How Do You Cope With Acid Reflux?

Digestive health
1

I think I have been experiencing symptoms of acid reflux for 3 weeks now. It's starting to take it's toll.

Here are my symptoms 

- Constant strong taste of vinegar in my mouth. 24/7! Only time I get a little restbite is when I'm eating a banana or mid way through a meal. 

- Feeling very weak and tired. I'm not eating enough food and am finding it hard to get enough calories into me. 

- Feeling nauseous because if the taste. 

- Not being able to reflux or sit down. I'm pacing up and down all the time. My stress levels are very high. I can't seem to concentrate on anything or relax. 

- Was prescribed 20mg Omezaprole in week one and then upped it to 40mg. Didn't make any difference. Took those for a week. Doctor has now switched me to 30mg of Lansoprazole which I have been taken for the last three days. 

- Over the last few weeks I've totally switched my diet and am just eating porridge made with water with breakfast with a few almonds, a chicken sandwich for lunch, 2 bananas, 2 apples and a small pot of melon as snacks and a jacket potato with chicken and some avocado with a bit of lettuce for dinner.

- I'm not eating after 6.30pm at night. I'm chewing my food thoroughly but finding this hard as the more I chew the more full up I feel making me not always finish my food. 

Home remedies I've tried 

- Gavison tablets - I suck them a bit and then crunch them up towards the end. Been having around 4 or 5 a day. Easies it a tiny bit. Tried the liquid but it clogs my throat up and don't like the sensation 

- Camomile tea with a tea spoon of Manuka honey - Helps a little bit sometimes 

- Loads of water - Helps a bit. I drink zero sugar orange squash to wash the taste away a bit. Should I stop drinking it? Any other drinks you find have a strong taste that rids the acid taste? 

- Gripe water - Had a couple of swigs from the bottle and it didn't do anything. 

Basil leaves - Tried chewing on them to no avail

Almonds - Been eating these between meals to try and get my calories. Helps a little bit. 

Remegel - Soft chews which I suck on. Helps a little bit 

Apples - Helps at the time of when my mouth is burning a bit to cool things down. 

Chewing Gum - After I've eaten I will sometimes chew hard on some sugar free gum for half an hour. Takes the acid away for a while until the flavour runs out. Still feel the lumpy feeling in my throat though. 

I've ordered some liquirise chews to have a go on. Not a big fan of it but if it helps I'm willing to have a go with it. Can anyone recommend any hard boiled sweets you find helps soothe your thought or take the acid taste away when you are sucking on them? 

I've also ordered some cocunut milk and aloe juice and am going to give that a go. 

When you are feeling stressed about it what do you do? The days seem very long and I'm finding it very hard to relax and complete tasks. I went to see Pepper Pig with my nephew this afternoon and felt dreadful and just plain old miserable. It's really stressing me out. 

I' trying to distract myself but surfing the internet but my concentration and interest isn't there due to the burning taste in my mouth. 

What kind if things do you do to cope with it? Do you experience it 24/7?  Has it just vanished overnight?

Thanks 

Rob

2

Hi Rob,

So sorry you feel so bad and I do understand.

I too feel so tired, weak anxious and also get back pain and breathing probs. Do you have a hiatus hernia. The honey does help and you can try aloe vera gel. This will soothe the oesophagus and there is something called dhl liquorice.

As for the anxiety I have no answers but know it will go when I feel better or believe I will get better. Have tried oseopathy which helps a bit as they can release tightness in diaphram.

Just wanted you to know you are not alone

3

Rob,

First of all try and get to the bottom of what is causing your issues - it could be something such as gastritis or even functional dyspepsia (which is kind of like IBS for your upper GI system) or could be something a little more sinister such as an ulcer, either way getting a diagnosis would help.

Have you tried cutting grains out of your diet?

I used to have really bad reflux and grains such as porridge and wheat from bread were often triggers. Personally I'd steer clear of grains and dairy because they can cause inflammation in the stomach. For meat try and switch to fish such as salmon and sardines.... bake or grill rather than fry, generally healthier and contain omega 3's which are anti-inflammatory.

By the way I'm no health expert but have had similar problems and just speaking from experience and what I have read on the internet, I am due to for an endoscopy on Saturday which I am not looking forward too but hopefully should offer some advice moving forward for myself - maybe something you could request if you haven't already?

4

Thanks for hour kind comments! 

5

I can feel the gases churning in my stomach. You know the kind you get when you get a hungry feeling? Like a gargling noise in my stomach. 

