Acid Reflux nightmare. Please help!

Is it a diagnosed condition - or a self-diagnosis?

If it's a chronic, long term problem you need to have a doctor check it out to know what type/level of acid reflux you are experiencing. Most cases are easily managed while other cases can lead to serious problems if ignored.

If self-diagnosed...you could be wrong. Asking for medical help on a marketing forum doesn't seem the best way to proceed.

kay

Be careful, as acid reflux could be warning signs of a heart attack.

For occasional heartburn, I mix about 2/3 teaspoon of baking soda with half a cup of water. This is the fastest relief I've found. Having said this, I know a guy that was in great shape that had a bad case of heart burn. They found him dead the next day from a heart attack...he had been taking baking soda to relieve the symptoms. Baking soda will help with the heartburn, but not the heart attack.

Alex - sometimes the burn is actually an indication your body isn't producing enough digestive acids. Serious - can't remember the reaction that makes it feel like it's burning, but --- take a spoon of apple cider vinegar (organic if you have it). It will burn for a sec or two, but should clear up the problem if that's what it is. If it works for you, get a bottle of Bragg's or some other organic and just eat a spoon of that now and again with meals - it's primo good for other things, too - so you won't be compromising your health to try it out.

I wish you well, Alex, but what you need is a diagnosis, not just an attempted treatment. "Acid reflux" is not a diagnosis. It's a symptom. Yes, it needs to be relieved, but acid reflux has causes, of which one or more need to be identified.

The logic defeats me: you have no diagnosis, and don't want a treatment recommendation from someone who went to medical school, and do want a treatment recommendation from people who didn't? I'm sorry: I promise I'm not trying to be rude to you, but that's really difficult for me to understand.

You perhaps won't like my suggestion, which is to buy "Ranitidine", which is a simple and safe histamine-receptor antagonist that inhibits gastric acid secretions, available "over the counter" in most countries, just to cover you until Monday when you can see a doctor. (For the record, I admit to some personal bias over this "niche", both as a patient and as a medical sociologist.) Again, I wish you well!

Alexa - what he wants is treatment for what is causing it. They don't do that here. They treat the reflux and that's it. US medicine is an embarrassment. It's all about money and to hell with a cure. Doctors here go to other countries or quit sometimes because they are not ALLOWED to cure. Ailments are made chronic.

I have heard that tums and Pepcid are good and can also be bought in bulk at Costco. I am not a doctor. Go consult a medical professional.

Alex - I used to suffer from that badly. I'd get acid reflux from just drinking water. I'd wake up at night sometimes with stomach acid going into my lungs. You don't know "burning" until you experience that. Anyway, doc put me on a med that all but completely stopped the problem. Only get a little mild indigestion once in a great while. It was an amazing and immediate change.

The thing is, doc told me the esophagus isn't made to handle stomach acid. It can cause scarring and can lead to cancer. Get it checked out.

I don't have an answer - Lord knows I wish I did. So I'll just commiserate for a minute.

I've sufferred from severe acid reflux since I was about 15. Sometimes it goes and comes but it's almost always been present during that time. I've had xrays and ct scans and tubes and scopes and everything else in the books (including attempted surgery to repar but they had some problems and couldn't finish). Twice I've worn a 24 hour monitor where they continually measure the acid and the results were off the charts.

I'm on a every 6 month "up and down" scope routine and take (and have taken up to 5 x) 3 x the normal dose of drugs. In other words regular people take one of what I take now and I take 3. All by doctor's orders.

I've taken ALL the drugs on the market and they work for a while - up to 6 months or so - then completely lose their effectiveness and I have to switch.

One of my issues is that the little door (I forget the term and don't want to find it right now) between the esophagus and stomach never closes and so the acid has full reign. Someone mentioned the possibility of cancer due to acid damaging the esophagus which is one reason I'm on the every 6 months scope thing - to try and keep tabs on that part.

The acid has ruined my teeth, caused me to lost a lot of sleep, lots of pain, etc.

Enough about me - you need to go see a doctor. Then maybe you can take something over the counter or try vitamins or some other home remedy. But rule out the heart problems and get at least an initial diagnosis. That's my non medically trained opinon.

Milk makes it better temporarily but makes then comes back with a vengence. Caffeine makes it worse. Going to bed too soon after eating makes it worse. Losing weight, if needed, may help.

Good luck. It's tough. Hope it goes away on its own soon.
Mark

you could try a salt water flush for a couple days first thing in the morning, before eating anything. Just be sure you're not going anywhere for an hour or two afterwards. You'll be dropping shotgun bombs about 30-45 minutes after drinking, with a few return trips to the restroom for the next 45 minutes or so.

It works best on an empty stomach, that's why I would recommend first thing in the morning.


2 tsp Non-Iodized Sea Salt
1 liter or quart of water

mix, and drink it all within 5 minutes. I prefer using half hot water, then mixing in the salt and adding cool water up to the 1 liter mark. It seems to go down better than cold water when its warm like that.

this will help clear out your digestive tract.