GERD/Acid reflux

[_Simon_]

Hi all! I've had a few phases of intensely bad acid reflux (even as a baby I was hospitalised it was that bad), got it a few years back which lasted many months. Went away, and I feel like it has reemerged quite badly again now.

Just wondering if there are any other sufferers of this and what they've found to be helpful to them. I'm really looking for more natural solutions. I am in desperation trying esomeprazole 20mg tablets daily, and just reached two weeks on it. Has helped only marginally.

Actually @Argus I remember you mentioned diaphragmatic breathing in the other thread. I actually did a deep breathing focused meditation the other day and man it helped massively!

I'm smashing down plenty of ginger in herbal tea, antacids and bicarbonate of soda only when needed... I have found that I feel immensely better after eating food. If I go too long without food it really gets nasty!

And of course, stress/anxiety is a MASSIVE driver, so I'm addressing this as best as I can.

Any tips or helpful things you've come across?

 

[MetalBoar]

Hi all! I've had a few phases of intensely bad acid reflux (even as a baby I was hospitalised it was that bad), got it a few years back which lasted many months. Went away, and I feel like it has reemerged quite badly again now.

Just wondering if there are any other sufferers of this and what they've found to be helpful to them. I'm really looking for more natural solutions. I am in desperation trying esomeprazole 20mg tablets daily, and just reached two weeks on it. Has helped only marginally.

Actually @Argus I remember you mentioned diaphragmatic breathing in the other thread. I actually did a deep breathing focused meditation the other day and man it helped massively!

I'm smashing down plenty of ginger in herbal tea, antacids and bicarbonate of soda only when needed... I have found that I feel immensely better after eating food. If I go too long without food it really gets nasty!

And of course, stress/anxiety is a MASSIVE driver, so I'm addressing this as best as I can.

Any tips or helpful things you've come across?

I used to have terrible problems with acid reflux. I don't know if it'll be helpful for you at all, but when I became a vegan it just went away. I don't think it was specifically being a vegetarian that fixed it for me (I'm not a vegetarian now and I don't often have troubles with it), but I changed my diet completely when I went vegan - very little processed food, no ketchup, no carbonated soft drinks, no alcohol, no chips (British or American version of the chip) no refined sugar, etc. I've since found that ketchup, carbonated soft drinks and alcohol are triggers for me for sure, and refined flour probably exacerbates it if I eat a lot. I can do a little booze, but I need to take regular breaks with zero alcohol. Carbonated soft drinks are terrible for me when it comes to acid reflux, but I don't miss them and they're terrible for me regardless so good riddance. In general the more I cook at home and eat "real food" the less trouble I have.

I don't know what your diet is like now but you might experiment with doing a pretty restricted set of minimally processed foods and see if it helps and then, if it does, add things back in until you can kind of map out where the trouble lies.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Hi _Simon_,

My dad has this.
I know positional triggers are a thing.
If you lay down even after a while after eating or drinking a lot.
And Sleeping, one side triggers more than another.

So yes the meditative breathing is back straight and breathing from the diaphragm, which I think is how one might also need to sit like even when chilling / relaxing.
No leaning back , or slouching.

Sorry it is second hand information from me. And not much at all as it is something we just never discussed a lot about.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I've had bad reflux for about 10-15 years now. Apparently, the valve which is supposed to keep acid down in the stomach is completely shot. Things which help me:

Esomeprazole 2x day, once in the morning, once in the evening. (This is double the amount recommended on the bottle, but it's what my doctor prescribed.) Any time I run out, I feel a significant increase in symptoms within 24 hours.

I can't eat right before going to bed at night, at least not anything substantial.

I need to not eat for at least a couple of hours before jiu-jitsu practice. (I can handle eating before other forms of training, but not before a workout where people are trying to fold me like a pretzel or pin me down with all their weight on me.)

Sinus drainage from allergies aggravates my reflux and I'm allergic to everything which grows in the state of Kentucky, so I stay loaded up on allergy meds.

Diet makes a difference. I don't have a perfect diet, but I try not to overdo anything with a high inflammatory index. I also eat a lot of yogurt, which seems to help. I have to stay moderate in caffeine consumption. I can handle one cup of coffee in the morning and some tea during the day, but anything beyond that will cause problems. I've discovered that I can't drink Gatorade while I'm working out. I can have it an hour beforehand or I can have it after a workout, but if I drink it during a workout it seems to provoke reflux. During workouts it's water only. You may need to experiment to see what foods act as triggers for you.