Not ot thought about grains. What do you substitute for bread? 

I hate fish and as much as I would love to try and eat it I don't think I can. I just bake chicken or turkey breasts without the skin on them. 

Do you think meat free Quorn is ok? 

Good luck with your appointment! 

I think I need a hospital referral as my doctor is useless! I want to see a specialist. 

 

6

Try and find another doctor if that's the case, sometimes they have nurse practitioners at GP surgeries which are often better than the doctors or try a walk in centre.

Basically there isn't a substitute for bread but when you have issues like this you have to scale your diet right back to what would be a 'natural human diet' so try and exclude ANY processed food or food that cannot be eaten raw, grains being a perfect example. Just stick to plenty of vegetables preferably steamed and non-citric fruits for now. As above stay away from processed food - quorn would probably be worse than bread in my opinion.

I understand what you mean with fish I never used to be a fan but I actually prefer it to meat now, try fresh salmon steaks baked with a little olive oil and garlic with pepper it is not a 'fishy' taste at all.

Watch what oil your cooking with too, vegetable oils are not good for you I'd advise coconut oils or a good olive oil if you can get one but that's just my opinion.

I have had most symptoms of dyspepsia (indigestion) in the last 12 months on and off; stomach pains, reflux, difficulty swallowing, nausea and right now I feel pretty fine and have no symptoms at all but stress and anxiety do play a big part in it and the symptoms always make the anxiety worse, vicious cycle but try and do anything to take your mind off it

7

Hi,

 You need to cut out all the acid food! The only raw fruit you can eat are, bananas, water melon, melon, guava, paw paw. No fresh apples as they are too acidic, you can have baked apples! No dairy! You could buy Dropping the acid by Dr. Jamie Koufman, and follow her diet. Drink only alkaline water, pH 8.2, 8.3, gorgle and swallow 1/2 hour after each meal.

Start a low salt, low fat diet, all vegetables need to be boiled/steamed, lean meat grilled/baked, nothing raw with the exception of those fruits I mentioned above.

No coconut milk, try instead coconut water.

No almonds, sweets, tomatoes, spices, peppers.

Google and find lists of alkaline food. Buy yourself a pH meter to check everything you eat, a pH 5 is ok for food. Aloe vera helps but you need to drink buckets of it! Only tea allowed is chamomile. No gums!

Elevate you bed, rest and do gentle exercise, learn how to breathe from your diaphgram.

GI licorice is good, chew 3 tablets 30 min before each meal, max. 3 a day. Manukka honey is good, strength 16 , the NZ one, three times a day, one tsp with food.

No lettuce! Eat slowly, rest afterwards.

 Buy Neilmed nasal rinse. There is also cabbage juice you can find on some posts in the forum how to go about it.

Take care,

8

Sorry Rob, I wrote you a message but posted it to Maria by accident!

9

Couple of questions. 

1 How do you get enough calories? I need 2500 calories to maintain my weight. I've been using nuts to get my calories. Would avocado be ok to bump up the calories? 

2 What do you think of wholemeal bread? 

3 Other than chicken how do I get my protein? I can't eat fish. How about mushrooms?

4 Is it worthwhile accepting that I will lose a bit of weight following this diet for a couple of weeks? I'm 6ft and weigh 12st so am pretty lanky anyway and don't really want to lose any weight. 

 

10

Hi Rob.  I totally agree with Adam - you have to get to the bottom of what's causing this, whether that be through your GP or self diagnoses by research (peptests, food intolerance, candida tests etc).  Half the battle is knowing exactly what you're dealing with but once you do, treatment then becomes so much easier.

 In hindsight (gosh, isn’t it a wonderful thing!), I wouldn’t have stressed so much over this as I did.  My symptoms started in January this year and have only recently subsided.  Yes, some people suffer for years and years, but you can’t think ‘what if that’s me’ otherwise you really will drive yourself mad!

Be kind, patient and gentle with yourself.  Don’t stress over what to eat all time (so what if it's chicken and rice for a week!), be proactive and make sure you feel like you’re in control as much as you can.  Stop pacing! Heck, I spent a month meditating day and night as it was the only way to get constant thoughts of reflux out my head!  The body is a wonderful, complex piece of machinery, but once its upset it takes time to get back on track.

I feel your pain, but stick with this and I know you’ll get through it.  It will be you on this forum in a few months giving advice to others on how to ease reflux symptoms and telling your story of success!

11

Going to send you a PM! 

