Does anyone know anything about Acid Reflux?

Anyway, it sounds like you've got a serious case (there have only been three for four times in my rich history with acid reflux that I've not been able to sleep because of it) so before you try any alternative remedies, which would I advocate otherwise, maybe it's best to get this particular episode under control. Then you can see which foods trigger reflux in you and just avoid those. Chin up! It will be okay as soon as you address the immediate crisis.

*Or used to, anyway. Every once in awhile I would go a couple days without to see if I still needed it and normally that would result in searing pain but now I've not taken any in almost two weeks. That pretty much coincides with my having started back on Weight Watchers and having stopped eating... refined sugars and carbs. YMMV, of course.

Oh and I'm going to check out the aloe thing - I don't like taking lots of pills if I can help it. Thanks friend.

The Secret Ingredient: RAW, LIQUID HONEY – Raw honey in liquid form is really what helps get rid of your heartburn for good. We suggest taking 1 tsp. of raw liquid honey any time you begin to feel discomfort of heartburn or acid reflux. You can also take the honey before bedtime, which will help soothe your esophagus and allow you to heal while you are sleeping.

Honey works fast, and it’s important that you use pure raw honey. (This is the most common type of honey you’ll find at the grocery store – in liquid form… like in those “Honey Bear” plastic bottles, for example). Honey has long been known to fight bacteria, block infection, combat inflammation, reduce pain, and improve circulation. It also stimulates the regrowth of tissue – in fact, there are some people who claim a certain blend of bee powder and honey cures baldness!

8. The Other Secret Ingredient: APPLE CIDER VINEGAR (ACV) – Did you know that most acid reflux is actually caused by too LITTLE acid in your stomach? This makes sense when you think about how it works. If your stomach isn’t producing enough acid to digest your food, then more food (and gas) will stay in your stomach for longer periods of time… without getting properly digested. So, since Apple Cider Vinegar is so acidic, it immediately starts digesting the food in your stomach and eases your heartburn very quickly.
Please note – some people have reflux because of too much acid. If this is your case, then the Apple Cider Vinegar will probably not help you. If you currently take medications that are acid blockers, you probably have too much acid already. If you don’t know, please consult with your doctor.

How much Apple Cider Vinegar should you use?
First of all, it won’t take very much at all. One or two “swigs” should do it (one or two teaspoons). You’ll probably feel a slight burning sensation for maybe 5 seconds, but then it should go away and you’ll notice almost immediate relief. And it should keep you relieved for days at a time.

Another tip is to try and get the best apple cider vinegar you can – we recommend you find some at a health food store, not the cheap Heinz brand found at grocery stores. Some grocery stores will have the good kind – you’ll know it when you see it. The Bragg brand has worked really well, and it usually costs less than US$5.00. But if you don’t find Bragg or another organic APPLE CIDER VINEGAR brand, Heinz should work better than nothing.

Honey and Apple Cider Vinegar together should help you tremendously! We recommend trying just the honey first. If that doesn’t work, try adding some honey to two or three teaspoons of APPLE CIDER VINEGAR in a cup of hot water. If that doesn’t work, try using the APPLE CIDER VINEGAR straight – one swig at a time. The taste of APPLE CIDER VINEGAR isn’t very good, but it should help you get rid of your reflux/heartburn

you must get a good organic vinegar but any old honey works (in my experience).

Did you know that most acid reflux is actually caused by too LITTLE acid in your stomach? This makes sense when you think about how it works. If your stomach isn’t producing enough acid to digest your food, then more food (and gas) will stay in your stomach for longer periods of time… without getting properly digested. So, since Apple Cider Vinegar is so acidic, it immediately starts digesting the food in your stomach and eases your heartburn very quickly.

Famotidine (Pepcid generic) is a wonder drug for me - one little guy before a big meal, and I'm good.

I've gotten zantac and gaviscon to take while I wait for the nexium to kick in. I think I've got to figure out what in my diet causes problems and work on the no-eating before sleeping bit (last night I stupidly ate cupcakes around 9. doh)

Haha, XP.

Now I'm trying to figure out if my kid has reflux! he's on baby zantac but I don't much like the idea of it.

What has helped, though:

** I've stopped taking rinatidine (I think it's the UK version of Prilosec) and started taking acidophilus pills twice a day -- the friendly bacteria -- they're good for replacing the "good" acids, like cider vinegar. Incidentally also v. helpful for candida and thrush. It's probably not as effective as prilosec, but stops me feeling like I'm a medicine jar.

** I can eat spicy foods and even drink coffee (although I use a lot of milk to cut the acidity) AND beer (! but never orange juice gah) but a slice of cake will have me gobbling the Prilosec for a couple of days afterwards.

Yeah -- it's stupid of me, but I'm just NOT willing to give up cafferine and alcohol. However, cakes/biscuits/choc/prefab sliced white bread aren't so difficult to cut down on -- and they're much worse on my reflux than booze and coffee anyway.

