Silent Reflux

[1maiden]

Just a question, dose any else suffer with a silent reflux who also has hypothyroidism, I asked my Dr if they are linked but he said not at all.

[Rmichelle]

Not sure my answer will help but i do have acid reflux alongside a hiatul hernia and mine was diagnosed 7 years ago now and used to get the odd flareup once every 7 months but over the last 8 months it has got worse, i have been diagnosed with hyper and hashimotos i really do think there is some connection regardless of what docs say-they dont know evwrything but be careful of taking ppis fir meds as in the long term tbey can make the condition worse.xx im sure other people will come along to give their side of things☺

[1maiden in reply to Rmichelle]

Thank you for your reply, the Dr at the hospital has put me on Pantoprazole 20mg twice a day and gaviscon at night before going to bed, the ENT Dr said to take it for 3 months then go back to see him if its not better then he will send me to a gastric specialist, I asked him if it could be hashimoto's as the symtoms are the same, he just no, so I will take what he has said and hopefully it will help, as I'm fed up of my throat feeling saw and a constant feeling of having to swollow, coughing and my voice cracking.

[greygoose in reply to 1maiden]

Well, what would he know! Frankly, if a doctor told me it was daylight at 3 pm, I'd check to find out.

Hypos usually have low stomach acid, not high. And taking a PPI will make things worse, absorption-wise, not better. Also, sore throats, coughing and a cracking voice are hypo symptoms. Silent reflux! Is that another disease they've made up to make money?

How are your thyroid levels at the moment? Could be you're just under-medicated.

[1maiden in reply to greygoose]

My levels were down 6 months ago and they upped my dose, to 75mg, my levels were checked again 4 months again and they said they were fine.

I was only diagnosed in july last year, theonly thing the medcation has helped with as far as symptoms my hair looks better and my nails aren't breaking as much.

[greygoose in reply to 1maiden]

OK, but between what they say, and what is true, there is often a huge gap! You need to get a print-out of your results - if you live in the UK, it is your legal right to have a copy - you need to know exactly what was tested, and exactly what your results were. Fine, is just an opinion, not fact.

[Rmichelle in reply to greygoose]

Lol so true greygoose made me laugh with your opening paragraph!!

[Rmichelle in reply to 1maiden]

Dont just take tbeir word for it, docs just push these tablets like smartie sweets- ive been there. Have you had a endoscopy to see if anything is going on? Had ent done a larynoscopy- its a painless procedure ive done it 3 times. By all means take the tablets it will ease your symptonsand make sure you take it well away from any thyroid meds as they cam interfere with them. I took omprozole for a few months but gave me very unpleasant side effects, i decided just to take gavisvon and zantac in the end but have to say the withdrawl of coming off ppis is horrid and things will seem worst when you do for a good 3 weeks.

As regards to your ent consultant how does he know its not hashis without a blood test- have you had a blood test? Ive suffered more since having hashis. When i was admitted to hospital 2 months back a ent consultant came to me and looked down my nose and throatband said mrs smith there is nothing on your thyroid!! I said there wont be as you camnot see it with doing a larynoscopy i need a ultrasound!! I lost all faith from that moment.

You push for the tests needed tpo or tgab for antibody thyroids. Its your life. Hope you feel better soon.xx

[1maiden in reply to Rmichelle]

Thank you I will try and push for a scan if at the end of this 3 month on the relux meds if they haven't helped

[shaws Administrator in reply to 1maiden]

If hypothyroid and due to everything slowing down, we are apt to get 'low acid' rather than high. Unfortunately as the symptoms are more or less identical, we get given antacids when we may need acid in our stomach in order to dissolve food.

scdlifestyle.com/2012/06/hy...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/s...

Many on the forum take Digestive Enzymes or Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in water or juice.

[gillianmellor in reply to 1maiden]

Im the same....hypo....goiter and nodules on my goiter...i also take lansoprazole 30mg capsule once a day...for excess acid and reflux.....try this miles better than what you have been described...you will see a difference in 2-3days...i also take anti hystamines as allergies to pets ...scented candles plug ins.air freshners cause me to cough and cough then my reflux starts.....so just stop look around ur home see if you have introduced something new that sets u off....its better to check ur enviroment before taking things that are not needed...strong smelling cleaners and strong perfumes set me off coughin ....good look...

If non of this helps then speek t gp for referal for a camera to check you reflux and acid in stomack

[1maiden in reply to gillianmellor]

Thank you for your adivse, theres quite a few cleaning product I can't use as they have always make me very chesty and start coughing, I can't use perfum as this starts me off with sinusitus.

[Lje05 in reply to 1maiden]

Just read that you are on Pantoprazole. I know it is miserable when you are suffering from reflux but if it were me I would be very cautious about taking any PPI for more then 2 or 3 weeks and especially if you getting reflux because of low stomach acid!

[Rmichelle]

There are alot of historical posts on this site with the connection of acid reflux and hashi's.x

[SlowDragon Administrator]

More likely low stomach acid when hypo

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/hypochl...

Lots of posts on here about how to improve with Apple cider vinegar or Betaine HCL

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Other things to help heal gut lining

Bone broth

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Probiotics

carolinasthyroidinstitute.c...

[gillianmellor]

Also i take one tab a day..30mg never been prescribed tabs twice a day and gavason......you shouldnt need both ur tabs should do the job on there own.

[1maiden in reply to gillianmellor]

I would like to think that the ENT Dr knew what he was doing perscribing me to take it twice aday, we put our health in their hanfs and hope they are doing the right things for us.

[gillianmellor in reply to 1maiden]

I realy hope so...i have been suffering a long time with this everyoneis different and every doctor seems to have different views if you have faith in your doctor thats one of the best things to start off with....

