killer for me. I try and live a very quiet life these days and avoid any sort of stress.
Hi all,
I have LPR as well. Mainly throat soreness. PPI (Nexium and Pariot) does not seem to help. It helps a bit but still leave me with the problem. My GI suggested me to ake a very small dose of Xanax (.125mg/day).I am reluctant and have not taken it. My symptoms come and go - I have some good days and bad days. On the good days I am perfectly fine and a bad day my throat is sore and it is a bit painful to talk. I have tried to relax and do meditation twice/day. My symptoms started after a stressful period. The way I am going I am very much inclined to give Xanax a go to see what happens. If it works I will try to wean it. My GI said that many of her patients are on Xanax. Please do give some input.
Xanax is the same class of drugs as Clonazepam, it helps me and really reduces the LPR symptoms but I think it just masks it to some degree. These are both benzodiazepines which can be very addictive with some pretty bad withdrawl symptoms. I try to avoid taking it and go months without taking any. If you do a search on benzo withdrawl you will find some real horror stories. Trouble is most docs won't tell you that the body gets hooked on them. So in the short run they can help to fix the problem in the long run you end up with another problem.
Xanax is the same class of drugs as Clonazepam, it helps me and really reduces the LPR symptoms but I think it just masks it to some degree. These are both benzodiazepines which can be very addictive with some pretty bad withdrawl symptoms. I try to avoid taking it and go months without taking any. If you do a search on benzo withdrawl you will find some real horror stories. Trouble is most docs won't tell you that the body gets hooked on them. So in the short run they can help to fix the problem in the long run you end up with another problem.
Hi Johnah. With the low dosage as .125mg/day this might not act as an anxiety drug but to relax your nerves/digestive tract, setting it back to normal. I do understand the problem that is why I have not taken the advice from the GI. It's hard to withdraw from PPIs as well. I did have a terrible rebound from Nexium ...no doctors or anyone told me of this. It was very scary till I personally understood the problem.
Normally Xanax at the .5mg/day is the dosage for anxiety. Well, it's really hard to know what is the right thing to do. I do know some people took Xanax and they stopped it ok ...no major drama. My GI swore that Xanax is not addictive but Valium is the one to avoid.
What dosage did you use for Xanax when you took it? I asked the GI if I could take it on an ad hoc basis, she said that it does not work that way.
