What has helped me was going on the bland, mostly carb diet that they discuss on the gastritis support group. The diet and the PPI's healed all my ulcers and my gastritis in 6 months. Now I'm starting to add back foods a little at a time, to see what works in my stomach and what doesn't.

Reading the posts on the gastritis board could really help you. Good luck..

Welcome to our group!

Welcome to our group!

I have a hernia also and have had GERD in the past. My GERD has mostly ended, but I do have a problem with it once in awhile. My main problem was at night while in bed.

I did many things to greatly reduce my GERD problem, so in my case it was a combination of things that got it under control. The first thing I did was to raise my head while in bed with a wedge pillow. This helped more than any other single item. Now we have a power lift bed so I can easily raise my upper body. If you have not tried a wedge pillow that would be the first place I would start.

Diet is also important, but I do not know if a low carb diet would have much to do with GERD. It is good for other things regardless. It is more important to find your trigger foods. There are many and well known. You will probably have to stop or reduce these foods especially at night. After about a year of watching what I ate, things have improved to the point where I now eat what ever I want, but I do make a point to eat dinner early. The less in your stomach at bedtime the better.

When first diagnosed, I was put on a PPI, but got off of it in about 4 months if I remember correctly. The sooner you can get off of any PPI or other antacid the better. All will make things worse in the long run.

To help with meals, I took DGL Ultra before each meal. This can really help you quickly. You cannot find DGL in conventional drug stores, but it is easily available online or in health food stores.

Another thing that I took was digestive enzymes before each meal. They help with the break down of food. The brand that I took also included a small dose of acid. Remember that most stomach acid problems are due to the lack of acid not access acid.

After several months I was able to stop all medications Rx and OTC. I still have a problem now and then and when I do I just eat a stick of celery. Celery works as fast as any antacid and does no harm in any case. A slice or more of an apple will do the same thing, but it is easier to keep celery on hand.

Those are my thoughts for now. Good luck and welcome again to the group.

One thing I forgot to mention. Do not drink much, if any, fluids before, during, or soon after a meal. It was hard for me to stop drinking water during meals. Drinking fluids dilute stomach acid, therefore, delaying the time before the food is ready to move out of the stomach. You want your food out of your stomach as soon as possible.

sptrout; thx for the reply..i bought a 'reflux' pillow awhile back but I continually slide to the bottom of it and don't sleep well because i'm never in the right place..i stop eating anything at about 7 pm, don't drink anything either. have lost about 20 pounds and need to lose 40 more...I looked up the brat diet, may try it too and I am on ppi's. so, how do you sleep on that pillow without sliding to the bottom of it? thx for the help, doris

Hi Doris,

I never had a problem with my wedge pillow like you described. One thing to remember is that you still use your standard pillow on top of the wedge. That may help. We have had a power bed for several years now that has the lift capability so I no longer use a wedge. However, the results are the same; lift the bed up (wedge pillow, blocks under the frame, or a power lift) and then use your standard pillow like you always have. Now, for us, it seems very weird to lay flat (on a hotel bed for example).

Steve

thx for the 'pillow' advice...I know that would help if I could figure out how to set it up. this cough is driving me nuts...my doctor has me on raboprazol (sp) half the dose and I used to be on tecta 40 mg 2x a day, now 20 mg. 2x a day. I go back to my doc july 27. I wanted off the ppi's totally but don't know if its possible...

I agree with all that Steve is saying. Hi Steve! Try the 7 inch bed wedge from Bed Bath and Beyond. I used to put a pillow under my knees. That stops the sliding down. If the wedge is higher it works even better for refluxing at night. It is the key to healing the esophagus for sure. Overnight reflux continually inflames the esophagus. You want to create a certain angle when you sleep with a wedge. The angle you need may be different than someone else. raising the bed never worked for me. The angle wasnt great enough. Your upper body need to be upright at a certain level.

I do think even a small sliding HH causes the reflux problem for most of us. It does cause the valve to dysfunction and allows acid to come up especially while lying down at night. I also dont have an issue too often unless I treat myself too much and or go on holiday.

I managed this totally with diet alone. It took me a year and a half to get to a really good place but it works. Diet is the key. It takes a lot of discipline. That is the hard part for most people.

Low carb didnt work at all for me. In fact I often had a good piece of whole wheat bread to stop my heartburn. I think wheat is a good acid absorber. It is my go to food all the time now. I am not a believer in a no wheat diet at all.

The not drinking water is also an important point. it makes a big difference to not drink fluids with your food. Drink in between. Apples often made me worse. It is different for everyone I find. Do a food journal. That will help. The PPI should eliminate the symptoms pretty quickly. Then you can slowly get off and try to manage it with a careful diet.

I stop eating way earlier than 7 pm. I stop by 5 pm. I eat a lot in the morning and am pretty full most of the day and am fine after 5 pm.

Keep your meals small until you get way better as well.

So it is possible to do this without PPIs if you have the discipline to do it! The size of the HH can make this more challenging. If yours is small you can do it. Bigger than that is harder.