Menopause and GERD

 

My acid reflux started during perimenopause/early menopause.  I had never even had a case of heartburn, and still haven't.  Acid just comes up without any pain.  I would strangle during the night and then it started happening during the day, too.

I got on replacement hormones two years ago at age 44.  I recommend this.  I didn't even feel like the same person in the head there for a few days.  I immediately got better and back to being myself on the hormones.  Now my new doctor wants to reduce the dose.

Do the hormone tablets somehow irritate the throat on the way down and trigger reflux?

Hi Browneyes,

I got HORRIBLE GERD during perimenopause. I was on HRT for about 6 years at the same time. When I came off the HRT, my GERD improved significantly. Are you on any HRT?
YES.........I've gone to hell in a handbasket since then. Its very sad. Every day is a challenge. I also have fibromyalgia........but I often think its just menopause.
Are you on any other meds that could be making your reflux worse? Try cutting back on your carbs, caffeine, and those foods that are hard on us (tomato, chocolate, etc.).
And never lie down for several hours after you eat.
How long were you in perimenopause? Alot of us seem to get that feeling in our throats during that time. I think our muscles relax, and that includes our esophaguses. What a drag it is for us!!!!

Thanks for all the replies.  It is close to 2 1/2 years since my last period.  I guess I just thought that once it was done and nothing else was shouting out at me, that it was a done deal, but apparently I was wrong.  Like I said, the GERD just surfaced out of the blue, but now when I look back, I could have been experiencing it and saying it was a menopausal symptom.

My ENT has me scheduled for a CT of the neck & chest as a precaution (already had the barium swallow), but I will have to admit that I have been EXTREMELY anxious over all of this, and I have been trying to relax & not look at the gloom and doom - well, I am noticing some difference with my throat (not as tight and not always feeling like there is a lump).

I am still using the Prilosec and the DGL licorice and so far so good.  I am still off the chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, but the fact that I do have an appetite is a good sign for me.

One other question which may sound silly - Has anyone else had motion sickness spring up on them since the "M" started?  Also anxiety or panicky feelings with no real validation? 

I have also experienced some vertigo through menopause. I do think it has everything to do with hormones or the lack thereof. I've also had a few anxiety attacks which, while not frequent, are pretty scary. Yes, this menopause stuff is for the birds. I don't know why so much attention is paid to the hot flashes when they are really not the worst of it - at least for me. The mood swings and the insomnia and all this other crap like GERD are the biggest pains in the rear.

Tummytuck

You know, when they talk about menopause, they talk mainly about no more periods and hot flashes.  No one mentions all of this other fun stuff that goes along with it and is much worse than the hot flashes.  Heck, I can handle a hot flash here and there.  But the GERD, the insomnia, the panic attacks, the joint and muscle problems to the point of carpal tunnel surgery not to mention the memory lapses AND the vaginal dryness for those of us who are sexually active (yes, old ladies do have sex and like it) and oh, the menopot . . . are nothing but a huge pain in the rear.  It does feel as if you are falling apart.  I have been assured, though, that the dust will settle and my body will adapt and I can go on from there and accept that things will never be the same.

As someone else on this board has posted . . . menopause is not for sissies. 

Tummytuck

Until I read these posts I was convinced I was going mad! I'm a 44 year old, reasonably happy, healthy, active, well-adjusted woman who has been experiencing a variety of symptoms for the better part of a year now .... and i'm about to lose my mind! Panic attacks, anxiety, palpitations, debilitating bouts of dizziness/vertigo, asthma, horrible insomnia, crashing fatigue....and now GERD that feels like it's strangling me at night! Other than blood pressure meds, i've never taken prescription or recreational drugs. Unsure of what could possibly be triggering these symptoms I completely avoid coffee, soda, alcohol and sweets. Basic tests reveal nothing out of the ordinary. I don't know what to do, these symptoms are disrupting my life! Could this be the beginning of menopause? Does it get any easier from here??

I am new to this forum... I guess I am relieved to see that other women out there are experiencing similar problems to mine. I am 49, almost 50 and have been in menopause for about 1 1/2 years. What a mess! The latest thing has been a struggle with GERD, which started rearing its head about 7 months ago, getting progressively worse. I guess I was in denial about it at first, and then realized what it was. I tried Zantac, but that wasn't strong enough, then Prilosec, which didn't seem strong enough either. My doc put me on Prilosec OTC twice a day (that is, 20 mg when I awaken, 20 mg at bedtime). about a week ago I decided enough is enough, and I finally cut out the little remaining alcohol, decaf coffee and chocolate out of my diet, hoping that would fix it. (It's been my experience that the worst offenders for contributing to GERD are caffeinated coffee and red wine -- those are REALLY bad & make my stomach hurt just writing about it. These diet changes have definitely helped, but the GERD is still there. I've also cut out fried foods, anything citrus, salad dressings, peppermint, tomato based sauces. even CHEWING GUM for goodness sakes ... not fun! I'm realizing that my life is ruled by rules: no eating after I take the Prilosec in AM, for 1/2 hour. No eating before exercise (which I do after getting up), so that means I often don't eat anything til 11:30am or noon! But I've found if I eat THEN exercise my stomach feels just awful. No eating after 6pm, certainly no lying down after eating. I've had hot flashes, but they are just annoying compared to the vag. dryness (horrendous... it was so bad at first that all my tissues down there started falling apart and bleeding, just from the friction of walking around) and the insomnia... many nights I get only 2 or 3 hours of sleep. I was sort of addicted to Unisom, which I've also ditched, as I think that was contributing to the GERD. But now my sleeping has taken a huge hit. Lately I find that I'm anxious... worrying that every little ache and pain is something that's going to kill me, terminal, etc. I travel a lot and I'm gearing up for a big trip to Africa, and I've realized I have tremendous anxiety about the upcoming trip. The anxiety probably doesn't help the GERD either. Like I said, it's a mess.

