:confused: :confused: :confused: Hi,
I have been suffering for 11 months now. These are my problems:
-shortness of breath
-upper abdomen bloating
-tight feeling in throat
-sometimes feeling like somthing is in my throat
-coughing wich burns
-now pain sometimes on my right side
I woke up this way in june of last year, never had heart burn a day in my life. I was on a diet weight watchers when this happened and doing very well. I was eating healthy and then all this started. I have been on every reflux med there is and nothing seems to help. I have had every test done and all they see is a small haital hernia, some reflux, no problem with esophogus, severe gastriris, and a fold in the duedenum.
IF ANYBODY CAN HELP PLEASE!!!

Could the fold be causing some blockage? If you have some duodenal obstruction from the fold I could see where it may cause the symptoms you are experiencing. If the stomach has a difficult time pushing the food down thru a narrowed outlet then it's likely to cause problems in the stomach and above the stomach. I guess it would be a matter of opinion from your doctor if this could be what's going on. It might be worth get a second or third opinion since you've been suffering for a while now. I would guess that surgery would be required if that was actually what was causing the problem. The meds would only help to protect you from the harmful effects of the acids that are refluxed out of the stomach.

HI red
I am not sure it is not floded in half it has folds in it like a curtin. I think he says might mean celiacs but that wouldn't cause all of my other syptoms. I hopefully am geeting the results tonight from the endoscopy. I can't take this anymore.

Hi,

I can kind of relate with u. I had a cough that burned for the last 2 years. Abd bloating as always because i have ibs. Plus heaviness in the chest. I also kept getting sinusitis and ear infections. I was eing Dx'ed as post nasal drip that what was causing the cough. After 2 years and the last bad case of sinusitis I went to a ENT cause the cough was worse and rapid I couldnt even sleep at night. And affecting my voice. The ent Dx'ed me with GERD and chronic Sinusitis. I went for a Swallowing study and yes it was GERD with Dysphagia. The cough went on so long mis dignosed I now have damaged to my left vocal cord and my voice has changed. I do watch what I eat to try and control it.
My point is. Who would ever thought a cough was acid reflux! I am in the medical field and never heard that and never ever had heart burn.
Just keep getting second opinions until u r happy with the results. God Bless

I HAVE GONE FOR ABOUT 6 DIFFERENT OPINIONS and they are all looking at me and saying i am not sure. So far they are saying acid reflux and then lpr. But if it is either why am i on so much meds for so long and they don't work. I have been on ppi's now for 11 months. Up until this happened i never had one once of heart burn. I feel all these ppi's are making the acid worse and maybe it is not that. Now the new docter thinks it is my gallblader. But i had the hid scan and my gallblader is 36% so i think that is okay. He feels that maybe it is bile coming from the gallblder into the stomach and up causing all of this. But he said he needs to wait till the biopsy comes back now he is saying friday.

Chalupa and I have the same exact symptoms.... I swear this is insane that reflux can cause this much oain in life. I feel everyday like I will stop breathing and now my cehst is hurting.
What else can be done? I take a million ant acids I should be acid free!
I'm so fed up!

Unfortunately, Ant-acids will only make your acid reflux worse. It's not a matter of too much stomach acid, rather it's not enough digestive enzymes.

Get a good quality digestive enzyme at the health food store. They'll be able to show you one that's effective. Also, to help balance out the digestive tract get an enteric-coated probiotic (acidolphilus). This coating allows the probiotic to get through the stomach before it is dissolved and allowed to fill your intestines with healthy, live acidolphilus bacteria. Also, increase fiber in your diet and stay close to the lower glycemic carbohydrates (veggies and fruits) and limit sugar and caffeine intake.

Sugar depletes the body of nutrients and lowers the immune system. You need to eat as healthy as possible and increase the digestive enzymes so you can digest foods properly, then when the digested foods get down in your intestines, the acidolphilus and fiber will take care of elimination. BTW, always drink plenty of water with a higher fiber intake.

While you should not drink liquids with a meal, (they dilute the digestive juices and cause poor digestion) you can drink pure, diluted cranberry juice as it actually aids in digestion. You can get some Cranberry Concentrate at the HFS and dilute it so suit your taste. It also acts as a mild diuretic to prevent any bloating.

