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From: meow (warning - long post!)
Date: 01/30/02
Time: 11:07:56 PM -0600
The allergy tests concluded that I am severly allergic to dust mites. Subsequent tests with higher amounts of previously negative allergens showed that I was basically allergic to everything they tested me for (although the "seasonal" allergens were not as bad as dust, dander, molds etc.). I live in a pretty dust free house but I work in a building that has a history of being a "sick" building. It is a converted factory with old fabric cubicles that date back to the early 70s. It is also overcrowded on the floor I work on and has a rug that is never steam cleaned (they vaccum it with old vaccums with no HEPA filters - so they basically just push the dust around). A large number of people who work there have bad symptoms.
To go over a bit of my history, a year ago as I was eating I started to choke on the highly-spiced chicken I was eating. I also couldn't catch my breath. I felt the worst I have ever felt in my entire life. I felt like I was going to die, that I was suffocating.
I went to the ER and they checked my heart (normal)and surmised that it was some sort of allergy attack. They pumped me full with benedryl and ativan and sent me home. I felt a little better, but soon noticed that I could not comfortably swallow. It felt like food and liquid were getting stuck just below my neck.
I followed up with a GP who said "reflux" - though I have never had the burning or heartburn symptoms. The GP put me on prilosec - which did nothing - and xanax. I stopped taking the antihistamines earlier. The GP referred me to a GI specialist.
My cold-like symptoms worsened, the swallowing problem did not go away and I started to experience severe cramping and difficulty breathing. The cramping eventually passed.
During this time the only things that seemed to help me with the swallowing was taking NSAIDs (aleve). It was a no no for GERD, but I was desperate to try anything. The docs were all puzzled by the fact that the NSAIDs helped me to swallow.
Regarding GI tests, I did the barium swallow that showed no evidence of reflux, just an indication that the barium soaked bread had a little difficulty going down in the region below my neck.
After this test, I was referred by the GP to another GI specialist who was planning on doing an endoscopy. They did the endoscopy and found no evidence of reflux damage and no evidence of stricture. Since I was desperate they did the dilation anyway - the GI specialist (who is very good) indicated that sometimes strictures cannot be seen.
I swallowed fine for a few days and asked my GI if I could stop the prilosec. I had stopped the xanax prior to the endoscopy since it didn't seem to do much. He said yes, you can stop the prilosec.
About four days after stopping, I was at work and had some sort of attack where I felt my throat was closing up snd I could not breathe! I went to the ER and went through the same experience that so many of us had. I started the prilosec again and went to an ENT. The ENT saw evidence of "acid damage" in my larynx and swollen vocal cords. The ENT had me try prevacid and it seemed to work, but very slowly. She then tried to split the dose to 15mg 2X/day. The change didn't do much. She also put me on Guaffenesin (found in Robitussin)
By this time it was early May and I my symptoms were better. In a post-dilation follow up with the GI specialist, he put me on prevacid 30mg 2x/day.
I was slowly feeling better, but still had on and off symtoms. Any swallowing problems I had post-dilation were centered in my immediate throat - not below the neck as before. The other symptoms - tightness in the throat, breathing problems sometimes, dry mouth, crappy feeling, etc. varied in intensity.
My symptoms were best during the mid summer. I felt so good! As fall approached, the symptoms worsened. I came to the conclusion that it was not primarily reflux related.
From my research, I had concluded that the PPIs were very strong and that they should have been much better at controlling these throat centered symtoms.
At the same time my insurance company told me they would no longer pay for prevacid 30mg 2x/day. So I figured I'd go down to 1x/day. After about a week of some mild GI symptoms controlled with Gaviscon, I started to feel the same way I did on 2x/day.
The throat symptoms still varied and I started to notice patterns. In early October, I had to go down to lower Manhattan and then over to Brooklyn to see relatives. The dust from the terror attacks was so strong and worsened my symptoms so much I concluded that it had to be something other than GERD. I also was put on antibiotics for a sinus infection - which helped the symptoms.
So I followed up with the allergist who put me on Allegra and started me on allergy shots (after the tests). And yes, my symptoms are always worse at work and when I go to other people's houses who have a lot of old furniture and dust.
So I think my symptoms are allergy-related. Maybe the swallowing problem was brought on by irritation from post nasal drip. My allergist said that dust mite allergies are always the worst in Janury - April (my worst time last year) and get better as the weather gets warmer. That would explain the symtoms waxinf and waning and getting worse during the cold weather, how I had no traditional heartburn symptoms, how the NSAIDS helped me to swallow (stopping the swelling) and the ineffectiveness of the PPIs.
So I am unsure what to do. I am thinking of staying on the prevacid now, but would love to be free from it. I also am puzzled about this whole thing!
But I am feeling much much better!
Sorry for the long post.