How To Diagnose Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (silent Reflux)
Nov 10, 2013
My 6 year old has had chronic sinusitis, recurrent pneumonia, lots of infections, tonsillectomy and adenoids removed @ 3 yr. because the tonsils were so infected. We had a scare in July where he was believed to have either a very serious infection or leukemia (due to blood work being so off and neutrophils dropping way below normal levels). We have been through the ringer with him since he was 6 months of age!!! He's had CF tests done, bone marrow biopsy, tons of chest x-rays, immunoassays etc. He's never had a CT of his sinuses but will soon. Now that he's been cleared from everything we are thinking it's laryngopharyngeal reflux, aka Silent Reflux, w/o heartburn. Anyone have a child with this that can help me? Should I push them to test him or just go along with the diagnosis w/o testing.
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hi does anyone else get a yellow coating on their tongue from reflux?
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My problem started around 12 months ago after a bad bout of chest/lung infection treated by antibiotics and i have not been right since. I'm not saying it has anything to do with it but it seemed to start after that. I have daily the trying to clear my throat especially in the morning after i get up usually after i have eaten. This clearing is normally combined with a couch or tickle type cough in the morning. It usually subsides after an hour or so but starts again anytime of day and during the afternoon usually. I also get Hoarseness sometimes in the throat the sort of feeling like you get if you've been shouting or none stop talking and you voice struggles. In addition i sometimes get a lump in the throat feeling to. When i go to bed i don't get any problems during the night its just the rest of the day. I'm guessing after reading this thread/forum that its LPR silent reflux I have .
Does anyone else experience this as it really gets me down and I worry a lot. I'm quite a stressful person and hate going to the doctors.
I have also just received the results from the biomed peptest which both samples tested positive one at moderate 99 ng/ml and the other at very high 250 ng/ml . I'm not sure i did the test correct as i left it several weeks before doing it and didn't store the tubes in the fridge as i found out later i should have. I also did the 2 samples at the same time so am a little confused why one was 99 and the other 250 ?
Anyway is saw my GP today and explained what was going on and my peptest and she didn't seem to fully understand imho.. she as told me to take one Lansoprazole each night and if things don't improve go back in a month. I know they won't work as i have tried them before. I am drinking alkaline water but not really noticed any difference so know going to change my diet.
Has anyone got any tips , medication suggestions etc..etc.. I am desperate to get help as worried about the long term damage. Is anyone going through the same ?
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Has anyone experienced suffering LPR on daily basis and finding out pregnant on the way? How do you handle if you are prescribed to take PPI everyday to alleviate symptoms.
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I am quite tired of my sore throat. It's not a pain like when you get a cold. It just feels like I have a bump and it feels irritated. It's mainly on my right side. This has been going on for almost a full year. I thought I had hurt my throat while singing because once I sang really loud and harshly, and that's when the pain began. But I mentioned this to three different ENT doctors, and all of them said they thought that wasn't it. The first ENT checked my throat with a little mirror, and he said I had LPR. I've read about it and I feel like he's right. Certain foods like fatty, acidic, and overly processed foods trigger these throat symptoms. Another reason why I think I do have LPR is because I burp A LOT and really loud. I always feel like burps are getting stuck in my throat and this is very painful Anyway, I don't know how to solve these problems. My throat can be unbearable sometimes. I am going to start on over-the-counter Ranitidine to see if this helps. Another thing I want to mention is that when I laugh My throat burns as well. Also when I sing or talk a lot without stopping. Any suggestions? Anyone with a similar story or diagnosis? I would like to hear anything anyone has to say about this.
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i was diagnosed with LPR in December 2013...the ent did an endoscopy of my throat and it showed arytenoid cartilage reddening...my symptoms started on November 10th 2013 after a viral infection...earlier the symptoms were very severe and i could hardly eat...i was prescribed Rabeprazole 20 mg (PPI) for 6 weeks , and called for f/u after 6 weeks...the ENT said there was not much change and i needed to continue with the PPI for 6 more weeks...
my main symptom is sore throat that is nagging me a lot...i have gone into severe depression and i m on anti depressants...sometimes i also have pain in the ears and neck...when i look in the mirror i feel my throat is all granular and red...
can someone please help me with any suggestions as to what helped your LPR symptoms especially sore throat
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I've been suffering from what I believe is LPR reflux for 16 months now, and I honestly can't take another day of it. I've been through everything to try and cure it from day 1. This includes all sorts of PPIs/H2 blockers, Gaviscon Advance, 3 different diets, 3 different antidepressants, alkaline water, raising the bed, vitamin d3 (1000-5000 IU a day) and more besides. Nothing works at all, and I'm not a candidate for surgery. I've had all the tests which are expected to come back negative too; the endoscopy, barium swallow, gallbladder scan, ENT throat scope all came back clear. I also have no new allergies, and my vitamin D3 levels are high enough to satisfy even the "new" research. Personally, I think the whole D3 thing is a hoax, but I digress.