This is probably more than you wanted to know but it is all tied together to get and maintain good digestion throughout the whole digestive tract. I hope it helps curb your acid reflux.

Unfortunately, Ant-acids will only make your acid reflux worse. It's not a matter of too much stomach acid, rather it's not enough digestive enzymes.

Get a good quality digestive enzyme at the health food store. They'll be able to show you one that's effective. Also, to help balance out the digestive tract get an enteric-coated probiotic (acidolphilus). This coating allows the probiotic to get through the stomach before it is dissolved and allowed to fill your intestines with healthy, live acidolphilus bacteria. Also, increase fiber in your diet and stay close to the lower glycemic carbohydrates (veggies and fruits) and limit sugar and caffeine intake.

Sugar depletes the body of nutrients and lowers the immune system. You need to eat as healthy as possible and increase the digestive enzymes so you can digest foods properly, then when the digested foods get down in your intestines, the acidolphilus and fiber will take care of elimination. BTW, always drink plenty of water with a higher fiber intake.

While you should not drink liquids with a meal, (they dilute the digestive juices and cause poor digestion) you can drink pure, diluted cranberry juice as it actually aids in digestion. You can get some Cranberry Concentrate at the HFS and dilute it so suit your taste. It also acts as a mild diuretic to prevent any bloating.

This is probably more than you wanted to know but it is all tied together to get and maintain good digestion throughout the whole digestive tract. I hope it helps curb your acid reflux.
thank you so much i think i not only have gerd but i have lpr. My throat feels like someone is choking me. I am now cutting down on the ppi's to see what happens. How much acidolphilus can i take in one day. Can i open the capsule and put it in water, i have a hard time swallowing that pill.

Each brand of Probiotic (acidolphilus) has it's own recommended dosage. The brand I use (Advanced Probiotic-enteric coated) lists 3.5 billion microorganisms and recommends a dosage of 1 capsule per day. I would feel safe taking twice that much to begin with for a week or so. I've really not heard of any warnings about taking too much acidolphilus but you want to use it within reason.

Opening the enteric-coated capsule would defeat it's purpose of getting it through the digestive tract and down into the intestine before it begins to dissolive. If you did open it and mix with a liquid you would have to be sure that you eat nothing before taking it and wait at least 30 minutes after ingesting before eathing anything. This would give it time to pass through the stomach. You want as much as possible to get down into the intestines, not to get digested in the stomach.

There are probiotics that are not enteric-coated that require refrigeration and come in capsules. You might look into finding a good-quality product along that line. I don't know if they're as strong but the label will tell you.

BTW, there's several types of digestive enzymes that can be chewed or dissolved in the mouth, not swallowed whole. Just be sure to get a good brand for maximum effectiveness. The one I use is a somewhat large pill, but I can take up to 3 a meal, if needed. Because of my intolerance to citric acid I've not been able to take the chewable kind.

Keep us posted on your progress.

The best L. acidophilus I have used is Pearls by Enzymic Therapy--

Just a note--I've tried plant-based enzymes that didn't help me at all. But I just bought some stronger ones with HCI, pepsin and all the other good strong enzymes in it. Most brands have a mix called something like superzymes. I took 2 last night a little bit before dinner, and it was the first night in a long time I didn't have pressure and uncomfortable bloating after dinner. I really didn't expect them to work (since nothing has), so I was really surprised. Give it a try Chalupa, it could help to make you more comfortable while you're waiting on doctors and tests. I'm still going to have the 24hr ph test done soon, to confirm if I'm refluxing or not. But in the meantime it's great to have some relief. There's also a good book I'm reading about why stomach acid is good for you. You guys can look it up on any online bookstore. I'm going to post this on the main page too.
Kathleen in Ca

Hi everyone i am curoius is it okay to take mylanta to stop the stomach bloating. I am now cutting the aciphex to every other day and on the other days taking pepcid complete 4 a day and mylanta when needed.
WHAT DO YOU THINK.
ALSO WHY DOES MY TOUNGE FEEL SWALLON?????

