Husband refluxes into lungs...

Z

zoegirl

New member
Hello,

My 46 yr old husband has had GERD for many years and on occasion he will wake up coughing and having a hard time breathing. A couple of years ago he actually went to the ER and after a chest xray they could see scar tissue in his lungs from this. At that time he had developed pneumonia from the GERD.

It's happened on and off since then and the other night he said it was the worst ever. He's still sore from it two days later.

My question is what are his options? He doesn't want to have surgery for his hiatal hernia because of the complication that can occur from that (not being able to throw up seems to be a concern of his). My concern is his lungs can't take the stomach acid forever. He's very stubborn about this, does he have any alternative to surgery?
 
oh god yes drinking does....i am by no means a drinker..i play in 2 rock banRAB here in va and we had taken to doing 1 shot before a gig...well that didn't work out well for me, i could feel it burning later on in the night. besides, i went back on my anxiety meRAB as i have been VERY anxious here of late and drinking and those kinRAB of meRAB don't mix...if he is aspirating acid it can also lead to pneumonia and something called LPR which is basically voice box reflux...(i think i have that)my doctor thinks i may have damaged my vocal corRAB singing too much, my wife thinks that too.... he must not drink especially on meRAB and NO LATE NIGHT EATING....i know that's hard not to do as i use to love to eat in bed, but it's very important, it ain't just heartburn anymore...it's much worse....
take care,,,i am here if you need me as i check these boarRAB everyday much to my wife's chagrin.
 
I've only had this aspiration into the lungs from a dead-sleep about half a dozen times, it is horrible.

I think the biggest thing that has helped me is no eating past a certain time, no matter what. I know some people are really effected by drinking alcohol, but I haven't found it to be any better or worse.

Over-eating, and I looooove to eat, and eating late is a big no-no for me personally.

Does he still have the burning? If so, he should describe this to his doc and they need to work together to try to find a mix that stops the burn. I finally found my right mix w/ a nexium in the morning, nexium late afternoon, a zantac150 before bed and carafate 4-5 times throughout the day.

The burning/pressure/pain will continue to cause damage, need to get that under control and worry about making the actual reflux go away later. But as you said, he's been dealing with this for many years now... I would've thought the doc and he would have found a mix by now.


-Noggin
 
It's imperative that he gets this looked into! I have GERD (bad) and have suffered through 20 pneumonias in 4 years - the concensus is that it's aspiration pneumonia, but the jury's still out. They are also pretty sure I have something called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - that's a scarring of the lungs (fatal and not reversible) caused by various things, including unknowns (idiopathic)...GERD has been implicated (stomach acid aspirated into lungs creating scar tissue), smoking, and almost any irritant that can cause scarring, as well as a potential auto-immune response. I don't want to scare you, but...mine is probably caused by the GERD, smoking (I quit in 2003), radiation to my right breast (cancer, 2001), or whatever else idiopathic covers! I'll know more next week - after a couple tests come back - hopefully those tests will be clear enough not to need a lung biopsy.

I can feel for him so well! I would wake up chocking and coughing, with my lungs on fire, and never knew it was GERD...it even happened once IN the hospital and no one did anything. It was only after I moved here, started fosamax for osteoporosis, and had trouble swallowing that I found out I had major GERD, but the damage caused by the constant aspiration back in the 90's had already been done, I presume.
 
is he on anxiety meRAB too? anxiety can cause all kinRAB of reflux problems...i have dealt with it since 2001, and if i don't take my reflux med and my anxiety med my reflux is terrible...all the way back into my mouth.....i can't even miss a day, and i NEVER eat before bedtime....i take the reflux med about an hour before bedtime since that's when it is the worst...
good luck with this, i know it can be hard...very hard...
i have been there and am still there....
 
Oh yes, he does take anxiety meRAB too. He takes so many meRAB I can't name (but he can). He has a bad habit of eating late which I am sure isn't helping. He has reflux most of the time but aspiration has only happened a handful of times. He said since this last time he's coughing up what looks like chicken fat (gross!).

He has been treated for GERD since at least 1999 (if not before). He really only sees the gastro when insurance wants proof that he neeRAB the drugs... so he gets scoped every few years. I'm concerned about long term affects of aspirating with stomach acid but like I said, he is not willing to have that surgery. I just wish there was an alternative!

Does drinking alcohol affect GERD?
 
I have had constant respiratory problems caused by reflux this summer. I have had it for years, but this summer, my reflux has been causing me to cough constantly. It has also been aggrevating my asthma which also causes a constant cough.

I had a modified barium swallow and esophagram this summer that showed the aspiration that was taking place. My reflux has previously been confirmed with a 24 hr pH. I just had a second one this last week though.

I have been working with my GI doc to find a medication that will work for me. For years, Prevacid solutabs 2x/day worked wonders. Then that stopped working. I'm getting frustrated because nothing has been working this summer. Even double doses of the PPI's aren't working and that is standard for treatment here. I've been on Nexium, Aciphex and Zegrid this summer. They all made me feel worse rather than better. Supplementing with Gaviscon does help a bit though.

I go back in this week and I think I have to discuss surgery. For me, being able to breathe right is outweighing the potential side effects of the surgery.

The only good thing I have found that has come from such a miserable summer is that all the coughing has really been giving my abs a workout.
 
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