Some Possible Helps for Acid Reflux - Acid Reflux / GERD Message Board

gentille57 · 12-27-2008, 08:09 AM

Hello fellow acid reflux sufferers! I have been suffering with GERD for 22 years. It started when I was 11. At times medications really helped get it under control. I have taken just about everything: pepcid, prilosec, propulsid, nexium, tums, pepto, prevacid, etc. After a time they quit working and my reflux got even worse when I tried to go back on them. At times my reflux has been so bad I've had to sleep sitting up for weeks at a time and have had extreme difficulty eating and even drinking water, not to mention talking or walking around. YOu'd never think it could be that debilitating but I'm sure many on this board have experienced worse.

In any case, throughout my own experience and reading over the years, I've found there are many things that can cause GERD which some of you may have already looked into but others may not have considered. Celiac disease, for starters. Any kind of food sensitivity can cause GERD. I know there is a blood test called Ige or something like that which tests for these sensitivities. Celiac is a blood test as well, just worth a shot. Dairy and eggs are also big allergens for many people.

Another cause can be h pylori, make sure to rule it out as that can be easily solved with antibiotics.
Gall stones are another cause, as is systemic candida or yeast. I believe my issues stem from a spastic, very twisted colon that aggravates my hiatal hernia. For some reason, when my bowels are trying to move, I have a lot of acid reflux. Anyone else experience this?

A word about antacids and antacid meds--if you take these for years and overalkalanize your body's ph, your body will eventually produce even more acid and an unhealthy, bacterial environment can be created in your gut from over alkalinization. There are natural sources, like licorice root, that you can get at the health food store, that help heal the esophagus without that alkalinizing affect.

I am a newbie, so all of this may have been posted before. If so, I apologize for making anyone yawn, lol!
gentille57

TEdds83 · 12-27-2008, 10:11 AM

Welcome gentille57. There are plenty of us suffering. Thanks for your imput. It can be debillitating that is for sure. I am really going through the wringer with the mucus thing. I just can't get it all cleared up. I don't know if this will go on forever or not. But I am going to get the endoscopy done and all the tests. I can't get in until January. I am trying not to panic. Sometimes I feel like it effects my breathing. The constant clearing is annoying me and my husband. I am about ready to sleep in another room.

So I will try any homopathic remedies I can. If you know of any please post them. Thanks! I am trying to de yeast my body and I take probiotics as well.

Ryoung2525 · 12-27-2008, 03:15 PM

Gentille,
You mentioned something about your acid reflux gets worse when your bowels are trying to move. I have something very similar to this that the doctors are baffled about. Could you explain in more detail what happens to you when you get this problem?
Thanks,
Bob

gentille57 · 12-27-2008, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryoung2525

Gentille,
You mentioned something about your acid reflux gets worse when your bowels are trying to move. I have something very similar to this that the doctors are baffled about. Could you explain in more detail what happens to you when you get this problem?
Thanks,
Bob

Hi Bob!
Thanks for sharing. I have yet to meet someone who experiences acid reflux with bowels movements. Two colonoscopies over the years showed the same report: a "tortuously twisted colon." both times they had to stop and start the scope, inching it forward because my intestines spasmed so much. I was told by a dr when I was 11 that when my bowels move, it creates spasms that make the acid come up. I have thought all this time that he was dead on, despite what a myriad of other doctors have told me over the years. It is weird what sometimes helps my reflux--moving around, exercise, sometimes swallowing, sometimes pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth/sucking on something--points to a muscular issue in my opinion although at times yeast killers have helped. Sometimes weight can aggravate reflux, but I am very thin so it's not that. I am stymied. All I know is that sitting still and laying down, even with my bed raised, can greatly aggravate my reflux.

I wrestle with severe chronic constipation. When my bowels are stimulated to go, it's like they over react, go into spasm, and voila! tight chest, knotted and burning stomach, up the acid comes. Not sure how else to describe what happens. Sometimes anti inflammatories like nordic naturals jr 3-6-9, and country life ultra omega fish oil caps help. It seems like calming spasms calms the reflux, but I can't take anti spasmodics like bentyl and levbid because they constipate me even worse. Then I need even more stimulation to go, and the whole viscious cycle starts all over again. I do not have chron's, etc; I've only been diagnosed with spastic colitis.

Hope that helps and answers your question, feel free to ask any more or to share what you suffer with. I am desperate for answers. I am even looking into the possbility of sjogren's syndrome, because of chronic dry eye, dry nose, and even dry stools.
gentille57

gentille57 · 12-27-2008, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEdwards83

Welcome gentille57. There are plenty of us suffering. Thanks for your imput. It can be debillitating that is for sure. I am really going through the wringer with the mucus thing. I just can't get it all cleared up. I don't know if this will go on forever or not. But I am going to get the endoscopy done and all the tests. I can't get in until January. I am trying not to panic. Sometimes I feel like it effects my breathing. The constant clearing is annoying me and my husband. I am about ready to sleep in another room.

So I will try any homopathic remedies I can. If you know of any please post them. Thanks! I am trying to de yeast my body and I take probiotics as well.

I know a lot of people use licorice root and it seems to help. It comes in a liquid, I believe. shouldnt' be too hard to get. I am unable to take it because of interstitial cystitis/chronic inflammation of urinary tract. Everything I eat or drink can make me feel like I have a nasty bladder infection, so I am limited. One thing that sometimes helps me is nordic naturals jr. 3-6-9. It is liquid fish oil for kids. Sometimes ultra omegas by country life help; be careful, if your reflux is bad, puncture the gel cap and squirt it out into water rather than swallowing it Could be painful to get down even though it's not that big. I've had reflux flare for hours just from swallowing something like that when my chest is tight. The omega does not taste great but I am used to it. The nordic is lemon flavored; I thought the citrus would bother my stomach but it hasn't. Maybe try small amounts at first and see how your stomach takes it.
I know there are other natural healers but I'm not sure what they are; I will let you know if I find out
I am fortunate not to have had as much of the mucous, but when my reflux is bad, I literally get a full blown head cold. It irritates my throat and mucous membranes and I get very congested, nasal drip, the works. sheesh
gentille57