Acid Reflux,

wally1990

Hi all

I am a 28 year old male height 6.2 and weight 92kg,205 pound , 14.6Stone--pound

I have been suffering with acid reflux for 3.5 years

Initially I was given prescribed tablets of 20mg and 2 per day

I am now on 40mg and 2 per day

I am a non smoker and drink just at the weekend

I would have a varied diet including fast food (once a week maybe) to healthly meals

My question is has anyone on boards suffered with acid reflux for a prolonged time and what did you do to cure it (if anything)

Is it realistic that I remain on tablets for the rest of my life.

These tables nuteralise the acid in the stomach.

I've never gone beyond the GP to get a camera down throat etc

Currently I am avoiding alcohol and going on a new diet to lose weight and minimise foods that cause the high levels of PH( should have done this before I know)


Just before anyone mentions gaviscon,rennie ,nexium 20mg etc

these are a completly useless to me.

They have zero effect on my condition and I remain on prescribed tablets of 40mg

I'm sure long term sufferers here maybe the same

I'm currently sourcing mine from Spain etc when friends/family and myself are abroad after fed up of paying high costs in Ireland of about €25 per month compared to €8 in Spain etc so I buy in bulk

I've been reading about surgery and it's seems high risk

I just want to know the experiences of other sufferers and how you handle this or resolved it?

Can it be cured with weight loss and controlled diet ?

wally1990

Bump

farmerwifelet

no eating after 8pm - drink peppermint tea and manuka honey.
Take 2-3 apple cider vinegar tablets after breakfast and avoid greasy food (take aways)
keep a food diary. I figured out onions and lettuce are triggers for me.
Tilt up the head of your bed. a couple of inches should do it.

If you need to see a gastro doc they will want to know about food triggers so a food diary is a must.

It also helps you avoid trigger foods once you figure out what they are. : )

Max Prophet

Get a scope down. You need to eliminate things like Barrett's oesophagus

Space Dog

Max Prophet wrote: »

Get a scope down. You need to eliminate things like Barrett's oesophagus

This is really important. If 80 mg a day still don't do much you need to insist on getting an endoscopy done to see what's going on down there.

Don't stop taking your medication without talking to your GP. Switching to a different PPI might help, what have you tried? You're on esomeprazole? There's also pantoprarzole, omeprazole etc.
Gaviscon Advance is the best antacid IMO, it forms a raft over your stomach contents.
There's not just stomach acid, there's also bile, pepsin etc. and they're not really affected by PPIs.
Natural remedies that might help: Slippery elm, DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice).
Losing weight might or might not help. I'm bordering on underweight and still have acid reflux. If your cardia isn't closing properly it won't help much.

BTW, someone's cure might be make someone else miserable. Peppermint tea is a big no-no for me, just like chocolate, spicy food, most alcohol, coffee, all take aways, carbonated drinks, raw onions, citrus, tomato and too much garlic. Fatty and sugary food aren't great either but I can't avoid everything all the time.

Maybe try the FODMAP diet or speak to a nutritionist. Good luck though, I did an exclusion diet for nearly three months and my social life really suffered from it, I couldn't eat out at all and had to be home early all the time so I could eat early, can't do late meals. Some people claim to have found relief from a gluten-free diet, or a vegan diet, or by eating only low-fat or sugar free, you name it...

Regarding surgery: I've read about many success stories but also lots of failures.
I think they would only do it in expectional cases in Ireland anway. Fundoplicatios are the most common procedures, they're highly invasive.
The LINX ring is rather new, but probably not common here.

witchgirl26

OP I'd have to agree with a lot of what Space Dog has written.

I'm 32 and have had acid reflux since I was 17. I've been on esomeprazole since then. When it started to get really bad, the first thing that was done was get me in for a scope to make sure there was nothing else more sinister going on. There wasn't but it was good to get that reassurance.

I've done FODMAPs (have IBS as well) and found it was brilliant for helping to identify the foods that cause reactions for both acid reflux and IBS for me. It wasn't as bad as an exclusion diet I'd done before and I was still able to have a relatively normal social life during the time.

Green tea I found was good for me during a really bad bout. The only prescription packs for Nexium used to have some good guide on them for how to ease it. Raising the head of the bed or using 2 pillows so that your head is elevated. No spicy food especially later on in the evening. Anything with too much fizz.

I went hard-line on a lot of those for a number of years and once it was under control a bit I was able to ease up on some of them a bit more.

In terms of getting your meds in Spain, can I just suggest that if you're not buying branded but generic that you check the ingredients. I do know someone who was caught out (not acid reflux tabs) where what they were in buying in generic in Spain was not the same as the generic here and when they switched back they did notice a difference. No problem if they're the same but always worth a check when it's something like that.

I'm not sure about cured but it can be managed. During a really good period I was down to 2 20mg tabs a week. Weight loss can help but I was underweight when I first developed it and have been everywhere on the scale (bar the complete extremes) in the intervening years and still have it. It might just make it a bit easier though.

Space Dog

Oh, and one more thing: I know people who just take PPIs whenever they feel like it. They need to be taken half an hour to an hour before food, ideally something with protein, otherwise they don't work as well.
If you take antacids like Gaviscon you need to wait for at least 2 hours or they'll interfere with the meds.
I also find that chewing gum (no mint!) helps! And I don't drink anything when I eat, I stop half an hour before eating and wait for an hour after meals before I drink something. Works for me, no clue why...
And witchgirl is right about generics, I had a few problems and side effects with some and some didn't work at all for me...

not yet

One thing I've noticed is the lack of acid in my stomach from the tablets means I find it very difficult digesting food. I now take a digestive enzymes.

dodgytummy

Just had a ODG Scope yesterday after suffering with very bad acid reflux for a year and having tried near all antacids without much success. Also had accupuncture which seemed to reduce the reflux but what i find to have had the best effect is Natural Yoghurt by Old McDonnell's Farm. Have 3 tablespoons each night before going to bed and the following day i notice big difference so much so that if i forget to take it i suffer the following day. Basically it has 4 live cultures in it which near all other ones do not have. It should be taken last thing at night and important not to drink hot drinks after it

Sorry the diagnosis is that i have a Hiatus Hernia and Gastritis so starting on 2 months of PPI to see can it heal the problem. Tests for Heliobactirial Phylori proved negetive which is a bonus. Told to avoid to eating big meals late at night , fizzy drink(which i rarely drink), Caffeine and spicy foods.

not yet

dodgytummy wrote: »

Just had a ODG Scope yesterday after suffering with very bad acid reflux for a year and having tried near all antacids without much success. Also had accupuncture which seemed to reduce the reflux but what i find to have had the best effect is Natural Yoghurt by Old McDonnell's Farm. Have 3 tablespoons each night before going to bed and the following day i notice big difference so much so that if i forget to take it i suffer the following day. Basically it has 4 live cultures in it which near all other ones do not have. It should be taken last thing at night and important not to drink hot drinks after it

Sorry the diagnosis is that i have a Hiatus Hernia and Gastritis so starting on 2 months of PPI to see can it heal the problem. Tests for Heliobactirial Phylori proved negetive which is a bonus. Told to avoid to eating big meals late at night , fizzy drink(which i rarely drink), Caffeine and spicy foods.

Whilst on the ppi's try a digestive enzyme.

adox

I would definitely get the camera down to see if its anything obvious. Could even be a stomach ulcer.

The spicy food thing I thought was a bit of an old wives tale at this stage?