GERD/Acid reflux

_Simon_ said:
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? :)
Click to expand...
Hi Simon, please get checked for hiatal hernia and H.pylori, if indeed you do have H.pylori it’s an easy fix. If you have a serious defect as in diaphragmatic hernia, your physician may refer you to a general surgeon or better yet a gastroenterologist. That physician may deem your situation serious enough to warrant a procedure known as laparoscopic nissen fundoplication. This is a procedure that has some risks associated with both the actual operation and after the fact. I urge you to check and double check that physician out thoroughly including his/her surgical outcomes. I would try to stick with an actual gastroenterologist. You can look this up but if you have specific questions about hot this procedure is performed I am happy to help. I have assisted in too many to count, and although I am not an MD I can tell you that certainly not all of them were of a nature that was severe enough to warrant surgical intervention. Many people complain of a whole separate bunch of issues arising from having had the procedure. Do your due diligence and be your own advocate. Good luck I hope you find resolution for this issue.
 
Firstly, you're awesome everyone, thanks so much, incredibly helpful replies!

Yeah I often see common themes when it comes to triggers... I honestly think mine is more stress related, as it's been a rather intense emotional time... I've been pretty good for the last couple of weeks though and perhaps my body is playing catchup with feeling the effects of it.

Will reply individually 👍🏻
 
MetalBoar said:
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.
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That's rather interesting... yeah for some it seems completely diet-related.. it's bizarre as I eat really well, and literally nothing had changed in my diet recently that could have triggered it. I don't drink alcohol, rarely if ever drink carbonated beverages...

And YES what is it with ketchup?? Mine is always triggered when I have ketchup too!! It's not often I have it though, but there's something about ketchup! Tomato seems fine though for me.

Thanks mate appreciate your input, I'll look into my diet anyway for sure :)
 
Rich Parsons said:
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.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. Yeah I read up on that, laying down after eating is a no no, and I'm trying to sleep only on my left side, at the moment anyway. Nah that's great appreciate it!
 
Tony Dismukes said:
I can't eat right before going to bed at night, at least not anything substantial.
Click to expand...
Sleeping on your left side may help to keep it at bay depending on how much you eat. From what I read and understand, by sleeping on your left side you are positioning the stomach in a way that it won't come back up. Drinking half a cup of whole milk helps me but medical people say that it agrevates acid reflux. I guess I'm weird like that. Being overweight causes problems for me. I've lost a bit of weight but I'll know for sure once I lose about 30 lbs.
 
I'm starting to see a pattern. Martial Artist get Acid Reflux or is it Old Men get Acid Reflux lol. I've never seen such a high percentage of people in one thread lol.
 
Tony Dismukes said:
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.
Click to expand...

Geez that sounds like a real bugger... yeah have been on Esomeprazole for 2 weeks now but only the morning. Finished the pack so going to see how I go without it the next little bit.

Didn't realize allergies could play a part! I get pretty bad hayfever so I'll keep that in mind.

Yeah I'm pretty big on coffee haha, more of a passion than just something I drink. I don't drink crazy amounts though, but have cut down slightly just in the meantime to see if it helps.

It's funny, food seems to really help me haha. I can't figure out any trigger foods, but if I eat I feel 1000 times better, bizarre. Maybe I should become like a cow and just graze through the day haha.

Thanks Tony :)
 
Xue Sheng said:
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
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Ah that's very helpful, thanks Xue.

Yeah I got frightened a few times as I have had pain in the left side of the chest, but very much all the other symptoms show it's reflux... I will get it checked out though if needed.

Ginger juice and ACV, awesome. Yeah I've been getting into ginger, used to have ACV all the time, will get some more methinks!
 
Monkey Turned Wolf said:
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.
Click to expand...
Yeah definitely, am trying to be more mindful of what's occurring. The stress on my body seems more related to existential crises haha, so very general and vague, but if I get too lost in conceptual thinking and trying to "figure it all out" I get overwhelmed. So definitely a pattern I need to look into.

You know, training and music seem to be some of the only things that help me in that regard, gets me out of my head and reminds me of something important in life... so I've been focusing on these alot. Cheers 👍🏻
 
Gerry Seymour said:
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.
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Cheers Gerry! Will definitely look into this. I already eat an insane amount haha, but yeah will do thanks!
 
Wing Woo Gar said:
Have you been checked for a hiatal hernia? Tested for H.pylori?
Click to expand...
Wing Woo Gar said:
Hi Simon, please get checked for hiatal hernia and H.pylori, if indeed you do have H.pylori it’s an easy fix. If you have a serious defect as in diaphragmatic hernia, your physician may refer you to a general surgeon or better yet a gastroenterologist. That physician may deem your situation serious enough to warrant a procedure known as laparoscopic nissen fundoplication. This is a procedure that has some risks associated with both the actual operation and after the fact. I urge you to check and double check that physician out thoroughly including his/her surgical outcomes. I would try to stick with an actual gastroenterologist. You can look this up but if you have specific questions about hot this procedure is performed I am happy to help. I have assisted in too many to count, and although I am not an MD I can tell you that certainly not all of them were of a nature that was severe enough to warrant surgical intervention. Many people complain of a whole separate bunch of issues arising from having had the procedure. Do your due diligence and be your own advocate. Good luck I hope you find resolution for this issue.
Click to expand...

I remember last time I had a bad bout of reflux I got tested for H. Pylori and it was negative, but something I'll consider getting looked at. Thanks a lot for that info, it's something I will keep in mind for sure if things don't settle 👍🏻
 
_Simon_ said:
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? :)
Click to expand...
Hey, I just noticed this thread.

First off, awesome thread! I also am eager to hear everyone's input because I'm still struggling to get over my GERD this time around.

