Heartburn & Alcohol & Cortisone

thatbrian

Alcohol is a trigger, but I think that beer is the worst of all types of alcoholic beverages. It must have something to do with carbonation. Also, I have heard that alcohol relaxes the LES.

Since I quit drinking beer, I am 100% better. I also gave up many other foods and habits, but giving up beer was the key to complete recovery for me. When I drink now, I have vodka and soda. No problems so far.

greg1x

"Also, I have heard that alcohol relaxes the LES"

You just hit the nail on the head. Greg

Canyondweller

It is also very caustic on the lining of the stomach. The three things that relax the valve that we should all stay away from are alcohol, chocolate and anything mint. Some meds will also cause a floppy valve. I don't know why a cortisone shot would do that but I can see where Prednisone pills might. It might be a coincidence.

pitcherred

cortisone is notorious for causing very bad stomach problems my guess its even the cause of the original problm in your case....

cortisone degrades the lining of the stomach not sure exactly by what action this is .. it can even cause intestinal bleeding if you are not careful.... it does surpress the immune system and specifically S igA which does protect the digestive linning - not sure if there is another causative factor - i think there is.. as its a both an anabolic and catabolic hormone - so that may play a factor as well... anyhow careful wtih this if u have stomach problme and yes if u got things raw - alcohol is a no no -also load up on probotics the cortison probably made a yeast overgrowth while trashing ur stomach..

thebruiser500

could you explain about the probiotics and yeast overgrowth? i have no idea what that means. but it's been 3 months since the cortisone and i have had some stomach problems. diarreah, burping, and a couple of sulfer burping and vomitting episodes!

(BTW, cortisone definitly is not the cause of my heartburn as i have had problems for years. but as i said, it did give me the deadliest heartburn ever)

Canyondweller

I don't think a injection affects the stomach in that way. They give injections of many meds to people that cannot take them because of stomach problems. Something to ask the doctor about though. Certainly Prednisone pills would. I just don't see one shot causing it.

CameronS

Thank you for this.

I received a cortisone shot in my left knee two days ago, and yesterday I suffered from a very flushed/red face and had extreme heartburn for the entire day, so bad it woke me up in the middle of the night. I've never had anything other than a very mild case of heartburn in the past. I had pretty much maxed out the recommended dosage of Tums one can take in a day, and even took more when I was woken up, but the heartburn would just keep coming back.

Still being affected by it this morning, I read your post and remembered I had some probiotics in my cabinet. I took a dosage, and almost immediately felt better. I actually laughed it was such a relief. Thanks!

I also have Type 1 diabetes, and was told that I would experience higher blood sugars for a bit, and yes, they have definitely been a challenge to control after the shot.

My knee feels great though. And all of my side effects were from a single cortisone shot, nothing taken orally.

Zoe26

What do you mean about prednisone pills making reflux worse? I never heard that. How and why...is that really true?

Canyondweller

I just meant anyone that has stomach problem could be affected by the Prednisone which is known to be very hard on the stomach. You have to take it with food for that reason. whether it would increase acid reflux I don't know but there isn't any reason why a shot would either but if it were a case of one or the other a pill would be a greater risk of doing it.