Brand new to heartburn/gastritis/acid reflux and am desperately avoiding pills.. help!

So for about two weeks now, I've been having stomach/acid issues every single day so I think this is the start of GERD based on my hours of research. I conveniently was at the doctor a few days after it started for another check up, and mentioned the occasional acid reflux I've been getting the past few days and he told me to cut out acidic foods and see what happens. If it doesnt work, he'll take the H Pylori test and then also prescribe me a pill for it that supposedly creates a layer of foam (my research tells me this is Gaviscon, which is over the counter though? maybe he meant another).

Anyway, my sister has had misdiagnoses for years but they've settled on GERD, and shes on proton pump inhibitors which are causing a chain of other problems and is just basically so physically limited it makes me sad. I dont want to live a life of pills that gradually stop working and so I have to take harsher pills which have a chain reaction of other issues in my body, so on so forth.. it's a daunting thought.

I have now started changing my diet and exercising. If anyone with similar symptoms have gone through a similar experience and found what worked, I would looooove their input! (even what NOT to do).

My symptoms in the beginning were frequent acid regurgitation, and a bad throat ache because of that, as well as being able to feel the acid in my stomach just churning, have a "restricted" or tight throat, AND the best of them all: non stop belching all day.

After cutting out coffee and chocolate, citrus fuits, and fried foods for the past week (I was an AVID spicy food + chocolate + coffee lover), the acid regurgiation has decreased by alot. The last time I had a wet burp was about 3 days ago. But the issue now is I still have dry burps, all day.. and today I feel extremely bloated and my throat still feels tight.. I'm assuming still issues of whatever it is I have.

Given the fact that it has been about two weeks, do you think I should start the pills they recommend? I feel like my stomach is just irritated, and my good sense is telling me to drop the pills and to just try letting it heal naturally.


Any insight?

Post Edited (curiouser) : 4/13/2015 10:55:41 AM (GMT-6)

Man, I had the EXACT same symptoms. And I will fight tooth and nail to not have to take PPI's. Right now I have this under control with diet and exercise alone. I've laid off the coffee, caffeine, hot sauce, the fatty fried foods, etc. I've also lost weight, which has helped tremendously. I only take gaviscon when I need it (maybe once a week now, used to be almost every meal). For the gas and burping, I am proactive and take an anti-gas chewable after each meal. That helps with the bloating and burping tremendously. Like, my gas and bloating disappeared once I started doing that.

With that said, I was actually functioning cleanly with no symptoms for a week, until tonight. I even had a few beers over the weekend, with no issue. My problem returned when, of all things, I skipped taking Activia yogurt for two straight days. And I had coffee this afternoon for the first time in more than a week. That combined with barbecue sauce with my chicken tonight resulted in a firey pit of acid in my stomach that only died down with a full dose of gaviscon. I feel fine now, and I had some Actvia to start feeding the good microbes again. I won't go off that stuff now, ever. Once a day, and it kept the acid at bay. I'm also going to call my doc tomorrow and request an h pylori test.

Try the anti-gas chewables and liquid gaviscon. And try the Activia. That seems to be working for me, at least.

You are right to avoid medicine at this early stage, once you are on a PPI its very difficult going back. Is it your actual stomach that is a problem, or more heartburn? If its your stomach then you can try drinking fresh cabbage juice several times a day, this really helps me with stomach pain, and has been proven to cure even stomach ulcers 4x faster than drugs.

The main thing that helps my GERD dietwise is avoiding sugar, including fruits. Some people go even more extreme and go on a low carb diet, though this is quite tough on the stomach so be careful trying that if you have stomach issues.

If you do ever decide to take medicine, I would start off on a weaker acid blocker like Zantac before a PPI, has less side effects and easier to get off in future if you ever want to do so.

I am weaning off PPIs and it's not so fun. I have found that aloe juice is really helping, along with Michaels Anticids (Licorice/Fennel).

http://www.michaelshealth.com/retail/products/antisidtm.html

One other symptom I have is stomach twitching and tightening. Not my ab muscles, but my actual stomach, as if I had a stomach bug. I liken the sensation to the feeling you get right as you puke. Not the nausea, but the feeling of the stomach actually trying to empty itself. But it's very mild, and I don't end up vomiting or feel nauseous at all.

(Quick update, also: felt good all day, but woke up late and ravenous. Ate raisin bran cereal, had no acid, but my stomach did roll around a bit. I burped and then the sensation went away immediately. After that, it was a good day. Went out to eat with the family, didn't pig out, but I ate a normal restaurant meal and had no issues. I was actually more nervous about what I'd feel as I ate it. But I didn't feel anything, and still feel good.)

Well as for me personally, I was very hesitant to go on pills, but HAD to, because my gastritis was severe enough to cause several upper GI bleeds and anemia.

I tried modifying my diet to extremes, but it didn't help, and just kept getting worse. I too have the burping as one of the more annoying symptoms.

Having been on PPIs for over two months I'm in less pain, no more bleeding, less burping etc.

I'm not too keen on the idea of having to take these pills FOREVER though, and I'm continuing to experiment with diet to see what works and what doesn't. For me personally though I feel like I did (still do) need medication to start to heal since my symptoms were so severe.

