l-theanine, darryl, ppi-less and me

Hi MockT

Yeah, give it a go buddy. I don't know, it def. worked for me. That and a positive attitude. I've been floundering in my life for a while now, stumbling round sort of hoping things will work out for me. BUT, you can't hit a target you can't see. So, I'm busy changing some views of mine. The purpose of life is a life of purpose!! So my first and biggest goal right now, is to become a positive person. Deep down I am quite a positive and sort of uplifting person, but I want to be positive about everything in my life. Each situation, actively seek the positive in it, and then focus hard all my attention on that instead of the flip side!

Anyways, I was regularly using my Ativan for about three weeks. Nearly every second day, and really battling on the others not to, as I know the dangers of dependancy. And then the day I started on a course of anti depressants, I had a 150mg L-Theanine. I felt so much better I took that daily instead of the meds. Now I take it every other day and less frequently. I'm not sure about all what works or what not, but I haven't needed an Ativan now for the past three weeks - since the L-Theanine. I also don't know how good it is for the GERD, but it's helped me with the anxiety.

Make no mistake, I still get some anxiety from time to time, but I have also decided to stop fearing it. Accepting it and letting it pass as I know it has every other time it has hit me. It's when you allow it ot frighten you that you think this one is it, the big one! But, they all fade away sooner or later. It's when I can see it in that light, that they become less of a problem. The guy from panic away actually suggests that you challenge the anxiety, say let's see wha tyou got! And then let it get you excited about beating it. As it is only adrenaline. Like the scared/excitement one feels before a rollercoaster ride!

Sorry if I'm rambling and you don't really have an issue with panic attacks as such. But perhaps there are others that have suffered as badly as I have that might take some small degree of advise and heart from that.

Please let me know if it works for you MT.

Good luck
Darryl

@ PPI-less

Did SSRI's help your reflux? I may have NERD so they are considering giving me SSRI's to see if they help in a few weeks...

Darryl

thanks for the response. i found the vast majority of what you said very applicable to my situation as well....and all of it very interesting

ive struggled with high anxiety most of my life...usually i keep it somewhat in check... but with lots of effort...an enemy that causes me lots of anguish and costs lots of effort to keep at bay...i worry...about work, world affairs, the kids, money, health...lots of worry

about 10 or 15 years ago health issues started to gang up on me, chronic, painful but not life threatening issues like ibs, wheat intolerance, and other lower gi issues and....and then constant ringing in the ears (tinnitus) which was like water torture

but some how i learned to cope ....but.... at a price

in the past ive used positive self talk, exercise, meditation and self hypnosis and, im ashamed to say, too much alcohol, to fend off the pain...

things got worse and worse as i got older. as the kids left the nest and struggled with life, and as my job was in jeopardy, and other problems mounted up, i began to reflux worse and worse, and then i really started to hurt bad emotionally

i never saw myself as a weak person, always worked more than one job and built my own house doing all the work myself with help from wife , brother and father in law from time to time...so im not a lazy person or a "defeatist"

but with big, out of the blue health issues hitting me in the face left and right especially in the last year, i found myself badly beaten down, mentally and physically

so like you i do all i can to force myself to take a positive point of view on things the best i can and make every effort to battle back

i know that reflux has different causes for different people but i am convinced that for me, and for some of us, stress and high anxiety may be one cause, and at least very much aggravates reflux problems that are caused by other issues.

i agree with your saying that "you cant hit a target you cant see" ...very well said. and for me and a few other here who who have shared this point of view... we feel like dealing with reflux is like duke-ing it out with a prize fighter while we are wearing a blind fold.....sometimes swinging wildly in the dark and never knowing from what direction the next blow is gonna come from

so your ideas and ppi-less ideas and theacidrefluxmans ideas about how to deal with the stress is very helpful

i would just add that i think exercise is very very important...i was walking up hills and then jogging slowly until i got injuredd moving some heavy furniture...after i heal (i pray) im going back to doing as much exrcise as i can

i also am convinced that for those of us who are over-weight getting back to the proper bmi (body mass index) is a very important thing to do

geeze , i wrote too much...

best wishes
mt

Rita - Yes, I agree with you that reflux, anxiety and depression are not always related to each other.

What I've learned though is that the underlying reasons behind persistent acid reflux could be fairly complex and vary a lot among the patients - especially when there is no clear cause such as: a hernia or low-pressure LES, poor eating/lifestyle habits or pregnancy etc.

Transient relaxations of the LES is what most doctors would point to when none of the above is found. As to what causes the tLESrs .. it is not clearly known. One theory is that the vagus nerve signaling gets messed up. Sometimes calming this nerve down using psych/nerve drugs thereby reducing anxiety and depression helps reduce these tLERs. My GI also tells me that eliminating anxiety will not fix acid reflux .. but can *possibly* help reduce the symptoms.

However, I agree that there is no one size fits all here .. each one of us will have to figure out what works best for us ...

halloweenbaby

your remarks are spot on and inciteful and i dont disagree with any points you made above.

i appreciate that there are basic physiological and anatomical reasons why many people get reflux disease. for many people stress and depression are the result of the disease not the cause.

life is sometimes cruel and often unfair. the thought of children and even infants struggling with this and any other disease is beyond tragic... its devastating and tears apart any sense i have in natural or intrinsic justice in the here and now.

i know that when i am put under extraordinary stress i reflux much worse and bad and i burn way up high. i dont know how much stress aggravates or even causes reflux...i dont know if there are people who have bad reflux just because of emotional illness or not. i certainly know there are people who have reflux disease for reasons that have little or nothing to do with anxiety.

so when it comes to the part my high anxiety plays in reflux im left to make guesses...hopefully somewhat educated guesses, but guesses just the same.

i thank you for pointing out the issues you raised above. its important for me to see the bigger picture and you helped me to do that

best wishes
mock turtle