heartburn remedies?

The Bollox

howdy. I suffer a lot from heartburn. I am wondering if there are any cures for it, short of taking indigestion tablets? What I mean is, in the same way gargling warm water with salt helps a sore throat, are there any remedies like that for heartburn?

Rb

Ice cream!

Ruu_Old

Soda water is good.

N_Raid

Baking soda. one or two teaspoons in a glass of water. it's alkaline so it neutralises the acid

phog

Try to drink lots of water every day and this should ease the problem. When you actually suffer from it you could try the solutions above. I use Rapeze wne necessary.

humanji

Peppermint (the drinking kind, not a packet of mints) is one of the best things you can get. Add a little to water and sip it.

And if you keep getting heartburn, then change your diet. The acid will keep burning your throat doing a lot of damage and can cause throat cancer.

muppetkiller

Brandy ...although you will stink of booze

Saruman

as above... peppermint.. any healthshop will have it. Ginger is also good.
Going the medical route it would be gaviscon(spelling?).

Healio

Depending on how bad, i often find a bit of milk does the trick for mild heartburn.

InFront

Don't rush dinner!

alleepally

Spoonful of mustard, down in one go.

chamlis

Stay away from bread, and I find milk actually makes things worse sometimes. It used to relieve very mild heartburn, but makes it worse now. I haven't suffered for a few weeks though, so something must be working

The Bollox

Peppermint is a miracle worker, but I would have no other use for it, so I wouldn't considir buying it. mustard? how would mustard help?

Steffano2002

chamlis wrote:

Stay away from bread [...]

That's the key! Try to cut out bread and pastries from your diet for 5 days (along with drinking a lot of a water throughout the day) and see if you still suffer from heartburn afterwards.

I thankfully rarely suffer from it but when I do I have my trusted french tablets called "Polysilane" that you can get over the counter (in France obviously). Works as a gastrointestinal dressing/band-aid... It's magic!

Dudess

I don't know about your case but it's worth being aware that smoking, too much strong coffee, alcohol and stodgy food can all be factors that cause heartburn. Gaviscon works a treat and isn't just a generic indigestion remedy, it's specifically designed for heartburn. The liquid form is rank but it's a lesser of two evils. The tablet form is truly monstrous. The liquid form is worth taking. I used to suffer from heartburn - giving up smoking and cutting down on all of the above stuff got rid of it. I found, though, that milk did relieve it a bit - not fully, but it certainly helped. However this was usually only temporary.

Maybe visit your doc if you're experiencing heartburn really regularly. I doubt you'll develop throat cancer or oesophageal cancer (another form of the illness that has heartburn as one of its symptoms - not trying to scaremonger, but I think it's fair enough to raise awareness) but it would be no harm to get checked out.

Hope you get relief!

chamlis

Actually, my Mother used to suffer from Oesophageal Acid Reflux. Horrible dose.

Dudess

Having a sinus/nasal condition that causes a build-up of phlegm (yeah, nice) in the throat or windpipe or gullet or whatever it's called can cause heartburn too.

MooseJam

Coca cola gave me woefull heartburn don't drink the stuff

if you are going for the pills option try zantac i think they are called, great stuff, one pill and no more heartburn for the rest of the day

SarahMc

I sympathise, suffered dreadfully when pregnant, whilst also having craving for milk (which I HATE normally). Body telling me something, it was the only thing that relieved the heartburn.

haunted-room

Ive been getting heartburn very regularly too. Also, every night when lying down, i can feel something acid? coming up my throat. Sometimes when ive just fallen asleep, I get a shock and wake up with the acid or whatever it is just at the back of my throat.
Sometimes I take motillium but it never completely gets rid of it.

Lust4Life

Gaviscon is fabulous!

But diet really does have a lot to do with it. More veggies and less starchy foods will help immensely.

And as for no use for mints? :eek: :eek: :eek:

Ruu_Old

Lust4Life wrote:

Gaviscon is fabulous!