Bella, are you pretty much symptom-free now?

the idea of pills scare me so much because I've been reading the forums and it seems as if people still have gastric issues even on the pill, and life kind of seems like a nightmare trying to manage it... and I've been completely spooked out by people who claim to wake up choking or whatnot...

I havent really read alot of "I'm on medications and it's fine" stories.

and thank you for the probiotics idea. I took one a few days ago but never kept up with it. I feel like my stomach is slowly starting to do better because even my burps are slowly diminishing and I'm scared to put anything in my stomach, probiotics included, that might start something again. But until my stomach is fully healed, I'll try some activia ad eventually add the probiotic pills back in once it's healed.

I truly have confidence in the natural healing method of strengthening my LES valve, but it will take some time. I think for stomachs that are so badly damaged, pills may be needed to reduce inflammation and irritation before you can start healing it naturally alone (ie diet/exercise) but i think theres a way to get there. It's about adaptation, your body can surprise you. Hopefully this works.

Post Edited (curiouser) : 4/15/2015 8:00:57 AM (GMT-6)

Thanks Alcie, good to know it does work for some. All I keep hearing about is how acid reflux has ruined lives..

and I agree, I am planning to see a gastroenterologist soon. I just dont know how I feel about jumping to the first pill my doctor recommends without even have examined me. The way healthcare works here is all about pill popping, and theres little focus on prevention and specificity.

Hey guys,
follow up question..
Im getting almost no symptoms, just some burping but even thats been greatly reduced compared to when I first wrote the post. However, randomly after some meals I'll get that wet/acidic burp. I dont know what to do. I have plans to see my doctor but hes not in until April 30th.
I read online that self-care should be the first thing people try before turning to a doctor anyway, that includes over the counter stuff if it helps however I dont even know how to use them because I get no heartburn/warning signs of these wet burps and its not after every meal so I cant really predict for them. Should I still take gaviscon after each meal?

The acid reflux though is starting to hurt my throat too.

curiouser said...
Bella, are you pretty much symptom-free now?

the idea of pills scare me so much because I've been reading the forums and it seems as if people still have gastric issues even on the pill, and life kind of seems like a nightmare trying to manage it... and I've been completely spooked out by people who claim to wake up choking or whatnot...

I havent really read alot of "I'm on medications and it's fine" stories.

and thank you for the probiotics idea. I took one a few days ago but never kept up with it. I feel like my stomach is slowly starting to do better because even my burps are slowly diminishing and I'm scared to put anything in my stomach, probiotics included, that might start something again. But until my stomach is fully healed, I'll try some activia ad eventually add the probiotic pills back in once it's healed.

I truly have confidence in the natural healing method of strengthening my LES valve, but it will take some time. I think for stomachs that are so badly damaged, pills may be needed to reduce inflammation and irritation before you can start healing it naturally alone (ie diet/exercise) but i think theres a way to get there. It's about adaptation, your body can surprise you. Hopefully this works.

I wouldn't say 100% symptom free, but I used to have to lie down and just cry for hours after every meal because I had such severe pain, now I have brief managable pain maybe every third day or so. The belching is still an issue but whereas now I get it if I have coffee or something else on my trigger food list, before it was after any and every thing I ate, for HOURS, to the point where I couldn't go outside.

I'm still looking to maybe try other meds/different dosage because ideally I'd like to be entirely symptom free, but it's definitely helped a ton so far.

Personally I'm with mr.beachman in not believing that the body can heal itself from just anything. For me, a combination of meds and lifestyle changes is the way to go. But that's just me. And when you get upper GI bleeds like I did, that's scary enough that experimenting with "natural" healing methods at that point is not only dumb but dangerous...

hi,

i have not been on this side for a while because my symptoms went away. it did take a year for it to clear. I am back checking because i had a bad flare up two weeks ago. anyways, what worked for me: (1) start with your head - are an anxious type? combat it and stay happy and positive; (2) yoga three times a week and meditation, breathing; (3) i used to be on a very strict diet, but now i only avoid spicy greasy food; (4) cabbiage juice when stomach flares up for 4-5 days on empty stomach; (5) linden tea, giner tea, camomile tea. i had 4-5 months of no symptoms - it felt awesome. and of cause it was so disappointing to get a set back but now i know what works for my body and i know it will go away. you are so young and your body is strong and you were healthy before and you will be healthy again. take care and good luck. go see doctors, it is important to be prudent and rule out any serious issues though...

Impossible to say really. The thing with PPIs is you may get a rebound effect if you stop taking them abruptly, where the symptoms will likely get worse for a bit. So, you'd have to ease off them slowly in order to avoid that.

And everyone responds differently to meds in the first place.

Have you tried cutting out known trigger foods (like caffeine etc.)? If you're not so keen on taking pills, making dietary/lifestyle changes might at least decrease your need for them which should decrease the dosage/amount of time you may need to be on them.

I know how you feel, I'm only 25, and the idea of either having to be on meds for a long time or feel terrible isn't a fun prospect. But I'm grateful that meds exist, at least :)

i took PPIs for 5 weeks and then started having hives, had to stop and manage otherwise... but it did go away. it does take time, be patient. it took me several months to get under control and a year to rid of it.