I've also have a number of "Peptest" spit tests throughout the year. In total I have collected 18 samples, and only a single one has come back positive. It was the first one I ever collected, and it was only just in the "low" bracket of pepsin detected. That's just 1 positive sample in 17 though, and I've collected samples right after serious symptoms, or even when I thought I burped up vomit. RD Biomed, the ones behind the test, are questioning my self-diagnosis of LPR, but still my symptoms continue. They include:
- Constant Post-Nasal Drip. It doesn't wake me up in the night but the moment I wake up it affects me all day.
- Throat clearing, usually a result of the above.
- A burning throat sensation. There's no pattern with food, it has even happened when I drink alkaline water.
- Sinus headaches, fatigue and ear pressure.
- Nausea and constant burping.
HOW CAN THIS NOT BE LPR?! I have serious anxiety about my health, and the thought of having LPR scares me to death, to the point I have sought assisted "self-harm" to end my suffering. I refuse to live a full life with a chronic, painful, incurable illness, because it's the one thing I've ever been afraid of having. I'm just not strong enough to cope with it. In my desperation, I keep trying to prove if stress can cause all my symptoms. It does not, cannot and will not ever be the cause. I've been told to "stop deluding myself into thinking I'll ever get better" by some people, and told it's "all in my head" by others. Nobody truly believes I'm suffering at all.
Who should I believe? Will I ever recover? What kind of conditions are similar to LPR? Please help me. I want my life back.
A last, important note. I recently stopped taking Mirtazapine after hearing they have anti-acid effects. I refuse to be on drugs for life; I want to cure my illness, not mask it. Since stopping the Mirtazapine my Post Nasal Drip has significantly worsened. I'm not sure if the two are linked, but I've made sure to take another set of Peptest samples to check for LPR, and they're still all negative.
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I have LPR and have noticed lately that I have a sensation of blocked ears, well actually just one ear, but it alternates. I have had them checked and there's no wax of blockage. I have read on the forum that LPR can cause blocked ears but does anyone have any recommendations of how to clear them ?
I drink alkaline water, eat the correct foods, knock Gaviscon Advance back like it's going out if fashion( which does help), but I have just noticed the ear blockage.
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I just received the results of my rapid spot tests, manometry and impedance tests all at once. They're all clear, but my LPR continues and is worsening greatly. I figured out something important. My symptoms can change in a matter of minutes based on whether or not I use Gaviscon Advance. They're equally distressing, but I keep bouncing between them, I just have no idea why:
With Gaviscon Advance:
- Extremely tight throat (much less mucus)
- More burping
- Hurts/hard to swallow
Without Gaviscon Advance:
- Thick, heavy amounts of post nasal drip
- Difficulty breathing
- Tight chest
- Some difficulty swallowing (no pain)
A single gulp of alkaline water can bring in the mucus/tight chest/breathing problems on in seconds, but Gaviscon Advance sometimes takes a few uses to make things change. Why would 2 things reknowned for LPR treatment make me worse in different ways?!
Also I wake up perfectly fine in the morning, until I swallow, which kick-starts the symptoms. No clue why, especially since the evidence says I don't have reflux.
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After months of a bitter taste, sore burning tongue and constant mucous/throat clearing, I was prescribed Ranitidine along with Gaviscon.
I've altered my diet, cut out dairy and all the negative foods such as tomatoes, onions etc
My question is could there be something I'm missing?
What I mean is, a lot of the time these days my symptoms are ok - they only rate a 1 or 2 out of 10 but then all of a sudden - BAM! It's like I'm still eating something that is reacting with me and causing the bitter taste/sore, dry tongue......