Chalupa that might give you temporary relief. But I would sure try the digestive enymes I was talking about with every meal to see if you get any relief. It helps to digest your food for you, so you're not left with that awful bloating sensation and full throat feeling. Also see if your doctor can squeeze you in sooner, it sounds like you're really suffering.
Kathleen

hI KATHLEEN234,
My docter's office called me to tell me the the biopsy was all negative. I guess it is still lpr and gerd. But what i can't understand is how i woke up this way and all the meds don't work. He also said last time he spoke with me that he want's to take out my gallblader. I am not sure about that because everything i heard that people get worse afterwards. I am going to go tomorrow to the health food store to get some of those enzymes. I have cultural in the house wich is esophodufulus(sorry spelt wrong). I am not sure if that is good enough. I just want this all to be over so i can get pregnant.

I wentr today and bought a multi-enzyme but i am not sure if it is the right one this is what is in it-
pancreatin-protease
amylase
lipase
bataine hci
amylase
protease
pepsin from porcine
pepsin from papaya
oxibile extract from bovine
lipase
bromelain from pinappeple
cellulase
dicalcium phosphate
stearic acid
microcrystalline cellulose
magnesium stearate
silicon dioxide
pharmaceutical glaze
Sorry for all the ingredients i just wanted to wright what was on the label. I am not sure if i bought the right one maybe you can let me no. Thanks, and do i have to ask my docter before taking them because i heard they can raise your blood pressure, but i am not sure.

Hi~

I TOTALLY relate to what you are going thru. I basically had the same thing happen to me last June. So it has been a year almost now that I have been suffering myself. And frankly it is really starting to drive me crazy. Literally... CRAZY....

Mine happened one evening last June after dinner. I got these 3 sharp pains in my chest area. Low/middle of chest area/sternum area. I thought hummm, that was weird! And didn't think much more about it. But the next day I woke up with the pain still there. All in chest area. I thought for sure it was heart related. That is when this wild ride started. I ended up going to my walk in clinic they couldn't find anything and basically the dr there told me it was probably costochondritis and or GERD. I have always had stomach issues. But just thought it was stress, kids, job, whatever. All that good stuff. BUt I NEVER had indigestion really. And the pain I was feeling was not really the TYPICAL GERD symptoms. I was not getting the burning, back up of food feeling. It just started with those pains. Then it progressed....

I strated with tightness in chest, hard to swallow, just over all malaise feeling. Just felt sick. Finally after seeing every dr known to man kind and many, many tests. The only thing they did find was my gallbladder was bad. But that was not until Dec that they figured that out. I also have thyroid disease. But at taht time we were just monitoring it. No meds then. So, in late Dec I had gallbladder removed. AHAHA..... Boy was I mistaken to think it was going to solve my problem. NOPE!

So, here today I sit with basically the same symptoms I had a year ago. I have tried all the meds. No help. I also did radiation treatment for thyroid disease in Feb and now have gone hypothyroid and that is pure he**. I feel worse now than I did a year ago. lol.

I have had to leave my job. I suffer every day with pains. And NOW I even get the more classic GERD symptoms from time to time. THe bloating is really bad now though. Plus I have gained weight due to gallbladder being removed and also because of this thyroid mess. Uggg....

If u find out anything that has or is helping you I would LUV to try anything at this point myself.

Good luck 2 u! Hope this was not too long? But just wanted to let u know you are not alone in this battle... I just find it so frustrating when the medical dr's all tell me I am FINE when in reality I feel like I am dying inside.:dizzy:

There are some enzymes that can thin the blood a bit if taken at high dosages so I guess they could effect your BP some. I

Wish you the best and let keep us all posted with your results...........Red

Hi Chalupa..what you bought sounds similar to what I have. I stopped my Nexium (I'm not suggesting anyone else do that) and took two enzyme caps about 5-10 mins before a meal. I just can't believe the difference. I'm not saying it would solve someone's reflux problems, because I could still be refluxing and am getting more tests to tell me. But in the meantime I was dying for relief from bloating and feeling so uncomfortable after every meal, and the enzymes have delivered almost complete relief...I really can't believe it. (Also, I've never heard of digestive enzymes affecting BP, but do some research, you never know).

