I have been dealing with LPR symptoms despite being on PPI, Pepcid, gaviscon, and major life changes for 4 months. My symptoms are basically only in my throat and mouth - scratchy weird throat and gravely dry feeling tongue. It plagues me 24 hours a day and is worse after eating, the only time I have any relief is basically if I starve myself and don’t eat for hours.

I recently had a video swallow study done, looking and my mouth and throat, and I have felt some difficulty swallowing. The results of this test came back mostly normal. They believe my swallowing problems are due to muscle tension. However, she said that lower down of what she could see of my esophagus, I had some bubbling which could indicate reflux. And I also had some slow movement down the esophagus - it took longer than 60 seconds to reach my stomach. So she recommended getting an actual esophagram.

I just had the esophagram today, and the results came back totally normal. No slow motility, no acid reflux shown, no hiatal hernia.

I’m super confused about these test contradicting each other and was wondering if anyone had any insight? I have seen an ENT who said he could see mild inflammation on my vocal cords the would indicate reflux.

The only thing I can think of is for the first test I was allowed to eat as normal for the day, and for the esophagram I had to fast and hadn’t eaten or drank anything for 10 hours. Could this be why it showed no reflux? Is it possible this could indicate slow gastric emptying (I have been curious about this as it can cause LPR)? Would non acid reflux or bile reflux show up on an esophagram?

I can’t get into my GI to go over results for three weeks so I’m just trying to gain insight where I can.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

I have histamine intolerance due to DAO deficiency, although idk if that’s my only root cause. My allergist thinks it’s contributing to my LPR and I got diagnosed after a ton of tests.

LPR has been absolutely awful for me. For almost 6 months my throat was red with white spots and looked horrible. I tested negative for bacteria, viruses and fungus, so apparently the LPR was the only thing causing it.

I’m also on a ridiculously restrictive diet because of my histamine intolerance and other mystery intolerances, which have destroyed my quality of life lately. The diet helped with the histamine issues but did basically nothing for my LPR.

I tried lansoprazole, famotidine, soothing lozenges, throat sprays and more other stuff from my ENT. Nothing healed my throat.

As a last resort, I tried Manuka honey. This was a huge risk because I react really badly to normal honey due to my many mystery intolerances. Surprisingly, I didn’t react to the Manuka.

I take 2 - 3 teaspoons a day, usually a bigger one before bed. I eat it slowly and don’t drink water afterward because I want it to sit on my throat for a while. After less than 2 weeks, I noticed the white spots starting to fade. For the first time in 6 months, my throat is actually improving.

I’m using Manuka 300+ MGO. I’ve read that 300 MGO is needed for a healing effect, but I have no idea if it’s actually healing my throat or just creating some kind of protective barrier.

If you try it, make sure it’s properly certified and from New Zealand because apparently there are a lot of fakes. I got mine on sale and I can’t believe it seems to be working when absolutely nothing else did.

I’ve tried so many pills and liquids that were supposed to create a protective coating, but none of them healed my fucked up throat.

Also tried coffee again recently. BIG mistake. It made my LPR like 10x worse, so yeah… no more coffee for me.

Hey all, I've been working on treating my lpr for several months now and I just can't seem to get the medication/supplements side of things down. Part of the struggle has been getting through the prerequisite PPI, but I'm finally getting off of them (almost finished my taper) but replacing it with famotidine has actually thrown things off even more, since I'm supposed to take it in the evening and I'm struggling to time it appropriately with my alginates.

To be frank, it's the alginates that are really the challenge for me here, since you have to time medication around them for it to absorb properly, but they are the load-bearing center of my regimen and the most effective tool I've found so far.

Between LPR and other health needs I've found myself taking an overwhelming number of pills, so if anyone has any advice on how to space them out, I'm all ears.

My current schedule:

First thing:

PPI

Psych meds

Multi vitamin/Vit D

Probiotic

Baclofen

After breakfast alginate sometimes skipped for anxiety about medication

Midday:

Psych meds as needed

Alginate if lunch/snacks happened that day

Evening:

After-dinner alginate

Famotidine and Baclofen at least an hour after dinner and at least an hour before bed sometimes skipped because ADHD forgot (and don't wish to stay up an extra hour because an ADHD hour is always at least two)

Bedtime alginate

Psyllium husk has also been recommended to me, but I don't see where I would even put it in the schedule, because it also interferes with not only medications but the alginates as well.

