Anyone else have heartburn?

Does anyone else suffer from heartburn along with their IBS?

I've suffered from heartburn here and there in the past, typically when I would eat something spicy or during PMS (not sure why). Lately though, in addition to my IBS with alternating D and C, I'm having heartburn every day. It started about a week ago with a really, really bad attack of heartburn after eating lunch. I didn't think much of it and it started to subside by that night, until I tried eating dinner, which was spaghetti. After I few bites I had to stop because it literally felt like the food was burning its way back up into my throat (if that makes sense). I thought I might throw it up, but luckily didn't. The heartburn lasted a few more hours and was almost completely gone by the morning -- except then it felt like something was stuck in my throat. I got some Rolaids and they didn't seem to help much. Since then first attack, I've had heartburn every single day. The weird part is that it's not there in the morning and I'm fine after eating breakfast. But after lunch heartburn shows up between 2:00 and 4:00 without fail. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat! I'm avoiding anything spicy, fried, or greasy. I don't typically eat much dairy anyway. I do eat a lot of chocolate but cut that out because I read it could cause heartburn. I've been sticking with chicken noodle soup and toast for lunch and I'm still getting heartburn. It tends to last for several hours. The other weird part is that if it's gone in time for dinner, I can usually eat dinner and it won't come back. I'm completely confused!

Does anyone else with IBS have heartburn? Could the two be related?

Thanks Keriamon.

I know it's true you can definitely have two things wrong with you at once! I guess I just wondered if the sudden persistent presentation of heartburn might mean something. I hope it's not something that just decided to pop up and that I'll have to deal with permanently.

I'll definitely try having a snack when the heartburn starts in the afternoon. I'll have to get some crackers or something to keep at my desk, maybe even saltines would work. I don't drink anything with caffeine because I also have anxiety (you can have three things wrong with you at once!) and the caffeine makes it worse, so that's not a heartburn culprit. I can't even imagine trying to drink something carbonated with heartburn...ouch! I've been letting some gingerale go flat this week and I sip at that when I get home, but that's about the only soda I ingest. I don't eat much raw fruit either because that doesn't go over well with the IBS, but I do have OJ in the morning. Maybe I'll try going without that for a few days and see if it helps at all.

I may try something OTC for it if it persists (other than the Rolaids that haven't been helping), but I will probably make an appointment with the doctor anyway. My IBS has been acting funny lately too. I have always been a strictly IBS-D'r and lately I've been having horrific bouts of D followed by terrible C (days and days). This is not "normal" for me (funny that I consider chronic D "normal" ) and with the sudden presentation of heartburn I think I'd feel better getting checked out just to make sure nothing else is going on. I haven't been to my gastro in about 3 years so now might be a good time to go back.

Thanks again for the quick response. I still wonder if a lot of people with IBS also suffer with heartburn?

I remember having heartburn so bad once that I had to stay home from work and was hovering over the toilet, gagging.  Ugh, that was awful.  I had it for a few days but then it went away.  Never felt anything like that before or after that one experience.

Have you been finding yourself upside-down more than recently lately?  I ask that in the most literal way.  If you've suddenly taken up yoga, for instance, you might notice a sudden onset of heartburn.  Weird but true.

What might help is taking a 14-day course of Prilosec (over the counter).  Definitely nix the OJ and spaghetti, those are killers for heartburn.  Try replacing all drinks with water for a week.  No alcohol.  Sleep with an extra pillow under your head.  All those things might help somewhat.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!

Yes, actually, I have been finding that the C usually occurs after I take Imodium for the D. It is a terrible cycle. I've just found that Imodium works best for controlling my D -- I like the Imodium A.D. because it also helps with gas and cramping. Pepto doesn't really do anything for D with me. Unless the D gets really out of control, I should probably just let it run its course because I'll feel much better after it's over and without the C for the next few days. I did that yesterday, and while it sucked dealing with it at work, I have to say that by last night I was happy that I just let it run its course. I skipped the OJ this morning and brought noodles for lunch, so hopefully my stomach won't rebel this afternoon because I'm supposed to go out to dinner with my BF's parents tonight!

Does anyone know of any fruit juice that is easily tolerated with IBS and heartburn? I love juice in the morning but I KNOW I can't handle apple and cranberry, and apparently now OJ too. Is there anything else that might be OK?

I will have to look for and try the Gaviscon. Is that an OTC thing? At this point I'll try anything. I had plain noodles (that I cooked last night), crackers and water for lunch today and I still started getting heartburn around 3:00. It's so weird that it seems to show up at the same time every day, no matter what I eat. I eat breakfast and am fine all morning, I eat lunch and then BOOM 3:00 hits and it's heartburn central! I'm supposed to have dinner with my BF's parents in an hour and I'm afraid I won't be able to eat! This is frustrating...

Canyonbabe, I also find that dried pre-packaged foods are killer on my stomach. When I was in college and was eating Ramen noodle soup on a regular basis...that was when I had some of my worst symptoms ever. I try not to eat too much of the dried/frozen foods. My doc told me that all of the sodium and preservatives in them are not good for digestion. Finding a good diet for IBS truly is trial and error. I have my list of "safe" foods and those basically include baked/grilled chicken, fish, potatoes, white rice, plain pasta, toast with seedless jelly, bananas, etc. Luckily I can tolerate dairy, but never on an empty stomach. I made the mistake of having ice cream before dinner once...and boy did I learn my lesson. Hopefully now I can just figure out what's triggering this darn heartburn. It's like my body is saying "Well she outsmarted us with that IBS diet, now let's see what she can do with heartburn!"

One thing I do with the Imodium is to cut a pill in half and take half of it. If the D is not completely stopped in 30 minutes, I take the other half. Repeat until you stop the D. That's how I keep from taking too much and winding up with constipation the next day(s).

I also would like to be able to have juice, but have finally resolved I can't--at least not in the mornings, and not regularly. All fruit but bananas are morderately to extremely acidic, and it's the acid that does you in, and it's the juice where the acid is concentrated.

I have found that I can tolerate the mild amounts of caffeine in green tea, though. I drink 2 liters of that everyday just to have something different besides water. It's supposed to be good for you as well, and if you don't make it too bitter, you don't have to add anything to it, keeping it calorie free.

Do you sit a lot at work? Getting up and walking around for 5 minutes prior to heartburn time may help. In some people activity makes heartburn worse, but in some it can reduce it. Just don't exert yourself, or it WILL reflux. Being in a different body position and moving around a bit might help it, though.

Whoops I was logged in other my other name, but that's still me above. I have two names because I made one and forgot my password, then made another, then remembered the original password. LOL.

One thing to remember it it is not necessairly the acid in the food we eat that gives us heartburn it is the stomach acid that our system produces coming up thru the LES valve which is supposed to be a down valve only. Certain foods like chocolate, mint, alcohol, certain meds like Calcium Channel blockers, asthma meds make this valve floppy and allow the stomach acid to reflux back. Our esophagus is not made to handle stomach acid. Only our stomach lining can handle it so when it refluxes back it when you will have the heartburn. Certain foods can aggravate it and create more stomach acidity and that can vary by person so you need to find your triggers. The acid from the foods is not nearly as destructive as the acid (HCL) from your stomach which can actually destroy the lining of the esophagous and change the molecular structure of it and that is when it becomes dangerous. If you can take a acid blocking drug like Pepcid or and inhibitor drug like Nexium it should cut down on the stomach acid produced. Otherwise you can use something like Gaviscon after and it will coat the the LES valve and make it harder to flop open.