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Why is my LPR/GERD worse 4 hours after I eat?

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Posted 12/14/2006 3:23 AM (GMT 0)
My symtpoms (bad taste in mouth, sore throat) are at their worst 4 hours after I eat?  I am trying to figure out what this means in terms of treatment? 

KLA

Posted 12/17/2006 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
HI there, I'm friendlygal and I am new to these forums. Maybe you have an empty stomach and it is causing acidity? I'm not sure, but that could be the case.

Sorry if that doesn't help. Friendlygal
Posted 12/17/2006 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for responding.  Anyone have any other thoughts?

IS

Posted 12/17/2006 3:49 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with friendlygal. When my reflux was at its worst, I suffered most when the stomach was empty. I drank alot of warm water and it seemed to help. Are you eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day? That would help. I juice in the evenings and find that helps get me through the night without the heaviness and discomfort of solid food. In fact I find it soothes the stomach. I juice veggies with an apple and it does the trick.
Posted 12/17/2006 10:15 PM (GMT 0)

  Imalukatic, that is a great suggestion (juicing at night with an apple).  I'll have to try that.  One of the reasons I got GERD is because when I mourned for my cat of 17 years (his death was horrific), I didn't eat AT ALL.  So for me, it wasn't that I didn't eat healthy, it was that I didn't eat, period.  And I have a bad case of GERD now.  So I really do think that an empty stomach can also cause GERD.  The problem I find now is that, now that I am not mourning, I want to eat yet I can't eat so many things, due to GERD.  A poster said that she cured herself from GERD by just eating veggies/fruits and enzymes.  I don't know how I can possibly keep my stomach full if I do that!

Posted 12/17/2006 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
Friendlygal, our situations are quite similar. I too was mourning and barely eating and sleeping. This went on for several weeks when everything started going berserk. Suddenly the acid reflux, couldn't eat at all, and gut problems on top of it all. At first the doc thought it was just anxiety, but the stomach wasn't improving. To make a long story short, my main problem is Leaky Gut Syndrome, which caused my acid reflux. I also have a raging Candida campaign going on inside me, so my problems are multi-layered and it's difficult to treat. The Leaky Gut is causing allergy problems. The Candida prevents me from eating certain things, also. Like you...I want to eat...very badly, but can only tolerate small amounts of certain things. I guess this is the price we pay for abusing our bodies, even tho it wasn't intentional.

I eat mostly veggies, only apples for fruit for now (because of the Candida), I can tolerate poached chicken and turkey and once in a while fish. I use either millet or quinoa as a cereal in the mornings, and sometimes in addition to an evening meal of meat and veggies. I do use enzymes, also. I drink alot of water. I've lost 15 pounds in the last 3-4 months, but fortunately I don't look emaciated...yet. Things are improving even tho it's very slowly, but I guess I just have to be patient about it. I have to keep reminding myself that I am getting better...and I will recover completely...eventually.

Everyone is different...and different things work for different people. You'll have to experiment a little and find what works for you...then keep adding to it a little at a time. I'd avoid anything fried or fatty or too rich for now. Give your stomach a rest and be gentle with it.

Are you sleeping on your left side at night? This prevents the acid from coming up your throat. It really helps.

Posted 12/18/2006 12:23 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, imalukatic!

Yes, I just recently had my bed elevated (dad helped with blocks) and am sleeping on my left side (though, I must admit that I do tend to switch to my right side at times).  I'm glad that you are at least feeling a little better.  That's a good sign and maybe it will continue (hope so)!  I must say that I browsed other forums and this is the best I've seen!

I find that I can relate a lot to people here, I also feel that although we admittedly have bad days, people here are really doing their best to get better.  I like that attitude!  When I went on another GERD site, ALL the people there were depressed 24/7 and they all seemed to never get better.  It just depressed me and made me feel that there was no hope and that I'm doomed to suffer for the rest of my life.  So I'm glad that there are actually some posts of people here who have felt "cured."  This can give people like you and me some hope!

Posted 12/18/2006 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
I agree that an empty stomach contributes to GERD.  I got a high energy job 6 years ago - one where you're lucky  to get to the bathroom during the day and always found myself hungry and no time to eat.  Then, at the end of the day when I had time to breathe, I would stuff ANY kind of junk into my mouth because I was so hungry.  STRESS + NO FOOD is not a good combination.
Posted 12/18/2006 3:33 AM (GMT 0)
 Lonibel, I wasn't eating AT ALL.  Of course it wasn't good that you were eating junk food.  And I"m so sorry if your busy workload caused you to eat so much on an empty stomach, causing GERD.  But, honestly, you were probably in better shape than I was, eating junk food.  I got GERD because I didn't eat anything at all during the tragedy of my poor Fuzzy's death.  I deprived myself of ANY nutrients and my stomach started digesting itself.  I am normally a very healthy and happy girl so this was just a really bad period in my life...

