Health purrs please

tension_on_the_wire wrote:

Stomache acid per say does not always have a taste unless it is
contaminated by bile. And then you dealing with something more
than reflux.

The burning is also not a consistent finding, neither the pain...
both really depend upon significant enough irritation of the
esophagus lining to cause inflammation, then it hurts just like
heartburn. Well, it *is* heartburn. But you can have significant
reflux disease without pain. Especially if you don't tend to
reflux on an empty stomach. Refluxing acids without any food
to lessen the acidity can be a real aggravating factor, where
the development of inflammation and pain are concerned..

How is GERD/reflux diagnosed, then? I've complained about waking up
choking (which happens occasionally, not all the time), and the doctor
thought it was post-nasal drip. That makes sense to me because I do
have some allergies. (Nothing major, but enough to give me phlegm in
the back of my throat.)

Should I get rechecked on this?

Joyce

wrote in message
...
tension_on_the_wire wrote:

Stomache acid per say does not always have a taste unless it is
contaminated by bile. And then you dealing with something more
than reflux.

The burning is also not a consistent finding, neither the pain...
both really depend upon significant enough irritation of the
esophagus lining to cause inflammation, then it hurts just like
heartburn. Well, it *is* heartburn. But you can have significant
reflux disease without pain. Especially if you don't tend to
reflux on an empty stomach. Refluxing acids without any food
to lessen the acidity can be a real aggravating factor, where
the development of inflammation and pain are concerned..

How is GERD/reflux diagnosed, then? I've complained about waking up
choking (which happens occasionally, not all the time), and the doctor
thought it was post-nasal drip. That makes sense to me because I do
have some allergies. (Nothing major, but enough to give me phlegm in
the back of my throat.)

Should I get rechecked on this?

It takes an endoscopies to diagnose it, along with a biopsy of the lining of
the esophagus if there appears to be inflammation. Changes in the cells can
indicate a higher risk of cancer of the esophagus. An endoscopy involves
putting a tube with a tiny camera down the esophagus while you are under a
mild anesthetic.

I had no symptoms to speak of until I had scarring in my esophagus to the
point of blockage. Unless you count my asthma which I've had all my life
and still have. But it improved dramatically when the GERD was treated. I
had occasional heartburn but nothing to speak of.

Often all someone needs is something like prilosec to cut down on the
acidity. But that does nothing to prevent reflux. I've had surgery twice
now to repair the valve at the top of my stomach to prevent reflux. First
surgery failed after a couple of years. The second one seems to be holding.

Jo

wrote:
How is GERD/reflux diagnosed, then? I've complained about waking up
choking (which happens occasionally, not all the time), and the doctor
thought it was post-nasal drip. That makes sense to me because I do
have some allergies. (Nothing major, but enough to give me phlegm in
the back of my throat.)

Should I get rechecked on this?

Joyce

Many physicians will make a presumptive diagnosis based on the
symptoms of choking or regurgitation, and will then treat with
antacids and prilosec. It can also be considered a therapeutic
trial because if those meds remove the symptoms, then that
suggests the diagnosis was correct.

However, a technically accurate diagnosis usually requires
imaging of some sort, to catch the reflux red-handed, so to
speak.

Endoscopy can show clear evidence of scarring or irritation
of the mucous membranes in the esophagus, which is
good circumstantial evidence, and can sometimes actually
see reflux as it happens.

Barium swallow under fluoroscopy can also see reflux as
it happens.

There are a few other suggestive things that can try to
prove reflux...and they are dependent on a number of
other factors.

Significant post-nasal drip can cause choking at night,
when lying down. You can treat that in one of several
ways, and if you can eliminate it, and you are still
having choking symptoms, then it would be time
to recheck what is going on. The very day that you
can get "dried-up" from the mucous and phlegm
development that happens with allergic rhinitis, you
should stop choking. If you want to sort it out, you
might want to get aggressive about treating the
allergies, using anti-histamine (like Claritin or Allegra)
along with an inhaled nasal steroid (which does not have
the usual side-effects of steroid use because it is
only going to the nasal membranes and not enough
gets absorbed to cause the typical steroid issues).
I am on both these things and they have turned my
life around, I had no idea how exhausted untreated
allergic rhinitis feels, until I finally took control of it.
And, I had totally forgotten what it felt like to be
able to breathe clearly through my nose.
Talk about fresh air!