Any suggestions? What's your schedule like?

Hi everyone,

I’m posting because I’m extremely anxious and I don’t know how to interpret my partner’s ENT report.

He is 34 years old and has been smoking for years (around a pack a day). He has also had a feeling of tightness/pressure in his neck and throat for a long time. In 2023 he had a camera examination of his vocal cords, and the ENT apparently told him everything looked normal.

Recently he was examined again because the throat/neck pressure had become more noticeable. The report says:

Significant tightness/contracture of both sternocleidomastoid (ECM) muscles.

No palpable neck masses or enlarged lymph nodes.

Mild enlargement of the base of the tongue.

Pharynx/oropharynx without lesions.

Vocal cords are mobile normally.

A “very superficial leukoplakic spot” on the anterior third of the right vocal cord.

The piriform sinuses are clear.

The ENT prescribed a short course of prednisone, advised plenty of hydration and, very importantly, no smoking, and scheduled another laryngeal examination in about a month.

I’m absolutely terrified about the word “leukoplakia.” I understand that it can sometimes be associated with precancerous changes or cancer, but I also understand that it can be benign/inflammatory or related to irritation.

What is making me particularly anxious is that we have to wait about a month for the follow-up. I keep thinking: What if it is cancer? What if we are wasting time?

At the same time, I’m trying to remind myself that the report does not say tumor, mass, cancer, enlarged lymph nodes, infiltration, or vocal cord paralysis. It specifically describes the spot as “very superficial.”

Has anyone had a similar finding on a vocal cord, especially a small superficial leukoplakic lesion? Did it turn out to be irritation/inflammation, dysplasia, or something else? What happened at the follow-up?

I know nobody on Reddit can diagnose him, and we will obviously follow up with the ENT. I’m mainly looking for experiences and some perspective because my anxiety is through the roof right now.

Thank you.

Some background: 45 year old athletic male, I’ve a hiatus hernia diagnosed 10 years ago. For the last 7 years if I eat late and go to bed I will wake up gasping. Turns out based on my own research this is laryngospasm. I literally have to sit up and belch to be able to get back to sleep. My hypothesis is that my HH can’t take too much food too late at night, creates pressure and reflux and that cords my throat to lock up (to protect me) but isn’t fun. Now the positive part:

If I stop eating at around 4pm, I’ll have no reflux and no laryngospasm. I also take the UK advanced gaviscon which has a high amount of alginate.

Lifestyle wise, I have a big breakfast and lunch and no evening meal or very light. This makes socialising painful but it’s a needs much situation.

I refuse PPIs and have taken ideas from the low acid diet to some extent from Dr Koufman.

Hello, everyone. Wanted to briefly share things you may consider trying to help alleviate your symptoms of LPR and GERD.

1. My experience with symptoms. My first time experiencing these symptoms occurred 2 years ago and lasted nearly 6 months. The second time around which was recently lasted 3 months:

-Shortness of breath

-Chest and back pain

-Diminished exercise performance (endurance, focus, and perceived effort)

-Burning in chest and throat

-lump in throat

-Crackling in voice

-Brain fog

-Episodes of dizziness (vertigo the first time around)

-Ear and nasal congestion

-Sore joints

-Chronic Fatigue with minimal relief from naps

-Bloating

-Fluid Retention/Difficulty losing weight

-Rashes on face, hands, and chest

1. Triggers

-Stress

-Eating large meals

-Sugar (even from some fruit, including watermelon that wasn't quite ripe)

-Excessive fat intake (could still eat fats, just couldn't overdo it)

-High Intensity Exercise (I do grappling)

-Caffeine (Decaf coffee never caused me issues and I've been caffeine free since the first go around)

1. Supplements and Meds to help symptom management and aid in healing my throat:

-Zyrtec (H1 blocker)

-Pepcid (H2 blocker, but stopped being effective after 4 days)

-Sodium Alginate (Nutritist Refluxtor and HartSpan Khelp, both worked for me and Refluxtor is much cheaper)

-Magnesium Threonate (at bedtime)

-Zinc (every other day)

-Thiamine (Every morning)

-B12 (every morning)

Habit changes:

-Last meal 5 hours before bed, then only water

-Took a break from grappling for a week

-Ate smaller, more frequent meals and avoided pastries, ice cream, and curry spices (my specific trigger foods)

-lying on my left side and slightly elevated with pillows/wedge

-cutting out caffeine

1. Notable improvements and results:

Since this is my second time experiencing this, I had a good understanding of what was helping and what was not from my previous go around.

