drakenhall

Hi - I've been taking 6mg melatonin and 500 mg L-tryptophan for about 4 months now and I'm rid of my GERD almost 100%. Occasionally my forearm stings a little, but that's from the nerve pathways being triggered when air comes up in the esophagus. All I can say is that it's working for me. I'm 52 years old, 5'7 and 117 lbs, so not exactly overweight, but still have a 1cm eccentric hiatal hernia. Last year all hell broke loose - I started burping uncontrollably and getting the worst heartburn. They also found ulcers in the terminal ileum, typical of Crohn's disease, but I don't have Crohn's, so no one knows where those came from.

I decided to forego conventional therapy and cure myself naturally. So far it's working. Having 2 things at the same time - GERD and the ulcers - was a little daunting at first, but I'm doing so well it's almost all gone. Of course I don't drink alcohol but for 1 glass of wine per month. I don't eat fried foods anyway, never any red meat, no refined flour products, lots of soy products and take 3tbsp of ground flax seeds in my soygurt every morning. In addition, I drink 1 bottle of Bio-K every morning. Superexpensive but it's got the equivalent bacteria of 100 small yogurt containers in one bottle. In addition, I take aloe vera AMP (aloe mucopoly saccharides) pills, 9/day, also superexpensive but still cheaper than having weird surgeries or going on steroids for the ulcers, which seems so dangerous. Lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, no fast food, no sugar, no caffeine, plenty of chamomile tea, and I'm fine.

The thing is, I was eating pretty much like this before the GERD and the ulcers, which were brought on by co-working with someone very toxic for about a year. I was extremely stressed out; now that person is gone from my life and I feel better just from that. But the melatonin, 6mg/nightly, time release, has definitely helped. I was on Prevacid for about 30 days and just said no after that. Too many long-term side effects, plus you really need your stomach acid - it's there for a reason. Without it, your stomach just becomes one garbage disposal for all the food that gets pushed down. My gastrodoc is totally amazed - of course HE wanted to put me on steroids, operations and lots of invasive measures. But I said no, got a copy of the Pereira article from the Journal of Pineal Research and basically followed the protocol. There are lots of other things you're supposed to take, which have been found not to be too important. The melatonin is what does it - that, and the tryptophan. I also take lots of vitamins and minerals, but I did that before, so it has nothing to do with it. The only thing is that Pereira states that all symptoms went away in 40 days - not with me they didn't. It took 90 days, thank you. But away they went, and the reflux rebound went away too. My girlfriend, 55, not so lucky - her gastroenterologist husband put her on PPIs many years ago. Now she's trying to quit and she's got the worst rebound imaginable. I actually went cold turkey, but some people advise to get on the melatonin and slowly wean yourself off PPIs. I didn't, because 30 days is not such a long time to be on PPIs. I was on Prevacid and antibiotics several years ago for a few weeks for H pylori, but I didn't have nearly the reflux I developed in December of 2008.

So now I'm back to my usual, happy self. I eat smaller portions and chew my food better, but believe me, I really think the melatonin is what's doing the job. Plus I sleep very nicely, which is a side benefit.

Hope it will work for you too!