hi.
I have been taking omeprazole and ranitidine for a number of years because i had a reflux cough, the name laryngopharyngeal reflux was mentioned to me. It got to the point where my windpipe was going into spasm and it stopped me breathing, making me gasp for breath, rather like you would see in whooping cough. I couldnt drive for fear of a spasm.
it had gone on for years prior to this but steadily got worse and worse until finally a gp put me on the two drugs which seemed to stop the symptoms., i understand they are proton pump inhibitors and stop my stomach from making acid.
however, now, whenever i get a common cold, i always get those same symptoms back. I get a "raw" feeling in my neck, pain in the neck, lose my voice completely, and get the same "whooping" cough back along with the spasms which make it impossible to breath for minutes at a time. It is very distressing and frightening.
I go to the gp, who puts me on antibiotics, but they never seem to want to do any investigation into the cause, and im a total wimp and darent have the camera down my throat, so ive never pushed it.
but i am scared i am going to end up with throat cancer or barratts oesophaguss. I dont think my gp sees the links because i see a different gp every time but with the same symtoms, and although the attacks are less now im taking the meds, it still happens on average every 6 months whenever i get a cold. Its always the same type of cough and inflammation, always a "whooping" cough with loss of voice, and inflammation around the larynx and oesophagus. It never goes to my chest.
does anyone work in this field or can anyone give me any advice please? I think the symptoms started around 14 years ago, and got progressively worse over time. Ive been on the proton pump inhibitors for about 5 years or so.
thanks