Acid Reflux/Heart Burn

[Serapth]

Anyone else suffer from this? One of the lovely joys of getting older... funny thing is, I think I suffered from GERD for years, but I always figured it was smoking that was causing my throat to burn. Once I quit smoking I kept getting nearly constant sore throats. Not to mention I put on about 20 lbs and was eating like shit, so not only was I getting heartburn/acid reflux, I was aggravating the hell out of them.

Anyways, these days I've been given an acid blocker prescription ( pariet ) and have been taking it for about 3/4 a year. It pretty much works, but I am seriously annoyed at the idea of taking a pill every day for the rest of my life, so I am trying not to take it. I have been off about 3 days and yeah, my throat is sore again, but otherwise about normal.


So, this thread... I know GERD/Heartburn/Acid Reflux is super common, so I am willing to bet a ton of you have experience with it. What tips and tricks do you have for living with/eliminiating it?

A few tips I know are:
- elevate your bed a few degrees ( seriously, this works ).
- tums and rolaids suck
- say no to alcohol ( this part sucks, hard )
- red meats a bitch

What about anyone else? I would especially be interested in knowing any tea related remedy. Mallox works wonders but its like drinking chalk and can do some seriously weird things in your intestines...



So, how many other sufferers do we have?

[TheSilentDeath]

I've got it and I'm only 21. Doctor put me on prevacid and I haven't had any problems since.

[Primus]

I get it from drinking beer or eating right before going to bed.

It sucks but alcohol is more important.

[Lima Beans]

What works for me its avoiding fatty food and avoiding spicy food, and avoiding overeating. I still have a prescription pill I can take to treat it if I need to as well.

[Bad Buddha]

I get it from drinking beer or eating right before going to bed.
Eating right before bed kills me every time. I find myself sleeping in my computer desk chair if it wakes me up in the middle of the night.

I had it really bad for a while. Ended up with Barrett's esophagus (http://www.medicinenet.com/barretts_esophagus/article.htm)and scarred vocal chords. So I'm on the annual endoscopy schedule to check for esophageal cancer.

The vocal chord dysfunction was mis-diagnosed as asthma since breathing caused a wheezing noise. They have a tendency to slam shut if I'm coughing severely and then I pass out.

Do your drinking earlier in the afternoon/evening so that it's out of your stomach before you go to bed. Cut back on fried foods.

I'm taking Prilosec every day. Small price to pay for not waking up in the middle of the night aspirating your own stomach acid.

[Midrael]

Boy oh boy do I have experience with this. Started having symptoms of chest pain in my early 20s that was continually misdiagnosed until about 25 when finally my doctor figured out I had GERD.

I've been on Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium. Nexium seemed to work the best for me but I'm on Prilosec right now because of cost, and it's working reasonably well using larger than average doses.

I've found that Pepcid works fairly well if you've forgotten a dose of your usual medication and are starting to feel the burn. It's not a bad thing to have around just in case.

[Vandabo]

I've been taking prilosec (thankfully now generic) for a few years. It almost completely solved my problems with reflux. I have to eat some pretty heinous stuff in order for it to come up now.

I used to have a chronic cough from reflux, then I started taking pepcid before meals, and that really helped, so I tried the prilosec and sure enough it all went away. Amazing.

[Church42]

Well an obvious way of losing the GERD is to lose any excess baggage you're carrying.

I used to have a chronic cough like Vandabo (a throat clearing, somewhat pleghmy cough, sans pleghm) but after I dropped a good chunk of weight, I don't cough anymore.

Either way, without taking Prilosec, Nexium, etc enough acid regurgitation may eventually lead to esophageal cancer, so while it's annoying now, it definately could be dangerous later in life.

[J Arcane]

Prilosec every morning. Inherited acid reflux from both parents, and basically at present am in almost constant pain if I don't.

My father died from untreated acid reflux leading to esophageal cancer. Get that shit taken care of.

[bapenguin]

Try drinking a big glass of water before bed and first thing when you get up. That usually helps.

[OldeWolf]

And can't go wrong with a healthy lifestyle with vegetables and fruits and chicken, etc.

[Borthcollective]

Eating well certainly helps with this. Consider me a case study in heartburn. Over eating, soda, certain sugars really tear me up.

[ClannerDelta]

My family has a history of mild heartburn. I tend to refrain from eating for 2-3 hours before sleep and drinking water exclusively after 6pm.

[Gormanimal]

I was on Prevacid for a while for this. For me the problem arose because I was on a bunch of other medications. Of course, fix one medication problem with another medication! Fortunately I'm now medication free.

A friend of mine has had acid issues for years - he's only 28 - and has had to restrict his diet in a number of ways. Probably something to consider if you really want to avoid the meds.

[Serapth]

Is Prevacid an OTC drug or prescription only?

My prescription for pariet ( rabeprazole ) is almost empty and I would rather just go with an over the counter drug + diet, instead of refilling the pariet prescription.

[Borthcollective]

Prevacid is over the counter. I used to use it regularly, but found Prilosec OTC to work better for me.