Keystone banned

[kewlJ]

Honestly, I forgot I ever banned Keystone.

The date is interesting to me.

On August 16, 2018, I noticed an annoying "lump" sensation in my throat which I couldn't get rid of. For whatever reason, it bothered me to no end, and I started highly stressing over it.

I went to an ENT that week. It was some incompetent old fart who looked in my throat a second, diagnosed me with "LPR" (a syndrome, not a disease, usually related to reflux), and told me to go buy Nexium and take it.




Unbeknownst to medical science at the time, that class of medication (PPIs) cause crippling anxiety in a small-to-moderate percentage of the population. Unfortunately, I was part of that group. It is now acknowledged, but in 2018 it was not yet known.

Within days, the anxiety took hold, and it was the worst thing I ever dealt with in my life. I was also told to quit caffeine. Another moronic piece of advice. Caffeine wasn't causing this, and in fact its abrupt cessation brought on severe depression on top of the anxiety.

I also had other issues. The lump in my throat was causing a choking sensation whenever I would lie down, so I couldn't fall asleep. Every time I'd start to fall asleep, I'd choke and wake back up. It was the worst thing ever. Eventually I solved this by a fluke. I had mentioned my throat was also dry, so my girlfriend bought me dry mouth rinse. Amazingly, that took care of the choking sensation as well, and that was that. Huge relief to discover this.

Eventually I brought my mind back mostly to normal. I quit the Nexium, brought back the caffeine, and was taking Xanax once every 96 hours just to normalize my brain. None of this was suggested by a doctor, but it worked. First the depression abruptly lifted, and then the anxiety slowly lessened. It took about 3 months to get all the way better.

Turned out I didn't have reflux anyway, and this idiot was wrong. The lump was from a combination of dryness in my throat and general postnasal drip. I eventually just got used to it.

Anyway, my ban of Keystone was during the very beginning of this, which is probably why I don't remember it. I find that my brain has blocked out a lot of details from that time period.

My messages sent don't go back to 2018, but IIRC, I PMed you after hearing of your symptoms, and suggested it might be LPR. That must have been before you were diagnosed with it. I have battled LPR for a decade. A lot of people (including doctors) think it is just your run of the mill acid reflux. IT is not! With LPR, reflux gets past not just the lower valve (LES) as is common with regular reflux, but also past the higher (UES) which is at the top of the esophagus. This is a much bigger deal because the acid in the reflux then hits your throat, which unlike the esophagus is soft tissue, ill-equipped to handle the stomach acid and the damage it can do.

The body's immediate response is to create more mucus to coat the damaged throat area. That leads to a sensation of choking and coughing, worse after eating and when lying prone. Sleeping on a little bit of an angle with the head of your bed elevated 6-8 inches helps.

As for medical intervention, a lot of people who are eventually diagnosed with LPR are bounced around between ENT and gastro doctors until you finally hit on someone who can help. There are so few that are knowledgeable about LPR and the difference between regular acid reflux. First course of action is PPI's. these are drugs that reduce stomach acid. They are terrible, terrible drugs to be on long-term. Reducing acid effects digestion and can lead to other stomach issue. They also have a number of bad side effect, some of which you mentioned. Long-term use is also believed to effect bone density as well as cause dementia. But some of these PPI haven't been around long enough to really know all the long-term effects.

The final problem is that if you get your LPR under control, through use of medications, identifying and avoiding food triggers, and lifestyle changes like losing weight and elevating the head of your bed, eating smaller meals more frequently and NEVER within 2-3 hours of going to bed, and you decide to try to get off these PPI's it is damn near impossible. There is a horrendous rebound effect. People claim you can tapper down and eventually get off them. I have tried probably a dozen times with no success.

As I said, the medical profession is still learning about LPR (the L & P stand for Larynx/pharynx). Most of what I have learned has been from simply reading some home type remedies that have eventually helped others. One that really helps me during bad periods is sipping high PH water throughout the day. The enzyme in the stomach acid, called Pepsin, that does the damage in the throat, is neutralized when it comes in contact with liquid with a PH balance of about 9 or above.

Even still, sometimes I have weeks or even a month where I am good, and sometimes days or a week that it flares up. I haven't heard of your dry throat home remedy, but will give it a try. Anything is worth a try.