Do you find yourself clearing your throat alot during
the day? That goes along with allergies, especially
if symptoms are *not* related to the amount of food
in your stomach.

Do you burp alot, or have pain in the upper throat when
swallowing ? That is more suggestive of some type
of esophagus dysfunction (and reflux is only one type)

--tension

--tension

Karen AKA Kajikit wrote:
I've had this really weird and embarassing health problem for six
years (no, it's not BO :P ) - I hiccup and burp all the time and feel
like I can't breathe right and there's crud in my throat, and when I
go to bed at night I have a strong tendancy to wake myself up either
with the above or with outright choking... I'll go from a sound sleep
to sitting bolt upright in bed gasping for breath with my heart
pounding. I always thought it was just part of my general neurosis and
anxiety and I was 'just' having panic attacks in my sleep, so I
refused to go to the doctors about it (I DID the doctor thing years
ago and they said nothing was wrong), but John thought it must be
something physical... he thought sleep apnea but I've always said that
that doesn't 'feel right' to me because it doesn't happen ALL the time
- it comes and goes mysteriously and in between times I sleep soundly,
and my breathing is kind of screwy while I'm awake too. Last night I
was browsing and I came across something that might explain it
perfectly, and it's NOT 'all in my head'.

John's going to buy me some prilosec to try today, because if the
article was right, I've had GERD all along. It's hard to believe it
could be so SIMPLE! Please purr hard for the medicine to work and be
side-effect free...

Hi Karen--I'm sorry I somehow missed this post yesterday. But I wanted
to tell you that you sound exactly like my DH. This went on for years.
AFter he started having chest/throat pain associated with it he finally
got worried enough to see a doctor. And, yes, it was acid reflux
disease. He got a presciption for Nexium and hasn't had a problem
since, as long as he stays on the med he is fine.
Prilosec might work as well for you though. If it does, that would be
great. Nexium is very expensive and the insurance co. really kicks up
about paying for it. I think the reason they gave him nexium is that it
has healing properties for the damage that had been done to his
esophogus/throat for letting the acid reflux go so long untreated.

Sherry

tension_on_the_wire wrote:

Do you find yourself clearing your throat alot during
the day? That goes along with allergies, especially
if symptoms are *not* related to the amount of food
in your stomach.

Do you burp alot, or have pain in the upper throat when
swallowing ? That is more suggestive of some type
of esophagus dysfunction (and reflux is only one type)

None of the above. Just the pains in my lower throat, not when swallowing,
butabout half and hour after I ate. These were intense, stabbing pains,
which were alleviated when I ate some yogurt.

I do have a small bout of sneezing in the morning, and I have to
blow my nose frequently during the day. I'm pretty sure I get a bit
stuffed up during the night.

One thing I have had for many years is the feeling of having a "lump
in my throat" - very low down in the throat. It feels like there's
something there, but since I usually haven't swallowed anything solid
recently, what could be there? I just assumed this was a symptom of
anxiety. (I have those, too.) It usually goes away in 15-20 minutes.

Joyce

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
newsBoSg.1568$fl.226@dukeread08...

"Karen AKA Kajikit" wrote in message
...

John's going to buy me some prilosec to try today, because if the
article was right, I've had GERD all along. It's hard to believe it
could be so SIMPLE! Please purr hard for the medicine to work and be
side-effect free...

My mother has acid reflux. She doesn't have exactly the same symptoms,
but it does sound similar. She used to awaken with massive amounts of
phlegm in her throat. Her doctor told her to take an antacid before going
to bed, but the change that brought her real relief is that he said we
should raise the head of her bed a minimum of 4 inches. I was her
caregiver for 5 years, and I had a friend build supports that we placed
the front of the bed on. There are some wedges available that can be
placed between the mattress and bedsprings, but the supports worked best
for us. She is now in a nursing home, and we have a sign posted above her
bed to remind everyone that the head must be raised a minimum of 4" at all
times. That has been a lifesaver for her (at least, it improved the
*quality* of her life).

