# Has anyone heard this before?



## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

I was diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagitis about 18 mos. ago. I am taking Prevacid for it. Yesterday, my Allergist told me that anyone who has stomach acid problems is going to produce more nasal/sinus mucus to "wash" down the stomach acid that keeps trying to work it's way up. He kidded me and said I'm a "wet head" for life!!














Meaning----I have a lot of post-nasal drainage and drainage down the back of the throat, too; and always chucked it up to the allergies (environmental)---have had them for years. This is the first time I've ever heard this.


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## sewfinely (May 11, 2002)

FeistyI've had sinus drainage,no allergies, for years and digestive problems for years. Endoscopy 5 weeks ago turned up ulcer, stage 3, in my esophagus. Same symptoms as you.


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## lissylou73 (Feb 5, 2001)

Hum...I have always had sinus problems. Post nasal drip, and a runny nose (constantly). In the 4th grade, I was having a lot of stomach pain, and was told I had a "pre-ulcer" condition (whatever that is). Then, when I was 18, before I knew I had IBS, I went to the ER due to stomach and bowel pain. The ER doctor said I had a sinus infection, and gave me an antibiotic. Well, guess what...that wasn't it! I now have IBS-D, GERD, and have been treated for H.Pylori. But, I guess they are all connected. I know several IBSers that have worse IBS symptoms during an allergy attack.


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

lissylou,Yup, I was always told (from little on--and I'm 53 now) that I had sinus infections or chronic rhinitis (running nose, of course!!) and for years I would have this thick, gunky, yellow mucus draining down the back of my throat. Always the same old story---sinus infection, etc. Well, 8 years ago, a misdiagnosis of a sinus infection and subsequent treatment with a broad spectrum antibiotic (without the Doc taking swab specimens for testing first) sent me on a collision coarse with Toxic Colitis and a 3 week stay in the hospital (the Doc thought I wouldn't even make it--I was so horribly sick. Guess what? An ENT was called while I was in the hospital and he found 2 cyst pockets in the back of my throat where my adenoids use to be (had them taken out along with the tonsils when I was 4). It took a number of cauterizations and a surgical procedure to remove them. The ENT told me he had never seen anything like it before----makes a person feel real good, doesn't it??!! That stopped that gunky stuff, but I still have post nasal drip all the time. And.......ever since that horrible bout with colitis, I have had a host of problems with bowel incontinence and IBS, resulting in major surgery. There's never an end for us, is there?!I was just curious if anyone else had ever been told this by a Doctor. Interesting how the human body calls for one thing to combat another only to leave you miserable no matter what.


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## Jleigh (Dec 8, 2000)

Whoa, I have a lot of drainage too







Yet another thing to ponder!


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## lissylou73 (Feb 5, 2001)

feisty,I had my tonsils and adenoids out when I was about 6 years old. I have never noticed a thick, yellow mucus, but then it is hard to see in the back of your own throat! My runny nose is generally a clear mucus. So to me, this does not indicate a sinus infection, as the mucus would be yellow or green (sorry to be grosse). I have never had a doctor comment on cysts where my adenoids used to be. My father and sister have bad allergies and sinus problems. This is probably just one more wonderful trait I have inherited! That's terrible that you had to go through all those cauterizations, surgeries, and hospitalizations! Hopefully mine will never get that bad! However, I did experience an allergic reaction to the anti-biotics the ER doctor gave me way back when. But that is nothing compared to what you went through.I think with me, all the sinus drainage simply makes me sick at my stomach, which aggravates my IBS. We're a fun group of people, huh?!


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

Hi Lissy,I always had that clear drainage from the sinuses running down the back of my throat, and even when the Doc would tell me it must be a sinus infection (maybe), I hardly ever had that yellow or green yucky stuff. It was just their assumption. As the years went by, I seemed to have a lot of "bad breath" and no matter what I did, I couldn't get rid of it. Later, after these cysts were found, I asked my hubbie about the bad breath---and he says, oh yeah, you've always had that!! Well-----sure wished he would have mentioned something a heck of a lot earlier on instead of waiting until I could "taste" my own breath let alone smell it!! Hope I'm not grossing anyone out here, but that's the only description I can give. I was forever sucking on mints, etc. and had this taste in my mouth all the time. When I would take a flashlight and check the back of my own throat, sometimes I could see gunky stuff and other times it was clear, so it was no clear/cut thing.Now I'm back to clear drainage, but plenty of it and after my allergist said that's the way it's going to be for me-----well, what can I do? His explaination as to some of the "excess" nasal drainage had me wondering if anyone else was ever told this. Would like to know what a Gastro would say about this.Do we have any Gastro's that check these boards? If so, what is your comment? Would appreciate any feedback. Is my allergist right or wrong? Would like to understand this more.The other question is that I heard that using Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium, etc on a daily basis is now being suspected as a culprit in not allowing the digestive track to function "normally" because it is stopping the production of gastric juice and we need that to start the digestion process. And there's the mention of weight gain by a lot of people on these meds and it makes me wonder if there is a connection. I'm 25 lbs. heavier than I should be and I exercise and try to watch what I eat everyday and I cannot loose this weight. The other meds I'm on do not have weight gain side effects.Thanks.


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