I started seeing a gastroenterologist the other day because I've been experiencing a lot of heartburn/acid reflux. He gave me nexium to relieve the symptoms while we do some tests, but he didn't give me any information about diet, so now I'm wondering if anyone else has taken this and gotten any information about it. Since we don't know what is causing the symptoms yet I'm having trouble finding dietary advice, I'm just wondering if there are any foods that will make either the original symptoms or the side effects worse. I'm currently experiencing some abdominal pain that feels pretty much the same as the pain I get when I'm having an IBS episode, but I haven't had a bowel movement yet. This also did not happen yesterday, when I took the first pill, so I'm wondering if it may be related to diet.
Heartburn can be part of IBS. Have you told your specialist about your IBS? This will help your GI to diagnose you. This may well be the cause. Simply avoid spicy, greasy and fried foods. Have you tried the Fodmap diet? Try keeping a food diary to see if any foods are causing heartburn.
My GI symptoms started with hearburn and an endoscopy showed nothing. It was suggested that I had a weak esophageal sphincter that was causing the acid to escape. I now have IBS on top of this.
Are you experiencing more pain after taking Nexium? If so. switch to an over the counter antacid instead. You may be having a reaction to Nexium. Try milk if you are not intolerant to it; it is a natural heartburn remedy. If you are constipated, this will make IBS pain worse. If you are not intolerant to fruit, try oranges, prune juice and grapes. This works for my IBS.
Yeah, I mentioned it to him, so he's taking that into account. It's weird though cause I've had IBS for at least 8 years, and after thinking about it I have realized that I've had some excessive like belching and stuff for a few years but it was just so sudden onset that I'm concerned it might be something else. I've tried fodmap, but I just can't stick to it, in large part because I'm real poor and bread is cheap. But I also don't seem to have any reaction to bread so. The heartburn has been more related to time of day than food as far as I can see.
As for the pain, it's weird; yesterday I only got pain a few hours after taking the pill, but today I had some stomach pain before I took the pill, but then I felt better after taking it. I've tried several brands of OTC antacids, they don't do anything for me. This is the first drug that's worked, probably because it's not exactly an antacid. My doctor also said that the OTC antacids I'd been recommended by other people are really outdated and aren't really used by gastroenterologists anymore. I can't drink milk, sot hat's out. I don't usually get constipated from my IBS, I go more towards the diarrhea, so that's what I've been concerned about, but so far it hasn't happened. I just hope it doesn't suddenly start like a week into the treatment...
My IBS was sudden onset so I worried about it being something worse too. One day I was fine and the next morning I woke with stomach pain that never really went away. The same happened when I got acid reflux as a teenager. Strangely enough, the hearburn is better than it used to be. My IBS started with constipation and then I had a period of loose stools. I started taking Activia yoghurt and my bowel movements settled down again to being normal/constipated.
Stress and anxiety are my triggers; my acid reflux started after exam stress as a student and IBS started after a succession of stressful episodes a few years ago. Maybe this is causing your symptoms too. If Nexium is helping your hearburn, this should be less concerning for you.