Burning in throat and heartburn despite PPIs and negative test results

At some point of desperation, I went to a "natural-health-practioner".  I think he called himself a kinesiologist or something like that.  He sent me walking with a $300 bill for mostly what I'd call a bunch of quackery.  However, he did provide some simple advice that went like this :

1.  Don't eat any sugar

2.  Don't consume any carbonated beverages

3.  Don't drink any milk

4.  Don't eat any processed foods

5.  Don't eat any wheat

6.  Eat a green vegetable at every meal including breakfast.  (The darker the better)

I went home thinking, "well that's impossible".  It's actually not...  And over the course of 6 months, I learned to eat rice based food, avoid anything that tastes good, and eat bags and bags of dark green lettuce. 

It worked.  It's been 6 years.  And today, I still limit my wheat consumption.  I don't drink any milk or ice cream.  I keep a very simple diet (low sugar and carbs) and have probably eaten over 2000 bags of Dole Romaine Lettuce. 

So if you were like me, had underwent all the tests, and the doctors were unhelpful in doing anything more than providing an antidepressent or a mild sedative, then I would encourage you to try my regiment.  For me, this began to work in under 2 weeks.  The feeling of relief after 7 years is not something that anybody would understand; unless they've been trough it.

Take Care,

I've had GERD with Barrett's esophagus and a hiatal hernia for a few years now.  I've also had a diagnosis of mild dysplasia - that's when they start watching for cancer of the esophagus.  However, thanks to my medications and changes in diet my last EGD (endoscopy) showed the dysplasia was gone!! 

I found a couple of sites that may help;

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gerd/

and

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000265.htm

Wishing you all the best!  Hugs, Teri

I'm also a heart, lung and diabetic patient, so my dietary changes have been life savers for me!

I drink water almost exclusively, and very occasionally a white diet soda.  I eat fiber cereal for breakfast and soy milk, fruits, veggies (one's that I have found do not bother me), fish, chicken, pork.  I eat smaller meals and more of them - I sort of 'snack' during the day.  It's worked for me and it's helped my heart and cholesterol levels...don't get me wrong though - I do eat off of that diet some and there are days, or nights that I wish I hadn't!

Hope this helps!

Hugs, Teri

Yes, I lost about 25 pounds on the regiment  (I went from like 200lbs to 175lbs).  But more than that, I looked a lot less "puffy" as some people called it.  My cholesterol numbers became "normal" as well.  Interestingly enough, my triglycerides (sugars) were very high and also came down about 100 points into the normal range. 

By no means am I a doctor, but I believe the cause of my problem was sugar related.  For whatever reason, my system does not handle it.  Now for the first 6 years or so, I relied heavily on the fact that some doctor would find the right drug and all would be well.  Only when I had exercised every last option, did I start to realize that food was a huge contributing factor. 

In my case, and possibly in yours, milk was the biggest problem.  While if feels good going down, it's brutal when it comes to burning.  I stopped drinking all milk, yogurt, and ice-cream.  I remember when my burning was the worst, I'd swing into the Dairy Queen for a large chocolate shake to "curb" the burning.  Yeah, little did I know that was about the worst thing I could do! 

Previous to going hard-core, I did a lot of experimenting...  I'd stop eating one thing, while continuing the others.  Nothing ever worked until I quit them all.  And the dark green vegetable IS VERY IMPORTANT. 

Here's what I did...  First get yourself mentally prepared.  This is a huge lifestyle change that nobody will understand.  Your friends will say, you can't do that., blah, blah, blah.  If you feel as crummy as I did, you can do anything!  They'll say you can cheat just today, have a little ice-cream.  You can't cheat.  I think milk stays in the system for like 14 days.  Each time, you reset the clock.  Next, find some things that are low in sugar and carbs.  Think of it as an atkins diet X 10..  Now some foods even publish a glycemic index.... That wasn't around when I did this.  When I started, I fasted for 3 days.. I then lived on meat and dark rice based food, at first... Then I started introducing the most benign food possible, staying away from everything on the list.  I drank lots of water and ate all kinds of dark green vegetables.  Spinich, romaine lettuce, asparagus, etc.. three times daily.  I did all this for 6 months before introducing new things.  I brought back bread for example.. but only small amounts.  Also, beer, from time to time and orange juice.  I still don't drink any milk, ice-cream, or yogurt.  I don't drink any soda, candy, or processed foods.  I don't do any fast food. 