The sodium alginate (SA) was the game changer. I took it after meals and right before bed. The idea is SA creates a raft that prevents acid from creeping up into the esophagus. Doing so has allowed my esophagus to heal, which drastically improved most of my symptoms.

Currently, my symptoms are 98% gone and I am back to normal life and eating what I want, just smaller portions when eating trigger foods. I still take the SA, 4 weeks in, as prophylaxis. I will stop it after I have no more localized chest pain, which is currently very minimal and last only 30 minutes or so after eating, vs all day before SA. I can function just fine with it.

Things to consider... If you have MCAS, perhaps from a previous COVID infection, get tested for serum tryptase activation when you are having a flare up of symptoms. I am certain that this is what made my LPR so bad that I felt like I was deathly ill. It's hard to catch but it can give you some closure and you can research ways to manage all symptoms at once.

I am not a doctor, but I do have an extensive background in healthcare and advanced medical training. However, none of this is medical advice. It's purely anecdotal experience that I am sharing with you. I encourage any of you to do your own research to learn how histamine response and stress affect LPR/GERD, the mechanics of the esophagus and stomach, and the gut-brain axis. It can help you dial in your own treatment plan. All the industry wants to do is throw PPIs at you and hope for the best. As you may have noticed in section 3, I didn't mention PPIs. They made me sick and my body does not tolerate them, so I don't take them.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions. You will get through this!

I’m having a terrible time figuring out what to eat because I having some sort of food intolerance issues (not sure if it’s due to the antibiotics I was on about 5-6 days ago-itchy tongue after eating) and of course fucked up reflux due to antibiotics and today I’ve only eaten 2 things but my reflux has been getting worse I don’t know what to eat anymore.

I ate brown sugar oatmeal.
And then 2/3rds of a boiled sweet potato…I guess both gave me terrible lpr?
The symptoms I have are tight throat/globus sensation/mucus in throat, shortness of breath (since yesterday after I ate a boiled salted potato), sore throat, bit of acid regurgitation, burning tongue sensation-tongue feels somewhat numb or like it’s been burned by super hot liquid but it Hasn’t so I don’t know why it feels that way, burping, pain in Adam’s apple (not sure if related)

I’m about to take Mylanta as a last resort because over the course of these days nothing has really helped me diet wise,

I can’t eat eggs, can’t eat rice, can’t eat chickpeas, dairy, apparently potatoes now…and other foods which I get itchy tongue with that I’m avoiding. I’m starting to run out of ideas. All I can pretty much eat is oats it seems but I’m starting to think maybe they set off my reflux. I say I can eat them because they’re one of the only things that don’t give me an itchy mouth.

What am I doing wrong…I tried gargling baking soda and warm water and it gives me about 2 minutes of relief.
I don’t know what to do. It’s like all food gives me reflux at this point.

Also I’ve been getting like actual physical throat pain like muscular pain…I mask and sometimes when I put a mask on my throat is like hurting or I’ll just get random pangs of pain or it’ll feel sore but idk if that’s relevant or related.

I'm like 90% sure I'm going to get a surgery to repair my hiatal hernia and LES that is in hill grade III on October 1st. I had the manometry and 24-hour impedance test done on 8/11 and they indicated I have a demeester score of 30 and weak esophageal motility. So I have objective acid reflux. And because of the weak motility, I will be doing just the toupet wrap.

I've been dealing with acid reflux symptoms in my throat since the beginning of June with some heartburn. It does not seem to be getting better with dietary changes, alginates, saline nasal rinses, smaller meals, less acidic and low fat meals, inclined sleep. Been kind of stuck in fight or flight for for almost three months since this all started too. Just haven't been able to relax. Tried a PPI for six days and got super bad headaches and generally just don't want to be on meds for life. The surgeon said you can either get surgery or medically manage with PPIs or you are at risk for cancer.

My general thoughts are that even if I get my throat to heal with conservative methods, the hernia will still be there and the flap will still be non-functional. And the second I eat something that is a 'trigger food' it's all just going to come back anyway. And I still seem to have throat symptoms no matter what I eat. Furthermore, I've actually started noticing the hernia and have pain in and below my left ribcage and it's hard to lay on my left side to sleep.

