My hiatal hernia gave me a lot of chest pain before I started a GERD-friendly diet. While everyone has different GERD trigger foods, here's what works for me to get you started:

http://www.dailystrength.org/people/508274/journal/1912231

What are you doing to treat it? Diet, meds, etc.?

Thanks Geekchick my flare up has settled but Im worried it will come back. I still feel some discomfort from the gastritis. Ive stopped the coffee and try to have decaff tea. Also I will be careful with pop and juice. Im trying not to have gravy or fatty foods,just mild stuff like turkey,chicken and vegetables. Sometimes I have salmon which Im ok with. My doctor wants to change me from Pantoprazole,Protonix, to Cimetidine,Tagamet. Have you heard of it? Is it ok? I hope so. My doctor thinks the PPIs can cause stomach pain. I have read that on the leaflet but it doesn't say why it can. So we will see.

I have the same symptoms plus I had bad breathing problems. With Nexium the breathing and chest pain issues are better. I still have stomach pain though. Had all the normal workups, EGD, pH monitoring, motility test done by my GI doc. Found a hiatal hernia, esophagitis and gatritis. Will have to be very strict on what I eat and take the meds. My GI doc seems to think I have functional dyspepsia which he says can be treated with a low dose antidepressant and buspar. This has been going on for 4 years and I feel your frustration and fear. I too have that. I'm trying to heal my stomach with products from ReNew Life such as probiotics, digestive enzymes, fiber, enteric coated fish oil and a speciality supplement called IntestiNew which is supposed to heal the lining of the gut. As for diet I eat oatmeal, yogurt, cottage cheese fish/chicken with veggies and I have a rice protein smoothie for dinner. I eat my biggest meal at lunch. I have raised my mattress with a Beds-Up insert to 6 inches...so time will tell if all these therapies will resolve my issues because it's definitely getting real old and weighing on my emotions....due to the stomach pain I have not been able to work in 3 years....I really hope this resolves soon for both of us.....
As for drinking stay away from evrything like coffee, sodas, regular tea, etc. decaf or not..these are still acidic....I find that chamomile tea is helpful in the morning and evening..the rest of the time I just drink filtered water and never drink water with meals, it dilutes digestive enzymes and can have an effect on how fast the stomach empties which can contribute to symptoms...hope this helps....

Hi franknc gosh I feel for you having these symptoms for 4 years. I hope I don't. Well I try to eat near enough normally some days but it keeps flaring back up and its agony. I can't give up tea and I have cut down on coffee. Its so depressing as there are a lot of foods I can't have. What did your gastro say then? My doctor,who I saw yesterday has changed my meds from the PPI to Cimetidine,Tagamet. He says that the PPI can upset the stomach in some people causing pain. I have read that though its not typical. Anyway he thinks its that so I hope the new drug works. The weird thing is that my last endoscope showed a normal oesophaghus. Its all the gastritis pain but no H pylori. Have you been tested for that? Ive still got to have ph monitoring. So an op won't help you? I don't work either with this and my asthma. I want to get back to normal I would rather be pain free and work. Honestly though my nerves are so bad I can't do a lot. Im fed up of not being able to go for a drink with friends. My stomach won't let me. Its so depressing isn't it. Have you found anything that helps yet? Let me know. I tried Aloe vera but it didn't do anything. I hope and pray we get better soon. I do believe in prayer don't know if you do. I will pray for us anyway.