I have your symptoms...maybe not so much bad taste in mouth, but lump in through feeling, warm feeling in sternum...not horrible. Feels like I have to burp all the time, and can usually make that happen. My doctors seem to be baffled. Like this is the strangest most complex thing they have ever heard of. REALLY ?
All have handed me PPI's immediatley that took me from more of a concerning bummer to feel like I was about to kick it. Stopped taking those and my doctor actually got mad at me when I told him I thought they made me feel horrible....he just gave me a different type. Stopped those as well..........switched doctors...he repeated the ppi.......again mde me feel worse so I stopped pills and doctors and am dealing on my own.
Went to a health store and a 22 year old clerk calmly told me I have LOW stomach acid and not to let anyone tell me different. There is no such thing as high stomach acid she said. The acid in your stomach is one of the stongest acids around and 1 drop of it coughed up your esphogas would burn a hole right through it in less that one day.
She said when you have low acid your food sits in your stomach and basically rots, causing gas, which the pressure then weakens valve and what you taste / feel in your throat is lactic acid. She said that by the time you are 50, (which i am not quite yet), your body is making 25% the stomach acid you were when you were 18. How many 18 year olds you hear of with acid reflux she says..............May have it not completley right but that is close to what she said.
End result - she told me to take HCL suppliments that can actually raise stomach acid.
I was super nervous to try it but did about 3 weeks ago and feel 3000% better.
Now here is what I am doing in addition - I am working out for 1 hour 6 times a week...sweating bullets work out
no dairy, no wheat
smoothy with whey and a banana and acidopholis powder in the am
light lunch
lots of veggies for dinner - curry and salt for seasoning does not seem to cause me issues. chicken seems ok.
pumkin seeds and friut for snacking during the day, ginger tea with honey before dinner
No coffee, no soda, stopped smoking now for 3 months now, no chocolate, no sugary yummies....and NO food before beddy bi time which has been the hardest...use to like milk and cookies at about 11pm
lost 10 pounds and am close to ideal weight right now
now taking a stress multi vit, callcium fibre pills,
funny though...just finished a week of vacation and decided no work outs, 1 mexican dinner with wife, had 1 beer, had a little snackie on a few nights before sleep.........
and its coming back !!
Just a tiny bit....but clearly I will need to stay on this for a while if not forever to keep digestives working right.
Sorry for jumping around and the miss spells.
Peace !