Night Reflux? Maybe?

[DownInSocal 12]

Oh guys I am having a bad time with night reflux. Or at least I think it is reflux. I wake up coughing and feeling like something is stuck in my throat. Not the "stuck" from food feeling but like a tickle making me cough. I try to take sips of Water but it does not help.

My doctor has me on Prilosec twice a day. Once in morning and once at night.

To be honest I am kind of scared to bring it up to my "team" member. I know this person does not like me (they have told me). I doubt it will get much attention. Should I run through it the first several weeks and see if it goes away? Should I ask for a strong acid reducer? Did you have reflux at night? Does it sound like reflux? Ugh.

Oh I never had a problem with it before surgery so I don't know how it feels.

[Tiffykins 673]

I had only after eating (same symptoms, but I would get a little liquid with the tickle), and my surgeon put me on Prilosec as well. I take one 20mg Prilosec once daily, and it took about 10 days for it to start working. My surgeon had warned me that it could take up to 2 weeks for me to see an improvement. I had told him I had chewed a couple of Tums, and he said that was fine as well. My surgeon recommended not eating anything at least 3 hours before I went to sleep and avoid drinking anything at least 30-45 minutes before bedtime until the Prilosec kicked in.

I've been on Prilosec for over a month and have a marked improvement in how I feel on a daily basis.

I hope it gets better for you soon.

[cajun 46]

Tiffy's suggestions sound helpful. Also some people find if they elevate the head of the bed or use a wedge pillow to keep the torso at an angle prevents the stomach fluids from coming up. Also avoiding any spicy foods, caffeine, and smoking, helps some people.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Malaika 50]

Oh guys I am having a bad time with night reflux. Or at least I think it is reflux. I wake up coughing and feeling like something is stuck in my throat. Not the "stuck" from food feeling but like a tickle making me cough. I try to take sips of Water but it does not help.

My doctor has me on Prilosec twice a day. Once in morning and once at night.

To be honest I am kind of scared to bring it up to my "team" member. I know this person does not like me (they have told me). I doubt it will get much attention. Should I run through it the first several weeks and see if it goes away? Should I ask for a strong acid reducer? Did you have reflux at night? Does it sound like reflux? Ugh.

Oh I never had a problem with it before surgery so I don't know how it feels.

So Cal -- are you only having this feeling at night when you lay down? I had a cough/tickle with excess mucus, every night when I would lay down - never during the day. Dr. Aceves told me to quit eating/drinking 3 hours before bed and to take liquid benadryl -- not only did it help me sleep, which I was having trouble with, it seemed to dry up the excess mucus and in about 5 days the cough went away ... I've suffered with acid reflux for years so I know what I was having was NOT acid reflux. After 5 days of liquid benadryl, I've never had the problems since.

[DownInSocal 12]

It is only at night when laying down. I think I am "eating" too close to bed time. I need to stop drinking anything 3 hours before. My husband was thinking mucus too. He said you would just cough before to move it and not even wake up. Now it hurts to cough so it is waking you up.

I think I will ride it out and see what happens with being careful about drinking and laying down.

[Jagator88 1]

I am having the same problem and I am on protonix and sleep sitting up (for the most part) in a recliner. I put a call into my doctor this morning to see what can be done as my esophagus has already been rebuilt once and I don't want to chance any damage. I will post when he gets back to me.

[DownInSocal 12]

Did he get back to you yet? You have gone through so much. When is your next surgery?

[Jagator88 1]

I have not heard back regarding the acid reflux but I told the nurse I was taking the protonix 2 x per day and if the reflux woke me up I would take a prilosec. Since I have not heard back I am assuming he is OK with what I am doing. I have not been on the protonix long enough for it to be working to its full potential.

Nurse called this morning about surgery and it is 09/23 @ 11:30. This is the one to try and open my esophagus back up fully. It is an outpatient surgery that takes about 3 hours. The surgery involves sending a balloon down my throat (thank God I am under for this) and inflating it to pop any remaining stitches and to open the area that closed from being stitched for so long. As you may know they rerouted my saliva to go into a bag to allow my esophagus to heal. I also asked if she could go ahead and schedule the next one as it is due 2 weeks after this one. That surgery is inpatient and is to close the hole in my neck. She said she would get with the doctor and call me back. I'm betting they won't schedule until after this one just in case this surgery is unsuccessful as it was the last time they did it.

[cajun 46]

I hope the balloon does its' job easily and you are able to have the hole in your neck sewn up soon afterwards. What an ordeal you have been through. You are in my thoughts.