Anyone have Acid Reflux?

[KingOfTheHill]

Especially catch up in your throat? What do you take?

JOe

 

[GrimmJeeper]

prilosec FTW! that and i keep a big bottle of tums in every car, and one at work

i HATE it. but prilosec works great, as long as i dont forget to take it.

 

[macgyvr]

nexium 40mg one daily

mac 'keeps the burn away' gyvr

 

[KingOfTheHill]

Im on a pretty steady stream of meds for a problem i have and there have been a few changes and i started not being able to really swallow and my throat feels like there is a lump in it (like a really sad moment you get choked up)... it got to the point that i freaked out so bad i had to go to the hospital... I had bad asthma as a kid and had stopped breathing a few times... it threw me back to that memory and i just freaked out.

No health insurance and the other night will provide me with a SEVERAL hundred or possibly 1g+ worth of bills... so im doing research and Acid seems to be coming up an awful lot.

JOe

 

[5-90]

My wife has a "reactive airway" that can be triggered by GERD. Since she tends to fade out if she doesn't have a little something to eat every couple hours or so, we've been working with adjustments to keep her brain fuelled and make sure her GERD doesn't pop up.

We've lowered the intensity of reflux (some meat for protein for her brain, some bread to keep the stomach amused,) and we may have part of the RA trouble kicked. No meds for the stomach (although her mother takes three or four different stomach meds - hiatal hernia, GERD, healed ulcer, ...)

GERD seems to have lot to do with the stomach "getting bored" - don't increase your food intake, but break it down into smaller portions and take them in more often. Instead of three largish meals a day, cut it to six smaller meals and see what happens. Keep "quality calorie" munchies on hand - DIY beef jerky works well, and can me made in whatever flavour you want (she likes teriyaki, and I like chipotle.) Alternate between a bread roll for one snack, and a bit of jerky for the next. Going with whole grain for the breads will also help with fibre intake (I'd suggest veggies, but I don't care for them. I didn't fight and claw my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian - I'm a damned carnivore anyhow. But, if that's your thing, celery sticks or carrot sticks can work well - you just have to use more to accomplish a similar result to bread rolls.)

Soda crackers can also work for flare-ups - since the baking soda they use helps to neutralise small amounts of stomach acids.

Add some ginger to your diet spices as well, since ginger root is known to help settle your stomach.

Let me know if you need me to think of anything else...

 

[KingOfTheHill]

wow, lots of good info there. Thanks!

JOe

 

[5-90]

wow, lots of good info there. Thanks!

JOe

Just doin' what I can. As I've said before, what's the point in learning everything I've learned if I don't put it to some good use?

But, I think you'll find that making small changes to your diet (what you eat and how often) will help you as much as meds, and could eliminate the need for meds in the first place (which will save you a pantload, if you're uninsured or underinsured!)

(That, and I figure if there's one person out here who hates taking pills as much as I do, there must be more! Sadly, I can't make alterations to diet and such to correct what I need to work on...)

 

[YELLAHEEP]

You REALLY have to be careful about becoming too dependent on Tums and Rolaids - They're a re-active temporary cure - meaning that you're still letting stomach acid get up past your gastric sphincter and it's burning the lining of your esophagus/throat. Frequent acid exposure can do real damage to your throat and esophagus. I had reflux really bad in my 20's - likely due to drinking so much Mt Dew like it was water back then. I had reflux so often and so bad that I ended up having to go get my throat/esophagus scoped. I had damage to the tissue lining pretty significantly.

I'm now taking Acifex (prescription) and it works great. I rarely rely on antacids and take them only when I get a flare-up from forgetting to take the meds.

Limiting my intake of soda/pop made a huge improvement in my reflux.

 

[HaleYes]

nexium 40mg one daily

mac 'keeps the burn away' gyvr

Same here.

However, if I really watch what I eat, I don't really need to take it. But, that means no good stuff to eat.

 

[bigalpha]

I don't really have this problem unless I eat Chorizo at the local Mexican restaurants.

I end up burping it up for the next day. I can solve this problem by drinking a big, tall glass of water during dinner.

I've read some stuff that says dehydration can cause acid reflux. Before taking meds, try drinking more water throughout the day.

 

[KingOfTheHill]

Looks like im cutting out some stuff.. I drink probably close to a 2 litre bottle of diet coke per day and don't ever drink plain ol' water... bad i know but now seems like its getting at me.

SO... looks like i'll have to keep an eye on a few things... Thanks for the help guys!

JOe

 

[planefixer]

I've been taking Prilosec (omeprazole) for a few years and it works excellent.No more waking up in the middle of the night choking on stomach acid.

 

[Jester99]

I have it. Usually aggravated by orange juice, tomatoes, and spicy food. I don't take anything for it. I refuse to take medication for a lot of things. And yeah, I realize the damage that is probably being done, but I'm a smoker, so who cares...

 

[bcmaxx]

I was on cimiditine (sp?), For my acid gut, seemed to work awesome, but I did not like the side effects. So I'm back on tums. I have changed my diet and it really helped too. Basically anyhting fatty like : hamburger,sausaged,bacon,deep fried stuff caused my trouble as well as grapefruit,orange,tangy juices,etc. I simply avoid these now. For some reason hot spicy food agrees with me.

