Rude Awakenings

[athelind]

I just got jolted out of bed by the worst bout of acid reflux I've had in a very long time.

Now, note, when I say "acid reflux", I'm not talking about the mild, achy "heartburn" sensation in the commercials. You know, the stuff that's so vague and undifferentiated that it's often confused with something mild, like a cardiac arrest.

I'm talking about reflexively leaping out of bed with one all-consuming thought: OH MY GODS I'M CHOKING ON STOMACH ACID IN MY MOUTH. Only less internally articulate, more of an OH FUCK FUCK FUCK OW.

Generally, after one of thse attacks, I can just cough a little and go back to bed. This one demanded that I sit up straight for... let's see, it's been half an hour now, and a glass of soy milk to try to neutralize some of the acid in my mouth and esophagus.

Nice thing to happen the night before my physical. I'll remember to tell the doctor about it.

Glad I don't have to get up at Oh My God Hundred tomorr... THIS morning.

Edit, 06:44 070427: It occurs to me that what I call "acid reflux attacks", most people would call "throwing up but clamping down on it".

Comments

[araquan.livejournal.com]

Erk. }:/

[athelind.livejournal.com]

More like "urrrrk".

[scarfman]

I get that sort of thing too, but from the other direction. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night coughing, and have to sit up for an hour before it goes away. But (though I sometimes notice possible symptoms of the onset of acid reflux) I'm pretty sure this is post-nasal drip. Sometimes before the coughing starts I'll feel a sudden cool sensation at the back of my throat. Also, when I feel cause to take preventative steps against it, it's never happened when I've taken NyQuil. Plus it's been getting less severe lately when it happens, which isn't something you'd expect of acid reflux. Do you get cool at the back of your throat?

Also, I think you posted this entry twice.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

I did indeed post the entry twice; LJ was having server problems in the wee hours of the morning, first telling me that the first post didn't go through, then being too lagged and glitchy to delete it.

I've had long experience with post-nasal drip, too, but it doesn't seem connected to my reflux. I've been taking a prescription ion inhibitor* for the last decade or so, and it's got most of the day-to-day stomach pains under control. Every so often, though, if I get sloppy about what I eat or drink, or the position I sleep in... ooork!

Last night, I think it was a combination of ALL the factors.

*Isn't that a lovely sci-fi name? I want to use it to defeat a supervillain!

[haystack.livejournal.com]

I'm a tad confused. When you say "ion inhibitor", do you mean a proton-pump inhibitor (e.g. Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Reglan, or AcipHex) or one of the H-2 antagonists (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid)?

[athelind.livejournal.com]

"Proton-pump inhibitor" -- Prevacid, to be specific.

My bad. I'm not at my most precise first thing in the morning.

"Proton-pump inhibitor" sounds even MORE Trek-tech, though.

[haystack.livejournal.com]

It's what you use to disable that high-tech shotgun the bad guy's aiming your way.

I had to go on Prilosec back in the late 90s, after a run of GERD so severe that even prescription levels of H-2 antagonists wouldn't touch it much. (Take what you described, and extend for several hours every wee-of-the-morning.) Hope your doctor can find a good solution for your reflux troubles... it could be as simple as trying a different proton-pump inhibitor.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

That's about when I went on Prevacid, and for about the same reasons. (I believe the phrase I used at the time was "geysers of acid shooting up to my sinuses".)

Prevacid has me MOSTLY under control, other than the occasional bouts of burny-burny-burny or the early-morning Acid Geyser. Those are mostly just reminders that the Magic Medicine Isn't A Cure-All, and I still have to KIND of watch what I eat. Last night's dinner-and-a-movie combination of pizza, beer, soda, popcorn, and Gummi Bears -- well, given that any ONE of those items have been known to trigger acid attacks SEPERATELY, combining them made this almost inevitable.

Especially after I rolled onto my side in my sleep.

[bear-helms.livejournal.com]

I have IBS, so too much caffiene or onion content in food gives cramps that can wake me and keep me up, as well as runs and if it's extremely bad, Montezuma's Revenge.

There comes a time when you indulge, knowing full well you've set yourself up for an attack, and what I've done is pre-emptively take the medicine (Loperamide HCL in my case) before bedtime.

Esophageal (sp) erosion is terrible and must be avoided, since my aunt has really bad Barrett's and it's caused her to eat extremely bland stuff - spaghetti (marinara) sauce is too spicy. Nexium is helping some in making her more tolerant of foods. I think Barrett's is also known as a Hyatal Hernia.

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

I get those from time to time. Fortunately it usually stays within the realm of heartburn. The night before last however, I too was woken up as I lay there choking on my own stomach contents. Yum!

[bear-helms.livejournal.com]

Check my reply to Athelind. You dragons need to swallow some digestive helper boulders after chowing down on a 17-course meal.

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

10-4. Boulders and Nexium. ^^ Fortunately its infrequent. I'm told I have a semi-defective valve between stomach and esophagus. So sometimes it relaxes when it shouldn't, and lets the acid in.

[bear-helms.livejournal.com]

Swallow enough boulders and it should weigh down the food and make sure it doesn't come up. Boulders are natural antacids too!

[bear-helms.livejournal.com]

Physicians love hearing about stuff they can call GIRD, Gastro-Intestinal Reflex Disease. They have everything from OTC Zantak to Rx Nexium to throw at it. Seems Nexium really does live up to the advertising promises - my aunt is very extremely touchy about the slightest spice in her food, alcohol, et al., so she has an extremely bland diet. Boiled chicken is sort of as fancy as it gets.

The doctor will ask all the necessary questions to diagnose, and common sense can tell you whether you had coffee too late at night, slept too soon after a big meal, had something acidy that was hard to digest, had recent stress which has a history of causing this reaction, or whether you turned Dragon in your sleep and chowed down like we know Athelind can do...!

If it's the latter, leave a note for the dragon telling him to follow up the 17-course meal with some digestive helper stones, err boulders.

[silussa.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, I only suffer from acid-reflux when I eat JUST before bed. I refer to this as "waking in the middle of the night thinking I'm about to vomit".

The doctor terms it acid-reflux. And advises...surprise....that I not eat just before bed.

*wry grin*

[archteryx.livejournal.com]

As the lucky recipient of a near-constant case of nighttime Montezuma's Revenge (with bonus reflux!) through March? You have my deepest sympathies.

(It's much better now, though. Hope your reflux goes away too!)

[stalbon.livejournal.com]

*Grauphs and hugs tightly* I do hope a day where you're not...overtly stressed helped calm things down. I wish the best for you, Athelind. Take care...