Sixteen with gerd. Really confused and scared

Hi, I'm sixteen and have had a little bit of acid reflux here and there since I was younger. It was never nothing to really worry abôut for me just a little bit of acid that would come up and some times and a little spit up of food. These past few weeks I was eating unhealthy, I've always ate pretty much whatever I want but I recently started not eating that much and then eating really bad food(spicy,ice cream, greasy) on an empty stomach and I always ate ALOTTT of chips and a type called "hot fries" dip them in cream cheese. Last week I ate a lot of Crap on empty stomach,would go 6 to 8 hours without eating and come home and overeat. On Thursday last week I came home and has salsa and Quiznos and Greek yogurt and seaweed ice cream chocalte watermelon in the Same time period since I hadn't eaten anything. I felt burning and assumed it was from the chips so I stopped. Nextday i was chewing mint gum(bad choice) and ate some cheese at school and peppered turkey (more bad choices) I was fine until I felt an extreme sharp pain that would come and pass up my stomach to my esophagus but it was just pain and no reflux or acid so I assumed it was ok. Until I started feeling a tightness in my theta sort of like a lump..tried to eat subway cause my mom insisted I hadn't eaten and that was the cause
And had a few bites. Instantly felt weird and the lump was getting more noticeably and only with about 2 bites I felt really full. Suddenly I got pain and starting throwing up( I have anxiety so the tightness was also getting worse). Had very minimal relief from pepto, managed to eat soup but the lump was still there along with belching, fullness,and burning. When I slept I propped my self up everything is good in my sleep wake up the Lump is still there with some burning. Went to the doc and she said the lump wasn't normal ( not my regular doctor he was on Call) and with an attitude told me that she's been doing this for 20 years and knows it's not normal for acid reflux and I might have food in my throat that is stuck and referred me to the ER. Which made my anxiety worse..was looking for some answers and comfort but left with a feeling of despair. Found my self at kaiser with my mom, the doctor did some blood work,and Told my my lump and tightness was absolutely normal due to acid. He told me I have gerd to start taking sucrraftate and Prilosec. I asked if I had to tAke it forever and he laughed and said no he doubts it. Went back to the doctor who said I should take ppis for a month. I'm only taking prilosec cause the suclrafrate caused constipation. I've been taking it for a week and I want to stop. I don't want to get addicted to something at all, and also the side effects especially hair loss freaked me out so much and the lack of nutrition and problems with bones in the future. Don't see a point of taking a drug that isn't doing anything but fooling me with no pain but not healing anything. My mom also suffered from gerd and seems to be absolutely fine now with drugs only once a month or so. I weigh 99 pounds and am 5'2. This obviously isn't a weight problem or and age related thing cause I'm young. It was honestly just me treating my body bad with the food I ate. I want to stop the pills tomorrow and am aware of rebound effect but I have buT DGL and aloe Vera juice today and also papayas also I've been following the alkaine diet for a few days and wish to proceed cause I want to be gerd free! Does anyone on here think I can beat this with dgl and aloe Vera and the diet? I haven't ever had Gerd problems until now. Please I need to support and advice. If anyone is taking dgl is it working? Feedback would be highly appreciated! Thank you for reading this whole thing

-Maryam

Maryam, welcome to our forum. I feel sad that you are having this health problem at such a young age. Time to settle back and make up your mind to do what needs to be done to take care of YOU and your body. Don't let anyone talk you into eating that junk. Make up your mind NOW to nip it in the bud before it gets worse. Wow do I wish that someone gave me that advice a long time ago (and that I listened to it)..
No carbonated drinks, no coffee, no chocolate. Forget fried and breaded foods and pizza. Have three square meals with a protein, couple veggies and some rice. No gravies. Anyway it sounds like you know what you need to do but need to actually do it. Have some Tums in your pocket/purse to catch the heartburn when it first happens.

Follow your doctors advice and keep appointments. The medicine should be taken 30 minutes before your first bite of food. Timing is important. It slows down the production of acid and this is what helps to start the healing. Please take care of you and let us know how you are doing. Wish you better real soon .

You are doing good with the aloe juice and papaya, no chips, ever! No deep fried foods, ever! I used to love chips, that was my binge food, and that is probably why I got acid reflux, between the chips and pepsi I used to drink. DGL didn't do much for me, but if it helps you, use it! For throat burn take about 10 drops of liquid ginger in warm water. And as far as alkaline diets go, the acid watcher diet by Dr. Jonathan Aviv is THE best one, get his book and follow it, it will help you, and the foods you have been eating are not permitted in his book, he advises what to eat and what the ph is of each food. "Killing Me Softly from Inside" is the name of the book (amazon) Hope you get it under control, just don't give up, it's a lot of trial and error.