Aspirating food at night?

[JillianMarie 0]

Warning- This may be gross or TMI for some: I have been waking up a few hours after falling asleep almost every night after starting on solids, coughing up stomach contents (digested, not solid food, along with stomach acid), as if i have regurgitated in my sleep and started choking on it while sleeping and it doesn't wake me up until i have started choking. Then i sit up and cough stuff out of my lungs for about 10-15 minutes. It is not only really gross, but today for the 2nd time in 2 weeks, i have woken up early with a high fever and severe body aches and pains, sore skin, all the traditional flu like symptoms except for congestion or stomach problems. Both times I have woken up about 5am with the fever and severe body pains and unable to go back to sleep for hours until my fever breaks and the pains subside. It makes me wonder if I am getting stomach contents into my lungs and it is causing a bit of infection. About two weeks ago I got sick with the same type of thing and the Dr. put me on antibiotics assuming i had an infection that was a result of a virus. It did not cross my mind that it could be from aspirating food. I don't have chest pain. But it only makes sense that just a little bit of stomach contents would be all it takes entering the lungs to become infected because it is foreign to that part of the body.

I keep from eating 2 hours before bed, but this has been happening since I moved to solid foods and also since i have been laying flat at night on my side or back with one pillow. The initial weeks after surgery i was propped up with about 5 pillows almost to the point of sitting up.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Or heard of it? It seems awfully weird. I don't want to start taking antibiotics again because of the damage it does on the immune system, but at the same time i don't want to be fighting off infection continuously.

[Papillon 7]

Call your doctor! It never hurts to check. It sounds like acid to me but I am not a medical person hehe. I am just going from experience with old diet patterns. You might also want to keep the solids earlier in the day and try having a shake before bed so your tummy has more time without solid foods. Hope it gets better soon!! Sounds like a pain to deal with.

[JillianMarie 0]

Call your doctor! It never hurts to check. It sounds like acid to me but I am not a medical person hehe. I am just going from experience with old diet patterns. You might also want to keep the solids earlier in the day and try having a shake before bed so your tummy has more time without solid foods. Hope it gets better soon!! Sounds like a pain to deal with.

Thanks I appreciate it! I tried calling my surgeon about this and haven't been able to reach him, and i called my general internist earlier and only reached the office voicemail system. I may take your advice and have a shake before bed, or switch up my eating patterns and only do solids early in the day and after 5:00pm or so switch to yogurts, shakes, and puddings, things that go down easily. And maybe for the time being prop myself up with a few more pillows at night, i just find it very hard to sleep when I am nearly sitting up, it is much easier to sleep laying on my side with one pillow under my head, but that is what is causing the food to come back up

[pumpkin07 32]

Yes, I do have this problem if I lay down soon after eating. Also if I overate, have reflux, or ate something liquidy like Soup, or even too spicey.

It is pretty gross and I avoid doing that. I seem to not have the problem if I avoid spicey food and try to digest before going to bed.

Prilosec??? SOunds like you need it.

[JillianMarie 0]

Yes, I do have this problem if I lay down soon after eating. Also if I overate, have reflux, or ate something liquidy like Soup, or even too spicey.

It is pretty gross and I avoid doing that. I seem to not have the problem if I avoid spicey food and try to digest before going to bed.

Prilosec??? SOunds like you need it.

I've been taking Prevacid, but i've only been taking it once a day, and apparently it can be taken twice a day. I agree it's pretty darn gross, i'm trying to nip this in the bud!

[wannalise 16]

My surgeon talked about stopping eating a couple hours before bed. I have to make sure that even Water has had a few minutes to get down before bed.

[Looziana 0]

This happened to me before my sleeve... after having pneumonia 6 times, (I promise), my pulmonologist ordered a sleep study. Turned out that I had severe sleep apnea and was aspirating in my sleep. Since using BiPap I have not been sick!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I had it happen all the time with my band but never with the sleeve.

I would definitely call your surgeon and ask why this is happening. Is Prevacid a PPI or an acid reducer? Maybe you should post this in the ask Dr. Jossert section. He comes in and answers questions.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Oregondaisy

[JillianMarie 0]

This happened to me before my sleeve... after having pneumonia 6 times, (I promise), my pulmonologist ordered a sleep study. Turned out that I had severe sleep apnea and was aspirating in my sleep. Since using BiPap I have not been sick!

I have had chronic insomnia for 11 years, and am now taking a combination of Clonopin, Ambien, Trazadone, melatonin, and Simply Sleep or Benedryl (same ingredient) every night to help me sleep. It is unfortunate that i have to take so many things to help me sleep every night. I have never snored, yet i do have a collapsed septum (when i breathe in through my nose, my nostrils completely close), so I have to breathe through my mouth when i sleep. It may contribute towards the waking throughout the night. I also used to suffer from a rare sleeping disorder called NES. Some friends have suggested sleep centers and getting a Cpap or Bipap, I need to check and see if my insurance covers sleep studies, it would be worth a shot.

I may start taking Reglan again, which helps move contents of the stomach through faster, it might be worth taking at night to help keep things down rather than coming up. My Dr. gave me an RX for Nexium but I rather not fill it because of the cost, I am currently taking Prevacid. If Nexium is much better than Prevacid it could be worth the price difference.

[JillianMarie 0]

I had it happen all the time with my ban but never with the sleeve.

I would definitely call your surgeon and ask why this is happening. Is Prevacid a PPI or an acid reducer? Maybe you should post this in the ask Dr. Jossert section. He comes in and answers questions.

Prevacid is a PPI. I've got an RX for Nexium that i may fill, my Dr. says that it works better than Prevacid. I took a Reglan last night and it seemed to help a lot though.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

You might want to try the generic of protonix. It's way cheap and just as good as nexium.

[David T 0]

I have not had the procedure at this time but I can tell you that I had the same thing happen to me for several years, got so bad at one point that I had to sleep sitting up.

Back in Nov 09 I was diagnosed with extreme sleep apnea and was put on a CPAP machine. I have not had another episode of any kind since the use of my CPAP, I also no longer suffer from any type of heartburn or acid reflux.

Just food for thought, maybe something to look at.

[JillianMarie 0]

You might want to try the generic of protonix. It's way cheap and just as good as nexium.

Never heard of that! Thanks for mentioning it, i'll bring it up to my doctor! Nexium is definitely a little too expensive for me!