But diet really does have a lot to do with it. More veggies and less starchy foods will help immensely.

And as for no use for mints? :eek: :eek: :eek:

Gaviscon has that weird ad with the hand going down your throat though, no fank yew!:(

Rabies

Zantac for me. Suffer with very bad stomach acid problems at times. Heart burn is the least of my worries. Zantac all the way.

djmarkus

Dudess wrote:

Having a sinus/nasal condition that causes a build-up of phlegm (yeah, nice) in the throat or windpipe or gullet or whatever it's called can cause heartburn too.

i think i have that, im always hocking up

Lust4Life

Gaviscon actually tastes good though! And it works!

InFront

Lust4Life wrote:

Gaviscon actually tastes good though! And it works!

not as good as baby calpol. Or strawberry Penicillin, remember that?

MMMMMMmmmmmm, I'd love a few spoons....

Holsten

I have this all the time, so annoying.

I find water, ice-cream, or if you have any Rennie Peppermint, the small ones in the pack of three to be quite good.

Lust4Life

Posted by InFront

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lust4Life
Gaviscon actually tastes good though! And it works!

not as good as baby calpol. Or strawberry Penicillin, remember that?

MMMMMMmmmmmm, I'd love a few spoons....

Oh, you mean Amoxicillin for children!
Yes! That is yummy!
So yummy that when my son is ill I have to monitor the bottle or he'll chug it down all at once!

biko

Stub your toe and the pains will cancel each other out.

The Bollox

either that or I'll be hopping about and coughing up HCL at the same time

InFront

Lust4Life wrote:

Oh, you mean Amoxicillin for children!

That's right, pediatric Amoxil! I recently came across bubble gum flavoured amoxil for kids... bah humbug, kids these days are so lucky:mad:

1canman

I swear by zantac, but for instant relief, Milk Of Magnesia! Just don't have too much or you could be settling on a porcelain throne for a while.:eek:

LovelyHurling

InFront wrote:

That's right, pediatric Amoxil! I recently came across bubble gum flavoured amoxil for kids... bah humbug, kids these days are so lucky:mad:

oh yeah, anyone know what the banana flavoured one is?

DJ_Spider

My Mum always gave us Kaolin & Morphine. It also stops the squits! (can't spell diarea!)

The Hill Billy

DJ_Spider wrote:

My Mum always gave us Kaolin & Morphine. It also stops the squits! (can't spell diarea!)

You can't spell "squirts" either.

On a serious note - see your GP.
It could be a symptom of another, more serious, problem.
I speak from experience.

Terry

DJ_Spider wrote:

My Mum always gave us Kaolin & Morphine. It also stops the squits! (can't spell diarea!)

morphine?

yeah, see your doctor.
other than that, gaviscon (which is now a thick white liquid that looks like something you don't want to drink) or zantac.

ruprect

chamlis wrote:

Actually, my Mother used to suffer from Oesophageal Acid Reflux.

Thats just the fancy name for heartburn, makes you sound like you are terminally ill.
There was a call from some doctors to make common OTC heartburn tablets prescription only. Some consider it the most abused drug out there, i.e. used where not needed. You become reliant on these tablets. I used to take it since I got a bit while drinking. Your system gets used to it and releases more acids, so you need more tablets vicious circle. If you stick with the pain you can eventually get over it. I had one mate who was always asking me for tablets but he was not in that bad a way, he just liked the taste! some are very nice tasting like refreshers sweets.

Most contain sodium bicarbonate which is simply baking/bread soda. You can get a bag of this dirt cheap and it does the same thing, the other benefit is that it does not taste great so you will only end up taking it when you REALLY need it. I used to carry a little tub. The sweet-tooth mate was always asking me for tablets and I would take out this tub, suddenly his symptoms didnt appear so bad :rolleyes:

HelterSkelter

You could either have a hernia, this causes heartburn or else there is a bug you can get in your stomach which causes it. Your GP can treat this bug with medication. Best to get it checked out.

stovelid

I suffer too and I find that the following seems to help:

Going easy on coffee and soft drinks

Regular meals

Milk, ice cream etc if you are having a bout of it.

