Choking on acid reflux at night

[Chmorgs]

Hi all, I woke up at 2am choking on the most disgusting taste in my mouth and burning in my throat (assuming acid reflux). Concerned as I finished eating at 9pm staying upright till 12, already on Omeprazole 20mg once a day, sleep with a bed wedge, underweight and don’t eat anything that should be triggering the reflux. Not sure where to go from here.

I get this too plus I was coughing at night for over a year. Currently on 40mg of Omeprazole and have been for a few years now ... every time I try to go down to 20mg the coughing starts again

@allypally999 I am supposed to be on 20 twice a day but forced myself down to 20 once a day because I know they are so bad for you long term and getting off is a nightmare! Feeling like I’m going to have to go up to 40. I hate it so much! Never had this problem with Ranitidine.

Yes I worry about being on them for so long but I figured sleeping was more important and we really couldn't with me coughing all night long. I am at least fat so could probably improve if I lost a bit but no idea what you can do ... seems unfair. Never heard of that drug but from a quick Google it seems omeprazole is more effective .. good luck!

When i get a flare up i take gaviscon or equivalent at night as well as Lanzoprazole in the mornings and it helps. I think eating at 9pm is late - can you eat earlier?

@allypally999 I totally get you with the sleeping! I was suffering from the wrist covid anxiety at the beginning of lockdown and wasn’t getting more then 3 hours and it made me feel so ill! I think with me it’s more of a structural problem they think so probably looking towards a endoscopy which I’m terrified for. Yes Omeprazole is more powerful but harder to come off I think I used to be able to dip in and out of the Ranitidine no problems but god forbid I skip a dose of Omeprazole!!!!! Thank you though! Being 26 I didn’t think I’d be dealing with these issues so early haha!

@bilbodog I really struggle with the gaviscon it makes me gag so much but then again the prospect of a endoscopy isn’t much better is it haha. Yeah I know 9 is late I just thought that as long as I left it 3 hours after it wouldn’t make much different but what do you think?

I used to have this, but not since I stopped eating after 7.
Are you overweight? I’ve found a huge difference since I’ve lost weight in lockdown (and snoring has improved). Losing weight is hard, but I used to be terrified by the acid reflux, and genuinely thought I was dying ( my airways would contract). Now if my OH offers me sweets in the evening I think of the feeling of waking struggling to breathe, and decline.

I think 9 was too late on this occasion! Do you have problems all the time or just occasionally? I have a hiatus hernia which causes my reflux but if i drink too much wine it makes it worse. At the moment i take gaviscon when i go to bed and it helps but i dont need to do this all the time. Also eating too much of anything makes it worse and the food sits heavily in my stomach So eating lighter and smaller portions should help as well.

@Bessica1970 I’m actually underweight so that’s the frustrating thing! I don’t smoke, drink, eat fatty food and yet I’m still in the same position. I actually just had a consultation with a Gastro that I get great vibes from (if that’s a thing) he’s suggesting barium swallow, endoscopy and (this part I’m dreading the most) 24hr PH study. Feeling nervous about it all as the most invasive thing I’ve had done was getting my bloody wisdom teeth out and I was awake for that, but the fact I’m gonna be getting the Michael Jackson drug does kinda scare me especially going in the covid going on!

Sorry, I missed that in your OP - that must be really irritating!
My boss’s wife had a similar problem and she saw a nutritionist - who put her on a special diet which sorted it out (I think it was sugar free?!), it turned out that the reflux was caused by the anti- reflux meds. I didn’t pay much attention at the time because it all sounded a bit ‘new age, alternative and not very scientific’ but I might google it to see what I can find.

@bilbodog well I always get the burpy feeling in my throat but i only really feel it when I get the burning in my tummy and lumpy/sensitive throat. I’ve never had actual pain in my stomach more of a burn that sometimes gets better if I eat and sometimes it doesn’t. I think it’s just more the fact that I’m so young and I know it’s not something diet wise that’s the issue more mechanical I think if you get me! I wish it was diet though would be a lot less invasive to fix! I eat a low fat high fibre “Mediterranean diet” as I know this is supposed to help but I’m still waking up choking on acid in the night. I try and eat little and often but obviously i have the other dilemma that I’m underweight so I feel I can’t gain weight without making the reflux worse. Vicious cycle you know!

@Bessica1970 it is really frustrating! I’m so jealous of the rest of my family who can actually enjoy their food and aren’t as limited. I’m already under a dietician because I’m underweight and she keeps saying variety in fibre is key but obviously at this stage I think I have to rule out it being food related. I think it’s just something inside that’s not right if that makes sense? Anyway I’ve booked in for the barium swallow (yuck) and see where I go from there I guess. Just want to have the freedom to eat “normal” again. Really miss having flavour in my food!!!

Have you been tested for celiac disease?

