I was just diagonosed with LPR yesterday. I have been getting strep throat at least once a month for the last 9 months. After 9 months the PCP finally said it was ok to go to the ENT. He did the nose and throat scope and gave me the diagnosis.

I have the worst throat pain...enough that the doctor gave me an rx for vicodin. I have to take at least 2 in order to get any relief and the pain is still there.

Does anyone else have this kind of pain?

that seems a little unusual to have that much pain you have to take vicodin.
I have had a scratchy throat and hurt to swallow sometimes but never to the extent to need pain meds.
Seems like more than LPR to me.

Hi,
Before I Knew I Had Lpr I Was In So Much Pain. I Couldnt Eat. Open Sores Inflamed Taste Buds. I Was In So Much Pain I Cried. I No Where Your Coming From.i Went To Two Ents Too. But My Doctor Kept Tell Me He Sees Nothin. So They Checked For More Serious. And My Ent Told Me The Pain Was From Inflamation In The Throat. I Also Took Pain Meds. Hope This Helped. Cheryl

That's two very different experiences.

Angel Eyes - How long did your pain last? Because I have been in tears from the pain for two days now. Even the vicodin doesn't take it all away. Do you have any helpful advice on how you dealt with it?

CA Sandee,

I'm really unclear about why the ENT prescribed Vicodin, but didn't prescribe the standard treatment for LPR.

They can't cure LPR, or treat the real cause (weakened esophogeal spinchters), but by reducing the amount of acid in the stomach, you can dramatically reduce the amount of acid that gets into the esophogous and laryngeal area, thereby stopping the burning and coughing.

LPR is treated with the same medication that are used to treat its cousin, heartburn. Theses meds are called Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs for short). A proton is just a bare hydrogen atom - and acidity is defined by protons. So by inhibiting the protons, you are reducing the amount of acid in the stomach.

Heartburn patients take 1 PPI dose per day. LPR patients must take 2 doses a day. I'm not kidding when I say this is standard treatment, and your ENT doesn't know squat if he isn't prescribing double dose PPI therapy for you.
About 90% of LPR patients are successfully treated with PPIs. Usually that means the burning and coughing go away significantly enough to resume a normal quality of life standard. Many people experience 95% relief too. You'll likely never be completely back to normal, but plenty back to normal enough to really enjoy life again.

So there are a bunch of different PPIs on the market. Which one to use? Based on my experience, and my monitoring this board like a hawk for 2 years, most LPR patients get the best possible relief from Nexium and Aciphex.
Zegerudm Prevacid and Prescription-grade Prilosec are the next group. Protonix typically does not work for LPR. Finally, there is an OTC pill called Prilosec OTC. This is not the same thing as prescription-grade Prilosec and isn't even manufactured by the same company. Look for the thread about Prilosec OTC I started - I asked if anyone had any success on it who had LPR and noone did. I'm telling you this because OTC is the cheapest stuff, but to spare you the agony of fruitless experimentation, please listen to me when I tell you that it doesn't treat LPR. It does treat mild-moderate heartburn, but it's no powerful enough for LPR.

So here's my opinion about the order of medications, interms of effectiveness:
1. Nexium
2. Aciphex
3. Prevacid
4. Zegerid
5. Prescription-Grade Prilosec
6. Protonix (don't bother)

You should experience significant relief from your LPR in the first week of taking the meds if your body responds to that particular medication. Sometimes you need to experiment, but you can hedge your bets by trying the meds in the order I gave you.

He prescribed the Vicodin for the pain because it has been so severe.

I saw the practioner not the actual ENT. He prescribed Previcid 30 disolveable. Also Nasonex. The Previcid once a day - the Nasonex twice a day.

I'm not sure if it's helping or not yet. I have a horrible cough that just irritates the throat even more. I have a headache from caffiene withdrawal. My throat is still hoarse...but today it is better.

I am going to keep your very, very useful information to share with the practitioner if this doesn't get better. Thank you so much!

The cough is the larynx attempting to clear the acid off of it.
If you are truly miserable, don't wait to start the double dosing. You can even try with the prevacid you have right now - just take a double dose. Prevacid is usually hit or miss - it might work great, maybe not at all.

If double dosing on the Prevacid doesn't work after 2 weeks, switch to Nexium or Aciphex.

That's two very different experiences.

Angel Eyes - How long did your pain last? Because I have been in tears from the pain for two days now. Even the vicodin doesn't take it all away. Do you have any helpful advice on how you dealt with it?


]Hi CA SANDEE,
MY PAIN LASTED ME FOR ABOIT THREE MONTHS. I WENT FORM THR DOCTOR TO URGENT CARE TO ONE ENT TO ANOTHER ENT BEFORE I CAME TO THIS BOARD. I GOT THE INFO FROM HERE AND WENT TO ANN ENT AND TOLD HIM WHAT I HAD THE SECOND AGREED. I LIVED IN PAIN UNTILL I ATE THE RIGHTS FOODS AND ONLY DRANK WATER. AND WAS ON PREVACID TWICE A DAY. IOT TOOK ABOUT FOUR WEEKS BEFORE I WAS GETTING BETTER. I AM BETTER NOW AND MY DOCTOR WANT ME ON ONLY ONE NEXIUM A DAY BUT I HAVE A SCRIPT OF PRILOSEC AND TAKE ONE OF THEM IN THE EVENING.I ALREADY HAD THE VICODANS FOR BACK PAIN AND THEY DIDNT EVEN HELP ME. ONCE YOU GET ON THE MEDS AND EAT RIGHT YOU SHOULD START TO FEEL BETTER. IT TAKES TIME. GOOD LUCK TO YOU HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER. CHERYL

I was told by my GI doctor, and Pharmacist, that Prilosec OTC is no different than the prescription Prilosec. It is the same. It is 20 mg, where the prescription has different milligram dosages, but it is the same drug .

question???? i have had a hard time swallowing for 6 mos. have had every test under the sun done. i am constantly clearing my throat which doesn't hurt it's actually numb at times. voice is hoarse and now i have a pain in the center of my breast bone that sometimes hurts right behind it. the last few days i have acid splashing up into my throat everynight after dinner. burns unGodly. have been taking prevacid for 4-5 years. the last test i had done was a modified barium swallow with a speech therapist present. they both told me that everything seems to stop in the bottom of my esophagus and called it delayed emptying and felt this would give me the feeling in my throat when it is actually coming from my esophagus. had the test 2 weeks ago and no response from either dr. speech therapist suggested my meds be changed and also told me to make sure when i eat i chew and then drink and alternate and to make sure any meds i take i drink enough water so they don't dissolve in my esophagus. does anyone think this could be LPR or just that my refulx has gotten worse? or maybe i've been on prevacid to long. i tried the generic of something else last year and it actually made it worse for 2 weeks that i had to go back to prevacid. any help would be appreciated.:wave: