I can't help but wonder what LPR sufferers did for relief 20 years ago - before PP2s like Nexium were invented.

The year I developed LPR (before a diagnosis), I became so sick that I had to stay in bed all day, because the only postion that I could tolerate was lying on my right side (helped cut down on the cough). My entire family thought I was going crazy, and they sent me to a shrink who treated me for anxiety (which I didn't have). I couldn't work, and everywhere I went, people looked at me like I was a freak because I was coughing so uncontrollably. I was so lonely and in such pain I didn't know what to do, because I had no support. I went to 15 different ENTs before I found one who recognized the problem (Thanks Eugenia Vining at Yale!). The truth is, that while I loved life and am a really happy person with no anxiety typically, I had a lot of thoughts about how long I could deal with this undiagnosed condition before I ended it all. I truly didn't think I could live with the condition. When I would explain this to my family, they would send me back to the psychiatrist who would pump me full of Xanax.

Luckily, the medication worked! And I am once again loving a wonderful life! But what happened to the people who came before us - did they make it? What did they do for relief?

i wonder the same thing. especially since meds don't help me and this is basically ruining my life. i'm miserable and i dread going to bed because of it.

i think the incidence of acid reflux has soared over the last few years, but there were surely some people with it years ago.

Gunznroses - is there anything that you think led to your LPR? Any medication you took, or smoking/drinking habits that may have precluded it? If reflux is more common now, what are we doing that is causing it? Is it more stress or other meds that we are taking? I'm interested in finding out what happened to you -

i think i had silent reflux for years, then it got worse a couple years ago. at the time my grandmother had recently died and i was starting my first job. i worked til 2 AM all the time, drank lots of pop to try to help my headaches caused by staring at the computer during work, and came home and ate before going to bed. all bad things for reflux... still, for months i didn't have heartburn, but my throat became blistered and i went to the docotr over and over and over trying to find a cause. then, i started developing GERD which kept getting worse and finally led me to realize the cause of my throat problems.

when i said the incidence of it has soared over the years i was talking about in general, in the public. the rate of esopageal cancer has increased several fold over the past few decades. this is as the rate of stomach cancer has dropped almost the same amount. an article i read in Scientific American says it's due to people getting rid of h. pylori bacteria because of using antibiotics, rather on purpose or when treating other problems.