For Those With LPR

[Casey2]

Hi again Charla,
That's too bad you now have to deal with a broken arm and the LPR. I have had heartburn for over twenty years but two years ago I started having a lot of throat problems. My ENT said it was LPR and gave me PPI's. They don't help very much and I get side effects so I really would be interested in a procedure that would fix these things. I'll look on Medscape too. Thanks for mentioning it.
I know what you mean about how long can you take this disease. It really is life altering. Good luck with your arm.

[pamtheham]

Hey Charla,

I read one of your post about how you have tried everything for LPR with no success. I thought for a second, hey, this is me. If I didn't know better I could of written that post. Love this sight, finally people who know what it feels like to have Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (LPR).

This nasty LPR has been hanging around me for nearly 7 years or better. I can remember my voice going, going, gone and then a gastro Dr. said I had silent acid reflux. He never told me I had LPR as I kept on complaining that I do not have any sytoms at all. I stayed with that doctor for about 6 years or so until I lost my voice again.

This time we had moved so I had a new family doctor and he was the one who said I had LPR.. who would of thought a internal doctor who got it right. He explained that sometimes, acidic stomach contents will reflux all the way up to the esophagus, past the ring of muscle at the top (upper esophageal sphincter or UES), and into the throat. When this happens, acidic material contacts the sensitive tissue at back of the throat and even the back of the nasal airway. This is known as laryngopharyngeal reflux or LPR.
Currently, there is no good standardized test to identify LPR.

I was now armed with some basic knowledge of what it was that was the plague to me. The doctor change my protonix to some other kind of med. and it work as far as lump in my thoart feeling not so big. However after 2 weeks I started throwing up, the meds. didn't work as well. It was that time I was seeing the ENT doc. and he put me on prevaicd. I hack up so many hockers, spit or whatever you want to call it that I swear I had sinsus problems.

Although I will save everyone from the details of my medical history I can say that it is my opionion that radiation treatment I had 20 years ago did have some play in it. I can only remember having the problem after a very stressful time in my marriage. That is when I seem to of gone down hill, so I am the one to experience firsthand the downfalls of getting illness from stress. I also aquired a left vocal cord paralizes. It is said to be radiation damage but in my opinion radiation could of weakened it and then the stress of me yelling and getting LPR made it give out.

So like you Charla I have tried all the above and the only thing left is surgery. Right now I am taking 4 things for LPR, prevacid 2 x , reglan, carafate 2 x and malox. The carafate did help with the lump feeling some but when I take this one pain medication then all the refulx meds do not work. I can not list all of my health issues on my fingers and toes, there are too many. I know for a fact that most of it is from radiation and some of it is herditery.

I ask one of the nursed in the doctors office of the ENT if she knew anyone who had the surgery to fix the stomach flap - surgical intervention such as a fundoplication. She said she has heard from the people who has had it done that it works.

I am always *throat clearing. I have very little *chronic throat irritation. I do have a *chronic cough only when after I eat then I go crazy hacking and coughing sometimes choking. I do get *hoarseness from time to time espesically if I talk a lot. *Excessive phlegm in the throat is always and the *dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) is a pain in the butt. Not to mention the *constant sensation of something in the throat which bugs me the most.
*Swallowed food does not come back up like with most people but it does get stuck and I have to drink plenty of water. I sometimes have *post nasal drainage but just occasionally and I do have some slight alleriges. Funny speaking of allergies I took 2 shots a week for allergy to dust mites and it seems to make my voice worse. One month I was busy packing to move I didn't get a chance to get my shots and everyone noticed my voice was better.. so I didn't take them any longer. However I still have a *weak voice, *cracking voice and one nasal always seems to get clogged when I lay down or sometimes sit *Blockage of the breathing passage
Spasm of the larynx (voice box) I can't tell since I only have one working vocal cord. Wheezing is at a minimal and I have no heartburn unless I have hacked so much to clear my thorat that I have aggravated the esophagus.

I am thinking on have the surgery to prevent reflux.
Surgery to tighten the junction between the stomach and esophagus. The surgery most commonly done is called the Nissen Fundoplication. It tightens the junction between the stomach and esophagus by wrapping the top part of the stomach around the junction between the stomach and esophagus and sewing it in place.

