I can’t stop coughing, I’m guessing it’s acid reflux, need help

[Mustardfan]

I had a bad bout of coughing/ acid reflux in October and it resolved when I started the acid watcher diet. I relaxed this over Christmas and I now can’t stop coughing. I might have coughed 400 times last night (not much sleep). My throat is sore. I’m exhausted. I went back on the diet on the 27th, and took gavinature. On the 30th I started omeprazole. I took that for two days, but as I felt worse, not better, I stopped it today. I’ve looked at YouTube’s that say that acid reflux is usually caused by too little, not too much, stomach acid. I’ve been gargling with soluble asprin (also tried salt). Small meals. I’m thinking of trying bitter foods like Kale that are supposed to help stimulate digestive acids. Cough sweets don’t have any effect. Can anyone help? I suppose the GP will tell me to take omeprazole. I’m feeling pretty desperate.

Take the omeprazole. It can take a few days to be fully effective. It's working for me currently after wine and curry a couple of weeks ago triggered reflux.

There are an awful lot of coughing bugs going round at the moment. Why immediately assume it's acid reflux when you could just have a cough?

Both of my children have nasty coughs.

One of the reasons is that I didn’t have a cold or anything. Another is that it started with throat clearing. In acid reflux, your body produces mucous to protect your throat, leading to throat clearing. It still feels as though the coughing is linked to throat clearing. I don’t know for definite that it’s acid reflux.

Go back on the diet, you’ve relaxed it over the holidays which is why your reflux has returned. If you’ve read the book, low acid is debunked, plus the diet is anti-inflammatory and will help stop loosen the LES.

Oh god I had this too but I am sad to say I worked the culprit out to be wine!! Took me ages as well 🤦🏻‍♀️

so basically I took lansoprazole (stolen off the husband 🤫) for a week and stopped the alcohol and now I'm back to normal.

i tell you what though sad times round here 🤣🤣

Try gaviscon advanced and take it to the letter.
Also drink lots of fluids, try steam inhalation and really try to suppers the cough if you think it's habitual brought on by the reflux.

Stick with the omeprazole, it takes a bit to kick in. I gargle with mouthwash (dentyl green one seems to work best). You probably already know this but don’t swallow the aspirin after gargling - will lead to more acid in the stomach which will come back up in your throat. Try drinking a soothing herbal tea - eg chamomile, with honey in if you need it. I also find silicolgel sort of coats my throat but some people can’t bear the texture and it’s quite expensive if you don’t already have some/ don’t want to risk it.

what Is the acid watcher diet and how do you know that your symptoms improved because of following that, rather than just getting better of their own accord? There is a ton of crapola health advice online and much of it is made up.

any cough that lasts a long time warrants a GP appt and even persistent GERD should trigger diagnostics as why would it start out of nowhere?

There are loads of cough-type bugs around at the moment, including Covid, RSV and whooping cough.

hope you feel better soon.

Thanks, I didn’t know there was a stronger gaviscon, I’ll get that.

The acid watcher diet was devised by an American doctor who had acid reflux himself and worked in ENT. There have been clinical trials. I saw an ENT doctor a few years ago, referred by my GP, about my persistent cough and runny nose. When he suggested acid reflux I didn’t initially believe it could be that. However it later made sense to me. I didn’t do anything about it, until it got worse (after having covid). I’d had a dry cough for years. Reading the avid watcher diet book made me want to do something about it immediately. After a good few weeks my perpetual dry cough disappeared. I now wonder how many other people’s cough is related to acid reflux, unbeknownst to them

Its a totally different cough, so presumably OP knows their cough

OP there are so many theories about the acid thing, its not necessarily the case its caused by too little acid, but it might be. Its underdiagnosed.

I want to start the acid watcher diet once Im finished with all my leftovers but they will keep me going for weeks.

I think you need to let the omeprazole make an impact, it can take some time for it to kick in.

I had a constant nagging cough for about 4/5 years. Finally went to the ENT and he scoped my throat. Diagnosed me with silent reflux. Once I started taking the meds he prescribed while eliminating high acidic foods and eating no later than 5:00 my cough disappeared. I also have a hernia which also exacerbates the reflux. I wish I had went to the ENT years ago, my nagging cough actually put me in a bout of depression. Now, as long as I watch what I eat, I rarely have a cough. It's so strange that a cough can be related to reflux, the body is a mysterious thing.

So, it could be acid reflux, or an infectious cause, or other pathology.

Not all infectious causes of coughing are preceded by a cold or cold symptoms. My kid has a horrendous cough right now which came seemingly out of the blue. I had same back in October, it was brutal and was literally just a cough.

Coughing 400 times a night to me sounds fairly extreme, and PPIs like Omeprazole turn off the proton pumps so if it was reflux that really should have improved things and quickly.

I have acid reflux related cough and take lansoprazole. It’s much better when I take it daily. I forgot to order my repeat prescription recently and went without for a few days and the cough and acid was definitely much worse.

PPIs are fairly well known to be ineffective on some people, people can go for years trying all sorts of them, different combinations, different dosages and not have much relief

You need to prop the head of your bed up as well so you're not sleeping flat. I do the GERD diet for a month when mine gets troublesome. It's dull as fuck but it works. But not sleeping flat is important.

Can you get tested for H.Pylori? The bacteria make an enzyme called urease which makes your stomach acids less acidic. It could be the underlying reason for your acid reflux/cough.

@soupfiend really? I know some people don't respond to PPIs in the sense that it doesn't solve their issue, and I know they aren't the solution to non-GERD regurgitation, but I've not seen anything to suggest acid secretion and erosion commonly and routinely persists despite PPI therapy.

What I mean is, if PPIs don't solve it, then it is probably another issue - unless you're a poor metaboliser of PPIs. That could be something functional, poor gut motility, food allergies, etc. And a cough has many other potential causes apart from GERD.

Could it possibly be post nasal drip? I have a mix of sore throat, hoarse voice, mucus, throat clearing then coughing to the point of gagging. Always flares up in Oct/Nov with the change in the weather.

I just had 7 weeks of it where they thought it could be silent reflux. They threw Omeprazol and antibiotics at but didn’t shift it. Gaviscon advanced helped my throat the most but didn’t fix it.

Finally a GP said it could possibly be a really bad post nasal drip. Doubled up on my Antihistamine (Loratadine taken twice a day instead of once) and Beconase nasal spray morning and night which seems to have cleared it.

Reflux can cause acid spillage and can cause asthma flare ups for me.

Thanks for all your messages. I don’t think it’s post nasal drip, I took an antihistamine a couple of nights ago and it didn’t make much difference. I’ve taken one again tonight in the hope it would help me sleep. I hope to see my GP tomorrow (I have a really good surgery, and can usually get in if need to). I’ll ask about the H. Pylori. The coughing is really really awful tonight. It doesn’t seem normal to me. It’s been all day really. I watch TV standing up, as even sitting is hard.

Post nasal drip can be caused by GERD though, thats the problem with trying to treat things in isolation

I’ve seen a physicians associate at my GP practice. She went along with my hypothesis that this is acid reflux and told me to take omeprazole twice a day. Now I’m home I’ve noticed how tight my chest is (constantly) and how tight it feels when I cough, I’m reflecting that I have no other signs of acid reflux except the coughing. I’m wondering if my current problem is some kind of asthma? I’ve never had that.