Nexium and sore throat

[Rhonda123]

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]

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

[TEdds83]

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

[Kassie29]

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

[lubug]

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 ?)