Posted , 9 users are following.
Acid reflux has been present for about 8 monthhs now, during the first few months I had no idea what it was, I just knew I was feeling different but could not understand what it was.
My symptoms are the following, sometimes I feel like there's an empty coldness from my upper abdomen all the way to the throat. There is a nasty taste at the back of my mouth and usually have bad breath! Despite washing my teeth twice a day. I burp but not that much I guess.
Anyway I went to the pharmacist and was given 20mg Maalox Reflusson, which kind of work after 4 days. The discomfort return a few days after. I then switched to Nexium 20mg and this was working quiet well!
Two weeks ago I got acid reflux again (after a weekend of consuming alcohol, smoking and eating fried food = had no idea that these were a trigger) and I got panicked. I got panicked because I couldn't understand why this acidity kept coming back so I googled what might be the cause and all results were linked to stomache cancer.
I am 22 year old, I don't drink coffee, don't consume much carbonated drinks, ( maybe 2 pints a week max), and I'm a social smoker (i.e I smoke a packet of cigarette every 2 weeks). However I do eat a lot of fast food/fried.
I went to the doctor once I learnt that this can be cancer and well he gave me a referral ticket to a Gastroenterologist. Being very afraid I asked him if what I read is true. He assured me that I am too young for this. At first I felt very reassured but I can't get this though out of my head.
Since then I've been very unhappy, I keep crying everyday (just the though of it destorys me). I cannot concentrate and it's really afffecting my performance at University.
Doctor prescribed me Esomeprazole 40mg, but they don't seem to be working. I stopped smoking, avoiding fried food, trying not to eat 3 hours before bed but the acidity is still there. I am now blaming the stress that I am experiencing. Not sure.
Can anyone share their experieince with me, and tell me if I should be concerned?
P.s I'm very sorry for the long post! But wanted to include all relevant details.
0 likes, 40 replies
paul38620 josh0093
Posted
You're in a difficult spot that lots of us know too well, and your worry and upset are normal. These kinds of issues are terrible because they suddenly affect your whole mental and physical ability to do the usual things and cope, and the stress that results just adds fuel to the fire. The first thing to try to do, hardest though it'll sound, is to calm down and relax as much and as often as you can, which, with university life and studies, is naturally not the easiest thing to do.
You have already learned of some of the things that can cause and aggravate your troubles, and have read the good advice from fellow sufferers here. Hopefully my own measures will give even a little bit more to help you, though, again, your university routine may limit what you can try effectively.
Several small or medium meals per day (I have seven, one every two hours or so), rather than fewer bigger ones, so you don't overfill your stomach and worsen things. Eat relaxed, chew well. Be sat upright for and after meals, so you don't squash your stomach and press its contents upwards.
You might find some foods are ok or bad with you compared to other people, so it's a matter of experimentation, but fried foods, high-fat foods, high-salt foods, carbonated drinks, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, smoking can all impact on stomach and reflux troubles. Spicy and hot foods can also hurt some people. Minty foods relax the lower eosophageal muscle, so they are bad. I use a fruity toothpaste. A lady posted here last night how putting peppermints out of her life ended years of heartburn.
Wholewheat bread, cereals, bananas, hardboiled eggs are a few of the foods that suit me, but there are pulses, rice, various beans (not kidney beans apparently) and many other things you can try. Chicken is one of the best meats to try due to its lower fat content, though even that can hit me and isn't eaten presently. It can take a while to establish a diet you can manage and which helps you rather than harms, but you can do it in time.
Stress, as you've been told, and excercise that affect the stomach are also to be avoided. Be as calm and stress-free as you can.
Having your last meal a few hours before bed can prevent or lessen reflux at night, but I found that waiting to be too empty caused hunger discomfort and kept me awake. Because of this I lie-down about an hour and a half to two hours after last meal, and this is much better. I lie raised a bit on three pillows, on my right side, which is best for me, but maybe not for everyone.
Another thing that helps me greatly is to not burp after ten minutes after eating, as this can bring acid up and cause heartburn.
