Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group GERD from taking NSAIDs, how do you recover?

It's well known that NSAIDs can tear up your stomach and cause problems. I am lucky in that my AS has always been fairly mild and I could get away with just taking celebrex occasionally.

This year though I had more pronounced AS inflammation and pain so I had to take celebrex daily for 3 months, and then to top it off I got shingles. The AS pain is mostly gone now, I still have some nerve pain left over from the shingles, and I'm finally off the celebrex.

BUT now I developed a constant cough (literally constant throughout the day), tickling and burning of the throat, made worse by eating just about anything. I'm taking heavy dose of PPI (pantoprazole) but still it only helps a little.

I imagine others on this forum have taken NSAIDs and ended up with GERD. Any recommendations for how to make it go away? Does it ever heal?

Didier

Stomach problems yes but I'v never heard of anyone having a cough because of taking NSAIDs. If it doesn't clear up of it's own accord then you will be seeing a doctor about it so see what he/she has to say then.

Thank you Frederick. I see the doctor tomorrow. It does happen that you can get GERD that only manifests as a chronic cough without any other symptoms, and GERD can develop from taking NSAIDs.

For 6 weeks now I've had a non-stop cough and the doctors are unsure what it is. Sometimes for hours at a time I can't really speak at all without coughing.

I thought it was GERD due to taking NSAIDs, but I don't have the classic GERD symptoms. The cough gets worse after eating or drinking anything, even small bites of bland food. The worst though is if I have even a drop of wine, my throat gets very tingly, my coughing goes through the roof for hours, and I get a sour taste in the mouth. I take the max dose of PPI and sometimes it seems to help, but other times it seems to make things worse?

We're having a bad pollen season so the doctor's latest theory is allergies / post nasal drip as he saw a "river of mucus" running down from my nose to throat. He me a nasal spray with steroids that seems to help more than the PPI, but still only somewhat.

Doctor also thought it could be a form of asthma and gave me the max dose of steroid inhalers. Sort of helps, but not really.

Since getting AS I've gotten flares of a number of other autoimmune conditions - UC, iritis, Raynauds, labyrinthitis, etc. I'm always wary of which one I'll develop next. Could this cough be another autoimmune condition?

I suppose it could be but then again! All you can do is ask your doctor after all we must place some trust in them or there is no point in seeing them (doctors that is)

In my case I had similar issue. My constant coughing and throat clearing was due to acid reflux sometimes very noticeable and other times imperceptible


Wine was an automatic cause. So was dairy and starchy food. A street vendor soft pretzel meant hours of agitation

Also I found I had to stop eating almost a full 3 hours before sleeping. Food after that was also a trigger.
In situations where I ate an agitating food I found that over the counter Zantac helped immensely as did increasing my daily water intake and a late day 20 minute brisk walk

Sounds like an odd mix but trial and error has made these things greatly reduce my coughing.

** Does anyone know if acid reflux is common in AS, or has an autoimmune correlation? ** I saw in some old threads that DragonSlayer indicated he thought so. MollyCi attributed it to NSAID use hurting the stomach.

Thanks Steve! That sounds very much like what I have been wrestling with. 'Silent' reflux / LPR that produces no heartburn, just a lot of coughing.

So far I've found asthma inhalers to help a lot for the coughing, as well as reducing on caffeine and alcohol. I've been experimenting with otc meds like Zantac, Gaviscon, etc. Eating late at night doesn't seem to affect me (at least not visibly), in fact in the evening all the symptoms go away. Will try your idea of extra water as well.

In as far as many A.S. sufferers take NSAIDs. and these drugs are notorious for causing stomach problems then yes acid reflux is probably common for A.S. sufferers. There are however various drugs available that can be a big help with this problem. Lansoprazole (Prevacid) and Omeprazole are among the more popular.