Possible GERD: is here an OTC med to try?

[karl9000]

Folks,

I've been experiencing the feeling of swelling at the bas eof my throat. I had some difficulty swallowing some small pills, but not on anything else that I recall. I have a cough that wont' go away, not always dry, but it feels like I have something in my chest. I thought that was due to allergies but it doesn't go away with thte seasons. I've had the cough for about 1 year.

After some research, I suspect possible GERD but I'm not sure. I don't have insurance so I'm not in a hurry to run to the doctor. I'd like to try some over the counter (OTC) remedies for GERD since I don't think I have it that bad. If that doesn't work or if I get minimal relief, then I'll try the doctor.

Any suggestions?

[Slinky]

Talk to your local pharamacist. Zantac is available OTC, Pepcid Complete is OTC. There are multiple 0TC products. Some of which were script GERD meds at one time that are now or just recently OTC. Good luck!

[Joe50]

I think you should somehow find the money to go to the doctor and get it diagnosed. There are a lot of smart people on here but they don't have the MD in their name. In other words it might be something more sinister than gerd. Good luck.

[Julie]

What if you have a thyroid problem? You're not going to cure it by yourself. And the cough may be unrelated to the swelling.

[karl9000]

Folks,

Thanks for the replies. I saw my regular MD back in January and he thought the cough was related to alergies. He has me on Zantec-D OTC and it does help a bit. I also noticed that upping the temp/humidity on my R9 also halps a bit, but the cough still nags. That doc visit is when he recommend my current sleep doctor who had me go on APAP back in March of this year.

I'm going to try the GERD OTC stuff for a week and see if that helps. If not, it's back to the MD for God only knows what tests. The only good thing about not having insurance is the doc doesn't shotgun tests on me.

Again, thanks for the helpful sugesstions

Karl

[karl9000]

ACH!!!! That's the S9 machine and Zyrtec-D!

[cflame1]

If the Zyrtec's helping somewhat... and you're up for a test... try getting your allergies checked, find out if you have asthma.

Something to do before that though, make sure that you check/clean/change your filters on your machine often. And if the humidity's helping, try a room humidifier as well to bump up the humidity in your bedroom.

[sleepycarol]

If you are on blood pressure meds, check with your pharmacy and see if it could be the culprit. A few years ago I developed a nasty cough and couldn't shake it. I do have allergies and post nasal drip and thought it was the cause. I did some online checking and found that SOME (not all) blood pressure meds will cause a cough. I asked the doctor to switch and she agreed and cough went away.

GERD and post nasal drip will cause a cough as well. Try some Prevacid or Prilosec and see if that helps.

Make sure you change your filters on a regular basis, especially when you see that they and no longer white but are discolored.

Too much humidity can cause my asthma/cough to kick in as well. If you can tolerate more humidity that is fantastic, but keep in mind for a few of us, too much humidity can cause problems.

Do not wait too long before checking it out as a chronic cough can be an indicator of more serious health problems. Especially if things don't improve in a short time.

[Slinky]

The thyroid blood tests are probably the least expensive way to go - but weren't reliable in my case. A doppler ultrasund of the neck and thyroid gland would be the next least expensive and most revealing of the two. I wouldn't agree to a soft tissue CT scan of the neck unless the ultrasund revealed something. I've run into similar symptoms w/the likely cause either COPD, some benign nodules on one lobe of the thyroid or a combination of the two. A guided ultrasound fine needle aspiration biopsy was necessary to confirm the nodules were benign. Had the nodules been fluid-filled cysts on the thyroid the FNA could have drained them and brought relief of symptoms if they were the cause. The guided US FNA is performed by the radiologist, not a surgeon.

[bearded_two]

You might want to try a foaming antacid, such as Gaviscon.

[karl9000]

Thanks again, everyone.

I did have my thyroid checked back in January and it was OK then. No guarantees, of course. My regular MD has been checking it for years. He first thought that was the cause of my lack of sleeping but no problems so far.

I picked up some Prilosec today. I'll give it a week and if no improvement, I'll go see the doctor.

I'm still trying to figure out if I've changed something in the last 2 weeks since that's about when this throat discomfort started. I was taking some enzymes for aiding digestion; I thoguht it might help for the night "gas" I have (my wife would certainly appreciate it!). But it had no affect and I stopped taking them about 2 weeks ago.

Diet-wise is difficult since I tend to eat sporadically.

No blood pressure problems. In fact, just the opposite. My pressure is typically so low that it scares the nurses. They're constantly asking if I feel OK. I have to work up a sweat just to get my pressure into the "normal" range.

[BeanMeScot]

Prilosec does take a few days to build up so don't judge it as ineffective if it doesn't help immediately. It does seem the most likley culprit to me. My mom had a small cough for a year. The doc gave her Prilosec and it went away.

[Gerald?]

Mmmm

Persistant cough and blood pressure issues.

Have you seen a cardiologist? It is not uncommon for Sleep Apnea to cause pulmonary hypertension (or similar) which will also cause a dry cough that you feel in your chest.

[chellesings]

Not that I am a doc, so take this with a grain of salt.....my persistent cough from last summer turned out to be acid reflux. I started coughing in mid June and wasn't diagnosed until August. This was after a lot of different types of tests. When I went for my last check-up w/the ENT back in March, it was a wake-up call for me because the last thing he said to me was "you need to be using your cpap machine." after I admitted that I hadn't used it in MONTHS. This was my first clue that the two might be related. I've been a slacker (which I don't recommend at all), and haven't taken Nexium for a while, but I haven't had a major recurrence of the coughing. Of course this is not likely to be permanent, so I'm guessing I'd better be making a Prevacid purchase very soon!

[elena88]

hi there..

just tossing this out there.. my experience..

coughing, lump in the back of the throat... choking on vitamins, food, drinks..

it was LPR acid reflux of the larynx..

Doctor said, its nothing to full around with, you can end up with cancer of the larynx if you dont get a handle on it..


ENT with camera scope found it.. have had many friends who had it, but were all misdiagnosed several times because they were not
scoped with a camera..

Prilosec didnt do a thing for me, but prescription strength prevecid worked like a charm.. if its bad, doc says it takes a year to heal
with strict diet and meds.. the medication was called kapidex, but they changed the name to dexilant last month due to it sounding like another drug.

The dexilant is (twice) the strength of regular previcid.. if you read between the lines, and its very expensive.. ... unlike prevecid

here is what I did...

researched everything I could about it, found the cheapest generic in canada, and followed strict LPR diet, and Dont lean over!
If you do have LPR, PM me and I can give you helpful hints...
like.. dont eat MINT, or chocolate, or anything including water which is carbonated.. and absolutely no alcohol... no beer... its been a long ten months!
I have two more to go!