Amethyst
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2008
- Messages
- 12,696
TL DR: Recently I've developed severe acid reflux symptoms, with follow-on sinus infection. I now think I may have had AR/GERD for a while. No clue what's causing it; always had a strong digestion.
I realize no one can diagnose me online; am just looking for help in marshaling my facts, so as to make most effective use of Dr. Visit(s). No nightmare scenarios, please - I realize it could be anything, which is why I'm going to the Dr.
Thoughts?
I realize no one can diagnose me online; am just looking for help in marshaling my facts, so as to make most effective use of Dr. Visit(s). No nightmare scenarios, please - I realize it could be anything, which is why I'm going to the Dr.
- I've had seasonal allergies/sinusitis for ~30 years and use Flonase to stave it off. Two years ago I had an allergy test series (the kind where they stick little needles in your arms). I only react to pollen.
- Late last December, trees were bare, grass was dead, snow on the ground; no pollen. I developed sinusitis, then bronchitis, so bad I could hardly breathe, and ended up in Urgent Care where they took a chest X-ray (showed nothing serious) and gave me antibiotics.
- I now have sinusitis, in mid February. The trees and grasses won't start blooming for another couple of weeks.
- Between bouts of sinusitis, I seem to be always having to clear my throat.
- I think I have found a cause for my non-seasonal sinusitis: acid reflux. In the past, I've always had a strong digestion. Since last Friday, though (nightly for a week), I've been waking early with horrible reflux for no apparent reason (didn't eat or drink anything out of the ordinary - I keep a diary). Dry cough, burning nose and sinuses, gurgling stomach, waking up in the middle of the night with burning pain in my esophagus. I didn't know what it was until I looked up my symptoms. I thought it might be my fish oil supplements, since I could taste them, but quitting them hasn't brought much relief. Gut feels better after standing up and eating, but sinus/nose/throat are raw.
- Thinking back to December, before the sinusitis, I remember feeling queasy in the mornings, very like morning sickness. At that time, I chalked it up to "nerves" because we were getting ready to go away on vacation (I hate that crazy period just before leaving).
- Thinking back farther, to last summer, my dentist found a cavity, the first in years. I have very sensitive teeth. Yet I am fanatical about oral hygiene, and use special fluoride rinses and pastes for sensitive teeth. Makes me think there's been some acid erosion going on.
- Cannot identify any habit, food, or drink that's changed significantly in the past year, other than cutting back caffeine. I have taken calcium and multivitamin supplements for many years, so those are unlikely to be the cause.
- I'm already compliant with the "lifestyle" recommendations that I've seen online (stop smoking, lose weight, reduce alcohol and caffeine, eat yogurt, don't eat fatty foods, raise your pillow). The drugs for acid reflux/GERD sound terrible. Antacids are constipating and can interfere with nutrition. PPI's are implicated in dementia! And I am not quite ready to default to "All part of getting older, dear."
- So, I need to see a doctor. As we all know, their time with patients is limited and they have protocols to follow. I am trying to come up with the best way to present this complicated mass of symptoms and suspicions to my internist (where the Insurance wants me to start), so as not to end up on more of a medical merry-go-round than absolutely necessary. Don't want to say too much or too little.
Thoughts?
Last edited: