Acid Reflux

[hans030390]

I've read somewhere online that taking medication such as Nexium can actually make things worse. I suppose it depends on the person and particular condition, but they made my girlfriend feel worse over time.

Strange as it might be, I've heard of a number of people taking magnesium daily with great results. You may want to try looking up certain supplements/nutrients/vitamins you could try taking more of.

Usually, losing some weight is the best way to help it. You also just have to really watch what you eat, which sometimes requires a complete diet overhaul.

 

[Adrenaline]

I cut back drastically on fried foods and carbonated beverages. Worked for me.

Doctor's advice from four years ago.

A quick list:
Fried foods
Pizza (tomato paste products)
Dark colored sodas
Dark colored beer or all beer
Chocolate
Coffee

I don't recall spicy foods but they may be on the list.

 

[allisolm]

If you have Gerd they will proscribe you a series of medications.

There are two family's for stomach acid. One's that attach to the stomach lining and others that stop the stomach from producing acid.

I have been dealing with GERD since I was a child at 14, my experience is definitely first hand. I tried prilosec, propsulid, nexium, zantac, protonix. The only effective medicine to date has been protonix. The other medications felt as if they made it worse.

Change your eating habits, elevate your bed, getting a larger pillow and do not eat anything after 8:00pm. If you go to a doctor be prepared to hear the exact same thing said to you. They will also do an endoscopy as a precaution. If it is determined you have GERD, they will prescribe you a list of medicine from above.

And if none of that works well, there's always fundoplication surgery which did absolute wonders for my husband. He went from large doses of medication and still suffering to not having taken even a single Tums since the surgery and it's been several years. I wish we had known about and opted for the surgery earlier. It would have saved him a lot of pain.

 

[Ns1]

2012 bump, any new products/medicine?

Any product recommendations for "elevate your bed, getting a larger pillow"?

wtf does elevate your bed even mean? saw a few "liberator" type product on Amazon that are supposedly helpful with GERD/nighttime acid reflux - anyone here use one?

 

[SandEagle]

activated charcoal tablets

google it. found out about them recently and they seem to work well.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Zegerid which is omeprazole + sodium bicarb.

If it's a constant thing though, see a doctor.

 

[AlienCraft]

2012 bump, any new products/medicine?

Any product recommendations for "elevate your bed, getting a larger pillow"?

wtf does elevate your bed even mean? saw a few "liberator" type product on Amazon that are supposedly helpful with GERD/nighttime acid reflux - anyone here use one?

Elevateing the head above the stomach will keep gastric juices off of the already irritated Esophageul(sp) sphincter. which is the source of that "creeping up from your gut" feeling.
Limit the amount of liquid you take before going to bed. Take the "acid pump" pill to shut them off with chemicals. You may be able to wean off them over time.
Good luck . Took me years.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

2012 bump, any new products/medicine?

Any product recommendations for "elevate your bed, getting a larger pillow"?

wtf does elevate your bed even mean? saw a few "liberator" type product on Amazon that are supposedly helpful with GERD/nighttime acid reflux - anyone here use one?

Lifestyle changes are the best first step: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gerd/DS00967/DSECTION=lifestyle-and-home-remedies'

And if you want to elevate your bed, don't just stack more pillows. You need your abdomen on an incline to prevent nighttime acid reflux. I'd change your diet and ensure you're sleeping on an empty stomach before anything though.

 

[Spoooon]

Lost 50 pounds, no more acid reflux. I was plagued by it last year. Exacerbated by "bad" foods, would still get it occasionally regardless of what I ate. Haven't had any reflux in over 6 months.

I used to have to sleep on the couch, it was the only way to ensure that I was propped up enough.

 

[Colt45]

I found zantac quit working for me since the last time I posted in this thread. Moved to pantoprazole, and it seems to work quite well.

Now working on losing some weight... which was the root cause, afaik.

 

[OverVolt]

This runs in my family. I actually think its from high histamine. Anti-histamines are an anti-emetic too (ranitidine anyone?), and high histamine from food makes it hard to digest food. Receptor wise, it channels blood away from digestion, gives you very low grade nausea, etc.

So, alcohol is a double whammy. Inhibits the enzyme that breaks down histamine, and stimulates its release. The same for citrus, orange juice, lemons, anything citrus tends to flare up histamine.

Then there is preserved meats, hot dogs, sandwiches, etc. Some are okay, turkey is actually settling to my stomach, hotdogs make me sick as does corned beef.

