Hey ma_ry, I had indigestion from a very young age, but started having frequent heartburn around the age of 18 (2-3 times a week). I am 28 now and it is much worse. Honestly, I won't go into everything because I don't want to discourage you, but will say that my own progression was similar to yours. At some point I had lost ~35 lbs and the people around me became very concerned. I get the thing about
expensive groceries, especially because you don't always know what's necessary (for instance, does organic/natural matter? Or maybe expensive milk substitutes are better than milk? etc.). I too have become much less social, because I can't really drink alcohol or eat most things on a restaurant menu - it's a hard thing to fully understand unless you've experienced it yourself.
Here are a few things I have learned over the past 10 years (age 18 to 28) that I think are worth sharing:
1) Try to stay 'ahead of the problem' as much as you can. When you identify things that trigger your heartburn (food, habits, etc.), be proactive in eliminating them from your life. Stomp them out like a fire. Do not keep doing/consuming these things until your symptoms get worse and force you to take stronger action. Re-occurant/untreated symptoms lead to an even weaker esophageal valve, scarring, inflammation, etc. and just progresses the disease sooner it seems.
2) There is some psychological component to many (but not all) chronic GERD sufferers. This is not my opinion, it has been shown time and time again in peer-reviewed studies performed by scientific researchers. Some researchers show moderate correlations between GERD prevalence/intensity and vague psychological categories such as anxiety or depression. However, there is a more specific psychological parameter more closely associated with GERD called 'vital exhaustion' (I would google it if you are unfamiliar with it). This was reported by Naliboff and colleagues in 2004 (paper titled: The effect of life stress on symptoms of heartburn). This study is one of the most commonly cited papers in the topic of psychology and GERD.
If you feel that any of these psychological issues are relatable to you, especially 'vital exhaustion' or anxiety, it is important that you address them right away and even perhaps think of them as part of your GERD treatment. As stupid as it sounds to young people, meditation (and practices like it) can make a large improvement in this category.
3) This is somewhat related to both 1) and 2), but is mostly some personal advice from me (so take it with a grain of salt). It's more like a good overall mindset to adopt...
I think that, rather than feeling forced to, you should want to try and simplify your life. Beyond thinking of just the heartburn, try to live more peacefully with yourself and take comfort in knowing that your life is simple and peaceful. Be content with the fact that you have certain foods you eat that you prepare yourself and that you are being healthy and proactive. Be content in putting modern, obsessive worries about
wealth, success, social status (or whatever your mind clings to on a daily basis) to the side so that you can life a simpler, more peaceful life. Try to avoid things that make your mind turned on all the time, like surfing the web randomly for hours, watching intense/emotional film and TV that are constantly stimulating your brain, and stray away from people who bring unnecessary emotional drama into your life.
Even if this lifestyle change doesn't directly reduce the symptoms, I think it will make it easier to get through some of the rougher periods. I probably wouldn't have listened to point 3) myself when I was 18, but at my current stage, I find that it is really one of the best things to strive for. Following this recommendation could reverse 'vital exhaustion', anxiety, and depression.
4) There are some types of heartburn that have a 'cure'. For instance, someone with a H. pylori infection. Or someone that is obese and can reduce symptoms by loosing weight and changing eating habits. However, there are people like you and me, where all these 'easy fixes' have been ruled out, and it really doesn't seem like the medical community has a great understanding of why cases like you and me are on the rise, or how to treat it long term. Some patients have a halfway decent quality of life by staying on PPIs indefinitely. If PPIs don't work, maybe you give surgery a try (but surgery can have its own consequences). If PPIs and surgery don't work, there aren't any more solutions other than the ones you produce. In other words, understand that the medical community is somewhat lagging on this issue and try to inform yourself and be proactive (food diaries, avoiding triggers, reducing stress) as much as possible, because honestly, you just can't rely on them as much as you'd think.
Post Edited (EJohn) : 6/15/2017 10:50:41 PM (GMT-6)