Posted 12/7/2009 6:28 PM (GMT 0)
Initially my main acid reflux symptoms were nausea and a lump in my throat; recently those have gotten better but my new, most bothersome symptom is chest pain. (Doctor has ruled out cardiac conditions.) At one point I was having near constant pain all day (sometimes just mild pain, sometimes worse). I started taking Nexium and it worked for a few days then the pain came back. At that point I had not made any changes to my diet, so out of desparation I eliminated the following foods from my diet -- every doctor I saw told me to avoid chocolate, caffeine, and alcohol; some doctors and websites added other foods to the list, so my list is just what I found to be the most common GERD triggers for other people. Previously I ate multiple foods on this list every day, but within 24 hours of avoiding all foods on this list my chest pain got dramatically better -- not completely gone but much better:
Alcohol (but I never drank before ;))
Caffeine
Soda / carbonated drinks
Chocolate
Mint
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes / tomato sauce
Citrus fruits
Pineapple
Vinegar
Really fatty foods (I still eat kinda fatty foods since I'm trying to gain weight!)
I'm also trying to eat smaller portions more often (large meals can make acid reflux worse) and not eat for about 3 hours before bed.
Since I eliminated all these foods at once I don't know if they all bother me or just some of them, but at some point I will try reintroducing small amounts of these foods to see if I can tolerate them. I already know I can tolerate tiny amounts of some of these foods (e.g. a bit of garlic powder in processed foods, small amounts of ketchup, etc.) I'd like to get my symptoms under control and wait for some more test results before I start trying to reintroduce foods though!
I suspect there are also other factors involved, like stress, because I can eat the exact same lunch two days in a row but only get symptoms on one day! But diet is definitely part of it.
I have been diagnosed with GERD and a "small" HH according to my doctor.
Not sure about the gas issue -- thankfully my lower GI seems much healthier than my upper GI ;) The only thing I've noticed is that a really high fiber diet can be a bit bothersome to me!