12

Hi,

Yes, you can have wholemeal bread. You need to cook from scratch, chicken is fine, but no skin, sea food you can grill it, make stews, no oil though, add, carrots, potatoes, turnips and you can try lean, very lean pork and grill it. All food has to be cooked well, baked or steamed. Steam pleanty of vegetables you like. Mushrooms you can eat grilled, they are very good, parsely is fine, dill as well. Also what I do is I put in a dish meat, vegetables and add chicken stock about an inch or a bit more and cover the dish or put a lid and bake it.

Fruit can be boiled, like for instance, appels and pears and make a compote, eat the fruit and drink the juice, no added sugar, though! I bough cerries today and made compote out of them , very nice! Yo can not eat raw fruit until you get better! Avocado you can eat if you get no pain after eating it. Also, have rice milk with your oats and slice a banana. I use rice milk with almonds, has a sweetness in it. 

I understand about your weight, but this is the way to go.

Eat more often and not large meals.

Make some cookies, gluten free cookiemix( gluten free flour, baking soda and a bit of sugar), 1 egg, 3 mashed bananas, oats or oatmeal, a few hazelnuts. Bake for 12 min. 

You can eat brown pasta, brown rice, couscous, but no pasta saces. Celery and carrot are safe if you can tolerate them raw. I would not cut the gluten out, just eat moderate amouns mixed with vegetables.

Eggs are tricky, but you can try on egg whites, not the yolk, as is fat.

13

One more thing, see an EN to check your throat and oesophagus and a gastroenterologist and have a gastroscopy. Gastritis or ulcer likely, and acid reflux as well !

Take care

14

Rob

Whilst I agree with Daniela on a few things I would still definitely advise steering clear of grains ie oats, bread etc. What works for some people does not necessarily work for others and for all you know you may have food intolerances. Try and scale your diet back to really basic stuff....sounds boring but seems like it is required. I'd steer clear of store bought almond milk too it is riddled with additives so whilst you are trying to get this under control stick to whole natural foods. That's my advice anyway but you have to make your own decisions I guess.

15

Rob said he needs to consume 2500 calories to maintain his weight, if he cuts out all the grains and wholemeal bread , it will be hard for him. Food intolerance is possible, he just needs to find out what  can he eat. Almond milk is fine!! I do agree that what works for me might not work for another, it is a matter of trying things out. I do not eat bead at all and eating grains in moderation did not bother me at all.

16

I'd do anything from feeling like this. My biggest concern is a lack of energy. I have felt so weak. This week I've been eating more food and my energy level and colour in my face has improved a bit. 

I would need to to find some foods to replace the nuts and bread. 

17

Thing is though I have the acid taste in my mouth 24/7 and it doesn't matter what I have eaten. Even a small cube of melon makes the acid taste come into my mouth a couple of minutes after eating it. 

I've cut out the following foods completely out of my diet 

- Onions 

- Tomatoes

- Chocolate 

- Cheese

- Pastry

- All oils 

- Citrus fruits 

- All processed foods 

My diet literally consists of 

baked potato

lettuce

melon 

banana

sweet apple 

cashew nuts 

almonds 

sunflower seeds

brown rice 

green beans 

broccoli 

carrots 

plain cous cous 

baked lean chicken

manuka honey 

wholemeal bread 

camomile tea 

remegel 

gaviscon tablets 

 

18

Have you seen an EN to check yout throat and oesophagus? Also a gastroenterologist and have a gastroscopy. You need to find out what it is you are dealing with, also food intolerance, allergies.

Try to include fish and seafood in you diet, lots of greens and any other vegetable and steam them. A bit more variety in the cooked vegetables, have more fruit, the ones I suggested to you.

I have been dealing with these things for ten years now, I had gastritis which I succeded to heal and then  I got acid reflux.

Do you drink only alkaline water? The taste in your mouth should subside after using only alkaline water. I never took remegel or gaviscon even. 

Stress and anxiety are bad for LPR and stomach. Try not to worry so much and concentrate on more pleasurable thoughts and activities. Meditate!

I would not eat any nuts for sometime!

 

19

No problem! :-)

 

20

Thanks. You speak a lot of sense. 

Just need some ideas for breakfast that will give me energy to get through the morning and an hours gym session. 

Normally I would have had a bowl of porridge with almond milk and some seeds and nuts chucked in and a banana. 

Not had eggs for about a month now and used to have omelettes or scrambled eggs on toast a lot. 

How do you find things like beans such as butter or kidney beans or perhaps chick peas? Obviously the ones that come in water.