Laryngopharyngeal Reflux, better known as LPR, is a syndrome involving discomfort and irritation in the throat, esophagus, and voice box area. The most common symptoms involve a lump-in-throat sensation (known as "globus"), frequent throat clearing, voice hoarseness, and a chronic cough. There are many other less frequent symptoms, including difficulty swallowing, sour taste in mouth, dental erosion, and shortness of breath, among others. While LPR is sometimes associated with another condition known as GERD, many LPR sufferers do not experience heartburn symptoms.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for LPR. Many live with it for months, years, or even decades without ever being able to solve the problem. Despite its relatively frequent (and increasing) diagnosis among patients, LPR is poorly researched, and poorly understood. Sadly, research papers written a decade ago could just as well have been written today. While modern medicine has come up with many miracle cures and treatments for countless different conditions, it is still currently stumped by LPR. In fact, doctors and researchers don't even agree upon LPR's causes and proper treatments.

My name is Todd Witteles. I am a professional poker player and computer scientist. On August 16, 2018, my life abruptly changed for the worse. I noticed a lump sensation in my throat which would not go away, and which I could not clear. When I went to bed at night, the lump sensation was so pronounced that I felt I could not breathe whenever I would lie down in bed. This caused many sleepless nights and brought on an anxiety and depression problem I never had before. A few days later, I visited an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor, who diagnosed me with LPR. He told me to take Nexium for two weeks and modify my diet, and I'd be better within a month. He was wrong. I did not get better. I've since done hundreds of hours of my own research on LPR, and realized that medical science currenty knows very little about this syndrome. I've also learned what to worry about and what NOT to worry about. I've learned what to do, and what NOT to do in order to attempt to resolve this. I have not cured myself. As I write this, I still feel the lump in my throat, and sometimes have that hopeless feeling just like you probably do quite often.

My research into LPR revealed that there has been one huge element missing from medical studies on LPR to date. Before I explain this, it's important to understand that LPR is a syndrome. It is not a disease. A syndrome is a group of symptoms that consistently occur together, but not neccessarily from the same cause. Therefore, one person's successful treatment for LPR is likely to fail for most others with LPR, because their causes and symptoms are often different from one another. Or, simply put, while many of us have some symptoms in common, the root cause of our problems vary greatly from person to person.

Sadly, LPR research has not attempted to group people by symptoms and causes, and has not tried to connect successful treatment to each cause/symptom combination. I feel this is essential if we want to learn how to stop LPR. Our body cannot tell us why we have LPR. However, if we can find others with a similar cause and symptoms to our own, it is far more likely that what worked for those people will work for us.

This website will attempt to collect such information and make it available to you, the LPR sufferer. It will consist of a short survey, and then will provide you with treatment suggestions, according to what worked for those with similar causes and symptoms to your own.

It is important to understand that I am not a doctor, nor am I a medical researcher. I do not have any expertise in either field. Please consult with your physician before attempting any treatment suggested by this website. Be aware that this site is simply collecting data and spitting back out information based upon what it has received. This website should NOT be used in place of a visit to a physician. Instead, it's meant to be of supplemental help to those who feel that their recommended treatment protocol has not helped them. It is also meant to give a potential "starting point" for those who feel overwhelmed by all the possible LPR treatment options.

Before we get started, it's important that you do a few things before taking tihs survey. It will allow you to better figure out where you stand, and thus be able to help yourself and others more.

Please visit the things to do before taking the survey page, prior to actually taking the survey itself.

Don't worry, we're not going anywhere.

Are you freaking out about LPR and thinking the worst? Don't worry, I've been there, too. Check out the Truth About LPR Page and get the facts.