Hunger/stomach pains after starting PPI/ Is this LPR?
Hi all, I started omeprazole 5 days ago as an attempt to help LPR symptoms that my ENT suspects. I have an insane amount of phlegm throughout the day, worse in the morning and after eating certain foods but not every time I eat that food, it’s not consistent. I wake up with a super dry throat sometimes and i’m constantly clearing my throat.
But after starting the PPI I have been waking up and going to bed with stomach and back pain. It kinda feels like super intense hunger pangs but I can’t tell. My initial thought was just woah im so hungry I need to fill my stomach to make this go away but then i’ll eat and it won’t really help. And then I start to get a bunch of gas no matter what I eat. It also seems to be more of my lower stomach and not my upper stomach and esophagus and even feels painful to palpitate.
When i’m trying to go to sleep it’s so intense it feels like I need to both stretch my stomach and curl up in a ball and cry. It also makes me want to blow out my stomach. You know that feeling where it feels like your stomach is SO empty that you can feel your lower back through it? If that makes any sense. Like it feels like i’m so starving and my stomach is so empty and thin it makes everything hurt.
Anyone had this issue? I’m not 100% sure it’s the PPI that’s causing it, because this has happened to me before taking it but super rare, like maybe 5 times total my whole life and honestly never this bad and food would usually help.
Also, I thought i’d give some background as to what i’ve discovered recently and why I think it could be LPR:
Back in high school I had a period of really bad anxiety where I was vomiting a lot, and after that is when the throat/mucus issues started.
I’ve been learning that repeated vomiting + anxiety can irritate the throat and esophagus, and that can lead to LPR and stomach acid keeps irritating the throat over time. When that area is inflamed, my body is producing extra mucus as a protective response, which can turn into a cycle of constantly feeling like I need to clear my throat or hack stuff up. And then there are some foods that can trigger inflammation and then that makes the inflammation thats already there worse, and then the throat clearing also leads to more irritation.
My symptoms also line up with reflux because they’re worse in the morning, worse when lying down, and sometimes triggered by foods like chocolate or dairy (but not every time, which is normal with reflux). But i’m not feeling like typical heart burn and I don’t get the acid feeling in my throat a ton but just occasionally.
Right now I’m being treated for both possible causes nasal inflammation and reflux with a nasal rinse/Flonase and omeprazole. So basically I’m trying to figure out if this is all connected as one long-term irritation/reflux cycle that started back then. Also, my allergy test was negative but I don’t know how to get an actual food allergy test, the allergist just said that the only thing they look for with food allergies is server anaphylaxis which has never happened to me so if anything i’m probably just sensitive to some foods. I’ve tried gluten free and lactose free and that don’t make a difference.