Acid reflux is ruining my life and I'm only 17. Help please.

Hi Kyle. I'm suffering too from secondary symtoms caused by acid reflux. All I can say is, please visit a gastroenterologist and get an endoscopy done. That will tell you your exact condition and cause. If meds don't work, ask your doc for surgery options.

It has taken over my life as well sitting up now in pain. I went to a GI doctor taking what you got its not helping. I was on for about two days then back to being sick. I'm lost I haven't been to work in two months. I hate this happening to you and you missing school. I hope things get better for you if I find something to help me I'll let you know be blessed and pray

I'm only 15 and I have the same thing and I'm so over it. if you find out what it was please share.

Are you eating better or you eat junk food?  If so, this is the first step to take.  Eat a reflux diet, eat oatmeal in the mornings, use a wedge pillow, don;t eat for 3 hours before bed or lay back after you eat.  Do not drink water with meals or before bed (at least 30 minutes before bed).  Why are you taking Carafate? Do you have bile reflux?  Next:  Go and get an endoscopy, ask your GI.  Take it easy with the PPI's unless they have verified you have high acid levels, how many mg's you take?

Yes, the mg's is for the PPI's.  Carafate is mostly used for bile and not acid, but it does help protect the esophagus.  One dose is good for 6 hours and I use it twice daily as well but for bile.  As for the PPI, 20mg is a low dose, but you need to get tested with the endoscopy and maybe a Heidelberg reflux test which measures acid levels instead of reflux.  Many Doctors will give you PPI's for months without knowing if you really need them, just be careful and get tested. ;-)  God bless!

Hi Kyle

Sorry to hear you are suffering at such a young age ?

Few things you could try....firstly trying asking your medical practitioner if you could change to esomeprazole combined with ranitidine (zantac).

Also if you can buy Apple cider vinegar which has the mother present. Take 15ml of this in about 500ml of hot water 3 times a day (drink it over a period of time I.e. 1 hour) or if you can drink it while you are eating as this helps to neutralize the acid and eases the sick feeling when you eat.

Don't eat after 4.30pm or 6pm at the very latest and stay elevated at night....if you can get a wedge pillow along with a v-shaped pillow to make sleeping more comfortable.

Go back to very basic foods and keep a good diary to figure out your trigger foods/drinks by adding one new thing to your diet on a weekly basis....you will soon figure out what makes your reflux worse.

I hope this helps 😊

Hi,

I am also a GERD patient for 4-5 years I think and I always go back to my Gastro doctor many times in a year. I have experienced all the symptoms related to this disease and have taken different kinds of medicine such as Omeprazole, Pariet, Dexilant from once a day to 2x a day. That's on and off depending on the occurrence of my GERD. Sometimes I also experience panic attacks and tingling in my left arm or right arm. My gastro said that it's because of anxiety. It makes sense because whenever my GERD flares up, I panic and think of a lot of things like having a serious disease or if this doesn't have any cure at all, stuffs like that. I got tired actually and recently I realized that this disease is mainly triggered by STRESS!! I'll stress that out, it's all about Stress friends.  I realized that back last December 2017, when my GERD flared up for a couple of months and I was about to do a PH test  procedure (research it online )which will cost me a large amount of money. It was suggested by my Gastro since the medicines are not working for me. Since there was no available equipment yet that time, I had to wait and I had the opportunity to go out of town with some friends. We stayed there for 3 days and it was literally relaxing and enjoying. I got nothing to think about. My GERD did not flare up that time. Then when we went back home and got to work, my GERD flared up again. I have food restrictions and I follow it mind you. I do not eat spicy food, anything with tomato, dairy or with wheat. I noticed that the difference was that I was stressed at work. 

Whenever I feel stressed, symptoms of acid reflux and belching occurs. As I mentioned, GERD can also cause panic attacks due to anxiety. My gastro suggested to get a small brown bag, put the opening in front of your mouth while holding it and start breathing in and out. The air should not come out as you need to breathe in the carbon dioxide. After noticing a few days, I also decided to check for yoga exercises online to calm my body and do some breathing exercises together with it. And it was EFFECTIVE!  I noticed that when I calm myself and do some simple yoga and breathing exercises (deep breathe in and breath out a couple of times), the GERD symptoms go away.  It was amazing. Since then, I did not have GERD symptoms anymore and I'm not taking any medicine for it. Thank God!

Try it and notice the difference. Do some breathing exercise (you may use the brown bag exercise) until you are finally calm and your symptoms will go away.  