PPI medicines can take time to help, but can make things worse for some people, like me. So I stopped mine. Learn what the possible side effects are so that you can tell if any arise. Ideally, in time, with the benefit of diet and the rest, you will wean off them with your doctor's advice. They helped my initial gastritis stomach inflammation to improve, then I came off them.
Don't keep your troubles to yourself if your family and friends might help. This is a hard thing you're having to wrestle with and adapt to. It's a daily-life changing shock. And be patient. Healing damaged stomach or eosophageal tissues takes time and the avoidance of the things that cause or worsen it. You have to treat yourself gently and kindly in how you eat, think and act. And you're not alone, so try to take heart in that. You can post anytime with further queries or reports on how you're doing. Best wishes.
josh0093 paul38620
Posted
May I ask you what do you eat? eating 7 times a day is a bit of a problem for me, but if it helps then I will see how I can go about it,
Thanks again
paul38620 josh0093
Posted
A typical butterless sarnie meal is a thickish slice of wholemeal bread with a hard-boiled egg in it, and a small or medium banana with around 130 or so ml of water and so much of a Fortisip bottle. (A banana sarnie oddly lies too heavy and isn't pleasant for me)
Cereal meal is two shredded wheat with some cornflakes, banana, sultanas, papya, etc. I don't have dairy milk, but the thing is there are many foods that you and others can try, some of which I have, that may be fine for you but weren't for me.
When you suffer three years of discomfort and find a food that doesn't cause trouble and aids improvement, you instinctively cling to it, make it a main part of your diet, then you try to add more things one at a time for a while to see how it goes, like a daily slice of fruit loaf I've added recently, and rice cakes. I've had phases of including things like potatoes, basmati rice and lentils, then gone to something else.
Sometimes I have a double sandwich, even with some kind of beans in - not tomato ones, though, as tomatoes, and onions, are also bad for these troubles with some people. Kidney beans I had for a long time, but had a suspicion they were making me worse, then I learned at a couple of gastritis sites that they are a bean to avoid! Stopping them gave me that bit extra improvement. And haricot beans give me heartburn. Trial and error in many cases.
An egg I have three, even four times a day, and the dietician said that was fine unless a person has a medical problem regarding cholesterol.
There are diet suggestions for things like gastritis and reflux on the net, and in people's posts here that can give good ideas, whereas I'm a bit like Einstein with his convenient seven-days-a-week suits! I add a thing here and there to the main usual meals that don't vary much - even a little white chocolate recently, which doesn't have the bad things in it that normal and dark chocolate do. It's an ongoing mission, trying this and that, so I couldn't just say to you eat a set variety of things. You might be ok with low-fat cheese in a sandwich, whereas I am not. You might be fine with yogurt too, and so on.
Obviously salads and veg are useful nutritionally, but I aim for foods with higher calories to gain weight, so don't have too many veg. Peas, carrots mainly. And three bananas daily. Not very exciting for me I'm afraid. But, again, when you find something that doesn't worsen things you seize it, even if it means your diet is quite bland flavour-wise, for that is preferable to the vile pains and discomfort.
Hopefully you'll devise and discover a diet that suits you well and is convenient to maintain, and which doesn't have you turn into Skeletor at nine stone like I was at one point!, although I was suffering from awful life-issues too at that worst period. One step at a time, Josh. It's a journey.
liz16631 paul38620
Posted
paul38620 liz16631
Posted
Unfortunately the meds, mint toothpaste and mouthwash I had to use more to hoppefully prevent further abscesses were irritating and damaging my stomach and lower oesphagus, especially because the mint relaxes the lower oesphageal muscle, which can let stomach fluids up. The fats, salt, size of meals, length of digestion time and caffeine of my usual meals were also worsening matters.
The stomach has a coating of mucous that protects it from stomach fluids like acid and pepsin. If that mucous is breached or lacking in some area, then the stomach can be damaged and ulcers can form and need to heal. Various meds can lead to such troubles over time with some people.
Two days after the tooth was removed I noticed that my stomach was unusually swollen, and that night in bed I physically felt stomach fluid squirted into my oesophagus. And that was it, the moment when it started.
