Rhonda123
06-18-2008, 01:30 PM
I have been taking Nexium for a week now with a noticeable improvement with the burning, but my throat is still sore and hoarse. I had it scoped by a ENT, and that's when they diagnosed the reflux. How long should I wait before seeing a GI or something else for my throat symptoms. I am worried that I may be waiting too long and something else may be wrong or it may cause further damage, as it has been sore for over 2 months now.
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Kassie29
06-18-2008, 01:34 PM
Hi Rhonda
Most doctors advise to keep on the Nexium for 4 to 8 weeks. One week isn't really a long time to find out if this med will cure all your symptoms.
Kassie
Most doctors advise to keep on the Nexium for 4 to 8 weeks. One week isn't really a long time to find out if this med will cure all your symptoms.
Kassie
Rhonda123
06-18-2008, 01:44 PM
Thanks! I guess I am getting paranoid that something else is wrong with my throat. This is all new to me, and I didn't even believe the doctor when they told me reflux, since I had not had the first symptom. Oddly enough, within a week, I got heartburn after eating pizza, and it progressively got worse! Very weird. Have never had heartburn hardly at all in my whole life and not sure where this is coming from. I guess that's my concern. I take care of myself, and I found this odd to come out of nowhere. Rhonda
Kassie29
06-18-2008, 01:48 PM
Mine came on very suddenly as well. I had never had heartburn before. Then one evening it started and I've been dealing with the symptoms ever since -- 9 months now. Nexium helped somewhat for me, but I'm still dealing with other symptoms, and am just now undergoing more tests -- 24 pH probe, manometry, and endoscopy. Hopefully, your symptoms will clear up with the Nexium alone. I've heard lots of success stories with this med. The secretary at my doctor's office says it has completely cured her acid reflux symptoms. I wasn't so lucky though.
Kassie
Kassie
TEdds83
06-18-2008, 02:29 PM
Mine came out of no where too. I had only had mild heartburn here and there. The next thing I know I had a severe case of acid reflux. It came on after I had vomitted with the flu. I think the acid burned my throat on the way up. It has been about a month now babying my throat and watching what I eat. I have cheated with some pizza and chocolate and then I pay for it. Ugh! I am on prilosec. I am down the the last 4 days of the 14 day treatment. Do you know if it does harm to take beyond those days?? It says on the box to wait 4 months before doing the treatment again. Yikes! What is the problem isn't gone yet??:confused:
Rhonda123
06-18-2008, 02:35 PM
Well, I will tell you that I took that for about 10-12 days, and it didn't do anything for me. In talking with my allergist, he said to try Nexium, that it worked really well, and gave me a prescription. Well, the acid definitely got better but still mild every now and then, but my throat is still sore and hoarse. It's only been like 6 or so days, so I will see. I am also watchin my diet and being good on that. I don't think there is a problem with taking Prilosec for longer. When given to me, I was told to take it for 6 weeks! But my allergist said I should have seen something within 10 days, and I didn't, so I quit and changed to Nexium. Maybe you should try that.
Kassie29
06-18-2008, 05:01 PM
The standard treatment is 4 weeks, with an additional 4 weeks if needed. However, people with persistent GERD may need to stay on PPIs indefinitely. I've been on Nexium for 7 months now. However, in preparing for my 24 pH monitoring test, I went off Nexium a week ago. I didn't notice much difference in not taking it or taking it. In fact, I think my symptoms improved somewhat off of it! No more shortness of breath. I still have the sore throat and hoarseness, but not much worse than when I was on it. I am very interested to see what the 24 pH probe will show. Maybe I don't have GERD at all! I have heard that too little stomach acid can cause similar symptoms. I'm glad I'm getting the testing done, rather than just keep throwing medicine at a problem that hasn't even been substantiated yet.
Kassie
Kassie
TEdds83
06-19-2008, 02:31 AM
Thanks all of you for responding. Kassie I am curious about your testing. Let me know how you come out with all of that. I also want to know what does PPI mean?? I am not sure what that is. I am doing ok for 2 weeks on Prilosec but I think I may more than 2 weeks to really get at this problem. I just didn't want to damage anything since the box says only use for 14 days.
Tammy
Tammy
Kassie29
06-19-2008, 01:28 PM
Tammy, PPI stands for Protein Pump Inhibitor, which is a class of drugs that reduce stomach acid. Some common PPIs are Nexium, Prilosec, Aciphex etc.
I'll post more about my pH probe when I get the results of the rest of my tests. I still have to go for an endoscopy in a week and a half, and an ultrasound of my throat in July. I won't see the GI until August for all the results, unless it's something horrible, which of course I pray it's not.
I can say it was interesting to watch the readings on the pH monitor all day yesterday. Sometimes the reading was 6 or 7, which is supposedly good/normal. Sometimes I'd see the reading dip to a 2, which means very high acid levels. Yikes. This happened after I drank apple juice, which I know is very acidic but I wanted to try it to see what would happen. They told me at the clinic to try some foods that are on the GERD diet "banned" list, so I tried chocolate, coffee, and apple juice. Only the apple juice really did me in. I'm really interested to hear the doctor's interpretation of my pH readings.
Kassie
I'll post more about my pH probe when I get the results of the rest of my tests. I still have to go for an endoscopy in a week and a half, and an ultrasound of my throat in July. I won't see the GI until August for all the results, unless it's something horrible, which of course I pray it's not.
I can say it was interesting to watch the readings on the pH monitor all day yesterday. Sometimes the reading was 6 or 7, which is supposedly good/normal. Sometimes I'd see the reading dip to a 2, which means very high acid levels. Yikes. This happened after I drank apple juice, which I know is very acidic but I wanted to try it to see what would happen. They told me at the clinic to try some foods that are on the GERD diet "banned" list, so I tried chocolate, coffee, and apple juice. Only the apple juice really did me in. I'm really interested to hear the doctor's interpretation of my pH readings.
Kassie
lubug
06-19-2008, 11:13 PM
I have taken a double dose of Prilosec for months at a time since 2005 per my doctors' instructions. I talked about it with a GERD specialist as I was concerned about it too since it says to only take for 14 days. He said it was fine. He said in long-term studies in rats who were given a much higher dose it produced tumors in time but not cancerous. Still makes me a little leary but I have very severe GERD at times not even able to drink water without getting sick so don't feel I have much choice. I try to manage it through natural methods as much as possible (apple cider vinegar, small meals, chewing food well, avoiding food triggers, etc.) but sometimes I think you need to do the meds for awhile too. Anyway, those are just some thoughts. (This is in response to tedwards83 ?)