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GERD & Acid Reflux
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Posted 7/18/2012 4:48 AM (GMT 0)

Hello. My problems began exactly one week ago. I'm sorry for such a long post and I hope you'll stick with me.

Let me preface this by saying before last Tuesday, I might have gotten heartburn once in a month or two. Not very often.

Last Tuesday, I ate a regular dinner meal and felt very bloated/full, like I had pigged out at a buffet.  That night I had a little bit of heartburn, which lasted less than 10 mins. It occured as I layed down for dinner and lasted 10 min at most.  Having gotten heartburn a few days before that for a little bit, I just chalked it up to periodic heartburn as it was barely worth mentioning.

The following Wednesday, my breakfast (which consisted of foods I'd eaten countless times before) gave me bad heartburn.  I developed a sore throat and felt very bloated/full and could hear gas roiling around in my stomach.  Over the following days, I had several other bouts of heartburn.  Except for 1 time this past week, breakfast has not resulted in heartburn or if any, it was very mild, despite having drunk a cup or two of coffee, etc.  I continued to get a bloating/full feeling after eating.  I would get heartburn usually after dinner, and somtimes after lunch.  Over the past week, the bloating feeling has gradually subsided.  For the heartburn I tried to apple cider vinegar drink approach and it usually took care of the heartburn or at least greatly reduced it.  If I still had heartburn, I would take 1 tsp (half of the low dose) of regular strenth liquid antacid and the problem would usually go away in 10 or so min. 

Doing what comes naturally to someone of my age I guess, I began searching for the symptoms online and came across of course GERD.  Slowly resigning myself that I may have all of the sudden developed this problem, time moved on. 

On Saturday and again on Monday, I had a fever. I didn't take my temperature and the fever would generally last 15-30 min.  I did notice that before/during one of the fever episodes, my stomach felt hot. Not like a burning sensation, but hot/aching sensation.  Since Monday, my heartburn has gradually improved, to where today I did not take any antacids until right after dinner (laid down to experiment to see what would happen, mild heartburn resulted).  Today, I was able to eat my breakfast, a snack, and lunch without experiencing any heartburn or very mild.  I did feel like I had a fever (did the old have your mom touch you forehead trick). 

My stomach now hurts.  It feels like I have been sucker punched or have been throwing up a lot, which I haven't at all. The other end of the system has been normal too.  Today at dinner, I took 2 Tylenol which greatly lessened my stomach pain.  The pain is more of an aching/hot sensation that I can feel if I exhale quickly or use my abdominal muscles. 

I hope to be able to see a doctor in the next few days.  So, does this sound like GERD to you, the vets of this board, or something else?  Before my stomach started to hurt all over the pain started in the top of my stomach, where it joins the esophogus. I am curious as I wouldn't think GERD would cause fever?  

If anyone has anything to offer, I'd be grateful. Thanks for reading my long post.  

Posted 10/7/2012 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hello. Well, my symptoms lasted until the middle part of August and then disappeared, unexpectedly. Well, a little over a week ago I got heartburn again and now have it like I did before. I ate some Chinese food, and it started shortly after that. After my symptoms ended, I started eating slowly a normal diet like I had before and did not notice any ill effects. I had a few very brief bouts with heartburn but they relatively quickly went away.

Is it possible to get GERD in cycles that come and go?

Any help is greatly appreciated as this is starting to make me a bit depressed, to be honest.

I could use the help of some experienced people on here with your wisdom. Thank you!
Posted 10/7/2012 10:56 PM (GMT 0)
I should add that on my doctor's advice I purchased some walmart brand zantac 75, but I never ended up taking them until this what I guess will be another round of GERD. They do help I would say 90%. I have started getting some pain in my stomach (mild), that feels like acid related pain. Oddly, I feel better when eating and my heartburn isn't really starting until about 1-3 hours after eating. I thank God that my pain doesn't wake me up at night and I wake up feeling ok. It seems to start mainly in the evenings around mealtime and such. When I felt better as mentioned earlier, I could lay down right after eating and felt fine, which is why this strikes me as so weird.

Sorry for another post but I'm trying to give relevant information.
Posted 10/8/2012 10:49 PM (GMT 0)
So I guess my question is, can GERD by cyclical?
Posted 10/8/2012 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, GERD can be intermittent or it can be constant. Some people will have cycles of no symptoms, then symptoms out of no where, while others need to be on medication and lifestyle changes indefinetly. It is a tricky condition and it is different for all of us.
Posted 10/8/2012 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you ericapeace2000. I really appreciate your reply. I have to admit then when this came back it really kind of put me in the dumps. Today was a better day until I drank some soda (ginger ale), which proved to be a mistake. Oddly, with my previous bought I found that beer actually made me symptom free. It was very weird. Any thoughts about this?
Posted 10/9/2012 12:51 AM (GMT 0)
Hi there,
You posted in July I see. Sorry it has taken so long for any of us to respond. These symptoms are obviously unusual for which in turn can cause you to worry and a little feedback can often be reassuring. It maybe a bout of helicobacter pylori as that particular bug can give you those type of symptoms and can be ruled out with a simple blood or breath test if needles bother you. If positive it is treated with (PPI's) proton pump inhibitors and antibiotics. I have had it before and it can make you feel quite off colour. Another possibility is gastritis which can also cause the same symptoms accompanied with gut pain. This comes and goes and may explain your temporary respite. You might want to rule out trigger foods as well and try slippery elm before meals.
See your GP if you are having trouble coping or symptoms get worse.
All the best
Buzz.
Posted 10/9/2012 2:21 AM (GMT 0)
Live and learn.
I have had years of unexplained reactions that come and go, medications I could not "stomach" and I few docs who rolled their eyes if not literally but figuratively. I now know, for a fact, I am allergic to cellulose. All cellulose. That is me. I am also allergic to polyethylene glyco. Google them.
There are so many chemicals in the substances we ingest. They do not necessarily make life better for all of us. We try to the right thing. It is hard to research every spoon I take.
Posted 10/9/2012 3:33 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you everyone who has replied so far. I took some antacids which seem to have stopped the burning at least for tonight. I guess time will tell now if this is another cycle so to speak. When my heartburn does start, it's like I can feel the top of the LES valve (stomach side) hurting first before the typical heartburn starts (esophagus side of the LES).

