New and in pain!

Hey everyone. Well, I never had a problem with hearburn really until I got prego with son, but after giving birth, it went away. about six months ago, it came back pretty bad. I went to a clinic and that's when they "diagnosed" with Gerd. He gave me a perscription but could fill it cause of no insurance at the time and couldn't afford it. So instead i took the prilosec otc for two weeks, then pepcid there after if i needed it for about a month or so. Changed my diet and it went away.

Well, in the last six months, we moved and went through a lot of work stress and I went off my new diet during the process. about three weeks ago, it pops back up, pretty bad. It came on as being nausous and i thought I was getting a stomach flu. But as the night progressed, it got worse and after vomiting and going back to sleep, i woke up to that sharp buring feeling in my chest and back. That next morning I went to the doc again and she said it was the Gerd again. This time, she tells me to take the Pepcid twice a day and then add a Prilosec otc with it...if it wasn't helping completely, take it twice aday.

Well, that seemed to be helping for a while but this last Wednesday, I woke up in pain again and haven't felt alright since. I've been staying away from most foods that I could even think might hurt me and taking my pills regularly but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick anymore. And now I'm getting this pains in my stomach like a bad gas and diarrhoea.

I'm so lost! I've tried reading other posts but alot of the stuff you all mention i've never heard of or don't know what it means. Any help I can get would mean the world. I just want to feel better again! I have a two year old to raise and this is really holding me back.

Sorry this was so long...promise my next ones wont be!

 

Thanks for the reply! Well, it got really bad Tuesday morning so I had my husband take me to another clinic. This one was very helpful. They gave me some samples of Aciphex to get me through for a little while and got me intouch with a GI clinic that would work with me with payments. I have an appointment Monday to see what they think and see about getting an endoscopy done. So far, the Aciphex is working ok...i'm not going out and eating everything and anything. I've barely been eating at all. I'm so scared everythings going to make sick. My husband did get me to eat a 6 inch sub Wednesday night and that threw me back bad. So i've just been trying to get down crackers and lean meats at dinner. BUt this is better then how i was feeling! I'll keep everyone updated.

BTW...is it safe to take something like Pepcid with the RX Aciphex which is a PPI?

Hello -  I am so sorry u are suffering.  The drs thought I had GERD as well but after the endoscopy, it was discovered that i have gastritis.  which i guess is better b/c GERD is chronic.  Definately let us know how the endoscopy goes.     I can tell u the meds that I have tried and what has helped.    - marissa 

Welcome Gavs,
It really helps to pay close attention to the offending foods and stay clear of them, because even with meds, the Gerd symtoms can break through. Many of us sufferers may not have the same triggers for all foods, but many of us complain of difficulties with sauces(gravies), tomato products, citric fruits, soda, caffiene, refined sugar products, and high carb intake.

This doesn't leave a lot of yummy stuff, but certainly helps with ER visits.

Hope you start to feel better soon.

Huggs,
V

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I'm feeling a bit better this morning. I've gone back to eating light and being very careful what I eat. The problem yesturday was that I was baking cookies for a neighbor who's got a family member dying and was trying to be nice but just couldn't keep away from sneaking a taste of the dough and cookie. I deserved it last night! lol My mother in law has been trying to get me to start using this stuff called Pepper Juice. Yeah...right...something called that is suppose to HELP?! lol But it's done wonders for my sister in law who suffered from chronic GERD and helped my Mother in law who was diabetic get off her meds and has been off then for almost 2 years now. So i'm thinking once i have the endoscopy and we know what is the real problem, about trying it. We'll see. I've also seen a lot of people talking about this DGL Licorice or something. Anyone know about it?

Yeah I guess. My husband's family knows the man that created it...he's a herbolagist from University of Florida...and has been a friend of the family for a while. i don't know...i'm still skeptical myself but hey, if it really works....we'll see.

Hello -  Me Again-

 well the gastritis I have is totally depressing me.  I was taking prilosec and pepcid which was great and made me feel like a new person and was able to live again until .. .  i started breaking out in rashes and hives from it.  so I had to stop taking it and now feel like i am so depressed and starting from square 1.  I started w/ gastritis in sept. its been 7 months and is sucks.  right now i am on carafate.  which seems to sorta help but is so darn nasty and inconvenient.  i totally get acid still here and there but its better than nothing at all.  I guess I am gonna start prevacid or aciphex (since prilosec and pepcid is out b/c of the hives)    I would like other peoples responses on medication that works best for them with the least side effects.  anyone tried prevacid? I know I am healing b/c since sept I feel alot better but still not great.  How long does this take to heal?  PLEASE PLEASE RESPOND.  Thank you.    

thank you so much for your response and congrats on your pregnancy!  thats another thing, i feel like my stomach probs are totally interfering w/ our babymaking plans.  I so wanna be pregnant like now, but feel that we should wait until i get better (if ever).  but its good to know that u can take prevacid and other drugs during pregnancy.  I was always concerned about that.  I see that prevacid is class B in pregnancy so thats great.   Happy Pregnancy!   

With the prevacid, i don't believe I had any side effect that I can recall.  And no, i haven't tried carafate...actually never heard of it but I'm still pretty new to the whole gerd thing.