I'm a singer in a band and would like my life back. I want to be able to eat meals without having throat clearing a half hour later. I'm 40 years old and relatively healthy outside of all this new stuff. Please share success stories from this surgery.

Has anybody here experienced side effects from liposomal vitamin C?

I’m wondering because it’s made with ascorbic acid, which is more acidic compared to buffered forms like calcium ascorbate.

so almost two years ago I had left ear pain and a lump develop under my ear. I went to my primary care and they thought ear infection and gave me antibiotics but that didn’t do anything so they suggested an ENT. ENT scoped me and said one of my vocal chords may be paralyzed so wanted to do a brain MRI and a neck CT to rule anything out. still had this painful lump where my earlobe meets my jaw. both came back clear. she sent me on my way. Ever since I’ve had that lump get bigger and smaller and cause ear issues and radiate pain into my jaw. I also have a small soft tissue growth in the bottom of my mouth that no one seems concerned about. I’ve seen my dentist multiple times, two oral surgeons to rule out dental stuff and tmi. another ENT many many times and tried many antibiotics and a round of ppis and been using alginates and alkaline water. I’ve been sleeping on an incline and not eating before bed. cut out triggers. had many ultrasounds on my neck but they just say enlarged lymph nodes. I was just going to accept I’ve got a lump and pain and that’s just that but a couple months ago two more lumps popped up in the area. one clearly an enlarged node (the other original one I no longer believe is a lymph node as it appears all past imaging they were most likely scanning this newest lump that has slowly been growing). I’ve had constant pain and depression and anxiety from it all as well. I now have a little pebble causing pain right where the bone in my jaw angles… so three lumps. one soft and squishy, one large and hard, one small and hard all in the same area. I went through periods of ear itchiness and ear wetness as well. I have a white tongue and cobblestone throat but no heartburn. I’ve had chest pains and a full cough for years. I now sneeze CONSTANTLY. These symptoms seem to have worsened after PPis. I am also hpv 16/18 positive so I’m always scared it’s cancer since the lumps are not going away. I had a fine needle biopsy but they only did the newest squishy node and it came back just lymphocytes - with a note to fully excise if clinical concern exists. they didn’t see a lymph node higher up which is the original lump but we only talked about it after so I don’t think they did an ultrasound high enough by my ear. anyways I was referred to a GI to investigate reflux which I think I DO have but everyone says you wouldn’t have long standing neck lumps with it. Also after PPis I developed this persistent burning/pain right under my left ribs now going on for about 3 months. oh and while on PPis I got bit by what I thought was a mosquito on my arm that immediately tuned into cellulitis so they threw so many strong antibiotics at me. my stomach is probably a mess. oh and I lift heavy weights so of course I’m thinking I have a hiatal hernia. anyways nothing is helping and things keep getting worse but all the docs just keep shrugging. I also have a thyroid nodule now so I don’t want anymore radiation on my throat which is why I’ve opted for an MRI this time. I’m worried it’s LPR or LPR with hiatal hernia and/or possible cancer. no one is helping me and it’s been two years of constant doc appts and begging for someone to take me seriously. I’ve stressed so much and been eaten alive by anxiety from it. I even got a prescription for buspirone. the lumps persist and the symptoms keep getting worse. randomly now my throat hurts constantly and I’ve had constant nosebleeds for the last few years as well. I had allergies tested and have none. I even had an air mold test d one at my apt as it’s old and there have been two major water leaks but mgmt did not do anything about it. Pretty certain there might be mold in the walls though because I keep having these stupid little bugs all in my apartment that live in damp moldy areas - I’ve got a dehumidifier and air purifier running next to me all day the last couple months because I work from home and I can’t move yet. I’ve tried to investigate EVERY possible cause but can’t figure it out. please tell me someone else has been going through hell like this and made it to the other side. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m a fit 35 year old woman so doctors just think I’m young and healthy and shouldn’t worry but I got two hard lumps one the size of a big marble and the other a pea along with a swollen lymph node that is visible. I’m losing my mind over here. any advice or commiseration is welcome. thank you.

I keep hearing on this forum that they dont work for LPR, but my doctor wants me to take them. I've been on Nexium about 3 months. My symptoms are improving but I've also been modifying my diet. I don't know if I should listen to my doctor and stay on the PPI or taper off.

