Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Whinge away!!

My stupid doc messed with my dosage again and so I've had acid reflux pain almost every day for the last 3 weeks. I can't identify a trigger but I'm hoping that my medication will hurry up and kick in and I'll be back to normal again. A night of uninterrupted sleep would feel amazing right now!

Anyone else suffer with acid related misery??

My dad does, he's always had issues with it but recently was diagnosed with Barratt's oesophagus, where the acid gets the wrong side of the valve and and dissolved his oesophagus, the cells of which have regrown as stomach lining cells. You have all my sympathy, I know it can be a right pain!

I was on proton pump inhibitors from 15 to 23, have no esophageal sphincter and have dealt with ulcers on a few occasions. Veganism actually helped me get off of meds though (except for recently when I had to go back for treatment of another ulcer). I try to make a point to remember alkaline/acid charts when eating.


http://www.balance-ph-diet.com/acid_alk ... chart.html

Yeah I'm on PPIs too and they don't 100% work. I'm going to try changing my diet and seeing if I can control it myself.

I actually slept all night last night! :-) YAY!

I have to go to the gastroenterologist in dec. My pcp thinks they will want to use a scope. A SCOPE.

I'm kidding, I'm not that upset about it. I am, however, really upset that I just ate a miniature muffin and it already feels like the acid's going to eat a hole right through me.

i made a really, really stupid food choice this morning (a shot of coffee and a few chocolate chip cookies) and had heartburn and a headache all morning. Makes me feel some sympathy for you guys who deal with it every day.

does it really work to sleep at a 30 degree angle? it sounds like it would be really hard to sleep like that.

I have something my doc calls "silent reflux" where I don't really get heartburn but still the acid irritating my throat and such thus causing a constant nagging in the back of my throat and a constant attempt at clearing that feeling which just irritates it more. I bought a bed wedge to sleep on and that helped a bit in the past, but really the only thing that really really helps for me is watching my diet, and that wedge is like my worst enemy...so hard for me to get used to. All my favorite things seem to be the foods that irritate it, so it's definitely a lesson in balance.

I have had four gastroscopes. Two without anesthetics. If you go under you won't feel/remember anything.

eek, I hope whatever necessitated them has been resolved. Thanks for the reassurance too.

I had an endoscopy last year. I don't remember anything except them putting in the mouthgard because they gave me drugs! If they offer you drugs, take them, it's supposed to be pretty unpleasant!


I've tried sleeping upright or with tonnes of pillows, nothing helps me once it's started.

I had wine tonight, I feel that was a stupid choice as I only just got a good night's sleep last night.

I've been on PPI's for a while. They seem to make it so I only have a bad day once in a while. I know I should be better about my diet.

My husband is battling reeeally bad reflux. He won't go to the doctor. He won't do Prilosec to see if it will help in the long run. At a friend's suggestion, I got him some DGL (Licorice Root Supplements) and he claims they help him almost immediately. I still want him to see a doc, but I'm glad he's getting relief. I've read a lot of good things about it and if they satisfy his need for immediate gratification, they must not be useless! I myself can't take them because of my high blood pressure (there is some concern that it may slightly elevate blood pressure in some people and I'm not in a place with it where I can take that risk right now).

so yeah, DGL. anyone else try it? have good/bad results?

I hate my stomach so forking much right now. My medication just doesn't seem to be working lately, tonight is the 3rd night out of 4 where I'm in pain. I'm gonna have to go to the doc again tomorrow but I'm sure they be about as much use as a chocolate teapot - as usual.

I was recently diagnosed with this. Ugh. I mean, these are most of my fave things too...and I can't really give up the caff right now. I might just try drugs for awhile and try to wean myself off the things I like. Thing I don't understand is that they still blame things like acidic food, but the problem isn't acid with silent reflux, so I don't know *why* dropping things like tomatoes and citrus would help. Its like they don't know, so they will just group it with regular heartburn. I don't hardly know what heartburn even is! BAH! I did have some spicy stuff last night and woke up choking with a gross taste in my mouth so I think that screamed "silent reflux" to me. I also have times that are worse...and I guess I know why. However there is a general "things suck" when it comes to my breathing that I don't know if it would ever get better than that. Maybe total elimination of irritants? Ugh.

But apparently I hardly have asthma, and it makes me sad that I had though I had it so long without this diagnosis!

Pepcid works better for me than PPIs with less side effects, I only take it when I am having a gastritis flare for 3-5 days. Symptoms of GERD pop up with my gastritis, yay fun.

