A Story of Recovering from GERD

Hi Gerdo
Just wanted to update you on my visit to the Naturopath yesterday. She has put me on Sliperly elm tablets, psyllium husk tablets and vegetarian digetive enzymes. My tummy does seem to feel a little better but I'm still too scared to go off the Meds yet. I forgot to ask her about the possibility of the Pyloric valve issues but am going back in 5 weeks so if there's no improvements by then I'll check up.

Hi kostner,
I understand your frustration with GERD and I see why you would want to return to the triple therapy – I mean it worked before, why wouldn’t it work again, right?

We all return to what is tried and tested. When I started on PPIs, my GERD went away for a bit. When I stopped taking them, it returned with a vengeance so I went right back to taking them. It was a vicious cycle of trying new PPIs, increasing the dose, adding more meds, etc. This went on for a year. I should have known better – the root cause of my GERD was clearly NOT an excessive production of acid. However, I had met some people who had been cured with PPIs in one month and never had to take them again, so I persisted. Plus, it worked once before, right?

Here is my two cents on triple therapy. If you have been diagnosed with H Pylori, it may be worth a try - I might try it if I tested positive for the bacteria. However, antibiotics and their therapies should be reserved for cases when they are absolutely necessary. Antibiotics are indiscriminate killers of bacteria in the gut. They kill the good, the bad, and the ugly. Once your gut has been wiped out by antibiotics, a race begins to see who repopulates the terrain the fastest – the bad bacteria are pretty good at winning this one. Unfortunately when this happens, you can get GERD all over again. Bad bacteria can wreak havoc on your digestive system – diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas, pain, and yes, GERD. Bad bacteria ferments in your digestive tract, and the gases they produce can generate enough pressure to weaken your LES ring. They can make digestion difficult and even slow it down, again causing symptoms of GERD. I won't go into the myriad other problems they cause....

I am not saying that this is what happened to you when you first did the triple therapy, I am simply putting the information out there as you consider doing a repeat.

So I guess what I am saying is this: if your doctor has told you that you do not have H Pylori and you are not comfortable or convinced, get a second opinion until you are comfortable with the diagnosis. My understanding is that testing for H Pylori is very simple. Under no circumstances should you self-embark on an antibiotic regime for a diagnosis you may not have and could potentially pose other threats to your health – there is not such thing as no side effects!

I strongly encourage you to think back to when your GERD first started, and try to understand why it came on. I have described several root causes of GERD in this thread you may wish to consider.

Hang in there kostner, but don’t do anything rash!! Take your time with your health – it takes time to heal, but you will find the right remedy with time. I am no doctor, but this one is just a "better be safe than sorry." If you do want to repeat the therapy, please do so under the supervision of a doctor. Best of luck!!!

Hi Moo's Mum,

the naturopath selected some great supplements/herbs. The digestive enzymes should make a difference - you may need to take 1 - 3 with each meal to determine if they are really helping. I have heard of people taking up to four pills and progressively getting better. Invest in some good ones - they make a difference. The psyllum husk should help capture and eliminate toxins from your digestive system. Be sure to drink plenty of water while you are taking this - you don't want it to dry up in your tract and "back up" digestion. Be sure you investigate the brands you use - many of them have additives, fillers, addictive substances, etc. You want pure, organic supplements with minimal fillers.

To start weening off your PPIs eliminate half a pill at a time after a few weeks of being on the supplements. I would not start immediately. Half a pill per week or per two weeks should work. Ask your naturopath about replacing them with something more natural like clay or actived charcoal. They are great acid and toxin absorbers.

A pyloric valve disfunction would give you a feeling of a full stomach all day - your belly might even protrude from fullness or bloating. Slow emptying is a sign of this dysfunction but not necessarily a telltale sign since it takes about a day for food to go through the entire digstive system. There is no way to tell if what you have is from a day or two or three ago. However, if you are pretty regular, I would not worry too much about it yet. Also, if you don't have nausea, vomiting, your pylorus is probably fine.

Give your naturopath's program a few weeks before chucking it. Establish expectations with him or her. Also, inquire about what he or she believes the root cause is for your GERD and how the supplements should work to improve it.  I always ask for their success ratio in treating certain disorders, etc. The key is to get someone with experience, and an established protocol for dealing with digestive disorders. The practioner can make all the difference in the world. You should feel comfortable with them and they should inspire confidence in you.

I look forward to hearing from you with an update! Good luck!

 

Gerdo I just wanted to update you on my situation. 