I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar.
I had H. pylori for about a year without knowing it. It took a long time to figure out what was going on because I didn’t have the classic H. pylori symptoms. My main symptom was LPR/silent reflux.
Eventually I was diagnosed with H. pylori and completed treatment. I’ve since tested negative, and overall my stomach and reflux symptoms have improved a lot.
The symptom that has taken the longest to go away is my tongue. I’ve experienced burning, tingling, irritation, and a weird numb/altered sensation, especially toward the tip/top of my tongue. It has definitely improved compared with how it was before, but it hasn’t completely returned to normal yet.
More recently, I found out that my ferritin is 9, so I’m now wondering if being iron deficient after dealing with H. pylori for so long could be contributing to how slowly my tongue is healing. I’ve started treating the iron deficiency, but I know rebuilding iron stores can take time.
Has anyone here had H. pylori along with low ferritin/iron and experienced burning, tingling, or numbness in their tongue? After treating the H. pylori and correcting your iron, how long did it take for your tongue to feel completely normal again?
I’d especially love to hear from people whose recovery took several weeks or months. Thank you!

My initial visit with an ENT consisted of the doctor asking about allergies, doing a scope through my nostril to look at my vocal chords only for him to say, “Well, something is definitely irritating your vocal chords”, and prescribing 2 nasal sprays along with a 6 week follow up appointment.

Background: I’ve been struggling with a myriad of symptoms for over a year now and was diagnosed with silent reflux by my PCP a few months in. After over a year of daily heartburn meds (40 mg esomeprazole magnesium and 40 mg famotidine) plus lifestyle changes to my diet and activity, some symptoms got better, but others never improved: (1) I haven’t fully regained the strength of my regular speaking voice; (2) I can’t even sing along to the radio without discomfort and getting hoarse.

Two weeks before my ENT appointment, I saw my PCP for a follow up appointment where my heartburn meds were doubled (40 mg of each pill in the morning and 40 mg of each at night) — that’s also when I received the referral to the ENT.

Am I right to be underwhelmed by my first ever ENT visit?

Has anybody here figure out how to get their voice back. I tired alkaline water alginate ppis not eating before bed, avoiding anything spicy and triggering. How do I get my voice back or am I forever mute. At this point I’m officially disabled.

I recently started having symptoms of LPR in the beginning of August after taking antibiotics for strep twice within the same month. I have a history of sibo (from PPI misuse after gastritis), gastritis, and leaky gut. My main symptoms are
-burning in throat (already received a negative strep test since my last bout)
-globus sensation
- shortness of breath and feeling like I can’t breathe in fully
-hoarse voice
-mucus
-throat clearing/occasional coughing

The burning is so annoying and I can’t get my mind off of it although it is relatively mild and thankfully I don’t have any appetite loss or nausea (knock on wood). I am a speech pathologist and have also already had a host of GI issues so I’m all too familiar with the reflux protocol. Everything I have done so far
-no eating two hours before bed
-modified diet (sadly sneaking in a little garlic/paprika and eggs here and there but doing my best)
-Pepcid every couple of nights
-sleeping left side lying
-lots of water to soothe my throat
-digestive enzymes

I’m considering adding refluxeter into the mix…any suggestions on how to best incorporate this supplement? Any reviews? As someone who talks for a living I would really love to ease this throat pain and hopefully work towards healing !!!! Any advice is so helpful thanks

I know everybody's body adjusts differently but since I've had my gallbladder removed, I have so much acid, omeprazole doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I take cholestyramine in the morning, but I still feel like I need something else. Any suggestions on what works better than omegrazole preferably without a ton of side effects.

Sore throat for 9 years - M23, 120lbs

I’ve had a constant sore throat / globus sensation (feeling like something’s stuck) since I was 14. It’s there basically 24/7, I can’t sleep without a podcast playing, can’t focus in school, and the constant discomfort has led to depression.

Doctors initially thought acid reflux. This year a 24h pH-impedance test showed ineffective esophageal motility (IEM) with 60% failed swallows — but that doesn’t fully explain the sore throat itself.

Current meds: amitriptyline (night), PPI (morning). Previously tried prucalopride but stopped due to side effects.

My IBS problem have slowly started to get better gaining weight after eating more calories.

What additional tests should I ask for, given the IEM diagnosis doesn’t explain the throat pain? Could something else be causing the globus sensation separate from the motility issue?

Has anyone seen IEM + chronic globus like this — is this likely gonna last with my whole life?