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jca's avatar

Do you have G.E.R.D. and what works for you to feel better?

Asked by jca (29323 points ) October 24th, 2012

I have a good friend with bad G.E.R.D. (Gastric Reflux disease) who says he has it so bad that when he doesn’t take medication, the acid comes up his nose. I have other friends with G.E.R.D who have to severely limit what they eat. I am fortunate not to have it, because it seems like something awful.

Do you or anybody you know have G.E.R.D. and if so, what works to feel better?

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8 Answers

JLeslie's avatar

I know many people who take Prilosec and it works very well. GERD sufferers are advised to not lie down immediately after eating, and to not eat late at night.

The only time I had some reflux up into my esophagus was when I was also having constipation and mostly the pain was in my colon and also up in my stomach (the actual organ). It was like I was so blocked the food was not moving down. Eventually it was resolved when I had surgery and they unhooked my colon from my left ovary and cleaned up some scar tissue I had in there. I think with GERD supposedly some sort of valve is not working right that lets the acid up out of the stomach and into the stomach, but from my experience I would say it also can be from other things malfunctioning in the digestive track. But, it happened very rarely even when I was getting it there for a while.

There are some negatives with prilosec like malabsorption of some vitamins and minerals. I think last I read there was concern for lack of calcium absorption, and bone deterioration. I think there is a surgery for GERD also, probably depending on what exactly is wrong.

GERD sufferers have higher risk of cancer also, so they should be scoped every so often if their prolem is chronic.

That’s what I know. As you know I am not a doctor. I would think you will get a lot of responses. The condition is very common.

Rarebear's avatar

If acid is coming up his nose he needs to see a physician.

jca's avatar

@Rarebear: He does – he takes Omeprazole.

JLeslie's avatar

@jca Has he seen a specialist? A gastro guy?

Seaofclouds's avatar

I don’t have GERD, but I did get really bad reflux during my last two pregnancies.

For me, it started out as heartburn (normal for pregnancy) that was resolved with drinking a glass of milk and being sure to sit upright after I ate for a bit. Unfortunately, that progressed into reflux and vomiting from the reflux as the pregnancy progressed. I could taste and smell the acid coming up into my mouth. It was horrible and really gross. It would cause me to get sick and I’d be sick for hours at a time. It was really uncomfortable and it was really hard to manage at that point because I never knew for sure when I’d get sick. Watching what I ate didn’t do anything to help. It never occurred only after specific types of food or at specific times of day. I talked to my doctor about it after dealing with it for about a month during my second pregnancy and she determined it was reflux and put me on Nexium. I didn’t have any problems after that. Once I started having heartburn during my third pregnancy, I started on Nexium right away and was fine for the rest of my pregnancy.

I couldn’t imagine dealing with that all of the time.

_Whitetigress's avatar

Mine came and went a couple times a year. So far I’ve been on top of it. Absolutely no late night eating. Avoid processed meats at all cost.

For temporary pain, I’d recommend Ginger Ale soda and banana for food the whole day. My friend and I both suffered from this. My friend just took Prilosec. She has it in her pocket at all times. But I read, it’s really about avoiding certain foods, and combinations. Prilosic is counter intuitive. We need stomach acid to break down our foods. Turning off the valves just allows food to sit. And this process will repeat over and over. Your friend needs to restart their stomach system and in-take.

No eating and sleeping right after. Tell your friend they can have soda water after foods to help with burping. What’s happening is your friends entire esophogus may be inflamed. It isn’t working properly, hence the sensation that the acid is up his throat often.

Drink plenty of water. Water is often overlooked. It brings a great deal of pH balance to the body. Balance helps the body regulate how much acid your stomach may produce at any given time.

Something else that helped me out big time was to eat, and not drink water for at least 20 minutes afterwards. This way my stomach acid got to break down the foods without having to drain the fluids first and over produce acid. Also this is how I got my ability to burp foods back. I used to be dependent on soda for burping.

Best of luck! Remember, with medicines you must continue this vicious cycle. It is a diet change or a change in the way your friend intakes their food that must be changed! He needs to come to reality and facts that his body over produces acid with various food types. He needs to find those foods, and cut them out completely, or take them on only at lunch because at least he’ll have time to break it down while standing up through out day. This may sound silly. But when you eat, we can use that foods energy right away. For instance, say I ate a slice of pizza. Then 40 minutes later I went for a walk, the energy gained from the pizza wouldn’t be stored first, it would be used by the body first. This is what I’ve read and it helped me out big time. Haven’t had heart burn, stomach acid reflux since.

Rarebear's avatar

@jca He needs to go back to the doctor.

rooeytoo's avatar

@whitetigress – that is interesting about the burping. I love coke and one of the reasons I like it is that it makes me burp. I especially crave it after a meal. I am going to try not drinking anything for 20 minutes as you suggest. I have also found that having our main meal mid day and a very light supper is helpful also. I don’t have gerd, it is more like ibs and occasional heartburn. However I think what works for one will certainly help with the other also.

Another suggestion is to eat smaller meals. Everything is worse when you overeat! I take no meds (I hate pills) except the very rare Donnatal or Buscopan.

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