Last wednesday after vomiting up my soup that I had eaten for lunch the day before with no problems I thought enough is enough I'm eating all the right things taking good supplements and having no luck so I rang the doctor and went in crying and asked him if there was something else I could have that would fit these weird symptoms.  I should add here that as a result of frequent vomiting I had lost 6 kilos over the space of 3 weeks which I thought was pretty alarming.  He sent me for blood tests and ordered an ultrasound to test for gallstones.  Had the blood test which didn't show anything untoward so had to wait paitently for the ultrasound.  Then on the Monday I woke at 2:30am with an extremely sore tummy.  I suffered on through the night and then went into the doctor first thing in the morning.  He sent me for another blood test and my pancreatic function had jumped from 63 on the wednesday to 994.  He rang the emergency department and sent me straight in.  By this stage I was writhing in pain and wouldn't have cared if someone had shot me.  It turned out I had a gallstone stuck in the common duct between my gallbladder and pancreas which was causing the pain and a gallbladder packed full of stones which has been causing all my weird reflux type symptoms.  They performed an ERCP to remove the blocking stone and I have a date to have my gallbladder removed.  Apparently it's too angry for them to simply remove the stones and is guaranteed to produce them again so it's gotta go.  After examining my past notes and talking to me about my history of what I thought were reflux attacks my doctors feel confident that it's been the gallstones all along causing my symptons.

It's a big relief to have the puzzle solved finally and I wanted to thank you so much because you were a bright light of hope for me in the dark tunnel of reflux misery.  I hope many others are inspired by you as I was and thank you so much for taking the time to write to me I really appreciated it. 

God Bless you and to everyone else out there with this horrible reflux disease I say a prayer for you all.

Hi Moo'sMum,

it's great to hear from you! Wow!!! What a relief that you found the root cause of your GERD!!! Who would have imagined? Well, I really hope that one day soon your days of reflux will be a bad memory! Best of luck in your recovery!!! Let us know how it all goes!

Best wishes,

Gerdo

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Kindly,

Kitt

Hi there,
I have a question re:pyloric valve being open instead of closed tight. I had my gallbladder out over a year ago. 3 days after the surgery, I felt a rush of burning fluid on my right side, it went across my abdomen and up into my stomach (at least this is how it felt). I then got heartburn, excess saliva, burning throat, pain. I have this ever since. My gastro dr has done lots of tests, including an upper GI. He keeps telling me there is nothing wrong. I just had a HIDA scan and it shows bile refluxing into my stomach. (another dr ordered this) So I thought I had a confirmation. But I took this report to my gastro and he says it's normal. I then had him look into my throat as it looks raw to me. He says it's normal. I have burning everywhere. My palate feels raw. I have no appetite. I have pressure in the right side under my ribs. The gastro dr just keeps telling me that he can't find anything. I don't have nausea or vomiting. I do have tons of mucus in my throat. He gave me a prescrition for valium and wants me to try that as he thinks that the anxiety is causing whatever is wrong to be worse. So I"m confused. I had a gastric emptying test, normal, upper GI, showed reflux and small sliding hiatal hernia. Small bowel follow through, normal. Blood tests, normal. PPI's seem to make it worse. I'm at my wits end.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Liz

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Post Edited By Moderator (stkitt) : 7/12/2010 8:32:22 AM (GMT-6)

Hi Gerdo,

I found your story really inspiring. I was diagnosed with gerd about 2 months ago. The doctor prescribed me 40mg Prilosec. I took it for 2 weeks and it did nothing to relieve my symptoms. He had changed me to 40mg Nexium twice a day. I took them for another 3 weeks. It helped a little but not much. I stopped taking them about a week ago.

I read your story how you got cured and wondering if you would give out your homopath doctor info. The one that helped you got rid of your gerd. Thanks in advance.

which homeopathy medication were you given? Thanks for sharing.

HealingIAm if you were asking what Gerdo's homeopathic remedy was she posted it as Arsenicom & Phosphorus. This was for her pyloric valve which was clenched shut and causing her reflux problems. The pyloric valve is at the bottom of the stomach and responsible for the emptyinh of the stomach into the intestines. When it's clenched shut as Gerod's was it causes a constanly full feeling and nausea.

Hi all,

I'm a new member and still figuring out how the forum works. I was hoping to reach Gerdo and ask about her doctor's name. I hadn't heard about this procedure before and it sounds like something worth learning more about. I hope it's o.k to post the question like this, I'm not sure how to contact Gerdo directly.
Thanks,
Grace

Thanks for the suggestion Moo's Mum, will do.
Grace