Wishing this feeling would go away! Any Relief ideas?

Digestive health
1

in September of 2012 i stopped smoking after 12 years of heavy Cannibis use every day. from the first day i felt awful, heartburn, anxiety, full blown panic attacks that would wake me up after a few hours sleep and keep me up all night. i was unabe to eat anything for over a week, just sips of water. eventually after two weeks of the worst weeks ive ever experienced it passed.

Since then i would have episodes of feeling sick and having loose stools that lasted a few days and then would go away for a few days, gradually the periods inbetween feeling sick got larger and larger and i would feel sick every few months for a couple of days. 

At the end of June this year a stomach virus made the rounds at work. i have Emetophobia (fear of vomiting) i however only experienced diarrhea/loose stools for a few days but took that week off of work. since then i have been experiencing stomach cramps and pain, Exsessive wind that alternates which end it comes out of but it sometimes so painful it wakes me up and keeps me awake at night, loose stools, heartburn type feelings and anxiety.

I went to the doctor a cuple of months ago and his conclusion was Acid Reflux and we gave me a months worth of 30mg Lansoprazole, this made a difference for the first few days then just made me feel sick and gave me yellow loose slimey stools. I made another appointment but with another doctor who asked about my stress levels and I have to admit i am stressed, with work and feeling like this and the anxiety it all gets on top of me, she suggested it sounded like stress related IBS. I finished the course and thankfully the sickness feeling passed after a few days and the Yellow smiley stools went away too, i had 6 days of feling normal then the 'Heartburn' came back, excessive burping after meals, feeling full very quckly and then feeling sick for hours after eating. After a week or so of this it all went away again and i had 4 days of feeling normal, but then it all came back.

Night before last i woke up after being asleep for an hour and i had crippling 'Heartburn' feelings, no ammount of Gaviscon made any differnce what so ever, kept me up all night. in the mean time from my last visit to the doctors we had to move to a different Doctors surgery, so i made an apointment and went. She said it sounded like it could be H. Pylori ulcers but the Lansoprazole i had been on will effect the test results so i wouldnt be able to have any tests for anything until it was fully out of my system. She sent me away with 8 weeks worth of 300mg Ranitidine, a paper slip to get a blood test and a stool test to complete after the 8 week course of Ranitidine.

Its only been one day on Ranitidine i know but so far im still having 'Heartburn' type feeling that keep we awake at night, Anti Acids dont seem to give me any relief either. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to get any kind of relief from the pain? 

2

You need to give more Time with your meds. Also no fatty foods and very low fat foods, nothing with acid in it. I have had keyhole surgery just over 4 weeks ago so understand the issues with gallstones, but also suffer with Barretts Oesophagus, can only speak from my own experience but sounds a bit like reflux combined with gallstones. Ask GP if you can have scan to check for stones, at least if it comes back clear you can eliminate it. Let us know how your doing.

3

Pibolarman,

Being at peace within your body is the goal.

There are natural things you can do to support your stomach lining, but most things take time.

Even when we take the medications, it's good to do whatever it takes to correct the problem not just treat the symptoms.

I am taking:

Ompreazole 20mg prescription,

DGL licorice 30 minutes before meals.

Digestive enzymes with meals.

Probiotic every other day.

Krill oil

Manuka honey

Drinking kombucha.

Eating raw organic sauerkraut.

A low acid diet 

Eating 3 meals a day with little snacking

Eating 3-4 hours before bed.

Sleeping on pillows.

My symptoms were burning in my back and rib cage, burping and constipation.

Have you taking anything for anxiety?

There are natural solutions like herbal teas and valerian and hops, camomile too.

4

Hi there,

Certainly get a quick painless ultrasound to rule out gallstones.

I cannot tolerate any of the 'prazoles' omeprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole and so on, I get an allergic reaction and the symptoms are unmentionable here.

I can tolerate Ranitidine, however, but it is not a very effective drug for me.

I also get upper-Gerd which means laryngo-pharyngeal-reflux (LPR) and acid is affecting my throat and voice-box and that is really horrible indeed.

Plus the typical pain in the diaphragm, frontal area, just to add insult to injury.

Try sipping cold water to ease the pain, eat small high protein meals frequently and sleep on your back with several pillows to elevate your upper torso.

Of course this can give you a really sore neck if you try to sleep on your side.

Better still buy a bed which electronically adjusts and can elevate without the discomfort of too many pillows.

I find, despite what the literature says, that carbonated water helps me burp and instantly relieve the symptoms, but possibly not the damaging acid.

