My husband has been waking up in the middle of the night choking on acid. This have been very worrisome and scary to see. Drs have yet to diagnosis him with it. He has sleep apnea and now they think asthma because he wheezes. I think its from the acid that he keeps choking on every night. What do you think???

Marde,

you described me just a few weeks ago. The exact same thing. I think that the wheezing is from the stuff getting into the lungs (at least partially).
I would start choking out of the blue and become so scared I had to quickly jump out of the bed. Putting myself into an upright position as quickly as possible during such an attack was the only thing that helped. I used to have these choking episodes only at night. Now I also get them during the day. Lovely. As far as I know, I don't have sleep apnea. I did not have a sleep study though. I was told I have asthma but don't think so. My breathing problems arose from other causes (not too sure which ones, there are too many possibilities).
Please keep us informed about your husbands' progress, testing and diagnosis, once there is one. It will be much appreciated.

flowergirl

My husband does the same thing...He has been diagnosed with sleep apnea and GERD. He was put on prilosec and a C-PAP , but we lost my insurance and now he uses OTC remedies and they are of no help.
I hope your husband gets better it really is hard to watch and I am sure harder for them to endure:(. Not to mention dangerous.
Will keep you in out prayers and let us know how it goes.:angel:
Sabrina

Hi,I will keep you informed. He did do the sleep study and they said he had severe sleep apnea. As far as the choking on acid he does it only at night. But I do it only in the day.. Very odd..

Have him stop eating after 7PM. That will lessen the amount of acid coming up when sleeping. I went out New Years eve and ate till about 10PM, woke up unable to breath, heart pounding. All part of reflux. Not eating past 7Pm will allow him to sleep through night, though he may still wake up with bad taste in mouth.

What Neddy said....

Along w/ not eating 3-4 hrs prior to laying down, lift the head of the bed so that the stomach is always below the esophagus/mouth. No, sleeping on pillows will not do, the head of the bed has to be elevated no less than 6inches is usually recommended.

My doctor and I both have had the coming awake choking on acid incidents. It hasn't happened to me since I've been on Nexium, but it is horrible when it does happen. There's no question that acid has just been aspirated into the lungs and it is very painful, scary and burns to the point of blisters in the back of the throat. I think this condition is more known as bile-reflux as opposed to simple acid-reflux, especially if the fluid is vivid greenish-yellow.

-Noggin

I have had the same thing happen to me as well, my doc. put me on aciphex and it seems to be working for me. I have been taking it since Oct. 07. Most doc. have samples of the medication, ask your doc. to provide hime with some of them. I hope it all work out for the both of you.

mscutie

I have had reflux for years with the same symptoms you talk about. I also had ulcers.
I have been on all the perscribed meds for it, but they didn't seem to help.
About a year ago I had my esophagus scope and had ulcers, so I started thinking about how Aloe plants have many healing properties, so I went to the health food store and got some Aloe vera Gel (they also have liquid if you prefer) that you can drink. I started mixing about three tablespoons with just a little juice before I went to bed at night.

2 months later I had a follow up scope done and the Dr. said everything looked great, no more ulcers. I also noticed my gums weren't sore anymore after the reflux stopped. Also it it only about $7.00 a bottle and lasts along time.

Worth a try, it works for me. Good Luck with whatever you try.:)

My dad and I both had this problem. We were told it was due to a lazy LES (lower esophageal sphincter) which is a valve at the bottom of the esophagus that closes to prevent stomach acid from coming back up causing GERD. We both take PPI's and I haven't had another incident since. Very scary feeling to wake up and feel like you are suffocating!!