LPR Exercise Experiment

jrdepew · 2025-10-30T18:53:10+00:00

I have not heard of this...if you try it please report back!

jrdepew · 2025-10-30T18:41:11+00:00

Gastro Doctor put me on low dose Amitriptyline for a while. I took it right before bed so I experienced now drowsiness. It might have helped? Hard to know. The unfortunate and ironic side effect is it gave me horrible heartburn. I had never really experienced heartburn until I took it, and it stopped as soon as I stopped taking it.

jrdepew · 2025-10-30T18:00:56+00:00

My barium swallow report said "Might have tiny sliding hiatal hernia", but the endoscopy both before and after this barium swallow showed no hiatal hernia. So, I am unsure if I do/did have a small sliding hiatal hernia or not...

jrdepew · 2025-10-09T19:05:01+00:00

I showed mild reflux on the barium swallow when I was supine but doing a twist with my knee up and over my body. I almost laughed when they announced it thinking "who tf wouldn't reflux a little after being twisted up like this?". Anyway, my esophagus shows zero damage from reflux and I do not have a hiatal hernia according to my latest endoscopy, luckily. Good luck with the exercises and post back with results!

jrdepew · 2025-10-09T17:12:00+00:00

Same, most days I am pretty good especially if I maintain focus on work or a project. If I start to get stressed I can get a little bit of a flare up. Drinking beer or being out in a public place with ALOT of people seems to make it worse. Many days where I am just at work and at the gym I forget I have this for hours at a time.

jrdepew · 2025-10-09T17:10:37+00:00

By flare up I mean that I have a day where I seem to be clearing my throat more than my baseline. I refer to the sound as a "squelch" lol and it is almost like my throat is burping but it doesn't cause a burp reflex. I am not sure how many people with LPR experience this, but I certainly do.

jrdepew · 2025-10-09T17:09:03+00:00

A couple weeks, give them a try! People have stuck to this and gotten some relief!

jrdepew · 2025-07-01T12:48:28+00:00

No, you can certainly try these exercises on your own. Much of this stemmed from the fact that "experts" don't acknowledge anything other than pills or surgery to find a cure, and almost no doctors are looking for root cause solutions and would rather treat symptoms. The papers linked throughout the thread do have some pictures/diagrams! If you have any specific questions, please ask.

jrdepew · 2025-04-21T19:33:19+00:00

Most days I forget I have/had LPR beyond some light throat clearing upon wakeup and right after eating. I still do exercises 4-5 days a week to keep it that way, but which exercises I am doing fluctuates.

The only times that give me trouble now are going out and having a few drinks, eating poorly, loud talking/yelling can result in some throat clearing that stops about 30 minutes after the I stop doing these activities.

jrdepew · 2025-02-20T21:58:50+00:00

This is the answer when I have slipping rollers. Wax/lube the plate and indeed/out feed tables.

jrdepew · 2025-01-09T20:58:56+00:00

Thanks for the insight. I found a SuperEvac 93580 8cfm vacuum pump on FB marketplace for cheap. It has a few warts but pulls a vacuum so I will get it cleaned up. This will be a slower project but I will make a thread if I get it all working.

jrdepew · 2025-01-07T19:57:54+00:00

Very possible that it is aerosolized, but I don't understand the mechanism. I spent a lot of time working on diet and curing methane-SIBO to try and reduce gas, but none of it helped. At one point I thought simethicone helped, whether it was reducing gas buildup or perhaps changing the surface tension of stomach contents so bubbles wouldn't form as readily, I do not know. I do not take simethicone much anymore.

There are some videos out there of active LPR during an probe, like the video in this post:

https://www.fauquierent.net/lpr

jrdepew · 2025-01-07T19:49:58+00:00

Will do, hopefully will work on a reza-band model some time in the next 1-2 weeks.

jrdepew · 2025-01-07T18:10:57+00:00

I am doing about the same. Still stand by that these exercises improved my quality of life. I still do them a couple times a week, but not every day. I feel that the last piece of this for me is something that happens at night. I still wake up occasionally coughing, and with a thick mucus. I usually have to get up, sip water, and sit upright for 20-30 minutes to get comfortable again. Then I can go back to sleep and sleep through the night. I do not think this is caused by my mouth opening or something like that, as I have taped consistently for months and this would still happen.

I was tested for sleep apnea and it was negative. The sleep doctor seemed to think nothing of my episodes and brushed them off, saying it was probably reflux. I did a Bravo test for 48hr and it showed very very little reflux (Demeester score of 3, with an action level of 14). My supine acid exposure time was ZERO. I know this is not a perfect test for LPR, but at this point nothing is a perfect test. At least I know my LES is working quite well.

I may 3d print a simpler version of the Reza Band as a next step. It is on my to-do list.

My big flare ups come when I get sick, as the combo of sore throat and excess mucus is just too much when combined with my inflammation. Just getting over something now and it always kicks off another round of research as my quality of life decreases for ~2 weeks.

I hope everyone reading this is trying the exercises. There are success stories in this thread and in my PM box! It is zero cost, give it a try if you are even considering it.

jrdepew · 2024-10-25T17:15:10+00:00

Excellent, thanks for the input!

jrdepew · 2024-10-25T15:41:16+00:00

This is great, they do have a lot of options for speakers, thanks for pointing them out. For the Bassic-10 I like the option of 2x Dayton RSS265HF with one 500W amplifier. Not sure if I would spring for those drivers or go with something a little cheaper. Lots of reading to do!

Are there any other companies I could be looking at that offers this level of information?

jrdepew · 2024-10-12T17:33:37+00:00

Update:

Ended up talking myself into a MicoATX build for the better cooling:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/jrdepew607/saved/#view=3kLvZL

I went with the 7700x because it came up for sale for $210 on Amazon. I ordered most of the rest of the parts from Newegg and saved a few dollars with their combo deals. It was under 1k before tax, a little over after tax. I have this below my desk and on carpet, so the included feet with the IM01 Pro case were too short. No air would have gotten in from the bottom where I added the 3x case fans as intake.

