Gastric Reflux and feel like my world is falling apart :'(

Digestive health
1

Hello everyone,

I am a 30 year old male who has been fit until I got struck with acid reflux last year in December 2017. The thing that I find the main culprit is my stress level. I have never been able to manage my stress level. Whenever something happens, I start imagining the worst and my mind plays me tricks. Also, I always had a bad eating habit. I ate a lot of spicy foods and ate late at night and so on.

But the thing is I cannot go backwards now. I can only focus on trying to get things better. I started consuming a vegetarian diet in January 2018. I even had a heart scan, stress test and blood test since I was experiencing chest pain and back pain but all my results came out good.

I always had a few visit with a psychology doctor. I was practicing sports and controlling my diet without taking any medication and started feeling much better.

But then, I again started consuming spicy foods in march and here things got worse.

I am having bad chest pain, pain in left and right hand, tingling effect, back pain and so on. Mouth always feel acidic, I burp a lot. 

I have never been so depressed my whole life. This is affecting everyone in my life. I am trying everything to get things straight but its just not working.

I do not want to try medication since I know this is only a temporary relief. I do use gaviscon though.

Have anyone been experiencing same issues like me and able to find a cure. Please help me. 

Thanks a lot.

2

Relax. It's prolly a hiatal hernia . You're just 30 . Eat less, sleep well , laugh , enjoy yourself. Get an endoscopy and go from there....

3

Thank you Shayan. I will do like you said.

4

Hi well you know your triggers so eat healthy and I would get a endoscopy done to see what's going on I am like you stress plays a big part In the digestive system relax as much as possible 

5

Thank you Gillan.

6

Get book acid watchers diet and there is a Facebook group

You can also try otc Zantac - small meals - no pop - coffee - raise head of bed - finish eating by 6 at night

Eat oatmeal binds acid

Have u had endoscopy? 

You might need prescription to heal temporary

Check out group

7

If you try to avoid taking PPI's  when you need them, bad things can happen like esophagus cancer.

Acid reflux is insidious and can erode your esophagus without giving you much pain. Only a camera can tell.

If you find a combination of foods and ways to manage your reflux it still does not alter the fact that you have a defective stomach valve and will reflux and need the meds. Once the reflux becomes unmanageable you definitely need meds to enable healing which will take several weeks provided you are following the rules.

You have been given some good advice in this thread already.

The main issues with me are:

Don't eat for a couple of hours before going to bed.

Totally avoid alcohol.

Elevated bedhead.

What food I eat makes very little difference.  But if I ate spicy just before bed then that would be inviting trouble.

Having a vego diet and then eating just prior to bed are very inconsistent actions?

I hate to admit it but a few cap-fulls of Apple Cider vinegar immediately prior to evening meal in spite of its acidity it helps, I don't now why?

Also in your case (as with me) you should research Sleep Apnea. Some studies suggest that all people who have reflux have sleep apnea. SA is when you stop breathing during your sleep, when breathing resumes the action helps pump up acid to the upper areas and into your mouth.  A SA machine stops this happening by keeping the airways open. 

Other things SA causes is mood swings and depression.  Plenty of people are on these machines just for depression.  SA machine are not just for old overweight people, trim kids get SA too.

Consider having a sleep study, it costs little and could be life changing for you.

You doc and your specialist will likely be unaware that SA can cause reflux.

They will be happy to treat you when you get the serious complications though.

-John

8

Thank you John,

I will definitely give follow what you said.

Really appreciate the fact that you took so much time to explain in detail everything to me.

Do you have acid reflux? If yes, then since when?

Have you been able to cure your reflux?

9

Thanks glida. I will try to search for the book and the group as well.

10

I have had acid reflux since childhood.

If the valve at the top of the stomach is defective then there is no non-surgical cure. The surgical cure has problems.

It's all about staying in control, it is not something that can be cured.

Try to avoid getting Barretts, 

Reading between the lines, it seems you have difficulty sticking to a routine. Unless you stay in  control you will continue to have flare-ups.

11

Hello john,

Thank you for your reply.

Do you take medication?

For how many years have you suffered from reflux?

12

I have been taking PPI's for many,. many years.

I have had reflux for about 40 years

13

What PPI do you take?