GERD is ruining my life

no I dont

thanks Andrea.

thanks Janis. I will keep pushing until I get a doctor that is willing to get to the bottoming this. struggling with my diet as I am a stress eater. I pray I manage this whole thing soon .

contact me anytime

do not give up ....you have to be your own activist to get to the bottom of it xo

I am interested in the weaning off process. I tried it several years ago and was not successful. I experienced a metal taste in my mouth for several weeks even after going back on the ppi's. My doctor said due to hiatus hernia I will need meds for the rest of my life.

Even with meds, I have to watch carefully what I eat. Did you experience the metallic taste thing?

hi Adrea35

yes i did have a metalic taste and brash and a cough too The metalic taste ect is the acid coming up . And yes doctors told me i will have to take meds for ever. I have googled about long term side efffects . PPIs strip you of all the good things your body needs . I forgot to mention that i am taking 20million probiotics and i am sure that they helped me when coming of meds read about what they do . Ihave been taking them for nine month and still do . with my hiatus hernia l found bending over would set it off so i have giving up pilates and gardening . But things have settled down and have started light gardening . Occational i take a gaviscon . im able to eat more at meals times but still sit up straight after food . It has taken about four month to wean off meds . Just start very gradually like 5days normal dose then a day a lower dose keep alternating . you get a bit of rebound affect but stick it out . it just takes too long to write all this but its trial and error . But of course do all the right thing like eating and drinking as i still stick to all that . Hope this is helpfull let ne know if you beed more specific info . take care

thanks fanbrew . do u mind sharing what you excluded from your diet?

hi my diet is very simple perhaps a little boring . No processed foods , no hard cheese just cream cheese not any rich fatty food or sauces , i can get away with a little bit of onion in a casserole. No hot spices . Eggs done any ways . Im fine with a little butter, milk ,but no cream . No tomatoe based sauces but now i am able to cope occosionally as i have no more symptons of heart burn ect . But very small portions and eat something every 3to4 hours . But that has now improved i can eat more normal . Sit up straight for at least two hours after a main meal useally evenings . if possible a long walk after a meal is best . So chicken any fish and not too much red meats . Drinkin kefir (a drinking yogurt) before bed also the probiotics 20 billion friendly bacteria one in the morning with food .I havent given up my 2 cups of coffee a day as that didnt affect me . No alcohol and fizzy drinks just camomile tea and lots of water . no acidic fruits . Hope this helps . It trial and error , but i do think that its the probiotics that helped me . PPIs strip your gut of acid , not enough acids can give same symptoms . Coming of them isnt easy and if you do come of them gradually and get symptons after stopping just take one for a few days then try again you will find that you can go longer and longer without them ,thats why it took me me four months but taking gaviscon in between helps . So sorry that this is so long but im trying to explain how it worked for me . Hope this will help everybody who reads this and give you hope that you will find relieve from this painful condition Just believe in yourself and have courage . Take care

Thank you franbrew. It is hopeful to hear you have weaned off of the ppi's. I failed the first time but I am going to try it again. The metallic taste really got me. I also noticed I had to be very careful with my diet. I regret the day I ever took a ppi. Now it almost seems like I don't have enough stomach acid to break food down. I am a teacher and have gotten the stomach flu six times this year. The children seem to get over it in two days but it lingers with me for 2 weeks. I think this is partially due to my stomach ph which can't rid my body of the virus.

Thanks for sharing your experience and happy for your success! It is a big deal! I am hopeful knowing it can be done!

sorry andrea my message to you i sent to cristelle by mistake but i know it can be read by all .

Thank you fanbrew for taking time to go into details. I will it my best and hope I find relief. constant burping and rumbling tummy is not fun at all!!!

Do you still have the metallic taste?

did you say you can eat eggs or no to eggs any way?

Thanks,

Vanessa

eggs are fine for me nor sure about fried eggs as i dont eat fried foods .

Hi Franbrew,

With your hiatus hernia did you have a lot of varying symptoms?

I was diagnosed a few years back with 2 different types of hernias one being hiatus.

Seen a general surgeon who put me under watchful waiting maybe due to my age.

The last few weeks I've been very symptomatic . I have Gerd which I believe is caused by the hernia. Terrible heartburn in chest and throat ..nausea.. abdominal pain as well as back pain and chest pain. A LOT of uncomfortable loud stomach gurgling, a lot of reflux. Scared to eat anything for fear of more nausea. It's an absolutely horrible way to live. Now I notice I have a bulge under breastbone and it aches and burns. So I wondered if you'd had any of these same symptoms? I also do the ppi thing and eat Gaviscon like candy.

Hi sorry to jump in I get a lot of your symptoms in pain every day I get like a knot below the Breast bone pressure into the chest felling bloated most of the time especially after eating get pain under the left side of my ribs but also right side sometimes all the way around the front feels tight I get indigestion going up to my throat on & off but it’s mainly the pain around the middle-also get burning but that can be anywhere over the tummy area which is weird I’m ok when I get up in the morning but as soon as I go to work and do some bending and using my tummy muscles it starts and just keeps going on & on driving mental

Hi Garry

Sounds like we have identical symptoms.

I get the pain all around and a lot of lower abdominal pain on both sides.

I just had an endoscopy last week and doctor reported mild acid reflux. No ulcers and no damage to the esophagus from acid constantly washing into my throat. When he said 'mild' reflux I was in shock because my symptoms are practically debilitating at times.

Anyway, he thinks the abdominal pain may be more of a colon issue so suggested a colonoscopy. He also doubled the dosage of the PPI that I take.

Have you had an endoscopy? Are you taking pills for the reflux?

All I know is that Gerd and Reflux are something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy!

The pain and burning you describe in your midsection sounds like a potential ulcer. Do you have hernias because bending and exerting yourself can cause them to act up.

Hi thanks for the reply I’ve been on ppi for around 5 years for acid reflux lansoprazole 30mg and I take ranitidine 300 at night as my old doc thought I had silent reflux at night I Also suffer from ibs which I’ve had most of my life but really started to kick in about 6 months before the reflux the reflux started after a lot of coughing and a bad chest infection so was thought possible small hernia

Up until now or around 7 weeks ago it was manageable with the odd flare up but after doing some straining at work (I’m a gardener and was hedge cutting)

I’ve had this pain which is made worse by bending down or squashing my belly into my chest the doc has sent the paperwork in for me to have a scope been waiting 2 weeks as they r fully booked at the moment it just worry’s u the death that’s it’s something else and keep think well I won’t see my granddaughter grow up gets u really down in the dumps if it is a hernia and anyone says Ohhh it’s just a bit of acid I swear I will commit murder haaaa

I hear ya on being worried out of your mind. I was positive the reflux had did a number on my esophagus. Of course I was thinking the big C.

If not my esophagus then the section below my rib cage that seemed to have a bulge was actually a big tumor sitting there. ( turns out it was scar tissue from a prior operation).

I've been taking Pantaprazole for about 5 yrs off and on . I hate taking them because they really aren't meant to be used long term. Anyway I was taking 20mg once a day and Dr just upped it to 40. Obviously the 20 was virtually useless.

You should cease with the Ranitidine or Zantac is what it is. Few weeks ago the FTDA announced a warning against the use of 'Zantac' because of carcinogenic properties ..or something like that. My friend who works for big pharm says they may soon issue a black box warning which is to be taken very serious. Knock off the Ranitidine! 😲

Well best of luck with the scope👍

I hope you will post the findings.

Sorry I meant to say FDA , not FTDA😣