Secondly, I'm really glad my suggestion helped! I think doing this on a regular basis for maybe 15-20 minutes a day will help speed up recovery.

In my own case, I have completely changed my diet. Acidic food and drinks are especially triggering for me. A beer or two can give me symptoms for weeks and set me back months in terms of healing, I've discovered. Coffee is also really bad, which is really, really hard for me to give up. I keep making the mistake of thinking that I'm better, and then starting back up coffee for a week (just one cup every day or every other day) and find myself back where I started after 2 weeks, all of my progress gone.

So, it seems that coffee has to go for me :/ Alcohol I can give up, but coffee is tough.

Soft drinks/Soda, Spicey food (especially indian food/curry, which I love), big meals, and to a much lesser extent, fried foods, are all triggers as well. Basically, you have to live an extremely boring life for a year or two. Probably two years, if you really want to be sure. I just haven't had the discipline to make it that long (yet), I guess.

Be extremely careful with premade or bottled drinks such as tea in America, too. While it's much better where I live now (Japan), in America, I found that bottled tea that you buy in stores contained enough citric acid (as a preservative) to really trigger my symptoms. Here in Japan, I experienced the same thing with a few select products, such as a protein drink I was buying, but on whole, there seems to be far less preservatives / citric acid in many products, which is great.

Obviously, tomatos, lemons, oranges, and most citric juices are all off the table as they do really trigger my symptoms.

The last time this occurred to me, I stopped drinking alcohol, eating spicy food and switched to a low acid coffee and my symptoms disappeared after about a year of being good. I had no problem for a number of years after that. This time, it's been way tougher, and I've been struggling for more than 2 years now.

Covid and mask wearing seems to make it all way worse, as far as breathing goes. I'm starting to wonder if shallow / incorrect breathing might not actually be the cause of this all in some way... maybe the muscle in question doesn't get "exercise" when we breath shallow? I don't know, just speculating wildly here. I just know that breathing deeply into the abdomin and exhaling fully really helps.
 
Last edited:
Note: I drink my coffee black.
Maybe those who like to dilute it with a lot of milk may find it affects them less.
 
_Simon_ said:
That's rather interesting... yeah for some it seems completely diet-related.. it's bizarre as I eat really well, and literally nothing had changed in my diet recently that could have triggered it. I don't drink alcohol, rarely if ever drink carbonated beverages...

And YES what is it with ketchup?? Mine is always triggered when I have ketchup too!! It's not often I have it though, but there's something about ketchup! Tomato seems fine though for me.

Thanks mate appreciate your input, I'll look into my diet anyway for sure :)
Click to expand...

If tomato is fine and ketchup is bad, then look at what you eat with the ketchup or the sugar in the ketchup
 
Argus said:
Hey, I just noticed this thread.

First off, awesome thread! I also am eager to hear everyone's input because I'm still struggling to get over my GERD this time around.

Secondly, I'm really glad my suggestion helped! I think doing this on a regular basis for maybe 15-20 minutes a day will help speed up recovery.

In my own case, I have completely changed my diet. Acidic food and drinks are especially triggering for me. A beer or two can give me symptoms for weeks and set me back months in terms of healing, I've discovered. Coffee is also really bad, which is really, really hard for me to give up. I keep making the mistake of thinking that I'm better, and then starting back up coffee for a week (just one cup every day or every other day) and find myself back where I started after 2 weeks, all of my progress gone.

So, it seems that coffee has to go for me :/ Alcohol I can give up, but coffee is tough.

Soft drinks/Soda, Spicey food (especially indian food/curry, which I love), big meals, and to a much lesser extent, fried foods, are all triggers as well. Basically, you have to live an extremely boring life for a year or two. Probably two years, if you really want to be sure. I just haven't had the discipline to make it that long (yet), I guess.

Be extremely careful with premade or bottled drinks such as tea in America, too. While it's much better where I live now (Japan), in America, I found that bottled tea that you buy in stores contained enough citric acid (as a preservative) to really trigger my symptoms. Here in Japan, I experienced the same thing with a few select products, such as a protein drink I was buying, but on whole, there seems to be far less preservatives / citric acid in many products, which is great.

Obviously, tomatos, lemons, oranges, and most citric juices are all off the table as they do really trigger my symptoms.

The last time this occurred to me, I stopped drinking alcohol, eating spicy food and switched to a low acid coffee and my symptoms disappeared after about a year of being good. I had no problem for a number of years after that. This time, it's been way tougher, and I've been struggling for more than 2 years now.

Covid and mask wearing seems to make it all way worse, as far as breathing goes. I'm starting to wonder if shallow / incorrect breathing might not actually be the cause of this all in some way... maybe the muscle in question doesn't get "exercise" when we breath shallow? I don't know, just speculating wildly here. I just know that breathing deeply into the abdomin and exhaling fully really helps.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear it's been back in full force... and giving up coffee yeeeah that's hard.. but glad you're looking into it all and figuring out what works for you. It's definitely a process...

Yeah breathing and specifically relaxation of the abdominal muscles. I have a chronic pelvic tension condition, and alot of knots and tension all throughout the abdomen/obliques. I'm pretty sure this is a big factor for me regarding reflux (and stress creates/exacerbates the tension), so the breathing stuff is really helping to relieve tension and soften everything. If there's excessive tension there can be restriction, and can definitely cause internal issues as I've experienced over the years. And I'm really doubling down on stretching and massage stuff too.
 
Very bizarre, we had fish and chips for dinner tonight, so I was fully expecting a rough night. Greasy, fatty, deep fried food. It's been about 4 hours since we ate, and I feel absolutely 100% fine haha. No difference whatsoever! So am relieved about that, but makes me further feel that diet isn't the biggest contributor for me personally.
 
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