I’m seriously thinking of suicide because of GERD/acid reflux and trouble swallowing in throat

Hi Ciaran46690

We note from a recent post which you have made to our forum that you may be experiencing thoughts around self-harm. If we have misinterpreted your comments then we apologise for contacting you directly. But if you are having such thoughts then please note that you are not alone in this, and there are people out there that can help.

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Patient

hi ciaran, can i ask you if you were prescribed proton pump inhibitors, thats what im on the past 7 years for gerd. i have the same symptoms as you describe and theres no doubt it does restrict what you can eat and what you can eat as well as the social aspect. after 3 endescopies im still on the same meds and was also diagnosed with barretts oesaphagus. i know its very frustrating given that you cannot enjoy what you eat depending on what you eat. for the record it takes me an hour and a half to eat breatfast of tea and toast after which i cannot bend down or do anything physical for several hours later until its digested. the same goes for travelling after eating which is a no no for several hours. their are also times when i cannot chan on the phone after eating because of regurgitation. so i know what youre going through and it aint easy. i just try and get on with it as best i can. i do believe that their is options out there for surgery and many people on this forum have been successful while for others it may not work. maybe thats something you could look into for yourself. while im not qualified to address what youre going through i would advise you explore other options and take the advice the admin on here and contact the samaratians if all else fails. i wish you the best of luck and hope you get sorted out with your consultant or doctor and improve your condition soon.

Look into the Linx.

In the meantime, a daily PPI. Don't let this beat you. You got this!

Best wishes!

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Hi

I have the exact same issues as you.. Cant say I've felt suicidal, but its so frustrating and can make your life a downright misery. For me, the only thing that seems to be working is a plant based diet. I reduced my meals to Lunch and Dinner only. I struggled with the lunch, still got the same problems, I then decided to only eat dinner at 6pm. I can safely say, that I'm not getting any bother now. If like me, your not good at eating vegetables, chop them all down and put them in soup, you can add pea protein. Throughout the day I drink filtered water or I drink chicory made with organic almond milk. Try to make sure your diet is alkaline, , cut out meat as it takes between 7&8 hours to digest it and its highly acidic. Best avoiding dairy as well. Avoid all oils as oils are bad for gerd. Try to make a list of high alkaline vegetables and fruits. Best nuts would be almonds as they are the most alkaline, only drink plant milk ie almond milk. This has helped me immensely. You should give it a try, I know exactly how you feel, but don't contemplate suicide, please give this a go, you've nothing to lose and you never know, it might cure your problems, its certainly keeping mine at bay. Ive also lost 1 and a half stone as well, which I'm happy about.

i been into the mess for 8 months and married 1 year back. i am having swallowing issue and chest pain still living a life with hope and fighting it like a warrior..life is gift and you have no right to take it. fight it and win it. You are not alone!!!

I've been where you are and i can tell you the solution is to get off the acid reducers and get on a good probiotic, preferably one in the refrigerated section of the vitamin store. The problem is bacteria and it cannot be killed off. You have to push out the bad bacteria by taking mass quantities (at first) and then maintenance doses of a good probiotic and little by little it will crowd out the bad stuff. I tried some exotic formulations and the best ones are the common varieties that are the most popular and get the ones that are refrigerated. Once I figured this out I started to feel better in about a week and have gotten progressively better every day. Don't give up! You can beat this!!!

Hello ciaran46690: I know exactly what your going through. When I was at my worst 6 years ago, I had 6 major digestive issues. One was extremely life disrupting. It was mysterious issue that was causing intestinal obstructions. When I would get one, I would suffer for 8 hours while my stomach swelled up and then finally I would throw up violently. These episodes started occurring once every few months. Then over a few years they started occurring every few days. I got very depressed. I would barely be recovered from one and then got hit again. And after seeing 7 different doctors, and ending up in the hospital, none of them could explain what was causing them. I finally, thought that I needed to address my issues one at a time. I had to find a daily routine that worked and then stick to it. For me, it was drinking a large glass of warmed clean water with myralax added every morning. Then 1 hour later, I make a smoothie with vegetables and some apples. I add some of that to a large glass and then 1/4 cup of organic probiotic yogurt and a few scoops of protein powder. Then after a few hours I have a bowel movement. If I disrupted this routine then I risked a bowel obstruction. Eventually, my family doctor found that I had an umbilical hernia. I did some research and found some abdominal exercises that helped it heal. I also had acid reflux. After you respond I can help with that also.

The smoothie I mentioned above requires no stomach acid to digest. It also has vitamins, mineral and protein. You can basically live on it. There are two more things that help relieve digestive burning. One is to chew ice. or make an ice smoothie. It can literally shut down the stomach and stop it from making acid. It also stops much of the pain. You can also sleep on a recliner, but don't recline too far. I often chew sugarfree cinnamon gum. It helps with digestion and keeps stomach contents down. It can also strengthen the lower esophageal sphincter.

I also found that acid blocker pills can dissolve in the stomach and cause a chemical burn. So, any pills you take should be crushed or opened and swallowed with a lot of warm water. I have more recommendations but I don't want to overwhelm you. Just keep in mind that this is a temporary situation and that once you find what works for you, you can be pain free. Just keep up the fight. We are here for you.

I'm sorry, it is stressful in such condition please remember you are not alone here. Keep fighting and don't give up.

My suggestion for you is to request PH monitor, sometimes you may want 2 to 3 in different weeks to work out a better statistic. Most GI only do a single 24 hours monitor to confirm the issue but I don't think very acculturate. 365 days with 1 day monitor to confirm the issue?

Have they check your liver, pancreas and kidney with ultrasound?

You need a few diagnostic to workout the core reason you are experiencing.

First have the PH monitor to confirm the the acid level.