u/FewLimit3255

Has anyone else started questioning whether it's actually acid reflux at all?

We went down that road for months. The gulping, the excessive drooling, the lip-licking classic reflux presentation, right? So we treated for reflux.

Then I fell down a rabbit hole I wasn't expecting. Turns out excessive salivation and gulping are extremely common with neurological issues. When something is happening neurologically, drooling spikes and the gulping is the dog trying to manage all that extra liquid in their mouth. It can look exactly like a GI problem from the outside.
started searching for cases instead of articles actualy published veterinary case reports petcasefinder com and found some interesting cases and studies. I'm not a vet. I'm just an owner who can't stop digging. But if your dog's reflux symptoms aren't fully responding to treatment and something feels off and your gut is telling you there might be something else, dig harder, come with the list to your vet and ask question. it might be worth asking your vet whether a neurological workup makes sense before assuming it's purely GI . the site ive been using gave me useful leads and made me think "out of box ".

Anyone else gone down this road?

A few things I figured people would ask, putting them up here so I'm not repeating myself:

i was using petcasefinder.com searches actual peer-reviewed vet case reports in plain English. First case is free, the rest are paid. just a way to find the literature buried in journals. The search that broke it open for me was roughly "adult dog refractory seizures with weight gain coat changes, cold intolerant"

The exact panel I asked for free T4 by equilibrium dialysis, TSH, thyroglobulin antibodies not just total T4. Total T4 alone gave us a "normal" reading the first time around.

I'm not a vet.I'm a pet owner who got obsessive as i was gettng tired of same stupid posts which have been written same time all over again so this is a great little site where you can search pet cases and maybe find a lead or something that will ring a bell.

So ifyou think that something else is going on with your dog and your dog is not getting better, dig harder , read cases and you might find connection like i did.