Has anyone had this type of surgery? According to all I have read we all basically have common problems and have tried everything under the sun. I hope someone can enlighted me with some good news for this type of surgery.

This is my first post so sorry for being sooooooooo long and thanks for those who took the time to read it. Have a Blessed Day!

Pam

[CharBerry]

Haven't they already written a song about us? "Welcome To My World." I am so sorry you have this dreaded disease and sounds like you have gotten the run around from Dr's too. It seems like just in the past 5 yrs that more GP Dr's are accepting these symptoms as a different kind of reflux. I don't think many of them believed that the acid could travel up that far but finally I found a Dr. that said it would go to your eye balls. For the last week or so, I haven't been at my worst. No idea why the change since eat and drink the same things. That's what's so frustrating is not knowing what to take or what to do that will help since I never know what will happen. I have coughed my usual nagging cough but seems my voice is holding up. I hate not being able to talk or when I do, feel like something is around my neck getting tighter and tighter. Have your Dr's been optimistic on the fundo? Seems mine don't think it will help the LPR symptoms as well as it does the GERD and my GERD is pretty much controlled (most of the time) I also hack up thick white mucus at times after eating.

I do know several people who have had the surgery and some were happy in the beginning then not so happy later and some were never happy at all. I also know a few who had to have it done over after several years. What worries me is that everyone I know that's had surgery had more the GERD type of symptoms than LPR. Please keep me updated on what you learn. Maybe if we all continue to search together, we'll find out something that will help us.

Charla

[ScarlettA]

Hi CharBerry, Pam and everyone else: The thing that makes me feel really depressed, is that I've has this LPR problem for about 10 years, and I thought it was something else. So I didn't get the right treatment until now. Only now I'm aftraid it's too late.

I had two major abdominal surgeries, and it left me with adhesions. I won't bore you all with details, but briefly, adhesions form on the outside of your intestines after surgery, and can cause, pain, gas, and the worst is bowel obstruction which I have had twice. (forces a trip to the ER.)
Anyway, every problem that I've had for the past ten years or more, I have blamed on the adhesions, not realizing that I also had this whole unrelated illness called LPR, GERD or reflux. I wish I had HAD heartburn, because then I would have had a clue that it was something that wasn't related to the adhesions. But like the rest of you, I have never had heartburn. .

Well now I'm in "deep do-do", because my LPR is way out of control. Pepcid
isn't working on me for more than about 3 hours at a time. PrilosecOTC was a disaster for me, and made me sick and headachey. I haven't tried a prescription med because I know they're all stronger than Prilosec.

Char - as I mentioned to you earlier in another thread, it's the voice problem that is the scariest. I simply cannot carry on a decent conversation anymore without my voice "breaking", getting weak and hoarse, and finally fading. I'm sure my husband is happy about it! He doesn't have to listen to me talking all the time. I've never been one to do much yelling or screaming, but if I wanted to, it would be nothing but a pathetic squeek!

[CharBerry]

The voice problem is scary because just think how conversation is such a huge part of our lives and I do believe we are judged not only by looks (you know that's sad but true) and our voices. When I first got sick, I'd go to the Dr. and he'd ask did I smoke or sing professionally. I kept telling them that I never smoked a day in my life (OK, cheerleader camp once) and I couldn't sing a note! At that time what really got me was that so many people said I sounded sexy. Ha! If they only knew what a hard time I was having to talk at all or that I felt like crap all the time, I don't think anyone would think that was sexy. I hate the way my voice has changed. All breathy or even so bad for long time it was garbled. Think I also went too long without the correct diagnoses and that it has caused permanent damage somehow. It hasn't been real bad past week or so but even on a good day, I sound real nasal. It seems I can't get whole sentences out at times and I have a real hard time pronouncing some words. I actually don't think the PPI's are doing me any good any more. It's very hard on me because I work in Human Resource. I've been at same job for 22 yrs but afraid I wouldn't be able to get another one. Not only from my voice being so bad so often but because I get sick so much and nothing helps but to go to bed and rest. I am so sorry that other people have this problem but so glad that I've found friends that understand and know what I'm "talking" about. No pun intended. They have got to come up with something to cure this for good.

Charla