 

[5-90]

I was on cimiditine (sp?), For my acid gut, seemed to work awesome, but I did not like the side effects. So I'm back on tums. I have changed my diet and it really helped too. Basically anyhting fatty like : hamburger,sausaged,bacon,deep fried stuff caused my trouble as well as grapefruit,orange,tangy juices,etc. I simply avoid these now. For some reason hot spicy food agrees with me.

I recall a study (Johns Hopkins, I believe) wherein they found that, in the early stages of a gastric ulcer, that slighly ramping up your intake of spicy foods can actually halt the growth of an ulcer - and, in some cases, reverse it.

It had to do with making the gastric environment more hostile to bacterium H. pylori, which is the bacterium that "eats" through the mucous lining of the stomach (which protects the stomach flesh from its contents - mainly HCl, which runs a pH of about 1.)

Granted, this wasn't really news to me. If there's one thing my side of the family doesn't have, it's stomach trouble. My granddad spent years trying to find something "too hot" for me to eat. He did succeed in finding things that were too hot for him to eat, but nothing that worked on me...

Interestingly enough, I can avoid my post-traumatic headache (had it more or less constantly for the last 13 months now...) by going to a Mongolian BBQ and etching out the lining of my stomach. So, I try to do that every couple of months. Not as effective as booze, but the meds I'm on don't interfere with spicy foods (whereas if I start drinking, I go right from "sober" to "mild alcohol poisoning." Damn.)

 

[xjtrailrider]

I have had this problem for years, took prilosec but got bad migrains. I finally started to figure out what it was that I was eating that was causing it. I eliminated a few things from my diet but I never have acid reflux anymore!

Things that I no longer eat or drink;

Beer
Kool-Aid, or any other similar drinks
Bread
Pizza
Orange juice
Sour candy

I drink about a gallon of milk a week now as well which seems to help. I like to do without meds as much as I can as there are liver issues in my family and some meds really do harm to your liver.

 

[Ecomike]

I have had and fought acid reflux, (esophagitous sp? was the original symptom, diagnosis), for about 25 years now. Started with Tagamet, prescription in the 80's. I take a generic Walgreens acid controller that has 10mg of Famotidine, Walmart has it too. The old brand name for it was Pepsid AC.

I have found an excellent alternative to drugs for acid reflux. That is eating raw veggies, especially late in the evening. My favorites have become Broccolli, Colliflour (SP?) and baby sweet carrots. I had to take some enzymes for a few days when I first started eating the raw veggies to re-kick start my digestive system in order to avoid gas problems. The best enzyme supplement I have found is "Omnigest EZ" .

There are some other great reasons to eat some broccoli everyday. Namely it is an alkali that helps keep blood chemistry and digestive systems basic, unlike sugars. Stay away from sugars, the flora in your digestive system convert the sugars into acids that lower the blood pH. Virus and bacteria like low blood pH! They can not survive in alkaline blood.

I have a mild ashma too, and it is argrevated if acid reflux gets aspirated while I am sleeping! Which also makes swallowing hard.

Oh, and Tums are great short term help too!

I also cut out all soft drinks, and sweets, except for a very rare slip up.

In summary, our digestive systems were designed for raw foods, including veggies and meat, not for high sugar content, overcooked, twice killed, twice dead stuff that some call food.

It's like the guy says in the movie "Love at First Bite", "all that stuff is dead, don't you have anything that is alive"?

 

[JeepDawg]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.....DO YOURSELF A FAVOR!!!!!!

Try Alfalfa tablets!!!!!! They are CHEAP....and virtually NO NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS!!!!

Alfalfa provides the body with alkaline to neutralize the acid (much like broccoli - a nod to Ecomike). Once you adjust your diet, look to take maybe 2-4 alfalfa tablets each day.....or play around with the dosage until you get it right for yourself!!!!

My father-in-law was suffering with acid reflux for years! A nutritionist suggested alfalfa - and JOILA!!!!

Even a friend of mine who is a doctor was suffering from acid reflux - I told him and he told me the next day, "Alfalfa is the truth!" He now regularly tells his patients to take it....

Bear in mind, the medical establishment tends to focus on meds....rather than more homeopathic remedies.....which is why you hear so little about alfalfa as a treatment for acid reflux.

Here's an excerpt from an article:

"Alfalfa is commonly added to other herbs for its nutritive qualities. It is also used as a commercial source of chlorophyll. It is highly alkaline, thus making it effective in the treatment of acid related disorder. "
(http://hubpages.com/hub/Medicinal_Benefits_of_Alfalfa)

Other benefits of alfalfa include:

Alfalfa detoxifies the body and alkalinizes it.
Alfalfa is good for disorders of the skin.
It acts as a diuretic.
It balances hormones
Help in the treatment of Arthritis
Help reduce blood cholesterol
Help reduce blood glucose
Help reduce plaque in the arteries that can help prevent heart disease.
Alfalfa can increase the ability of blood to clot after injury; therefore alfalfa should not be used while taking aspirin or anti-clotting medication.
Helps in the treatment of peptic ulcers.
Helps in digestion
Helps the body fights off infection
Helps in constipation, hemorrhoids and gastritis.

 

[Ecomike]

Alfalfa tablets sounds like one I need to try.

 

[92DripCherokee]

Titralac

best stuff around, it's calcium carbonate, you can write on blackboard with it. Saves me almost every night.

x2 on the spicy foods. its the capsaicin from hot pepper that seems to help the most.