Hope that helps.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Simon

I have had a few bouts of Acid Reflux, went to the ER a few times. My acid reflux symptoms mimic heart attack symptoms. Discovered a quick way for me to calm it down was drinking a shot of Apple Cider Vinegar. Hard to drink but I felt the cooling as it went down, however it did not work everytime. Another drink I made that helped was glass of water (not ice water) tablespoon of ginger juice and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

Other than that I did a lot of reading about GERD and changed my diet drastically. Looked at a lot of food triggers and eliminated them. Basically my diet got rather boring and rather healthy and it took a bit of time, but the acid reflux went away. After a few bouts my diet is permanently changed to mostly vegetarian. I still eat chicken and some fish, but I avoid fried and really avoid deep fried. I still get little flare ups every now and then, but I just look at what I've been eating and it generally get them under control rather quickly.

I hate taking medication so if I can fix it naturally, I will

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Sinus drainage from allergies aggravates my reflux and I'm allergic to everything which grows in the state of Kentucky, so I stay loaded up on allergy meds.

I just wanted to expand on this in case it's useful for anybody else...

For years I suffered from what appeared to be (and sometimes were) frequent mild-to-severe respiratory infections. I didn't even realize I had reflux. Eventually I got a doc who figured out that the problem was an interaction between allergies/asthma and GERD. Basically the allergies would cause sinus drainage, which would provoke low-level reflux. The reflux would creep up (especially during the night) and the acid would cause irritation in my upper respiratory tract, making it feel like I was coming down with a cold. This could end up creating a vicious cycle and sometimes lead to actual infections as the irritated tissues became more susceptible to whatever germs were floating around. Once I started treating both the allergies and the reflux, my rate of upper respiratory infections dropped by 80-90%.

Over the years, the reflux has gotten worse, so that it's apparent for what it is if I don't take care of it properly, but in the early stages it appeared to be something entirely different.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Tea and antacids work for me. I also can't eat anything after 8pm or so (well I can, it just will suck when I lie down for bed), and that's with me normally lying down for bed around midnight. Also need to make sure I don't eat an hour before I do a workout, if that workout is involving benchwork, situps, pushups or grappling.

There are definitely times it gets worse-normally when I'm stressed out. When I notice that happening I take a look to see what's stressing me out, and start meditating more often.

I also know certain foods trigger it. I still eat those foods, but have antacid ready and make sure that none of the other things (working out/late at night/stressing) are present-I'm at the point where it's not too bad with just the food but if you add the extra triggers it gets bad. If you are worse than me, it's worth keeping a food journal to see what you ate the days it gets bad and change your diet accordingly.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Tea and antacids work for me. I also can't eat anything after 8pm or so (well I can, it just will suck when I lie down for bed), and that's with me normally lying down for bed around midnight. Also need to make sure I don't eat an hour before I do a workout, if that workout is involving benchwork, situps, pushups or grappling.

There are definitely times it gets worse-normally when I'm stressed out. When I notice that happening I take a look to see what's stressing me out, and start meditating more often.

I remember years ago, when my Grandmother was having acid reflux issues they elevated the head of her bed by a few inches and that helped her acid reflux issues when she was trying to sleep.

They put a coupe books underneath the feet of the headboard

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I remember years ago, when my Grandmother was having acid reflux issues they elevated the head of her bed by a few inches and that helped her acid reflux issues when she was trying to sleep.

They put a coupe books underneath the feet of the headboard

I've got separate neck issues. If my neck falls asleep not in a specific way, it'll hurt me for the next couple of days.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I've got separate neck issues. If my neck falls asleep not in a specific way, it'll hurt me for the next couple of days.

her mattress and pillows never changed, and still felt flat, it just increase the angle of the entire bed a few degrees, downward from head to foot.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

her mattress and pillows never changed, and still felt flat, it just increase the angle of the entire bed a few degrees, downward from head to foot.

I might give it a try. If it hurts my neck I'll be blaming you

 

[Xue Sheng]

I might give it a try. If it hurts my neck I'll be blaming you

I deny all culpability

something like this

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hi all! I've had a few phases of intensely bad acid reflux (even as a baby I was hospitalised it was that bad), got it a few years back which lasted many months. Went away, and I feel like it has reemerged quite badly again now.

Just wondering if there are any other sufferers of this and what they've found to be helpful to them. I'm really looking for more natural solutions. I am in desperation trying esomeprazole 20mg tablets daily, and just reached two weeks on it. Has helped only marginally.

Actually @Argus I remember you mentioned diaphragmatic breathing in the other thread. I actually did a deep breathing focused meditation the other day and man it helped massively!

I'm smashing down plenty of ginger in herbal tea, antacids and bicarbonate of soda only when needed... I have found that I feel immensely better after eating food. If I go too long without food it really gets nasty!

And of course, stress/anxiety is a MASSIVE driver, so I'm addressing this as best as I can.

Any tips or helpful things you've come across?

I suffer a very mild version when I'm under stress, but it can occur any time when I go too long between substantial meals. There are times I can get away with a quick food bar to fuel me mid-day, but other times that'll lead me to some pretty uncomfortable (clearly not as bad as yours) GERD.