I avoid coffee, black tea, soda, tofu, tempeh, seitan, tomatoes, peppers, citrus fruits, anything oily or fatty, anything spicy or strongly acidic when I am having a gastritis flare. To avoid a gastritis flare I don't overdo the above foods, which is somewhat depressing, but sometimes a soy latte isn't worth the horrible burning pit of stomach pain. I also limit NSAIDs. If you smoke you should really quit if only for the fact smoking increases stomach acid.

Maybe you folks can help me. I am just starting to feel normal after about 24 hours of the worst heartburn I've ever had. I've had bad heartburn before, but this was a doozy. My back and chest felt tight and in constant pain the whole time, with waves of worse pain. I vomited three times. Sound like GERD? I drank coffee and ate curry for dinner, now I'm afraid to eat anything.

Easier than sleeping with a ton of pain! Hot water bottle helps too.

I have a nasty ulcer that won't go away that is at my stomach surgical site. I can't identify any food triggers. I can have a decaf latte every day for two weeks, then suddenly 10 minutes after drinking one, pain. Ditto any thing else you can name.

It could well be but you really need to see a doc so that they can diagnose you properly. They can give you medication for reflux/excess acid.

I think I'm suffering from this. :( Except it's just a acid-y burning in the back of my throat/top of my esophagus, like I burped too hard or something. I don't have any pain in my chest or stomach.

It's weird because I haven't drastically changed my diet recently or anything - although I do eat those common trigger foods often, like tomatoes and coffee and carbonated stuff. Can it be brought on by stress or lack of sleep? Because those are common themes lately, ergh.

I tried the apple-cider-vinegar-and-water thing as a quick remedy... didn't really help. I think I need to invest in some antacids. Does anyone have other quick, natural remedies?

I just wanted to share my painful experience and although I don't want to jinx my current success with using Papaya/Pineapple enzymes to aid in digestion, I haven't had any stomach problems since!

Just want to mention though, I haven't been diagnosed with anything since I haven't been to a doctor about my problem (I haven't had medical insurance in a very long time). But for years, without any apparent rhyme or reason I'll get this dull, aching pain in my stomach that reaches around to my back and often lasts for days. I can't sleep, everything I eat makes it worse and nothing makes it go away, it just goes away on it's own with time. The only common trigger I've found, is if I wait too long during the day to eat, then eat a large (often greasy) meal, it will start. I've been told by many people that it sounds like trapped gas but from everything I've read, it sounds more like GERD but since I typically don't get it except maybe once a month....I have no clue if it's actually GERD. Pepsid AC doesn't work, Gas X doesn't work, just about nothing worked, but a friend recommended papaya enzymes and I've been taking them since April and I haven't had an attack. So just wanted to bring this up to you folks who have stomach problems, it may be worth a try. I get them from Trader Joe's, they're chewable, and vegan too.

I get acid reflux/ heartburn at night when I'm in bed and what helps is drinking a mixture of a teaspoon of baking soda with a cup of water. After I drink it I have to sit up for a few minutes but it makes me burp and it feels like the burping releases the pressure or whatever it is that's pushing the acid up my esophagus. And I think baking soda is an alkaline.

I had it from ages 15-20. It really sucked- I couldn't sleep (and I was already an insomniac). Maybe going on sleeping pills at 20 helped me get out of it- but it was also likely to do with me stopping my ED stuff- that will mess up your innards for a while. I found zantac 150 to be good to keep on hand- has to be the 150 though or it doesn't work. I've been on PPIs, and while they do work I didn't want to be on them a long time because you need tummy acid to kill the bacteria on your food. Speaking of which- do you know that vultures has stomach acid so strong that it can kill bacteria that would be lethal to other animals, including anthrax? Their pee is also so acidic that it kills all the bacteria/viruses around the corpse they leave.

I think I'll have to try this next time. Things are better now, but I still can't really figure out what triggered it.

For the last 4 days I've had constant heartburn (I think), nothing seems to be working. I've tried Mylanta, Gaviscon, Alka Seltzer, baking soda, eating, not eating, everything.
It feels like someone is impaling the left side of my chest with a wooden stake then twisting it. I've barely slept. What do I do now? Help me PPK!

If those things aren't helping you probably need to see your doctor to rule reflux/heartburn out. I've never had heartburn so bad that it wasn't cured by gaviscon*.


(*The acid reflux the doc had been telling me I'd been having for years, when I started this thread, actually turned out to be gallstones!)