GERD & Heartburn Support Group
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is defined as chronic symptoms or mucosal damage produced by the abnormal reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus. This is commonly due to transient or permanent changes in the barrier between the esophagus and the stomach. If you are afflicted with GERD or heartburn, join the group and find support.
I've been dealing with this for years and when I started taking prevacid, pepcid AC, etc. I swear all this made it worse. I eat tums all the time. I changed my diet and doing better, but it seems like its coming again and I don't know from where. I stopped coffee, and eat lots of veggies and protein. I'm so afraid of taking meds, but my DR suggest gerd meds if diet doesn't help. Has anyone gone on this and has it cured it?
What I know for sure is that it takes a ton of discipline and determination to be reflux free. it gets way better once you get to the point of being reflux free for about 3 months. Then you can add some of the things you are not supposed to have but not too much. I can treat myself but I have to be careful. I love peanut butter and it took me a bit of time to figure out how much I can eat without getting heartburn etc..
The diet is the key and you have to figure out everything that causes the reflux. Some proteins cause reflux. Some types of veggies do as well. Eating alkaline foods is very good for this issue.
Start over again and do a food journal. Start with basic food like oatmeal and root veggies & leafy veggies. Some fruits are OK too for most people..like papaya. whole wheat bread is good and quinoa as well as brown rice...eat the things you know for certain dont cause heartburn or subtle reflux.. Keep it really plain and pay attention to your bodies reaction.. then add a new food and see how you react and then add another one etc.. watch out for hidden ingredients in things like garlic, onion and black pepper. Eat low fat, no dairy and no red sauce , chocolate,soda, alcolhol for a while. Soft foods are good if your esophagus is inflammed.. it can continually get irritated from certain textures.
Follow the GERD rules and eat the small meals as well as not eating too late etc. What you eat in the afternoon can give you reflux while sleeping. That is where I get reflux from, I may eat a little too much of something during the day and I dont have any heartburn at all and dont even notice it while sleeping but then I can tell my esophagus is annoyed when I get up. That can start a flareup if you are not careful. You have to get rid of it right away , so I am very careful with what I eat for a few days after my esophagus feels a bit annoyed.
Everyone is different as far as what causes them reflux. There are a lot of things that can cause it that are not on that basic list. You just have to figure that part out.
It is a learning curve thing that takes time but it can be done. You just have to be prepared to eat very carefully for a few months and then you can expand your diet carefully again once you have been reflux free for a while..
Good luck!
I believe diet plays a big part in how well we stay with these problems. I cut out all dairy products and meat products so just eat all kinds of fish but excluding seafood. If you cannot cut out dairy products eat the low fat variety or buy the greek yoghurt, low fat variety and supplement your diet with acidophilus and Enzyme supplements. Cut out tea and coffee and drink filtered water.
Also cut stress down to a minimum because I do believe stress makes reflux worse. Good luck.