I've started using almond milk as I was struggling to find anything to drink except water. A few days after starting the almond milk I thought I would give muesli a try - I've not had it since this reflux all started back in November. Within 10 minutes my tongue is burning and sore and I have a horrible bitter 'paracetamol' like taste in my mouth. Would the acid be caused so quickly? What could be in muesli that causes such a reaction?!
Or could it be that the Ranitidine is not working and that I need to try something else?
I'm fed up with this - it's taking over my life.
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I was initially diagnosed with LPR for my symptoms, which were constant post nasal drip, hoarse voice, and a click when I swallowed. I have since figured out it wasn't LPR at all, and that all the protocols for LPR only make things worse.
I came here to hopefully help others who may have been told they have LPR when really, they have something else.
The symptoms of LPR are exactly the same as the symptoms of nutritional deficiencies of B vitamins, vitamin A, and iron.
In particular, a riboflavin deficiency will dry out the soft tissues of your throat so that you feel every tiny drip of what is actually normal mucus. Riboflavin is a B vitamin that is not stored in the body and you must eat it every day. Dairy products, something many of us with mucus are told to avoid, are very high in riboflavin, and one of the best sources. Stress, illness and certain chronic conditions can increase the body's requirements for riboflavin, causing deficiency symptoms, like a dry, post nasal drip in the throat. (In my case, I became deficient due to an undiscovered thyroid issue. When the thyroid is not functioning properly, you do not metabolize riboflavin.) Mild riboflavin deficiency will also cause dry, itchy or burning feeling of the eyes.
Other B vitamins which affect the throat are niacin and folate. Iron deficiency causes tongue and throat swelling and can even cause webbing of the esophagus. Vitamin A and zinc also affect the mouth, tongue and throat. Iodine is essential for the salivary glands.
Certain health issues can affect the metabolism of nutrients. You can be deficient even though you get plenty of it in your diet. Your genetics, your diet, and your current health conditions all affect your nutritional status.
Proton pump inhibitors and acid reducers can make things worse by reducing your absorption of nutrients.
If you want to try some vitamins to see if they will help, start with the water soluble B vitamins. I recommend taking coenzymated sublinguals which melt under your tongue, so that you don't have to worry about whether you are digesting and metabolizing them properly.
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My symptoms are constant throat clearing throughout the day and sometimes feel a very slight hoarseness / slightly sore throat and sometimes spitting white bubbles and the feeling of clogged throat. I've tested positive for high pepsin levels and am using alkaline water , and cutting out certain foods but it doesn't seem to work..im taking lansoprazole and also gaviscon but symptoms remain :-( ...I'm ok in bed at night but it's the rest of the day ..many on this discussion tend to talk about normal reflux instead of LPR , silent reflux any advise on this subject welcome...
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I have had LPR for two years without much success with PPIs. I do not get the burning but i do get a constant mucus feeling in my throat, some coughing, tightness in back of chest and above all the feeling that my ears are blocked all the time and post-nasal drip. All i want to do is sleep now because it is making me very sad and lonely.
When will this all end?
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I have been going through some strange and debilitating symptoms for the last months - I started having IBS-like symptoms since early March (mainly soft loose stool and flatulence, burping and couple strange episodes of fatty stools and lactose intolerance - Was not lactose intolerant before), also discomfort in the rectum area (which previous GP think was hemorrhoids and could be what's causing the feeling of fullness), but things started to get really strange since beginning of July:
- I started having feeling of suffocation/not getting enough air and my throat closed up (but no pain or discomfort when swallowing)
-Feeling of compression around Sternum (which seem to come and go)
- Blocked ears (stuffy, no pain)
- White phlegm (seems to be coming from the area just below the Adam's Apple, with some episodes of hemoptysis)
-Weight loss (14 lbs in 2 months)
-Numbness in hands/arms (seem to come and go) and couple nights when my legs kinda kicked a bit (now stopped)
-Muscle soreness (after exercising)
-Insomnia (either can't fall asleep or wake up sometime from feeling of not getting enough air or having to go the loo)
-Cold hands/feet
-Bladder became sensitive (when pressed and increased urination, almost seem to not keeping water, with darker urine in the morning than usual and feeling of dehydration)
- Had episodes of diarrhea which has now disappeared
- An inflamed/uncomfortable feeling in the rectum (my current GP said the hemorrhoids at the area look bit dilated), which seem to relate to the new bladder sensitivity.
Basically my whole middle tube (from throat all the way down) seem to be "squeezed" and closed up.