hi starrnr -- Wow, that sounds even worse than what I have! BTW, since I wrote that earlier post (2 days ago) I've had quite a bit of improvement with the GERD. I still have a bit of it, and have been VERY vigilant about my diet, that's for sure. I feel like I can't eat ANYthing. Your GERD sounds much worse than mine, I never had something come up the back of my throat, or had a mouth full of acid, just a very acidic tummy. Zantac is probably not strong enough for what you have, you might need Prilosec. It definitely sounds like you need to see a doc as soon as you can... just explain everything like you did here... I think totally cleaning up your diet will help, but you have to cut out stuff that's a problem completely, for a few weeks, to see if it makes a difference. I found that the Prilosec causes terrible flatulence in me (yikes!) and so I'm anxious to get off of it as soon as I can. But it only causes this problem in a small percentage of people (less than 3% of the population has this issue) so that probably won't happen to you. But if you have a dysfunction GI system, you need to really work with someone (medical professional) who can work out a regimen for you

For whatever it's worth, I eat yogurt at least once a day (I like the plain Greek-style yogurt) and that really seems to help. My GERD is much better now, only an issue for the first 20 minutes of exercising, and my stomach feels yucky, but after 20 minutes, it goes away. Other than that, it's mostly gone, hallelujah! I attribute this improvement to not eating ANY chocolate, and definitely no coffee/decaf or alcohol. The other thing I've done is to replace regular bread with gluten-free bread, and that seems to help the flatulence problem.

I think the reason that this starts up during Perimenopause is because our muscle strength seems to weaken.....and our GI tracts are all muscle.
When I was still having a few periods, I would notice that around my period, I would tend to get certain foods stuck in my esophogus.
For me, the GERD has really calmed down, now that I'm actually in menopause. I still have a few symptoms of hormone fluctuations (migraine aura, joints get loose, food gets stuck in my esophagus, etc), but its not nearly as bad as it was during perimenopause.
Dr. Norm, a Ph.D. who has written a book on this subject, and used to be on this forum, believes that GERD comes from eating too many carbohydrates. I think I have to agree with him for the most part. Whenever I increase my consumption of carbs, my GERD flares up. So you all might consider eating fewer carbs.
Good luck to you all. Menopause should be outlawed!

I am sooooo glad I found this site, I have been suffering with GERD for almost 4 years now and didn't connect it to perimenopause until recently.  I am 50 years old and have been exhibiting several of the perimenopause symptoms, never realising that the ever present hearburn, lump in my throat, headaches etc...were also a wonderful part of it. I was on 20mg of Prilosec every day but decided to quit cold turkey on December 31 .  I have good weeks and bad weeks, but am still committed to coping with this drug free. I have too many concerns that the long term ingestion of drugs will eventually have a negative affect on my body.  I too have discovered that smaller meals several times a day helps aswell as limiting acohol consumption.  I am English and am addicted to tea, so to date have been unable to give that up, having said that I really can't say that it is one of my triggers. Don't get me started on that extra person that suddenly showed up 5 years ago hanging to my midriff, no matter what exersize I do she will not go away! Tennis elbow, I wouldn't mind but I don't play tennis, and whats with the peeing every two hours, even through the night.  I can't remember when I slept through, a full 8 hours, uninterupted sleep.  Ok, I am done bellyaching...it felt good.  Thnx girls for sharing, I will definately check this site out on a regular basis.

This is my first time posting to this form and I am so glad I found it.  I am 49 years old and dealing with perimenopause and GERD and didn't realize there could be a connection.  Please, allow me to vent!!  about three years ago I started feeling burning in my chest and was first diagnosed with inflamed cartilage then told I have asthma.  When inhalers didn't help the asthma specialist figured out it was GERD.  So, I was misdiagnosed for almost a year.  The omniprizole helped for the next two years.  During that time I had endless dental problems - I think I have had four root canals and crowns due to nighttime grinding - for a cost of about $10,000.  but that's off point.  I also had terrible vaginal dryness and burning which was also misdiagnosed as yeast, and vaginal infections.  Once I started taking premarin vaginal creme the problem stopped.  I felt like things were so much better this past spring that I met with my doctor about getting off the estrogen replacement and trying to stop the omneprozole.  I stopped for one day and the chest burning came back like a freight train and has not stopped for two months.  I am miserable.  I have stopped drinking coffee which was one of my biggest pleasures in life and have not stopped alcohol yet - but fear I may have to.  I have a glass of chardonnay once or twice a week and a margarita once a week.  Is that too much to ask for???  I am now seeing a GERD specialist and he wants to do an endoscopy.  I'm not too thrilled about that but do want to know if there is something causing the GERD.  I'm so bummed about this - in pain every day - somewhat in the morning and quite bad by late afternoon and evening.  I exercise 5 - 6 times a week, am thin, don't smoke and feel like I should be healthy!  Oh, and I just had a bone scan and found out I have osteopenia so am going on a new bone drug - which can also make my GERD worse.  So far I haven't taken it because I want the GERD to get better first.  Thanks for letting me vent!!  Like other women my age, I so feel like I'm falling apart.  I hope it gets better...