share: Acid reflux major component of recurring lung infections contributing to asthma

Anon, thank you so much for your SHARE!

It sounds like this has been your own personal experience, am I right?

What kind of infections were you having? Respiratory, I am assuming?

And how long ago did you have the Nissen Fundoplication procedure? I am certain others would be interested in more details about your story.

For those who've not heard of this before, here's a page explaining it, with a diagram:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissen_fundoplication

Anon, we're very grateful for you that you've gotten some help. Has this been successful for you? How long has it been since the surgery?

Diane,

The woman that posted this "Share" is a dear friend of mine. It's actually her husband who's suffering from the acid reflux which is going into his lungs and causing his asthma and subsequent lung infections. It's unbelievable what they have both been through.

It took years for a doctor to diagnosis him properly. They kept treating him for asthma and that's not what he had. It was just a symptom of the real problem. Horrible acid reflux going into his lungs. How often have we heard that?

We need to find other women who've had or have this condition or know of someone, a family member or a friend perhaps, who's had this condition and find out how they were treated for it.

Also, I'd love for all of you..our incredible, moderators, to help her find a list of foods her husband should stay away from because of the acid reflux he's experiencing. I want really good research on this. Let's see if we can find a great site that has science based around why these foods are bad for you.

We need to help her find some answers for him.

Has anyone else found something that worked for them besides having the Nissen Fundoplication procedure?

If you've had the Nissen Fundoplication procedure, did it work? What was the recovery time?

Best in health,
M

Hi there anon, Thanks for your post and I'm sorry to hear that you've been through so much with this.

As Michelle mentioned, there are a list of foods that can make reflux symptoms worse. According to the National Digestive Diseases Center -- a division of the National Institutes of Health -- they include:

* garlic and onions
* mint flavorings
* spicy foods
* citrus fruits
* chocolate
* drinks with caffeine or alcohol
* fatty and fried foods

Obesity and smoking are also factors.

While it sounds like you've taken every step to ease the symptoms, you may also want to contact some of the great organizations that specialize in these types of conditions to discover all of the available treatment options:

American College of Gastroenterology
Phone: 301–263–9000
Internet: www.acg.gi.org

American Gastroenterological Association
Phone: 301–654–2055
Email: member@gastro.org
Internet: www.gastro.org

International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
Phone: 1–888–964–2001 or 414–964–1799
Email: iffgd@iffgd.org
Internet: www.aboutgerd.org

National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse
Phone: 1–800–891–5389
Email: nddic@info.niddk.nih.gov
Internet: www.digestive.niddk.nih.gov

Please keep us updated on your husband's progress. Are there any other resources we can provide? Thanks anon.

Hello! My father-in-law had this same procedure done about 9 years ago and I just wanted to let you know that he is doing really well. He no longer has the problems with acid reflux and GERD that he did before the surgery. Before the procedure, he had to go in pretty regularly to have these tubes of gradually wider size stuck down his throat to stretch out his esophagus because the acid was damaging it so much he would get these awful choking episodes. He didn't have lung issues like your husband did, but definitely the reflux.

How long ago did your husband have it done? Has he noticed an improvement in his symptoms? I wish you both the best!!

Thanks to all for your comments and questions. My husband has been an asthmatic since childhood. In fact, his entire family relocated just to take advantage of cleaner air when he was young. The nissan fundo procedure has a tremendous success rate, with failure at less than 1%. The surgery has been performed on children as well as adults, with infants even being treated surgically, all with tremendous success.

Asthma is a puzzling, frustrating disease. Acid reflux is fairly straightforward: diet, meds, and in some cases surgery can have the healing effect.

You can be asthmatic and not acid refluxing - and acid refluxing and not be asthmatic.

We were out of town this past week and my husband who has acid reflux, woke up in the middle of night coughing, could not breathe well, and was having chest pains and a severe burning sensation when he coughed. We went to ER. They first ruled out heart problems...all those tests were negative. We feel like he aspirated some of the acid into the lungs and has been coughing it up since the episode. We are back home now, and he will go to his gastro doctor Monday morning. Very scary!

I am a Male, age 39. I will wake up after sleeping for a couple of hours feeling and tasting a sweet acidic something high in my throat. (at this point I am usually not completely awake) I realize what is about to happen, and without being able to control it, the sweet acidic substance goes straight down my wind pipe and into my lungs. I will then usually cough uncontrollably for 30 minutes clearing out the fluid from my lungs, again sweet and acidic. I usually take a very small amount of pepto bismal and some water which eleviates the irritation in the esophagus enough to sleep. Usually within a couple of hours later I will awake to severe chills which requires curling up into the fetal position or actually jumping into the bath or shower with hot water. (this usually feels good short term, but the chills remain) I will usually fall back to sleep in a tight ball straining all muscles, only to waken a few hours later in the morning completely soaked in sweat. (much like breaking a severe fever) The following day is usually accompanied by severe coughing of phlem and blood, extreme fatigue (probably from the chills) and a slight taste of the sweet acidic substance in the back of my throat.

I take Prevacid regularly which controls my acid reflux and heartburn almost to perfection, so this recurring event had me stumped.

I have recently determined that if I drink milk or other dairy within about 5 hours of bedtime this is almost guaranteed to happen. (milk, ice cream, etc...) I have found that I can have Lactaid (or lactose free) milk within that timeframe and it doesn't happen. Not sure of the correlation. Also consuming too much food within 5 hours of bed will usually cause it as well but not as guaranteed as the regular dairy does.

I am still trying to find a real solution to this issue, most doctors will tell you to change your diet, but that just minimizes the occurance and doesn't eliminate it.

I hope this helps anybody who might also be suffering from this.