** Avoid citrus fruits and juices, esp. tomato, orange and the supermarket ones with added sugar. If you're bored of drinking water, pick up some sugar-free pomegranate or cranberry juice from a natural food store. (They're much tastier, too, imo.)

** Yoghurt is awesome, especially kefir or any other live bacteria-containing pot. Again, go for plain without sugar, and add your own fruity accompaniment.

** And belches! I only get a certain, froggy type of belch when my reflux is bad. When I'm not getting those belches, it's a good sign that it's getting better.

gaviscon works for a while then just exacerbates the problem.

WAH? I sure as fuck hope not! I have it again (second pregnancy). I hatehateHATE it. I've been sipping on Gaviscon like mad. :-( Just small sips really, cause I hate the taste of it. *sigh*

elevating the head of the bed is meant to help quite a lot. fuck knows how I'm supposed to do that though.

Andrews is the best, I find.

I don't have a "horrible burning" in my throat, but an annoying / scratchy tickliness for the last 8-10 weeks. ENT doctor suspects GERD and its ilk, so I have been prescribed an antibotic and a nasal spray.

I have to stop drinking diet dr. peppers and margaritas if I want to sleep well.

heh, I just had a Diet Dr Pepper as a caffeine substitute!

wait whats gerd

why did he give you a nasal spray and antibiotics for gerd?

are you sure he doesn't reckon you have allergies/sinus problems?

Gastro Esophagal Reflux Disorder

And yea - antibiotics?

That hasn't been ruled out, Ronan.... sorry, I guess the antibiotic IS the nasal spray, the other drug is Nexium.

I've been sick for about 3 years with some combination of either sinus probs or gerd, never properly diagnosed, just was interested to see them connected I guess.

Ronan, did you ever try that thing with the apple cider vinegar and honey?

I've never heard of using nasal spray for GERD. do you have a chronic cough or something?

No. Will an occasional stabbing pain in my throat do?

Haha, my HMO won't cover Nexium! Time for OTC; that's America, you & me.

Eh, acid reflux is the worst. one of the downsides to pregnancy for sure. I feel for you guys (who suffer from it permanently). :-(

I had this only once, it happened when I took some antibiotics before bed that didn't agree with me. woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my chest was on fire. I had it pretty bad - I seriously thought I was having a heart attack. swallowing food was so painful it nearly doubled me over. unfortunately I left for vacation to new orleans that week, so I spent several days in the food capital of the south with a painful aversion to eating anything. but big ups to the prilosec, that helped.

Ronan btw you elevate the head of the bed by putting bricks under the two bedposts at the head - just a slight elevation does the trick

I still have this, it sucks, I don't take care of it unless I'm at work/on tour, the amount of health problems that start stacking up at one point if you've always treated yourself rather roughly is exactly as intense as they always said it'd be

see I haven't had this burning awful pain y'all are describing, but the ENT doc said this can happen w/out even noticeable heartburn.

OIn the bright side, my bed elevation was askew to begin with.

No actually Jed I must give it a go. Kind of one of those things I've been meaning to try out. I've been drinking Aloe Vera juice (mixed with water or normal juice) a bit lately, that seems to have helped me feel a little better, though can't be sure.

It's weird with me, reflux seems part of other probs, I don't often get that mad painful form of it, but I do find myself swallowing mucus/acid fucking incessantly, like until my throat is just fucked. Constant frog in throat etc.

I only have two bricks is my problem for bed elevation! Where do I rob some bricks? (I also need to elevate my monitors, to avoid bass reflux affecting neighbours)

fuck a gerd, seriously

I prefer to think of it as "the gerd." As in, "I need to be careful what I eat today. I have a touch of the gerd."

I had an attack of this yesterday and again this morning, disallowing me from finishing breakfast. Extreme, frightening pain in my neck, throat, and lower sinuses that there seems to be no stopping once it's started. Nothing to do but sit there and experience the unique sensation of my esophagus being burned away by stomach acid, as my mouth waters uncontrollably, my sinuses drip desperately, and tears roll down my face. Good times.

most the meds for this are over the counter now

nexium still beats all tho

I take one prilosec (otc) every morning and my heart burn is gone

i used to get this when i was a kid/teenager. i didn't really know what it was or that i could just like take a tums and it would go away. I would just lay there awake half the night thinking i was dying.

I used to get this ALL the time. It was undoubtedly caused by the extremely poor diet during law school, the excessive consumption of beer and my smoking.

All of which have been changed, so my Acid Reflux ain't around no mo'.

fucking hell

when will I learn not to gorge myself on Cape Verdian food the night before a concert

A couple weeks ago I downed a humungous coffee then minutes later had this crippling tight pain all in my chest, sides, upper back - nothing helped. It eventually went away after 15 mins but came back a couple of days later for longer. I was wondering if this was anything to do with acid reflux or would I have had some pain in my throat etc? I've never really known what's meant by "heartburn".

