Gastritis/acid reflux

[walkingonthemoon]

Hello

I had covid back in January. It was stressful as my kids and husband had it too. Husband ended up very poorly and in hospital so added to the stress.

I haven't been able to go back to work as shortly after my husband came home from hospital I developed IBS symptoms (have had this historically) and swallowing air and upper stomach and back pain. This has eased but I now have terrible reflux and a horrible feeling in my throat that I cannot clear.

I was given omepraxole 5 days ago and it is not helping that much. GP said it could be post- covid related but mostly down to stress.

I noticed on some threads other people had experienced this. Could you share experiences? Anyone given these meds and how long did it take to help? Feel like I'm going mad!

TIA.

Throat could be the acid reflux damaging your vocal chords.

Not sure how long omeprazole takes to have an effect though.

@BlackeyedSusan

Throat could be the acid reflux damaging your vocal chords.

Not sure how long omeprazole takes to have an effect though.

Yes I thought so too. Thanks for replying 🙂

@walkingonthemoon what you describe is definitely a post covid symptom. Lots on the long covid thread have had this...omeprazole didn't work for me - might have even made things worse as if gut has been affected by covid, the omeprazole will reduce your stomach acid such that you aren't digesting food properly and harmful bacteria can grow.

Famotidine was better for me - it's also a reflux treatment but doesn't strip out the acid as much as omeprazole does...

Oh and the throat congestion which I also had - drinking diluted apple cider vinegar helped with this. Or you can buy digestive enzymes from a health food shop as another alternative.

To be fair, these are symptoms of lots of things! You need to give it at least two weeks to see is the meds help. What dose you are on makes a difference too, and the GP may want to increase the dose a bit or try another PPI before going further.

If that doesn't help, then you'll need tests. It could be post viral syndrome. But you say you've been stressed. Understandably. But that coyote be indicative of ulcers, which are much more common than you'd think.

Please don't use apple cider vinegar until you are sure of a diagnosis. You do not want to mix any form of vinegar with what could be ulcers.

As Blackeyed says the throat sounds very much like my symptoms when my reflux kicked off but prior to getting Proton Pump Inhibitors(PPIs). For a few days I could barely swallow and lived on porridge and apple puree!

For what it's worth my GP and I had to try several PPIs before finding the one that was most effective for me. Started with Lansoprazole, then Omeprazole and ended up with Pantoprazole.

I get awful acid reflux (not Covid related) and stumbled over some YouTube videos for exercises to help. Basically it’s abdominal breathing and some self massage. Sorry I lost the link for the best one, but it was a young physiotherapist and he was good at explaining how it helped. I’ve been doing it for about two weeks and not had an attack since. Might be useful whilst you get meds sorted.

Not Covid related but I started losing my voice during lockdown and an ENT consultant thinks its silent reflux and recommended two months of Omeprazole at 2 x 20mg a day to settle it. So I am not sure if 5 days is enough to check its working. Also, I highly recommend you get yourself to a chiro - my diagraph was squashed up and literally as soon as the chiro 'pushed' it back into place that same day my symtopms reduced significantly. You can also take gaviscon with Omeprazole my chemist told me just as long as there is a 2hr gap but worth checking with your own chemist.

Firstly PPI's and H2 antagonists both do the same job - they reduce stomach acid. It's nonsense to suggest they'd reduce the acid to the extent you couldn't digest food btw so don't worry about this.

Personally H2 antagonists work better for me - I used to take Ranitidine, but that's no longer available - Famotidine does the same job. PPI's work for most people though.

With either it takes about a week before you start to see the effects - similarly if you stop taking them, you'll still have benefits for several days after. It's best to continue taking them for at least a couple of weeks after feeling better and then cut down slowly.

The other thing you should do is raise the head of your bed so you are sleeping on a slope. A couple of bricks would do it. Looks odd, but you wont notice when you're in bed and the slope helps reduce the amount of acid making it's way up your esophagus.