I have been looking and no visible blood in stool so far (Hemocult stool test were negative), my new GP has been quite supportive and we are doing as many tests as possible, some bloodwork came back and indicated:
-No anemia
-Raised level of total IgE of 1280
-No evidence of Diabetes type 1 (if I remembered correctly)
-No raised level of Eosinophils, CRP, no antinuclear antigen present)
-No detectable abdominal lumps/tender spots
-Five parasite stool samples negative - Although with the low Eosinophils level I should maybe forget about looking for parasites?
- A GI specialist has suggested the respiratory symptoms could be caused by silent acid reflux as I don't feel any heartburn sensations but do have most of the signs of silent acid reflux, the IBS-like symptoms and weight loss could be from fat malabsorption since the unabsorbed fat could act like lube and cause the symptoms?
Just curious could this all be caused by SIBO? Or damages of eating too much spicy foods as I did that for almost 2 years till this year before all the symptoms started showing?
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I am a 22 year old male. Along with my other issues I also suffer from the above. My endoscopy showed (Mild G1 reflux oesophagitis and minor duodenitis. Some bile reflux in stomach). I am currently taking Esomeprazole 40 mg per day which I believe is not helping. Everyone has said how my voice sounds much deeper and different than before, and the top of my throat is always itching. My teeth feel really bad, I know over time Acid can make them really bad. I have had several appointments cancelled by the Gastroenterologist at my local hospital and I am due to see him in September. I have tried all remedies etc but nothing seems to help.
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I decided to become a vegetarian about 6 months ago... I ate very little red meat at the time anyway. I also, about 3 months ago, cutout glutens. I have found my general digestion very good... And have lost about half a stone, and never feel bloated or blocked. (Too much information?).
My diet is pretty well rounded. I do eat fish, as well as the Quorn chunks, and every now and then a protein supplement. I have one or two fresh fruit smoothies a day, and a eat 'little and often'. Calories wise I am always there or there abouts - although being a runner (5 miles a day) and a performer, I do expend a lot of energy.
I have recently started suffering from reflux and acid. My doctor has given me tablets for 30 mins before a meal. And habits con plus for afterwards, but I don't really want to have a reliance on those.
Is this acid reflux quite normal after a major change in diet such as this? And does anyone have any advice on how to cut done stomach acid?
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Okay, so here are the facts: I have a 1 cm hiatal hernia and reflux. This I have been diagnosed with. I changed my whole diet - very bland and eating next to nothing. For about a week or two I was feeling better and eating all the same foods. However, last night I ate the same meal I eat every night -my chicken and apple sauce at 5:00. At 8:00 the intense pains started in the chest and went on and off until 1:00am with feeling like I was having a heart attack. Pains in the back and chest and under my breastbones. Finally took my spasm meds (docs thought I was having esophageal. spasms) but that didn't work to help the pain. Any thoughts - does anyone experience this horrible chest pain. It is horribly painful feeling like my esophagus is being pulled, stabbed, and crushed. Its excruciating!
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having new symptom now... Along with Polymyalgia, Prednisone I and other RA drugs, I'm now experiencing extreme thirst. Water just doesn't quinch. I drink atleast 8 cups a day. Nothing else.
have blood tests about every two months, sugar levels are good as per doctor, though I see it as on high side of good. In the 90's.
i just wondered if since everything I ingest makes my throat flutter, if it's making me feel so thirsty.
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does anyone suffer from the above, am worried is something sinister, seem very fatigued sometimes feel sick and acid in throat driving me round the bend, i cough sometimes, GP gave me omeprazole worked a little then dont seem to.
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Actaually my brother got synus surgery in throat at january,My brother got refexion 2 times for past one month.oneday while he is eating its just choked and cant able to breathe for a minute with some sound in throat.After 2 days one mid night he again felt breatheless and awake and went for clinic to get back his beathe normal.Thereafter we discuss with ENT surgeriant doctar said its of acid reflextion and will cure it slowly.Even he hates all night and fear of sleeping.How to recover him to a normal guy. Since he is only 25 years old.
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I'm 46 and in Peri. One of my symptoms is acid reflux or bile reflux.
I had my gallbladder out 15 months ago so not sure which one it is.
I have burning in my chest, throat and in my nose. I have a tight chest that comes out of the blue.
I want to burp more as well.
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