Posted 12/18/2006 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry to hear about your GERD.

That is intresting. How you get acid relflux, when your stomach is empty instead of full.

Which makes me also think continue to think that Riverotter is right, maybe our acid reflux is mostly from stress, like repressed rage, anxiety, fear, sadness. For me I ate a llot so food was the trigger, and for you guys, an empty stomach is the trigger.

Interesting. Hey, I'm not downing any suggestions od diet or anything, but I think acid reflux is 90-95 percent stress caused. EVERYONE, I mean everyone I asked about when they're GERD started at a point of high stress. It kind of like a needle that breaks the camel's back, for some

it's a needle, but for most of us it's another camel that breaks it. It's a culmination of stressors.

I a firm believer that if the mind can damage the body it can also heal it. If you guys didn;t check out riverotter's post.

Posted 12/18/2006 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
MOB, thanks for caring...Whether or not you're right that most people's reflux began at times of stress (I tend to think you're right), now that we have it, even at times that we relax it is still there. 

In fact, I went to a very fun party and when I laughed, I choked due to the reflux (and I didn't eat any trigger foods).

It also is hard for me to swim and do many of the things that I love.  I have tried to continue on with my life and have a good attitude again, but the GERD is so bad that when I am relaxed, something still happens in my body (chest pain, trouble breathing or swallowing, etc.) and this causes stress. So it is a vicious cycle.  It is easy to feel like it is uncurable when we get discouraged from it being such a slow process to recover.  When I'm relaxed, it is still there.  How long do I need to relax and have a good attitude for this to go away?

Posted 12/18/2006 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Friendlygal, I had to swallow my pride and do something I thought I'd NEVER do. My anxiety was so bad initially that my MD gave me a prescription for Ativan. I was reluctant to take it at first, but my TCM doc actually encouraged me to use a little. At the beginning of all this I was a total mess with tension and anxiety, so I thought I'd try it, and I'm glad I did. I've never taken a full dose and not every day if I can help it, but it's helped me tremendously. No matter how hard I tried, my body just wouldn't cooperate with my mind as far as relaxing goes. The Ativan took the edge off that considerably. I look at it this way...the longer and more intense my anxiety is...the longer it's going to take for me to get well again. Everyone around me is surprised I've improved so quickly (considering the Leaky Gut thing), and I give credit to the Ativan for helping me to relax. Initially I used it at night or I couldn't sleep at all. I haven't used it to sleep with for over 2 months already. And now I only use a half dose during the day if I feel a little panicky with tension. When I get like that everything feels like it's undoing itself.

I'm in no way suggesting that you go see your MD for anxiety meds, but just wanted to share a thought you might not have considered if your anxiety is getting the best of you. I'm not as young as you are and I already have some peri-menopausal issues I'm dealing with, that contribute to the anxiety issue. So you likely wouldn't need the "crutch" like I do. I think once your grief issues are worked out, you'll probably find that you'll feel alot better. It usually takes me about 6 months to deal with my grief issues, and I'm there now, but now I have Christmas to complicate matters with. Bad timing. But the New Year will bring new beginnings...and new health for us. I believe that.

Btw you're right about the positivity at this forum. It's helpful and inspiring to hear other's success stories. We need that.

Posted 12/18/2006 11:16 PM (GMT 0)

Imalukatic, thanks so much for sharing your story.

I actually was quite relaxed before I had a hard summer, causing me to not eat. 

However, I eat healthy now and do whatever I can to get back to what is normal for me.  I do not have anxiety issues.  I just had a bad summer.  I wish, in a way, that I did have anxiety issues.  Because if I did, then anxiety meds might really help my GERD. 

For now, the only thing that gives me anxiety is my GERD.  And, as I said, it's there even when I relax.  Therefore, I do not know if my GERD will ever get better, though I really hope it does.

Posted 12/19/2006 3:21 AM (GMT 0)
Friendlygal...you WILL get better. You have the right attitude and you certainly have youth on your side. We heal quicker when we're younger. So take good care of yourself. The subconscious stress that's causing alot of your problems right now, will eventually subside. I was told that it takes alot longer for our body's to catch up with our minds after stressful situations. So altho you may be feeling better about things in the foreground of your mind...your subconscious is still working in overdrive. It'll lose its steam soon enough. One day you'll just finding yourself feel well again, and be surprised. That happened to my sister, and I'm hoping it'll happen to me soon, too.
Posted 12/19/2006 3:35 PM (GMT 0)

imalukatic said...
Friendlygal...you WILL get better. You have the right attitude and you certainly have youth on your side. We heal quicker when we're younger. So take good care of yourself. The subconscious stress that's causing alot of your problems right now, will eventually subside. I was told that it takes alot longer for our body's to catch up with our minds after stressful situations. So altho you may be feeling better about things in the foreground of your mind...your subconscious is still working in overdrive. It'll lose its steam soon enough. One day you'll just finding yourself feel well again, and be surprised. That happened to my sister, and I'm hoping it'll happen to me soon, too.