So trapped gas is a big part of the lower GERD pain, for me anyway.

Gaviscon double action (mint) also does calm the pain for me as does 'Peptac' available on prescription (a bit like gaviscon liquid).

Failing all these even 'Love-hearts' are useful at times.

Long-term strong medicines are going to damage your system anyway so we  need an alternative.

I suspect the diet is critical to this and although it is hard to follow I think it is best to eat mainly at the early part of the day and let the stomach calm down, eating no later than 5pm, if possible.

Eating fatty foods (as mentioned by others) is bad (only use skimmed milk) and so is too much starch.

Sweets (I don't mean desserts) generally seem to help me but not sure why.

Keep trying and you will find something that helps eventually.

Most green vegetables are ok and some doctors (they generally don't advise on diet though) suggest eating pulses.

Good Luck !!

and let us know if you find anything that works as we may not have tried it yet.

 

5

thank you everyone for your current suggestions, ideas and reassurence. i will keep you posted if there are any changes

6

Amavishnu,

I too have GERD and taking ompreazole 20mg for about 2 weeks. It's helping, some what.

I attempted to get the GERD I'm control by using rantidine at bedtime which did not work. My back side just burned under my right rib cage.

When do you take rantidine and how many times per day.

Even though rantidine is not as effective, neither is it as harmful. 

My great desire is to restore my digestive system back to wholeness.

I too am doing some of the things you suggest.

Eat last meal by 6pm

Sleep on pillows.

No fat diet.

Take digestive enzymes

DGL before meals.

Any other suggestion?

7

I take Ranitidine 150mg 4 times a day, the advice says it doesn't matter when you take it, but I know the 'prazole group - omeprazole, lansoprazole etcetera - are best taken half an hour before a meal to shut off excess acid production, so I tend to do likewise for Ranitidine.

All proton-pump inhibitors will lower stomach acid, resulting in food digested less efficiently, affecting contents of the bowel and some noteable change in consistency and colour.

Looking at postings on various sites I think some people seem to take tons of 'snake-oil-remedy' stuff that may not be much use.

Having said that I find some theoretically 'bad' items like ginger beer or small pieces of 'mars bars' can give quick relief, so who am I to judge.

Avoid tomato-skin and bell-pepper skin and capsicums generally (they don't digest)

Cooked tomatoes (minus skin) seem better if you must eat tomatoes.

But pasta/spaghetti drenched in tomato-based sauces are bad for me.

Sauces and gravies are of course a threat anyway as they are too rich in fat.

Nuts are 90% - steer clear!

Meusli with nuts does make me feel quite unwell.

Eat as little as possible, enough to stave off hunger pangs, but do this frequently and avoid eating large meals late in the day, something we all tend to do as there is more time to relax in the evening.

So, in a family setting, it is a matter of going against what everyone else wants to do at meal times and that can be quite difficult to do.

Avoid drinks during meals  as they tend to overfill the stomach, putting pressure on the sphincter and they also weaken what acid there is (after PPI's) have lowered it and make the food stay longer in the stomach, so increasing symptoms.

Between meals it is good to drink plenty of water.

Bear in mind that the stomach works well first thing in the morning and you should be able can eat most reasonable food without ill-effect, but later in the day, around mid-afternoon, the stomach starts to shut down and loses its ability to deal with food effectively.

Some people say avoid stress to lower GERD symptoms but that is difficult as GERD can make people very grumpy anyway and then get stressed more easily and intolerant, so it is a vicious cycle.

Perhaps relaxation/meditation CD's (easily found on 'Amazon' etcetera) are helpful after all, they are certainly very pleasant to listen to anyway smile

8

I meant to post that nuts are 90% fat - steer clear!!

9

Great information about Rantidine Amarvishnu for I am transtioning off my ompreazole after taking for 10 day to quiet side effects of too much acid.

I believe that it should be used to treat episodes and not every day.

My plan is to bear the rebound and use rantidine.

I was wondering when in the day to take it.

My prescription says twice a day but no time given.

I will go to even smaller portions of food too and more frequently.

How long have you been on rantidine?

Did you take PPI first?

Have your symptoms come under control with rantidine?

Thanks for sharing.

All I want is tI be comfortable in my body

I will have to live with the damage to my lungs that for the reflux caused. For 20 years I did not know it was reflux, just had this cough that would not go away and can when I ate. notice reflux, never really had burning until now. Had a test in 1997, that said no reflux, but is was not an endoscopy.

I happy to be alive with the lung function I have, but prefer not to creat more problems with the long term use of PPI.