When I saw my doc I explained what had happened and even gave her my theory on the trouble and cause, though I didn't know of the Mint Menace and Caffeine Culprit at that point with regard to the oesophageal muscles. She said I was correct, gave me lansoprazole for a month, at which point I said I felt like a further month would improve the settling of the inflammation. Before the end of that month I couldn't wait to stop the pills due to the awful dryness side-effect that developed, and a different bad feeling in my oesophagus. I came off them over a few weeks, even reducing them to half-amounts in the last week and a half, with a half every other day, till they were done with.
Then it was all about further healing via diet and mealtime routines, seeing what harmed and didn't, while trying to regain weight I'd lost - a thing which continues now.
Setbacks and bad periods occur for assorted reasons, but mainly through hunger spasm acid-burns in bed by making the mistake of going to bed too hungry, and when I try foods that don't agree and which cause irritation. Flare-ups can take from hours to a week or more to ease, though I'm never like I was before the illness, only better at any given time in comparison to when at my worst. I'm worse this last two days through two foolish burns I might have avoided. Take care.
liz16631 paul38620
Posted
liz16631
Posted
josh0093
Posted
Meet my gastroenterologist last Tuesday and well he just asked what I have experiencing.
I told him about the stomach feeling empty even after dinner and how it sometimes feel cold all the way to the throat.
He excluded H.Pylori and Acid Reflux as being the causation.
When asked what it is he simply said that he doesn't know since symptoms are too vague, but assured me that it is nothing serious.
I am now waiting to do the endoscopy and biopsy.
Meanwhile the stress is still here, I stopped eating and sadly lost some weight. I cry almost everyday and I eventually told my family how afraid I am. Everyone keeps telling me that I am fine but the brain is a very strong mechanism. I also try to convince myself that I'm just being paranoid!
Mum is taking me to another gastroenterologist for a double opinion.
Also I stopped taking the PPIs. I don't get the symptoms I was experiencing so often anymore, the bad taste however is always there (ew). When I do get the symptoms I don't identify them as painful but more like a discomfort!
Sometimes I feel that the stress from Uni (being I am in my final year with thesis, assignments, presentations, exams ans what else) might be linked somehow or perhaps worsen the situation.
Apologies for the lengthy update!
liz16631 josh0093
Posted
josh0093 liz16631
Posted
I will keep you in my prayers and wish you a speedy recovery and better yet, that you don't have anything serious! Sometimes medicine take longer to work their magic and sometimes ulcers require an operation (but not life threatening so keep calm
My specialist asked me to keep taking the meds but I don't want my body to get addicted to them. Moreover want to see how I feel without them!
I did not speak to a counsellor yet, I am using my friends as counsellors haha
liz16631 josh0093
Posted
Just one thing about coming off the ppis - take it slowly or you can get acid rebound which might make you feel uncomfortable for a few days.
When's your endoscopy?
josh0093 liz16631
Posted
I have no idea when I will have that! He said I will receive the appointment by mail and mum told him to try and make it soonest so I can stop worrying and focus on University.
I just called the clinic and have been told that he hasn't even put me on the list yet, so I'm assuming that it's going to be long
josh0093 liz16631
Posted
liz16631 josh0093
Posted
Are you based in the UK? If so are you going through the NHS? Hopefully it won't be too long. Always remember, you have youth on your side. I'm on the slippery slope to old age although most of the time I feel fit and well. Just going through a bad patch.
What are you studying at university?
josh0093 liz16631
Posted
I live in Malta, and since this is a free and public hospital, the waiting line is never ending! Don't be silly talking about age! It is just a number, as long as you lead a fit and healthy lifestyle, you shouldn't be worried!
I am reading for a degree (Hons) in Banking and Finance, and also majored in Accounting. I finish my 4 year long course this June so I'm quiet nervous and excited!
liz16631 josh0093
Posted
Your degree sounds interesting and demanding. Have you plans for when you graduate? What are job prospects like in Malta? The economy in the UK is definitely picking up but although my daughter has a job she's not really doing something she wants to pursue long term. Good luck.
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