Imalukatic, thanks so much for your faith that this can improve!!  I really appreciate it!!  May I ask...did your sister have really bad GERD?  What were her symptoms?  Bye the way, I am 34 (I know that's young, but I may be not as young as you had thought...)...
Posted 12/19/2006 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
Friendlygal, yes, my sister had really bad GERD. She vomitted alot from it, too. I guess as her stress load began to diminish, so did her symptoms. Since my problem was definitely stress related, I'm hoping the same thing will happen for me.

And you're right...I thought you were a little younger, but 34 is by no means old! We're only separated by about 12 years, but when you get into the hormone range where I am now...it makes a big difference in your health issues. So I've learned.

I'm off to see my TCM now. Take care.

Posted 12/24/2006 5:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hi friends....just had to jump in and reiterate your sentiments about this site...it is fabulous. It's the best I've found. I really look forward to getting on and seeing how my "cyber friends" are doing...it is really so encouraging to talk to people that understand GERD. I really pray that all of you and me will experience healing from GERD and better health in 2007.

Happy Healthy New Year,
Sillylilly
Posted 12/24/2006 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
I second that, sillylilly. And I'm certain that alot of us will experience a lessening of our symptoms once all the hype of the holidays are over with, too. I've been finding myself overly emotional the last while and I know it's holiday related. But once it's over with and we start the New Year with a clean slate...I believe some serious healing can begin.

I hope everyone has as pleasant a Christmas (if you celebrate it) as possible under your current health situations. My hubby and I have decided to just stay home since it'll make it easier for me to stick with my eating schedule, and alot less stressful worrying about what/if there's anything I can eat if we go out. The people who own the house we're renting are aware of my/our situation and will be bringing the hubby a plateful of Christmas dinner, so he won't feel deprived. That makes me happy because he wouldn't let me go thru the effort of making him anything special even tho I couldn't enjoy it with him. They also brought him a tin of shortbread and other goodies the landlady made. So all in all...it'll be a different Christmas for us, but at least we'll be together and hubby will have a full tummy.

I wish you all a peaceful, happy and healthy holiday season.

Luka

Post Edited (imalukatic) : 12/24/2006 3:17:06 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/25/2006 12:20 AM (GMT 0)

Imalukatic, that is great that you have a hubby who is so supportive! I am single and part of my stress is that I am 34 and having such bad reflux makes it stressful for me to go out and date and meet someone now with all this going on.

sillylilly, happy holidays to you as well (and to everyone!)...I think that this forum will really help us get better.  It is definitely the best, most informative and supportive forum I've seen for gerd sufferrers!!

Posted 12/25/2006 4:34 AM (GMT 0)
Friendlygal...if you find a guy who'll love you, reflux and all...you'll have found your prince!
Posted 12/25/2006 6:11 PM (GMT 0)

imalukatic said...
Friendlygal...if you find a guy who'll love you, reflux and all...you'll have found your prince!

  True. :))
Posted 12/29/2006 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,

I just wanted to ask about the juice thing. I think I will have to try something like that. What veggies do you juice? Also... I can't sleep on my left side at all. I get much sicker on my left side... why would that be?

Thanks,

Bear
Posted 12/29/2006 2:19 PM (GMT 0)

Hi tangerine bear, I've juiced carrots, celery, and asparagus so far.  I read in the nutritional healing book that raw potato juice is supposed to help GErd, but haven't tried that yet as it sounds gross!

I don't remember if you said you were fighting something else other than GERD?  If so, that could be why sleeping on your left makes you feel worse (it could be effecting other organs maybe?)...But I'm only saying that if you there is another condition you are aware that you are dealing with...otherwise, I have no idea why sleeping on your left would make you feel worse...

Posted 12/29/2006 4:27 PM (GMT 0)
Hi friendlygal,

I also have IBS, and spasms do happen on the left side with me, so maybe that's why. I guess I need to buy a juicer. I suppose that any pre-prepared juices aren't good for us??????? That would be lots easier! Haha, I'm lazy..

Bear :)
Posted 12/29/2006 6:19 PM (GMT 0)

tangerinebear, I would also like to know if there are juices out there that are ok for us to eat.

I must tell you that juicing is VERY expensive.  You have to a juice a ton of carrots to get a decent sized glass...

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