How long can rantidine be taken?

10

Hi Dreaming,

Ranitidine is fairly well tolerated even in very large doses.

It doesn't seem to matter when you take it but I tend to use it half an hour before meals. I have been taking it more frequently recently as my LPR (sore throat constantly began to take hold).

I also take it if I feel painful symptoms and it seems to work well, but I have only started taking it after about 12 months of suffering pains lower down the chest as I had been careless about what I ate and drank.

Not sure it matters how long you take it but your doctor should give an opinion, otherwise 12 weeks would seem to be a typical period.

I did take the more recently developed PPI's but they gave me swollen red skin skin, itching and inflammation,  beyond toleration in areas where it is excreted.

Ranitidine is very specific in action and accordingly no particular problems are expected following overdosage.

11

Thanks for sharing

I have to remember to take my rantidine

my biggest symptom is coughing up mucus.

Have you ever experienced this

This may be from my lungs though

it goes away when I eat.

The burning up my back on the left ha d side and difficulty breathing occurs too.

Something is stimulating these symptoms.

Best I can do till January when my insurance changes is pay attention and so what keeps it in control.

It is gastric related cause when I was taking the. Ompreazole it did get better.

Okay, thanks for listening, or reading :-)

12

Frequent clearing of the throat (hopefully when nobody is present) and coughing up of mucus is very common (for me) with LPR (Laryngo-pharyngeal reflux).

It seems that the acid reaching the whole upper-throat stimulates protective mucus production and 'post-nasal-drip' is also an issue, and probably involved in all this.

Vocal chords can become affected by the acid travelling in that general region and coughing can also happen as it may affect the trachea (tube to the lungs).

Food again.

Try to eat grilled or baked fish which has not been 'farmed' i.e. wild salmon instead of 'farmed' types which have a high fat content because they are penned in and accumulate fat in their tissue.

Turkey or chicken breast should be tolerated. (again not fried but grilled)

I keep forgetting that 'Tofu' may be a good alternative to meat generally, although you have to eat twice as much to get the same protein.

Try looking up diets for GERD and you will find that there is a lot of advice ouit there but it seems there is no 'one-size-fits-all' diet.

 

13

Amarvishnu,

Oh my, you are the first person to mention mucus too.

Also, if I drank water I can feel my stomach gurgling and moving it around even an hour later.

Yes, I have post nasal drip on right nostril more than left.

I had a culture of my nostril and not bacteria.

I had a blood allergy test and no allergies.

I have my endoscopy report that shows a hiatus hernia.

Outside of eating different, what is the solution.

I took Omeprazole for 10 days with some relief of tightness in chest and ability to breath, but it did not completely eliminate the spitting up lots of mucus.

I read online the standing on my toes and dropping down quickly on my heels after drinking water first thing in the morning will help.

Taking Rantidine once a day now and using Gaviacon tablets at bedtime.

Do you seeing a way out of this or a way to live with it without taking PPI which block digestion of food and rob the body of precious nutrients?

14

Hi Dreaming,

All I can say is that the mucus and throat-clearing condition may rumble along, on and off, for a good number of years and may be difficult to eliminate until GERD is better contriolled.

Aside from seeingy your GP to discuss ways to eliminate excess mucus, try drinking lots of water or gargling with salt water.

I don't think there is one solution and it is up to us to try to adhere to food which does not increase the risk of aggravating the symptoms.

The mucus is probably a natural consequence of the acid erosion and therefore the acid must be controlled better.

There are four or five different xxx-prazole types and one may suit you better.

15

Amarvishnu,

Okay.

I am leaning more towards this coming from my lungs now.

It's clear and comes from the right side of my chest and back.

I will continue to work on digestion and sinus at the same time since both are connected.

16

In my case diet did not help much PPi where useless. Here are the things that help. Little : stop cofee and chocolates, taking ranitidine 150 at night along with melatonine(help sleep) , liftin my bed 7 " and taking dip cups( sucralfate) prescription to protect your throat from acid. 

here are the things that help a lot: taking antianxiety medicine for stress triggred by your symotoms and specially when you have panic atack triggered by chest pain and dificulty breathing from acid refluxe. I took ativan when I got really bad and it helped me a lot. Not only make symptoms go away but also help me eat better. Ofcourse you can not take this pill often but only when it is really bad. I found out that the main triggered of lprd is your brain. 

Some people go have a 24 ph monitore and manometry test to see if yor LeS is not working. If your LES is not working you can try other drugs. 

I can keep taking for ever on ths subject for now I will just advice you to take something for your anxiety