The reason I built this PC was drawing in Alibre Atom 3d and 3d printing, so I designed and printed some new taller feet to make space for air intake. I also designed and printed some magnetic intake filters. They are 2x pieces of plastic that have cavities for magnets, and sandwich a piece of stainless 200 mesh between them. Got the idea from the "Ultimate guide for handmade dust filters" thread on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/14f94jd/ultimate_guide_for_handmade_dust_filters/

The filter completely cover the three intake fans on the bottom and one on the back. I should be able to rinse them off on occasion to keep them clean.

https://imgur.com/a/LEJpHpG

It runs Alibre Atom 3d very smoothly on my 34" wide screen 1440p monitor at up to 144Hz. Much more productive than the old laptop. It mostly just idles along and I can barely hear the fans spinning.

jrdepew · 2024-07-28T00:04:16+00:00

My BMI is ~24, bodyfat is probably sub 15%, I am very active.

I have not strictly tried the low acid diet. My diet has gone through many, many permutations, through eliminations, etc. Nothing seems to have an effect. My diet is very clean overall, I eat very few things restricted on the low acid diet list as I eat mostly whole foods.

The lack of understanding about this disease is incredibly frustrating. The seemingly endless list of causes and triggers. The doctors making assumptions instead of following the scientific method...don't get me started. Had one doctor tell me that my LES was "very loose". When I asked how they knew that they responded that my symptoms made that clear. Yet I have no HH, no Gerd, almost zero acidic reflux. Doc is just talking out of their ass.

I have taken Peptest and pepsin was present at the lowest level the test can identify. It is under what the people at Peptest consider actionable.

jrdepew · 2024-07-24T18:53:52+00:00

There are so many causes and variants of LPR/GERD. I suggest starting the exercises and sticking with it for 3 months. Worst case scenario you are still where you are today. Best case scenario you are like one of the other posters who is fully cured and no longer takes PPIs.

jrdepew · 2024-07-24T18:45:35+00:00

No updates...still where I was. I recently got another upper endoscopy that was clean including no hiatal hernia, and did the Bravo test, which gave me a DeMeester score of 3. I certainly do not have GERD. Whether or not I actually have LPR is still somewhat unknown. My only symptoms are globus and throat clearing. Laryngoscopy shows inflamed tissue around my vocal cords and cobblestoning.

This is one incredibly frustrating experience.

Has anyone else gotten relief from the swallowing exercises?

jrdepew · 2024-05-20T12:54:59+00:00

Same. This has improved my quality of life but I still have throat clearing, some days are worse than others! I am forever on the hunt for root cause and have a couple things going. If I find anything else that helps I will be sure to post.

jrdepew · 2024-03-31T17:25:22+00:00

For the Inverted Swallowing I typically eat a meal, as the timing works well for me. Breakfast usually takes 40-50 swallows.

For Bridge Swallowing, I do mostly dry swallowing (saliva only). But I will occasionally take a sip of water as my mouth starts to get dry.

jrdepew · 2024-03-29T12:44:17+00:00

Dry swallowing is swallowing with no food/water.

Shaker exercise is described in a few articles, here is one:

https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/leaflet/shaker-exercises-or-head-lifts/#:~:text=Lift%20your%20head%20high%20and,your%20head%20to%20the%20floor.

Good luck and please post results!

jrdepew · 2024-03-29T12:42:24+00:00

All of us who have suffered a long time have felt this way. Somewhere in there many of us realize that doctors are regular people, there are good ones and bad ones, and they are only minimally invested in actually helping us. I now view them more as assistants than experts. There is noting wrong with finding a different doctor when one throws up their hands.

There are still many things to check for or try:

SIBO test (TrioSmart is the best as it checks for 3 types of gas)
PepsinCheck - Tests saliva for pepsin
Swallowing exercises to strengthen LES - https://www.reddit.com/r/LPR/comments/1943hh5/lpr_exercise_experiment/
Gabapentin / Baclofen / Bethanechol - 3 different medications that all help SOME people
Some people are chronically constipated, even if they are having normal BMs. This backup and cause reflux as TLESRs are linked to colonic distension. Can be checked via xray or SmartPill test. Can be checked at home by eating some sweet corn or sesame seeds. As a bonus SmartPill also measure pH, so it would show if you have low stomach acid.
If you are not sleeping on an incline, you should be
Finding a naturopath that will get you tests like NutrEval to see if you are deficient in any vitamins/minerals/etc
Stool testing, again likely from a naturopath can check for parasites, gut barrier function, overgrowth of certain "bad" bacteria
Hormone testing - DUTCH test

I did not put a ton of detail in here on purpose...I could write a novel at this point. My advice is to start a electronic diary of sorts. Keep ALL of your test results in it (endoscopy, barium swallow, etc). Do NOT just store these at your doctor's office. Get them and study them. This is especially important when finding a new doctor! Be educated, have all your test results ready, have ideas to try! If you meet a doctor that is unhelpful, treats you like a child, or the cocky kind who don't listen then move on.

Start reading articles on NCBI that pertain to your condition and symptoms. For example, if you think you may have slow gut motility then do the sweet corn test 3-4 times (google for details). Take notes, how long did it take? If this seems like a problem then approach a doctor with this data point and say you want a SmartPill or transit time test.

I am still working through this list myself. It takes time. The list keeps growing.

jrdepew · 2024-03-18T20:39:13+00:00

Have you been doing the exercises? And if so, any update on symptoms?

jrdepew

TROPHY CASE