FUCK THIS SHIT. I have felt like I have a piece of food stuck in my throat on and off for days, I'm burpy, bloated and feel like I ate corks. And I didnt bring any Zantac to work. :(

Wahhhhh.

I should know better than to eat large meals. It always does me in.

Here we go again. Actually lately it hasnt bugged me much, but when it occasioally does, its that full on "I'm having a heart attack oh my god" stabby rocks pain. Like today. Ow.

And the Zantac's doing arse all... WHYYY. God. I knew I ate too much rice.

it's a long shot but I had some success with a supplement called d-limonene

take 1 after evening meal. it seems to coat the esophagus somehow idk but helped me get some decent nights sleep after a few days of taking it

not a longterm solution but maybe helpful idk

I'm about to go back to omeprazol after over 18 months of avoiding it. I'm tired of being bloated.

but I def did get relief from d-limonene for a while, that's not a lie.

i'm sorry to hear you're having a rough go of this, and sorry your doctors sound shitty

omeprazole and pantoprazole are drugs of the same class. when i used to work as a pharmacist i noticed doctors would try one after another in the same patient, a practice that baffled me. now that i've been to medical school i can't say i understand it any better. have you tried twice a day dosing? that is usually the next step after once a day dosing fails

it seems as though you've been seen by an array of docs, including a GI doc, so there's not much advice i can give you that you haven't probably already heard. lifestyle and dietary interventions do tend to work well in my experience, but not for everyone. losing weight almost always helps, if that is applicable in your case. coffee, spicy foods, soda, and fatty foods are often implicated, though the effects are individual-dependent -- thus the usual recommendation is typically to avoid whatever happens to trigger your episodes. chewing gum, or sucking on hard candy (anything that increases saliva flow) tends to help as well, as you've found. peppermint is often overlooked -- it actually causes the sphincter connecting your stomach and esophagus to open, increasing the likelihood of reflux. elevating the bed often helps for nocturnal symptoms,

i can't imagine you havent tried an H2 blocker yet, but nighttime dosing of an H2 blocker like famotidine or ranitidine is often useful (though the effects tend to wear off after a couple of months)

best of luck

I had pretty bad reflux and wouldn't leave the house without ranitidine in case something triggered it. It kinda went away after a combination of that + seeing a therapist/psychiatrist and taking lexapro/welbutrin. I was scared the reflux would come back when I stopped taking lexapro, et al once I got off that stuff a couple months ago but so far so good.. Not sure if this advice is useful but good luck man. Not a fun problem to have.

What does the medical establishment think about aloe?

can't say i've ever heard of it used for reflux (though i'm sure some use it). can confirm that it is yummy

A woman I worked with years ago told me that she took it every day for reflux and then when my partner had a bout of reflux, I tried it. I mixed aloe gel and a little not-super-acidic fruit juice (guava or peach iirc) and he drank it every morning for a week or two. No more reflux, but I wondered maybe it was placebo?

Thanks for the recommendations, I will try an H2 blocker and aloe. I can confirm the problem with peppermint. For a long time I avoided chewing gum as after chewing the reflux got worse. Then I discovered it was the peppermint flavour. Now I chew a gum with lemon taste which works fine against the reflux. Higher doses of omeprazole did not change anything. Right now I am taking riopan whenever the reflux gets insupportable. Not sure if it works but it seems to calm me down a little.

woke up yet again choking on vomit, cos I stupidly ate late at night and didn't sleep on an incline. always fun. happens 4-5 times per year.

guess another endoscopy is in the cards (had one ten years ago)

I was going to make a dumb joke and say that I though that this was an ILM thread.

Sorry Neanderthal, hope you feel better.

Lol the capitalization made me think the same at first

happened again Monday morning in the middle of my sleep (for same stupid reason as before - overeating right before sleep). this time, I don't know that I was successful clearing everything (a first). i was clearing stuff from lungs all day.

had a fever of over 100 all day, no other symptoms - possibly due to dehydration, or presence of foreign material in lungs, idk. went away immediately and permanently after I got a normal night's sleep and hydrated profusely. did the usual COVID tests, not that, and today I feel normal other than occasionally coughing up residual gunk. everything I can read suggests that if my respiratory system is fine, this type of minor aspiration should clear up in a day or two rather than become pneumonia.

anybody else had this happen? naturally, in my situation, I have to make sure ER visits are truly necessary before I make them, as it would require my brother to take FMLA leave to back me up w/ the folks.

I have never had anything quite like that or anything remotely approaching pneumonia myself. I don't know if this is your situation, but my (US HMO) healthcare provider has phone consultation and often non ER appointments available in a few days.

FWIW as embarassing as it is I do mostly sleep on a wedge anymore. Recently in another thread I was praising the effects of (non peppermint) gum and slippery elm tea, which fortunately has almost nullified any symptoms (after about 8 years)

I'm all better now. Definitely not eating late anymore. Yikes