[1maiden in reply to gillianmellor]

To be honest I don't have faith in the Dr's they all say differnet things compared to what you can find out online, I was taking just Gaviscon for two months before going to the Hospital, and it really hasn't made any difference, just so fed up with it all.

[gillianmellor]

I saw an endocrine professor last week.... he prefers to treat each symtom seperatley so he can try to make me feel better...he also said some of my symtoms wil remaine for ever.... he wants me to feel well thats his aim...he is working with ent so they are all talking to help... this has taken well ovet 18months of being un well.... so please dont give up on a consultant or a doctor who is listening to you....good luck....

[DeniceC]

I had silent gerd and took Prilosec for 2 years. I started having side effects as it interferes with absorption. My GI doctor said there is a link between Thyroid disease, acid reflux, and low vitamin D.

[Lje05]

In my opinion your Dr is incorrect in saying there is no link between the two.

I was suffering from reflux early in the year. I am now on thyroxine but only after pushing my GP (1st thyroid test was over 2 years ago when my TSH was 9.2) but was told I didn't need thyroxine) Two years later my TSH was 9.8 and a thyroid antibody test came back positive and I was feeling really ill. I am hypo and have hasimoto's.

Sorry I'm not being very concise but the point I was trying to make was that I had not had any reflux issues until this year so I am sure that my failing thyroid was to blame for the digistive issues I was experiencing.

I took probiotics and started using apple cider vinegar and fermented foods and the reflux stopped. I have had no reflux symptoms for months now. The symptoms stopped after a couple of months of doing the above.

I think that they are connected and is likely due to low stomach acid and not high stomach acid. I also went gluten free about three months ago.

[1maiden in reply to Lje05]

I'm trying to go gluten free too, but finding it expensive and some foods taste funny, I really do think the 2 are connected, I am going to buy the apple cider, but not sure how and when to and how much inclued this into my day for drinking,

The acid reflux medication the isn't doing anything for me at the moment.

[Lje05 in reply to 1maiden]

When you buy apple cider vinegar make sure it says raw, with the mother or unpasteurised on the bottle. When I was experiencing reflux I would drink 1/2-1 tbsp with warm water before eating my evening meal. Now I just use it mixed with olive oil on salad or veg. You could also try bone broth. I also drank ginger tea (fresh ginger root brewed in water bought to the boil & simmered for a few minutes). I used acv, bone broth, probiotics & ginger tea. It worked for me.

Even if the acid reflux medication does eventually work for you the reflux may well return once you stop taking it and as I mentioned before if you are getting acid reflux because of low stomach acid reflux medication is not the best thing to take. This is just my personal experience and my understanding of acid reflux, low stomach acid and the connection with hypothyroidism from my own research and I have no medical training.

However, I do believe that the assumption is often made that it is high stomach acid that is causing the problem when it is often low stomach acid that's causing the problem.

With regard to going gluten free I tend to avoid 'gluten free' products as they often have a strange texture & are full of sugar etc and yes they are expensive. I try to mainly cook from scratch: plenty of veg, some fruit, fish (particularly oily), nuts, small amounts of meat & small amounts of complex carbohydrates form the bulk of my diet.

Some people find diary an issue. I did eliminate it for a couple of weeks & then reintroduced and came to the conclusion that it wasn't an issue for me. Although I consume only a small amount of cows milk in a couple of cups a day usually & most of my dairy comes from full fat Greek yoghurt & small amounts of unpasteurised cheese

[1maiden in reply to Lje05]

Thank you for your reply, I'm trying the apple cider, as it seems that this has worked for many people on here rather than ppi.

[Lje05 in reply to 1maiden]

I hope the apple cider vinegar works for you.

Personally I wouldn't touch PPIs. I think someone commented above that they are handed out like smarties and as several people have mentioned it is likely that you are suffering from low stomach acid and PPIs are not good for low stomach acid.

[Maxxxx]

Hi I experienced exactly the same problem - I was coughing constantly for about 6 months and then finally I lost my voice. This was all before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was put on PPI's (Omeprezole). Thank god I found this forum - I have totally stopped the PPI's as they are for High stomach acid - not LOW which is what you get with hypothyroidism. I even had an operation which put a meter in my stomach to measure the stomach acid and the gastroenterologist just said in a quizzical voice, 'You don't have very high stomach acid.' but didn't take it any further. Anyway to cut a long story short - stop taking the PPI's, take betaine with pepsin tablets (available from Health food stores or Amazon) before every meal and also buy apple cider vinegar (with its mother) and take that. That should solve your problems.

Just wanted to add that because of the low stomach acid you are probably not absorbing all the nutrients you need from the food you eat so you might want to check your levels of Vitamin B12, folate, ferritin & Vitamin D. Since I started supplementing with Vitamins B12, D and folate my symptoms have improved - more than taking the levothyroxine on its own.

Good luck!

[1maiden in reply to Maxxxx]

Thank you for your reply, I feel the same so glad I for Healthunlocked, I really can't believe that Dr's haven't got more of this information to hand. My voice is very crokey and dries jp as I'm talking then I start to cough, so I always have a drink to hand, I also have another sympton were my lips feel almost like I've sunburnt them and they throb for up to a couple of hours several times aday. I'm trying the the cider vinger, and not taking the ppi for a couple of weeks and just see which is going to help me.

[Maxxxx in reply to 1maiden]

I hope you feel better soon - I know it's not very nice with reflux. The problem with your lips could possibly be something to do with vitamin/mineral deficiencies as the low stomach acid causes malabsorption. Maybe you should check that? The doctor could check Vitamins D, B12 & folate plus ferritin. Maybe you could post another question and see if anyone else has had this problem?

Good luck!!!!