LPR Relief Story

All,

I had searched this forum and the web in general for hours and hours looking for relief for my LPR symptoms. My most severe symptom was/is globus sensation. On my worst days it would prevent me from sleeping and started to take a toll on me mentally. To keep this short, I tried nearly everything I found on the web for cures. I even got a little obsessive about filtering my drinking water and taking extremely short showers due to the chloramine in our water supply. I am 33 years old, about 180 lbs, work out 5-7 days a week (crossfit and lifting), eat very healthy, etc. I have had LPR with varying extremity for nearly 10 years.

Sleeping on an incline is a must. If you suffer from LPR, find a way to get your whole mattress at an angle. My bed had a box spring that sat on 5 horizontal slats. I made progressively thinner wedges and screwed them to each slat to raise the head of the mattress 5 inches. I used sketch-up to get the measurements for the 2x lumber I used to make the wedges.

Improving digestion also seemed to help some. I use AbsorbAid digestive enzymes twice a day. I also don’t eat for ~2.5hrs before bed. Maybe the enzymes are a placebo…I don’t know. I am not as sold on them as I am on sleeping on an incline and not eating before bed.

Even after all the above, and trying countless other things (Prescription PPIs and H2 blockers, multiple doctors, melatonin, limonene, baking soda water, alginates, diet modifications, etc, etc, etc) I was still having issues. I would still wake up some nights with what felt like reflux in my throat choking me, my mouth watering for an hour after, throat clearing, getting less sleep, etc. There were days where it felt like I cleared my throat a thousand times and would only get 3-4 hours of spotty sleep.

A website that got my attention was this:

https://www.fauquierent.net/throatclearing.htm

I have no affiliation with them. There is a video on that page showing LPR in action, a foamy mixture getting refluxed and how it gets to the throat. That got me thinking about gas and surface tension. My wife would occasionally take simethicone for bloating/gas (Gas-x or similar). On a whim I took simethicone when I started feeling a globus sensation and the effect was nearly immediate. Minutes after taking an 80mg chewable my globus lessened. I have continued this for a month now and am taking less and less simethicone, and my number of globus episodes is greatly reduced. I am only taking 0-3 80mg chewables a day, well under any max doses I see for simethicone. Further research shows I am not the only one taking it for LPR. There is anecdotal as well as scientific evidence.

I know everyone’s LPR is different, but give simethicone a try! I am currently only taking digestive enzymes (had a lot left over), sleeping on an incline, and taking simethicone when needed. I feel I have my LPR ~90% controlled at this point and am not on any prescriptions.