Since you already mentioned a similar effect, maybe looking for more substantial (volume-wise) foods to eat when you know you're dealing with an episode of this. For me, adding a salad to an otherwise low-volume meal can go a long way to avoiding the problem.

Man, I hope you find something that helps.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I used to have terrible problems with acid reflux. I don't know if it'll be helpful for you at all, but when I became a vegan it just went away. I don't think it was specifically being a vegetarian that fixed it for me (I'm not a vegetarian now and I don't often have troubles with it), but I changed my diet completely when I went vegan - very little processed food, no ketchup, no carbonated soft drinks, no alcohol, no chips (British or American version of the chip) no refined sugar, etc. I've since found that ketchup, carbonated soft drinks and alcohol are triggers for me for sure, and refined flour probably exacerbates it if I eat a lot. I can do a little booze, but I need to take regular breaks with zero alcohol. Carbonated soft drinks are terrible for me when it comes to acid reflux, but I don't miss them and they're terrible for me regardless so good riddance. In general the more I cook at home and eat "real food" the less trouble I have.

I don't know what your diet is like now but you might experiment with doing a pretty restricted set of minimally processed foods and see if it helps and then, if it does, add things back in until you can kind of map out where the trouble lies.

I do know that mine is often made worse or more likely by alcohol. Coffee is questionable - I do well if I have a strong latte or au lait, but not as well with just coffee with cream, on my worst days. Certainly acidic foods (like ketchup) seem likely to make it worse, as probably are carbonated drinks (I rarely drink them, so don't have experience to gauge this).

Eliminating specifically questionable foods for a while - especially during an attack - seems like a simple and prudent effort.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I just wanted to expand on this in case it's useful for anybody else...

For years I suffered from what appeared to be (and sometimes were) frequent mild-to-severe respiratory infections. I didn't even realize I had reflux. Eventually I got a doc who figured out that the problem was an interaction between allergies/asthma and GERD. Basically the allergies would cause sinus drainage, which would provoke low-level reflux. The reflux would creep up (especially during the night) and the acid would cause irritation in my upper respiratory tract, making it feel like I was coming down with a cold. This could end up creating a vicious cycle and sometimes lead to actual infections as the irritated tissues became more susceptible to whatever germs were floating around. Once I started treating both the allergies and the reflux, my rate of upper respiratory infections dropped by 80-90%.

Over the years, the reflux has gotten worse, so that it's apparent for what it is if I don't take care of it properly, but in the early stages it appeared to be something entirely different.

My memory sucks, but as I read this, I suspect I've gone through part of that cycle twice in the last couple of years, when I was sure I was going to come down with a bad cold, but it never happened.

 

[Rich Parsons]

I deny all culpability

something like this

I have seen this done with old Leather type or just regular hard back books. Maybe an old encyclopedia at a garage sale or somewhere else.
Ask the local recycled / used book stores if they get them, make an offer to them to keep the next 4 to 8 books like that that come in.
Check goodwill and other places for the older books .

Yes it hurt posting this, with my love and care for books, Yet I also realize some books just are not of a value to some or many.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I have seen this done with old Leather type or just regular hard back books. Maybe an old encyclopedia at a garage sale or somewhere else.
Ask the local recycled / used book stores if they get them, make an offer to them to keep the next 4 to 8 books like that that come in.
Check goodwill and other places for the older books .

Yes it hurt posting this, with my love and care for books, Yet I also realize some books just are not of a value to some or many.

Could also make some wooden blocks

 

[Steve]

Could also make some wooden blocks

Seems like this would be a little safer than books if you router an indentation to hold the legs of the bed in place. I can just imagine a bed sliding off of books or any other flat surface over time.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Hi all! I've had a few phases of intensely bad acid reflux (even as a baby I was hospitalised it was that bad), got it a few years back which lasted many months. Went away, and I feel like it has reemerged quite badly again now.

Just wondering if there are any other sufferers of this and what they've found to be helpful to them. I'm really looking for more natural solutions. I am in desperation trying esomeprazole 20mg tablets daily, and just reached two weeks on it. Has helped only marginally.

Actually @Argus I remember you mentioned diaphragmatic breathing in the other thread. I actually did a deep breathing focused meditation the other day and man it helped massively!

I'm smashing down plenty of ginger in herbal tea, antacids and bicarbonate of soda only when needed... I have found that I feel immensely better after eating food. If I go too long without food it really gets nasty!

And of course, stress/anxiety is a MASSIVE driver, so I'm addressing this as best as I can.

Any tips or helpful things you've come across?

Have you been checked for a hiatal hernia? Tested for H.pylori?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Seems like this would be a little safer than books if you router an indentation to hold the legs of the bed in place. I can just imagine a bed sliding off of books or any other flat surface over time.

Books worked for my Grandmother, but wooden blocks would very likely be better