When it comes to meat, freshness is king. I can tolerate cheese, but can't eat too much. Advocado will destroy your stomach, very high in histamine.

Also, I get bad itching with any opioid. I'm allergic to augmention (clavunate) and aspirin makes me ill 2-3 days after I took it. All 3 of those medications trigger a release of histamine. So I think its rather conclusive.

When my stomach DOES bother me, I drink peppermint tea, & chamomile tea.

 

[OverVolt]

"Pizza (tomato paste products)" Ah yes, tomato too. I can tolerate pizza though. If its good pizza.

Wine is instant stomach death lol.

 

[Chiropteran]

Eat pickles. I start to feel a bit of heart burn, I eat a whole classen pickle. All better almost immediately. Drinking the pickle juice works too.

 

[Ns1]

Prilosec = does nothing, GF still had crippling nausea

1 week on protonix and she seems fairly normal.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Eat healthy food

Stay FAR away from anything fried, soda, sweets etc

Or go to a doctor and he will give you a magic pill that will temporary solve your issues while ruining your health in the long run.....while you continue to ruin your health with your bad eating habits.

: D

 

[Ns1]

Eat healthy food

Stay FAR away from anything fried, soda, sweets etc

Or go to a doctor and he will give you a magic pill that will temporary solve your issues while ruining your health in the long run.....while you continue to ruin your health with your bad eating habits.

We opted for the latter, and that magic pill is called protonix.

 

[Garet Jax]

How do you deal with this? I have tried tums but it doesn't work for me. Any other suggestions?

I am 40 years old and have had GERD for more than 2 decades. If the medication exists, I have probably tried it. Right now I am on Prilosec OTC. I take one everyone morning and sometimes (3-6 times per month) double up at night.

 

[Garet Jax]

Eat healthy food

Stay FAR away from anything fried, soda, sweets etc

Or go to a doctor and he will give you a magic pill that will temporary solve your issues while ruining your health in the long run.....while you continue to ruin your health with your bad eating habits.

: D

Not quite that simple - I got indigestion from drinking water. My indigestion is so bad, that if I miss one pill I will be suffering at some point that same day regardless of what I eat.

 

[GrumpyMan]

The best for reflux is Dexlant. Of course my insurance company stopped paying for it since they now have OTC stuff to buy, bastards. It is the best in my opinion.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Tomatoes kill me. Unhealthy foods in general do it, mostly stuff like pizza, fried stuff, burgers, etc. Tomatoes are probably the worst trigger for me though.

I just keep Tums close at hand and they work pretty well. Several years ago, I tried Zantac and it did quite a good job of preventing it as long as I took it every day. Haven't continued with that because the heartburn hasn't been as bad in recent years, but it's something to look into.

 

[dbk]

Prilosec works for my dad, does nothing for my gf.. I guess it depends on the person, so consult your doc. meh

Tomatoes also does it for me, too.. One of the only times it has ever happened to me was when my roommate cooked lasasgna, leaving me to wonder what the strange and painful sensation was running up and down my chest.

 

[OverVolt]

Omerprazoleeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TuxDave]

Zegerid which is omeprazole + sodium bicarb.

If it's a constant thing though, see a doctor.

Yeah I probably need to schedule something for myself. 3 years ago I had a cough, got diagnosed with possible GERD and took prilosec. After 2 weeks, I never coughed. 2 years later after I got sick, it's back and still around after 2 months of coughing here and there. Losing weight helped a ton as well as cutting back on lots of other foods.

But yeah, I probably should go see a doctor anyways.

 

[torpid]

We opted for the latter, and that magic pill is called protonix.

This worked the best for me for a while but eventually caused a lot of nausea constantly.

The comment about eating foods that are bad for you is idiotic. I get heartburn from healthy foods as much as unhealthy ones. Oatmeal and yogurt seem particularly bad, even if I don't use any dairy in the oatmeal. Many fruits aren't so great either.

 

[Fritzo]

I had to go to the doctor for mine. Anytime I ate any "dense" meat (chicken, pork, turkey, etc), or any kind of starchy food, it would "get stuck", and sometimes I would even throw up. I'd be eating dinner and have to stop because of that stuck feeling, then run to the bathroom as everything I ate came back out.

The doctor put my on time-release omeprazole, and I took that in conjunction with Prilosec once per day. The problem cleared up in about 3 weeks. If it returns, I'm facing having my esophagus stretched because scar tissue it most likely constricting the food pathway.

Anyway, the point is go see a doctor.