GERD & Heartburn Support Group

My mother has acid reflux that has progressed from GERD to Barrett's esophagus. She is now on 2 Omeprazole a day. She also now has other issues she did not have before which include: erosive gastritis, ulcerative colitis, diverticulosis, hiatal hernia and ASIDE from that COPD.

Her prescription of Omeprazole was given upon and after her endoscopy. I would definitely get one done as the answers will be more telling than just guessing at it. If you have gastritis in addition to the acid reflux - you can change your diet and do a few things to help heal it, but there are two kinds of gastritis: erosive gastritis and gastritis with h.pylori (a bacteria that needs to be treated with specific meds). I think the endoscopy is definitely worth doing.

You can add the following basics to your diet to help your digestive system in general: fiber (benefiber), omega 3, probiotics and digestive enzymes. All of these are available at your local nutrition store. Find a well trained employee that can help suggest the best products for you. These are basic things that everyone should be taking to help with their digestive tract so it shouldn't be a conflict. Keep in mind that 70% of our immunity is found in the digestive tract. So a healthy digestive tract, helps overall health.

In short, the endoscopy is a great suggestion. It will help direct the correct medications and treatments. It's a rather simple process if you've never had one. Best well wishes... Faith

Nausea was my main GERD symptom for the first several months. I later developed chest pains, probably from my hiatal hernia (common with GERD). So while nausea can be a symptom of many different things, GERD is certainly a possibility!

An endoscopy would be a good idea, and is often the first test doctors do for GERD and other gastrointestinal issues. While endoscopies can't always diagnose GERD difinitely, it can check for damage such as irritation in the stomach or esophagus, esophagul strictures (narrowings), Barrett's esophagus, and hiatal hernias (though the hernias can come and go for some people). The endoscopy can also check for other problems such as ulcers, and will check for the presence of H. pylori bacteria, which can cause GERD. If you have an H. pylori infection, then that can be treated with antibiotics.

I was never able to completely cure my symptoms with meds alone so I had to change my diet. Here's the diet I follow to give you an idea, although everyone has different trigger foods:

http://www.dailystrength.org/people...

Also some other tips that may help; sleeping with a wedge pillow greatly reduced my nighttime nausea:

http://www.dailystrength.org/people...

Hope you figure out something that works for you soon!

Acidopholous, papaya enzymes and a probiotic. Sounds like you are depleted of good bacteria. I was nauseated for six months before I discovered this. Try it and see how you feel after a few weeks.