It's been six years and I still feel great.  It changed my life so profoundly I can't explain it.  I now have no problems ever, unless I knowingly eat or drink something bad or miss my greens. 

In my case, this started to work in 2-3 weeks; maybe a month.  I recall feeling better every day.  And then... no burning.  Finally, an entire day came without a Tum or a swig off the ole' Mylanta (I recall having a case of mylanta underneath my desk at work) .  It was weird, since I always carried a handful of Tums with me ever where I went.  It was an incredible feeling and the end of 7 years in misery. 

So if you're at your last nerve, try this for a few weeks... what do you have to lose? 

Keep me posted and I wish you well!!!

Take Care,

Eric. 

PS : You may have some of my other symptoms as well... If you don't, I'd still encourage you to try this!

1.  Messed up cholesterol levels including high Triglycerides

2.  Infrequent bowl movements including diarehha

3.  Occasional pains in my lower abdomen

4.  A general look of puffyness, almost resembling swelling.

5.  A general addiction/compulsion to carbs and sugar...

I'm glad you have found some hope in my experience.  If I can help just one person, my post has been well worth it! 

I'm glad you've stopped the milk,, a very, very good first step.  I'd say if you can ditch the pop, you are well on your way....  I know it is hard...  I was a 3 can a day'er.  Remember the carbonation + sugar is a killer.  A double whammy, if you will. 

Also, remember the greens, dark greens...  Eat lots...  I can't emphasize this enough.  Even today, if I miss this for a few days, a minor discomfort will begin.  Again, I'm no doctor and I've never taken a chemistry class; but the greens seem to neutralize the sugars.  Thus, they are a key component.  This was really hard for me, actually.  Since I don't think I'd eaten more than 3 servings of greens in my entire life before turning 27 years old....  But they have worked incredibly well for me.

Yep, chips, candy, cookies, bars, chocolate, breads, pasteries, beers, milk, ice-cream, soda, wine, all my very favorite things... and all so very bad. 

When I first started, I was hungry all the time... This went away partially in time.  But after I got through my first 6 months, when I started re-introducing some 'real' food.. things got better.  One thing I did learn is that hunger pains are often the result of dehydration.  So drink lots of water... 

Also, in terms of bread, you may, for awhile, consider spelt bread.  It's the other component of wheat.  A bakery called 'French Meadow' out of Minneapolis makes some fairly decent all natural breads... including spelt bread.  They often ship to health food stores and larger grocery stores (in the health food section).  You might want to check into this, as well.  As a warning, I wouldn't recommend any rice-based breads...  I think they might be the worst thing I've ever tasted.

Again, remember the greens, I consume 7 bags of Dole Romaine Bag Lettuce every week.  But any dark greens will work.  I chose the Dole Romaine because it was easy.  I also found that blueberries didn't bother me, kindof curbed by sweet tooth and later found they are a great anti-oxidant to boot.. 

If the doctors have found no reason for your problems, then food is everything... I am a true testiment to this...  In seven years, I had two barium tests, 3 GI scopings, a water motality test, an acid montoring test twice, was on every drug in the book at the time... Zantac, Pepsid, Propulsid, Reglan, Previsid, and on and on...  As an aside, one of those drugs they later discovered led to heart-valve problems in a large majority of the patients and was recalled.  Lucky, I didn't take it very long!  I quit the doctor route when they started recommending anti-depressants and sedatives. 

IF that sounds like your history, then the probability that food is your culprit is very, very high.  Unfortunately, this is hard to pin-point because the combinations of different foods is probably infinite.  Because this is difficult and complicated, most doctors will poo-poo any mention of food being a contributor.  They'll test you for allergies and stuff like that...  (Oh, yeah, I did that too with no results)  Likely your problem is sugar and carbs.. which is in almost everything.  So my advice is keep the end-goal in sight (relief and a life free of misery); resist every temptation to consume the bad stuff (stop them for even a few weeks, consider it a test)  and get yourself some greens! 

Take Care and keep me posted,

Eric

Lief,  Thanks for your post.  You are an inspiration to me.  I am going to keep your remarks front and center so I will be inspired to keep positive thoughts. 

 I am a fool if the right answers are there to this problem and I don't follow them.  Your success is because you have your head on straight.  It does take a lot of determination. 

 I read all of time where the foods we eat are the key to good health.  It's that old saying, "You are what you eat." 

 For me, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  I have to really try hard.  Thanks again for sharing.  Best regards,  Searchin'