Acid food and cold water

[teacup]

My boyfriend, who has CF, tries to avoid any kind of acid food, because he says it irritates his lungs, and after eating something very acid, he coughs up blood, and he keeps coughing mucus and blood for a few days.
Also, when drinking something cold, or even washing dishes, he feels some kind of pain in his lungs, and coughs up blood.... He always talks to his doctor about this (that's the only CF doctor in our city, and the other ones hardly know what CF is), and his doctor says it has nothing to do with anything (!).
So, has anyone experienced this before? Or something similar, with similar foods/drinks?
We feel<span>helplessness we see his doctor (and his CF team) not even giving attention to this, and not having anyone else to talk about this, or help in some sort of way... =|

 

[ymikhale]

My dd (4 y/o) has not experienced this but I try not to give her acid foods b/c germs thrive in acid environment. Don't have any scientific proof on that but it kind of makes sense. Never mentionned it to the doctor - will probably react the same way as yours. IMHO sometimes it is just easier to do what you feEl is right rather than trying to convincE doctors

 

[Havoc]

You do realize that stomach acid is between 1.5 and 3.5 pH right? Whereas a common acid added to foods is citric acid and is around 6 pH. The human body has a very narrow normal range of pH (7.35-7.45) and is very good at maintaining homeostasis. I have never read any serious medical literature suggesting that food could alter that range and cause someone to have alkalosis or acidosis. The obvious exception here is a diabetic with extremely uncontrolled blood sugar levels going into diabetic ketoacidosis. You know DKA when you see it.

To the OP, I agree with the doc that cold water has nothing to do with it. If your boyfriend has problems with acid reflux, it could be possible that he is having reflux at night and some if it is getting in the airway, causing irritation and perhaps a bleed. That's the only link between acid and hemoptosis that I can think of.

 

[Melissa75]

Has he been evaluated for aspirating his food? They would give him barium food of various consistencies and see if it goes into his lungs. I would imagine acidic food might be more irritating to the airways right off the bat.

FWIW, when I eat citrus fruits, I cough up noticeably more mucus right afterward, but I think it is from my throat and it doesn't feel bad/there is no blood.

Cold drinks can aggravate asthma, especially thick beverages. It's something people discuss on message boards, but I am not sure the "why" is understood.

 

[LittleLab4CF]

Either way, this smacks of aspiration. Stomach acid either is causing GERD or aspiration of stomach contents. This may require medication and a possibly elevating the torso at night. The latter motivates, me to eat early and light to avoid sleeping at an angle. If this is a correct assumption, long term it could develop into esophogeal sores, and God forbid, esophogeal cancer. I had an Uncle and two close friends diagnosed with esophogeal cancer, one survives. If you aren't seeing a GI doctor, maybe it is time.

 

[Marshyl]

I couldn't tell you about the blood, but the rest sounds like GERD, which is common with CFers. Has he talked to his doctor about that?

 

[teacup]

Wow, I'll talk to my boyfriend about GERD... didn't know about that.He has never complained about gastrointestinal discomfort ou anythink like that, but I'l talk to him about going to a GI. And he's not aspirating his food....
Havoc, I know about pH in body, but he really coughgs up (clean) blood and/or feel the blood in his lungs after eating somethin very acid... And the blood, he says, comes from his lungs. I know it really sounds strange, but that's what he feels after that... I'd always been worried about diabetes in his life, but his glicose is always normal in his exams.
But anyway, I'll try to bring up the GERD subject into his next appointment with the DC doc, also the Diabetic ketoacidosis, and hope it'll bring some light into what he's been experiencing...

 

[Havoc]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>teacup</b></i> Havoc, I know about pH in body, but he really coughgs up (clean) blood and/or feel the blood in his lungs after eating somethin very acid... And the blood, he says, comes from his lungs. I know it really sounds strange, but that's what he feels after that... </end quote>
The pH bit was directed atymikhale, sorry.