Nevyn

if it is persistnat then go to your dr it could be an indicator for other conditions.

Wigertoods

haunted-room wrote:

Ive been getting heartburn very regularly too. Also, every night when lying down, i can feel something acid? coming up my throat. Sometimes when ive just fallen asleep, I get a shock and wake up with the acid or whatever it is just at the back of my throat.
Sometimes I take motillium but it never completely gets rid of it.

was at the doc recently with the same symptoms.He diagnosed it as Oesophageal Reflux and gave me this explanation.Apparently we have some tissue as the base of our Oesophagus which acts as a "valve" to keep the acid in the stomach.If this "valve" is leaky the acid will travel back up the Oesophagus,especially when we lie down and cause excess heartburn.
His first piece of advise was to raise the top of my bed with a couple of books to ease the situation at night.(Something to do with gravity !)

haunted-room

Wigertoods wrote:

was at the doc recently with the same symptoms.He diagnosed it as Oesophageal Reflux and gave me this explanation.Apparently we have some tissue as the base of our Oesophagus which acts as a "valve" to keep the acid in the stomach.If this "valve" is leaky the acid will travel back up the Oesophagus,especially when we lie down and cause excess heartburn.
His first piece of advise was to raise the top of my bed with a couple of books to ease the situation at night.(Something to do with gravity !)

Ah, ok thanks! Ive been using a thicker pillow, seems to be a lot worse with a thin one, but ill try putting some books under it. If that dosnt work Ill just go to the doc too.

mukki

you should go to your doctor


could be Helicobacter pylori, will cost you over €150 to cure if it is

Flukey

The next time the Gaviscon ad is on, the one with the woman directing traffic, listen carefully. When she is asked if anything is wrong she actually says that she does not have heartburn, in terms of the way she says it. She answers "No heartburn." There is no pause or gap between the two words when she says it like "No, heartburn" or "No... heartburn." So according to herself, before she is given the tablet, she says she has no heartburn. So you'd wonder why the driver gives her something, what the ad is for then, and what is the Gaviscon for? OK, accuse me of being a pedant and all that, but the next time it is on, listen carefully.

As for a cure, while I have often got heartburn, I only once ever took anything for it, and that was Rennie. It worked.

Miss Fluff

If it is causing you that much discomfort and stops you sleeping you need to go to a doctor. Peppermint or Ginger are both good natural remedies. Gaviscon is good also, Bisodol is WAY better than Rennie which are no good at all. Better see a professional and get it sorted once and for all though. Poor thing, it is SO uncomfortable

Fraggle Rocks

Gaviscon liquid will be more effective than most tablets bar Zantac, because it also contains sodium alginate, which forms a gel raft that sits on top of the acid and prevents it refluxing back up your oesophagus.

Zantac stops HCl production in the stomach.

But if it is that bad, you might want to see a doctor.

18AD

Avoid drinking lots of liquid after eating.

tensecyclist

An antacid will do. If it recurrs, then try pepcid complete. Works for me.

Ruu_Old

Ah its a pity Pepto Bismol can't be purchased in Ireland (I don't think).

finbarrk

Sorry for bringing this up again but I did a search and got this thread, I am suffering bad with heartburn for the last year or so, I cant seem to find out the cause. It seems the only way for me to avoid it in the mornings is not to eat anything at breakfast at work at 10 o'c, then I don't get it at 11.30.
It's a disaster because when I don't eat I don't have the energy for work so its a catch 22 situation.

ivanthehunter

i heard that the latest info on heart burn claims that some cases are caused by bacteria in the gut / stomach wall.. sounds more like an ulscer..if its causing that much discomfort then i go see a specialist and you'll prob get probed with a camera via your mouth but at least you'll have tried to get shoot of this prob once and for all