PS. Continue to avoid food restrictions like spicy food and milk and tomato. 

I hope that this helps you somehow. Let me know if it works for you too. 

I know EXACTLY how you feel! I am 18 and this has been going on for 3 months now. I have acid reflux and I literally throw up everything I eat. The only thing I can keep down is smoothies. I was on YouTube and I came across a woman that said that the doctors only give us all of those meds because they just treat the symptoms , not the underlying cause. Which is indigestion. So , we need to take strong enzyme digestive pills and take them 5 minutes before we eat. This is literally all I have to save my self. I will be ordering them off of Amazon very soon. I can't stand waking up because as soon as I do , I'm burping 24/7. I can't even enjoy the luxury of spending time with my family. I really hope that these digestive pills worm!!!!

Hi Kyle! Hope you're doing better now

I'm 17 too and suffering from this. I hate it so much, it keeps me from going out with my friends to places too

As another comment suggested, maybe it's anxiety? When i was out of school for the summer, GERD symptoms were all almost gone, but as soon as school started a month ago, I've had horrible symptoms so you should get that checked out! If this turns out to be the case, be careful with anxiety medications because i've read somewhere that they can worsen your GERD symptoms.

Most people can treat GERD symptoms with dietary and lifestyle changes so i hope you've found a diet that works for you! (i'm still trying to figure mine out...)

best wishes

I'm 18 and I've been suffering with what I believe to be acid reflux/ GERD for the past two years. In the last 6 months, though, I had a really bad flare up that hasn't gone away. I had to drop out of college, quit my job, and essentially put my life on hold. I regurgitate everything I eat so I'm currently only drinking formula and smoothies which I can somewhat tolerate. I have very severe symptoms ranging from chest pain/tightness/pressure/burning, to a lump in my throat feeling/ a tight throat, I have a lot of phlegm in my throat when I eat/drink as well, and again I regurgitate/ reflux literally everything. No medication has worked for me which is why I'm currently off all anti-acids/ PPIs. In the past, omeprazole has shown good results, but now it doesn't even touch my symptoms. I don't know what to do. I've been taking digestive enzymes for about 2 weeks now and no change. I've had 2 endoscopies, gastric emptying study, barium swallow, and no answers. I was also misdiagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis which I DO NOT have. I'm supposed to have the 24 hour PH test done this week, even though I'm hesitant. I will mention, as someone else did, that I have really bad anxiety and stress that I have subsequently been dealing with for the last 2 years and do believe a lot of that contributed to how bad my acid reflux has become, however, I have struggled with lowering my anxiety and stress so of course the symptoms are very bad. I do not think all of this is due to stress/ anxiety though. I'm hoping for answers soon.. hoping someone responds.

i am going through the same thing except i am 19. The main thing that is seriously bothering me is a constant gagging feeling which i would assume is from the reflux. i also get a burning sensation in my throat as well as chest tightness. it has gotten worse over the past few weeks and im scared. i dont know what to do as im taking the same medicine as you and its not doing much for me. its affecting my everyday life and im miserable.

Hi, Kyle sad to hear about your condition. I’ve found a way to get relief from chest pain.

Manoeuvre consist in laying down the subject in supine position, legs straight down and hands by his sides, using a pillow to lift up the head. Done that, subject should actively arches spine (at least 7-8 cm from the couch at level T12-L2), taking hyperlodosis position, without lifting sacral region, upper thoracic sections or any other segments from the couch.

Subject should holding aforesaid position for 10-20 seconds at least, performing the procedure 3 time or more (with pause of 30 seconds between each prove), until symptoms vanish. Despite pain comes back after manoeuvre ends and subject laying down supine, three or four repetitions of aforesaid manoeuvre spaced with intervals of 30 seconds were able to lead a complete and sustained resolution of symptoms, all night long. However to avoid backpain, I do not recommend to perform this procedure to often. Still not represent a medical advice and the cause should be investigated further by a doctor. Photos of this position are available online. Hope it would be of help.

You should avoid certain foods like fats food, alcohol, menta and chocolate. Avoid to eat and soon lay down.

I am dealing with acid reflux for 5 years now.

My $0.02:

1. Acid reflux is best treated by an ENT. Find one, often attached to a big hospital, that specialises in the "T" because some specialise in the "E" or the "N". Nobody is great at all three; and
2. ]If you;re taking ANY meds eg omeprazole, ensure you are taking it at the right time and correctly eg with or without food. One lousy doctor never told me how to take omeprazole correctly and for 18 mths I took it incorrectly and put on weight without helping my reflux at all.