buzzmoz, you mentioned trigger foods, but I can't really seem to think of what might have. For example, I drank a can of diet soda with my lunch today and was more or less ok, yet was hurt far more by ginger ale around dinner time and I ate chinese food during the off time without incidence. So you're saying that h. pylori and gastritis can both cause acid reflux by themselves?

Thank you for all your help. I plan on sticking around and will keep you informed as things progress or not.

Post Edited (Historyman) : 10/8/2012 9:36:10 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/14/2012 9:59 PM (GMT 0)
So my heartburn has continued to improve in the last week, getting slightly better each day. Friday I had two beers, which caused some temporary stomach pain, oddly. Little acid reflux but stomach pain, an inflammation like feeling, similar to what I had in the very beginning. (read first post)

Today I was able to drink 3 cups of coffee with minimal reflux like pain and now it has gone away with no medication. I'm beginning to think I have gastritis or h. pylori, which is causing the acid reflux like problems.

Can gastritis cause reflux?

I think I may try to schedule a doctor appointment with my GI doc for later this week. While I feel better now, I want to at least get some kind of answer here.

What do you think?
Posted 10/14/2012 11:11 PM (GMT 0)
Pleas bring your symptoms up to your doctor. It might help to accurately journal your foods, time, and symptom. Doctors seem to appreciate this. Also, suggest that you avoid carbonated beverages, tomatoes, chocolate, onions and garlic. Chinese foods have additives that bother your type of symptoms. When you took Zantac you had 90% improvement--you might need some consistency with your medication. Also, quit coffee and alcohol containing carbonated beer--this could be a trigger as it irritates the lining of the stomach. I am not a doctor and this is only a thought. Still Feel you should see your doctor . Want you to feel better soon. Regards. Bu per
Posted 10/15/2012 2:16 PM (GMT 0)

Pat Fill said...
Pleas bring your symptoms up to your doctor. It might help to accurately journal your foods, time, and symptom. Doctors seem to appreciate this. Also, suggest that you avoid carbonated beverages, tomatoes, chocolate, onions and garlic. Chinese foods have additives that bother your type of symptoms. When you took Zantac you had 90% improvement--you might need some consistency with your medication. Also, quit coffee and alcohol containing carbonated beer--this could be a trigger as it irritates the lining of the stomach. I am not a doctor and this is only a thought. Still Feel you should see your doctor . Want you to feel better soon. Regards. Bu per

I agree with this stuff.

My heartburn comes in cycles. I think when my esophagus gets eroded is when it becomes unbearable.

Any carbonated drinks will cause reflux and same with the caffeine. Tomatoes, spicy, onions and garlic are my BIGGEST triggers. I'm literally terrified to eat anything with tomato in it. As annoying as it is, the food diary with times and description of what you eat helps A LOT.

You may also want to get an endoscopy. They'll be able to see if there is any erosion, test you for h. pylori and see if anything is abnormal. It's good to catch this quickly. I've had to change EVERYTHING I EAT :( I would also assume any sort of citrus beers (and carbonated ones) will be bad. I know Guinness doesn't bother me as much as every other beer. But currently my GERD is awful and I can't even have beer (which makes me want to cry!)

Good luck with it. I think we all know how FRUSTRATING this is. I'm still in the middle of the GI doctors giving me the run around. The endoscopy helped prove to them a lot of my issues: hiatal hernia, severe acid reflux, LES doesn't function and erosion.
Posted 4/5/2016 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
So here we are almost 4 years after the initial post. Not long after this my heartburn left as mysteriously as it arrived and over the course of the next 4 years I would get a twinge here and there, but it would leave relatively quickly. I could and have been eating whatever I wanted with no consequences.

Since Oct 2015, I have lost almost 50 pounds for general wellness. My heartburn returned this past Saturday, out of no where. So far I'm wondering if this will just be another cycle, but luckily it has not been as bad as it was during this first time back in 2012. I did have some stomach churning, kind of like what you would expect when you're hungry, but different before things seemed to start. It did surprise me as I remember from 2012 I had a very bloated feeling right before everything started.

I did go to the doctor back then and while I did not get an endoscopy, they did test me for h. pylori, which came back negative. So, stay tuned I guess.

Post Edited (Historyman) : 4/5/2016 4:07:56 PM (GMT-6)

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