Also, were you trying Gaviscon Advance? You might want to try Peptac instead. It's not so gloopy going down, but works in similar way, that is, adding a protective layer on top of your stomach contents.

Also advisable to take it after every meal and last thing at night.

This is me !! Mine started at your age roughly and I've had years and years of this but what I will say is what a dietitian told me which was to try Alflorex it's a highly recommended probiotic by gastro's apparently for Ibs but helps with night time acid reflux too.
I have had a particularly bad few weeks with the night time acid ( awful taste isn't it some times I think it tastes like blood and other times I think it's like battery acid!! Ha) so I've been taking gaviscon double action liquid at night and I stopped eating from 8pm but maybe I should try earlier!
Also yesterday I decided to pick up the Alflorex and go back on it for a couple of months to see how it goes.
Like you I'm also slightly underweight I'm told, have a pretty clean vegan diet and have cut out so many foods I thought could be making my symptoms worse and yet here I am still with this reflux at night.
I've been on PPI drugs a few times in my life for about six weeks at a time but refuse to take them anymore because I heard and read so many bad risks to them being taken long term it's scary.
Let us know how you get on

@NeverFit I had a test done 3 years ago because I had a consistent fever for a month but not since my reflux started. Don’t know if it’s possible to develop it in that time? And no I haven’t actually tried gaviscon advance because gaviscon makes me wretch so much but maybe Peptac would be worth a shot!!!!

@kissmelittleass haha we are the same person! I’ve been taking Alflorex since last summer by advice of my dietician due to IB issues too!
I just can’t stomach the Gaviscon but might try the Peptac as advised by @NeverFit.
It’s very frustrating when you’re doing everything by the book diet and lifestyle wise yet still in the same position (and yes the battery acid choking is not at all pleasant!). I might try the eating earlier thing too you know even though I leave it a good 3/4 hours before I go to bed post food anyway.
Also been taking the PPI since May was prescribed twice a day but only been taking one a day due to the same reasons that it worries me how many long term side effects are possible. I miss Zantac so much it was easier to stop and start and no rebound reflux. Having spoken to the Gastro consultant last night he was very sympathetic and really keen to get the tests done ASAP but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dreading them. Have bad anxiety about things like that as it is and reading you have to stop the PPIs before getting them done fills me with dread knowing how bad the reflux will be. I just know that I want to get answers and this is the only way left to figure it out. I don’t want to be on PPIs long term and I want to be able to not have this rule my life. But will keep you updated on the development!

@Chmorgs
I have had the choking on battery acid thing, it's awful, I have a very complicated gastro history so I'm not entirely sure what caused mine but i have coeliac disease as mentioned up thread, I also found out that I have a 3cm sliding hiatus hernia which I think is probably the main cause. It was ten times worse when I was pregnant
You definitely need to find the cause, but in the meantime, when mine was bad I didn't eat anything after 6pm, especially nothing fizzy, but food wise nothing specific triggered it. I still have ranitidine left over and I agree it's definitely the best for this kind of thing
I hope you can get some answers

Have you tried the gaviscon advance aniseed flavour, the mint makes me heave but not the aniseed.
Don't worry about the endoscopy, I was dreading mine but I had the very mild sedative they give and it was absolutely fine, in fact a lot less uncomfortable than a smear. I've got a hiatus hernia, and gastritis which is inflammation of my stomach, I was negative to helibactor pylori which they tested for during the endoscopy.
Eat much earlier, I aim to gave my dinner at 6.30. I low carb, with moderate healthy fat.
I just take two big spoonfuls of gaviscon at bedtime and never wake up choking on acid now, I think through all the above.

Nexium control is good .

Also I discovered from a medical website that the acid reflux is happening because the sphinctor in the stomach which stops acid from entering the oesophagus is irritated and inflamed and therefore unable to close properly allowing the painful leaking. I find taking an anti inflammatory like iboprufren gets rid of the inflammation and stops the reflux pretty quickly.

@Chmorgs hi how you feeling? Do you find the Alflorex helps you if you've been taking it since last summer? I was on it for a few months I think it helped a bit it was highly recommended by my dietician so I decided as I said to go back on it and see if it helps with the horrible night reflux!

OP I can sympathise! I’m mid 30s and been on Lanzoprazole for nearly 3 years now (high dose) whenever I try to reduce my dose or come off I get very refluxy. Been taking more gaviscon recently which seems to help especially before bed/at night.

Even with it if I have a slip in my diet I get reflux. It has been a pain to live with and have made some big changes (most of which are probably good for me regardless)

Thankfully something has clicked with my doctors and its now being investigated thoroughly. Hoping to have a gastroscopy soon (had one years ago when stuff first kicked off so know the drill thankfully) and been told it may be something mechanical with the muscles or stomach and there is a keyhole operation they could do. They won’t do it until they are sure that will fix it though.

Hoping my situation gets resolved soon and hope yours does too.