MaryL


One thing I forgot to mention about my mother's acid reflux is that her
doctor also told her to be sure not to lie down for at least 30 minutes
after eating.

MaryL

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
news:9RFSg.1614$fl.1446@dukeread08...

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
newsBoSg.1568$fl.226@dukeread08...

"Karen AKA Kajikit" wrote in message
...

John's going to buy me some prilosec to try today, because if the
article was right, I've had GERD all along. It's hard to believe it
could be so SIMPLE! Please purr hard for the medicine to work and be
side-effect free...

My mother has acid reflux. She doesn't have exactly the same symptoms,
but it does sound similar. She used to awaken with massive amounts of
phlegm in her throat. Her doctor told her to take an antacid before
going to bed, but the change that brought her real relief is that he said
we should raise the head of her bed a minimum of 4 inches. I was her
caregiver for 5 years, and I had a friend build supports that we placed
the front of the bed on. There are some wedges available that can be
placed between the mattress and bedsprings, but the supports worked best
for us. She is now in a nursing home, and we have a sign posted above
her bed to remind everyone that the head must be raised a minimum of 4"
at all times. That has been a lifesaver for her (at least, it improved
the *quality* of her life).

MaryL


One thing I forgot to mention about my mother's acid reflux is that her
doctor also told her to be sure not to lie down for at least 30 minutes
after eating.

MaryL

Or drinking for that matter. I have to watch that I don't get the bright
idea to drink a glass of water or milk right before bedtime.

Jo

On 2006-09-26, Karen AKA Kajikit wrote:

John's going to buy me some prilosec to try today, because if the
article was right, I've had GERD all along. It's hard to believe it
could be so SIMPLE! Please purr hard for the medicine to work and be
side-effect free...

I hope the Prilosec helps. You ought to consult an MD just to
make sure nothing worse is going on. My mother had GERD for
years and eventually got to the point she couldn't swallow at
all, which is a real emergency. She had to be admitted to the
hospital where they threaded a ballon down her esophagus and
stretched the narrowed section. She had to have follow up
endoscopic examinations for a while after that. She also was on
NSAIDs for arthritis, which tended to agravate the problem.
She used Prilosec until she died at age 96. I've inherited the
tendency for GERD and take Prilosec myself. I've noticed no
side effects. Raising the head of the bed is supposed to help.
You can get molded plastic risers from Wal Mart that look better
than concrete blocks. Losing weight is supposed to help, but
that is easier said than done.

Bud

On 2006-09-26, wrote:

Is GERD the same thing as acid reflux?

GERD=gastro-esophageal reflux disease, same as acid reflux, same
as the condition they advertise Nexium for. Nexium used to be
five bucks a pill. I haven't priced it lately.

You can get similar symptoms from ulcers and other conditions.

Bud

wrote:
None of the above. Just the pains in my lower throat, not when swallowing,
butabout half and hour after I ate. These were intense, stabbing pains,
which were alleviated when I ate some yogurt.

I do have a small bout of sneezing in the morning, and I have to
blow my nose frequently during the day. I'm pretty sure I get a bit
stuffed up during the night.

One thing I have had for many years is the feeling of having a "lump
in my throat" - very low down in the throat. It feels like there's
something there, but since I usually haven't swallowed anything solid
recently, what could be there? I just assumed this was a symptom of
anxiety. (I have those, too.) It usually goes away in 15-20 minutes.

Joyce

Well, in answer to your original question, I think there is
enough doubt about what's happening that it would be
worth checking out. You might want to go in for a tune-up,
so to speak, and re-evaluate what is going on with your
physician. If he tries to just blow it off as post-nasal drip,
without at least trying to treat it, then you may have to
be a bit more assertive about wanting a definitive answer.
The upshot of it all, is that if you are having symptoms
that severe, you should take steps to sort it out and
treat the highest likely suspect, according to what your
physical exam shows. And, even if it is due to
post-nasal drip, the symptoms sound significant enough
that you might want to take steps to treat it.

If post-nasal drip can be rule out as the cause, then you would be
looking at the various possible ways to diagnose reflux disease,
that were mentioned previously..

--tension

P.S. do you smoke?