Anyway I know one thing may not work for everyone, but I've been sharing this because I know how miserable these issues can be. I'm at the point of trying different things if what I'm doing isn't working. I truly hope it helps you and others reading this. Again the enzymes should be a good blend (like what you got) if they're going to work. Also there's a good book you can look up about why stomach acid is good for you, with lots of into in it.
Kathleen

Hey katkatdd...I grew up in Redlands, that's my home town and my parents still live there!

So sorry about what you're going through. Maybe the good news is you live near one of the better medical facilities in the country, Loma Linda Medical Center. There are great GI's there and surgeons. I don't know what your insurance is, but maybe you can get a referral? If I still lived near there I would be going there right now.

See my messages to Chalupa about the enzymes and that book. Not a cure for everyone's ailments or anything, but wow, I've really had relief to the point I'm not afraid of eating dinner anymore, and feel pretty comfortable sitting here right now. I just need to get more tests done and see about other symptoms I'm having, but at least I can eat again!

I truly hope you get some relief. Take care,
Kathleen

Oh kewl.. It is such a small world isn't it? lol. I LUV it here. I have 4 kids and my oldest son plays football for redlands jr all american. Well actually last season was his last year for that league and now he will be moving on to high school ball. He wanted to play for RHS but we are in REV boundries. So that is where he will be attending next year! I just enjoy the small community feeling although it is really growing here. Almost makes me sad to see them tearing down all the orange groves that made Redlands what it is!

Any who, thank you for the info. I will for sure look into the enzymes. I can't seem to find any relief with anything else and am willing to try anything at this point. Even last night I was having issues with food coming back up and I wake up in the morning with my chest area feeling more like a achy feeling. Strange!

Yea I had Beaver Medical Group up until a couple months ago and now have changed plans and am seeing another dr that works out of Loma Linda. ANd the specialists they work with do work out of Loma Linda as well.. I am currently awaiting appt for another cat scan to see what is going on inside! And then after that I will ask to see a GI dr. I saw one thru Beaver but he was of no help. He basically told me I was fine and the pain and belching (sorry) lol was all NORMAL!! GRRR........

Hi again...I went to Smiley elementary, Cope Jr. High and Redlands High. Even Crafton college for a while. Yes it's grown and changed quite a bit since then, I'm always surprised when I go down there.

Well anyway it sure sounds like you're on the right track now. I didn't like Beaver Clinic....you'll do much better I think with Loma Linda. Well post a new message on the acid reflux board after your test, and if the enymes help you. See the list of ingredients to the one's Chalupa got, they should be similar to that mix. Well take care for now,
Kathleen

Great thank you for the advice! One more quick question. Do u know where around here I might find those at? Do u think Clark's would have them?? Thank you!!

And I agree I was very unhappy with Beaver! :( It took them many months just to find out my gallbladder was bad. Not good. I pray Loma Linda is going to be better for me..

I will post new message once I find out what is going on and also I will take a look again at Chalupa's ingrediants to her probiotics.


:angel:

i got my resluts from my endocopy the third one.They said i have non-specific chronic inflammation with blunting and widening of intestinal villi,and immunostain for CD3 shows a marked increase in intraepithelial lymohocytes. He then told me that i had celiacs but three other docters told me i don't. My blood came back negative. Should i go with it or not or should i see someone who specilizes in this, and why would i have all the other symptoms that don't make sence with celiacs???? very confused???

katkatdd-yes Clark's would have them, any vitamin or health food store will have a good selection. They are digestive enzymes, not probiotics. (Although probiotics are great, they're not the same thing). I don't think I'm allowed to post brand names on here, but just look for something that says superenzymes with all the ingredients like the ones Chalupa listed.

Chalupa-wow-those results you got are a lot more interesting than my endo. Well if they're saying a possibility of celiac, I'd sure give a try to avoiding wheat for a while to see if you get any relief. There are so many wheat and gluten-free products out there now, not only in health food stores. Even some grocery stores have 'health food' sections with a selection of wheat free breads, (usually made out of rice flour). There are lots of yummy crackers, cookies and snacks too. It would sure be worth a try to see if you get any relief. I sure wish you well.

Keep posting updates. Maybe we should start a new post. Bye for now,
Kathleen