throat problem

March 17, 2005

I had a 45 minute surgery done in January and a few days after I have been

home I began having throat pain. It was though I might have got a tear from

installing the tube so I visited a throat specialist. He scoped my throat and

didn't see any problem.

He diagnosed my problem as being related to acid reflux. I am asking how

this would be treated with TCM? Only by the use of herbs? Or do you think

this is also a meridian dysfunction?

This is what is so strange, at least to me. The first question he asked me

is if I had fybromyalgia? I told him no, but I do suffer from chronic fatigue.

He felt it is just a coincidence I developed the throat problem after the

surgery. However I do not. I think the medication screwed something up

in my body but I don't know what it did or where to look to get it fixed.

I have been instructed to take Prilosec to see if the problem clears up.

I don't think it will.....given the unusual circumstances. Also I interrupted

him to make sure he was actually telling me I have acid reflux. I have

no chest pain, heart burn, and no stomach upset or regurgitation.

What can you add to information I should consider? I began to take

the Prilosec just to see if it works. If it works then I would know this

problem

would be related to an increase of stomach acid. I really don't think it

will go away.

Thanks,

Liz D.

March 18, 2005

> This is what is so strange, at least to me. The first question he

asked me

> is if I had fybromyalgia? I told him no, but I do suffer from

chronic fatigue.

Having a sore throat a lot of the time (and/or soreness behind the

nose) is one of the symptoms of CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune

Dysfunction Syndrome. Most of the people who have CFIDS also fit the

criteria for FMS. There is much disagree if CFIDS and FMS are the

same thing with different primary manifestations or if FMS is one of

the things that PWCs (People With CFIDS) are prone to develop. Like

sore throats.

> I had a 45 minute surgery done in January and a few days after I

have been

> home I began having throat pain.

One of the things that can trigger CFIDS or make it worse is certain

histamine-releasing anesthesias. The CFIDS Association of American

has a list of which anesthesias are particularly bad and which are

safer to use. You may want to check their website.

> I don't think it will.....given the unusual circumstances. Also I

interrupted

> him to make sure he was actually telling me I have acid reflux. I

have

> no chest pain, heart burn, and no stomach upset or regurgitation.

Sometimes a person with acid reflux will not have these symptoms.

Part of the esophagus may be insensitive to pain while part is still

sensitive. Sometimes the problem only occurs when the person has

been lying down for a while.

From a TCM standpoint, acid reflux often is due to Stomach Qi

Rebelling. Each meridian has a proper direction of flow. Stomach Qi

is supposed to flow downward. When it flows upward instead, this is

called Stomach Qi Rebelling.

There are different reasons why Stomach Qi might " rebel " . One is

Liver Invading the Stomach. You may want to do some further research

on these.

There are other possibilities for what could be the Root of a sore

throat in TCM.

It's impossible to diagnose via a message group. All I and others

can do is to point out possibilities for you and your doctor to

consider and rule in or rule out. If the sore throat is CFIDS

related - and at this point that is a longshot and not really

established - what finally got rid of my near-constant pharyngitis

was large dosages of vitamin A. The odd thing is it also lifted the

brain fog. (Even though my throat would be red, I didn't feel the

pain in the neck area of the throat but behind the nose.)

The first step may be to get the name of the anesthesia used in the

operation and check to see if sore throat is one of the possible

side effects. Don't count on a doctor to know if it is or isn't.

March 18, 2005

I never expect a diagnosis Victoria, just some more logical

information. You are really wonderful. I don't have pain behind

my nose but all the throat area. And I didn't know that some

areas of the throat might not respond in pain like it would with

some other person.

When I was in the hospital I asked the anesthesiologist what kind

of anesthesia he was using. He waved me off and never answered

my question and began talking about something else. So I still don't

know. I was told that I might experience a sore throat for a week

but no more than two weeks. HA! I am getting more than that.

I have also noted some web searches mentioning about hiatal hernias

causing throat problems. I will wait for my test to see if I have one.

So far I only saw acupuncture information treating acid reflux with

herbs. I am sure, like you mentioned that there is a meridian function

going crazy here too.

I will look for that web page and try to find more about

this with FM and CF sufferers.

Thank you,

Liz D.

March 18, 2005

Liz, I'm sorry this happened to you. I have heard that you can have acid

reflux and not have the usual symptoms. I did. (or do?)

Wishing you well.

Michelle

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Rabbitbrain

Chinese Traditional Medicine

Thursday, March 17, 2005 2:26 PM

[Chinese Traditional Medicine] throat problem