How long have you been struggling with GERD?

i first noticed GERD, occasionally, in my twenties..it was one of those things where i never carried antacids, but had some in the medicine cabinet...once every several days, or week id get a little back wash, often i could fix it with some water or milk

i remember in my 30s i carried a basic simple ant acid, calcium carbonate, and i would be popping a couple every 2nd or third day, i was drinking a lot of coffee in those days and alcohol too

by my 40s reflux was an every other day event and i noticed that sometimes bending over after a big meal or any drinking wine was like pouring stuff out of my stomach and i started carrying a variety of liquid and pill reflux pharmacopoeia everywhere i went

in my early 50s i was being awakened at night to bouts of reflux and i had to really watch what i eat during the day or i would have that pain in the chest after every meal

now at a little past my 60th birthday, i suffer all the time unless i eat small meals and avoid problem foods...a list almost as long as the list of foods i can eat... and even obeying the rules i still burn, on and off, for reasons that frequently follow no pattern...my LES and or the nerves that control it are broken and the diaphragm has been displaced from supporting the les due to a hiatal hernia

in the last year my gerd turned to lpr with reflux entering my larynx and lungs if i dont sleep very inclined and cut off eating after 6pm...PPIs make me dizzy and make it hard to eat anything that isnt cooked, for fear of infection, so ive been using as little in the way of H2 blockers as i can get away with

so how long have i had GERD?.... i would say...f o r e v e r...

a long tale...

i bet you are sorry you asked :) but thats my story and im stickin to it

about 10 years now. Started with random heartburn on & off. In 2007 I started getting acid reflux along with chest pains & shortness of breathe. Testing by a cardiologist revealed nothing but was given inhalers for asthma. It got progressively worse up until November 2010 when I pleaded with my GP to do something. Was sent to a GI doc who did an endoscopy & found I had reflux oesophagitis with hiatus hernia. He referred me to a surgeon who performed an open NF on 29th June 2011.

Having syrgery was the best thing I did. Im 5 1/2 weeks post-op & recovering well. Have no acid reflux, am off my PPI's & haven't had to use an inhaler since the morning of my surgery.

Lynda

I'm about 3 years older than Mock Turtle and I could nearly copy their story word for word. I do not remember a day since my early 20's without some sort of acid - confirmed all those years ago by a barium test. I threw up a lot but didn't feel the burning.

Other symptoms got worse in my 30's but I'm female and attributed some of them to monthly hormonal changes.

In my 40's I blamed it on early menopausal changes.

In my 50's it was my diseased gall bladder that got the blame and when it was removed I thought all my problems were solved.

At age 54 I had my first surgery for esophageal stricture which is scar tissue in your esophagus that forms to keep acid down in your stomach where it belongs.

I went through menopause and blamed the "bad stomach" on menopause and more hormone changes and the stress of an empty nest.

I was put on acid meds from my GI doc and nothing worked very well except for high doses of Nexium and only for about a year or two. I was on a million meds, watched my diet, lost weight etc. Nothing helped.

For me it had to be NF surgery. Not so for everyone but I'm breathing deeply for the first time in so many years I don't recall when the last time was.

Sometimes sinus is just sinus. Other times it's more.
I hope you can find out which is which for you.

Hang in there!