Issues with GERD

I’m sorry you are suffering. Can you be more specific about your symptoms?

There are several threads referencing silent reflux or LPR. Perhaps read those and see if you come up with any new ideas on how to proceed. I’m not implying this is what you have-it’s just another avenue to explore.

Best wishes to you, Cindy

Have you tried Dexilant?

How much protonix have u tried?
Sometimes you need to take 40 mg in the am and 40 in the evening 1 hour before dinner for about 2 to 4 weeks then taper off slowly to 40 in the a.m. I took 80 mg daily for severe Gastritis attack.

Funny you should say that, I was at my doctors yesterday and that"s exactly what he told me to do. Took an extra Protonix and Pepcid before bed last night and slept pretty good and feel good this morning after a breakfast of oatmeal. Not familiar with Dexilant. Thanks for your suggestion.

Could this be GERD related? Hello, a while ago I spoke with a friend who had GERD, and lately I think I may have it as well. Feeling a slight pressure in the chest, upset stomach sometimes and coughing. I also notice like a lump in the back of my throat, and sometimes when I cough a little white phlegm appears, so I don't know if it's GERD related, tonsils stones or something else. Anyone else with the same issue? Thanks

Hello @lp3 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. If you'd like to compare your symptoms, you can read more about GERD at this link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gerd/symptoms-causes/syc-20361940

Also, you will notice I've moved your post into an existing discussion on the same topic where members such as @jimaddessi, @jackielb, and @cmdw2600 have shared some of their experience and can maybe share more with you too.

How long have you been experiencing this?

A "mild" suggestion, my ENT suggested tat I take "Reflux Gourmet" in the evening after dinner.
It has helped my GERD which I have had for a number of years.
I also lift my upper bed, take Pepcid, and Omeprazole.

Good luck

Had daily nausea for 5 years. Mornings were especially BRUTAL. Nothing helped. Took all the meds anyone mentions. However, was taking 60 mg of dexilant at night. Now I take 30 mg in the am and 30 mg at night. At first nausea subsided about 50%. However, little to no nausea for last 3 weeks! WOW! AM I HAPPY!

I can relate. I have had GERD symptoms for about 4 months. Including food getting stuck half way down, hard time swallowing, hard time burping and when I do burp relieves pressure also have lost 80 pounds in 4 months. I have had a scope, barium swallow all that came back just fine so my GI dr had basically told me it’s not anything to do with heartburn and I’m suffering daily! I take a GI cocktail witch relieves pain for about 20 minutes then comes right back. My chest gets super tight and it feels like my chest is gurgling. All these symptoms are not heartburn/GERD according to the professionals? Also I get super dizzy and lightheaded all threw out the day. Any advice would be helpful.

Dexilant is a strong PPI RX , it’s very expensive as there is no generic. You can get savings card and pay like almost nothing ( online ) I tried that and Protonix RX too to no avail.

I suffer 10 years with 6-7 chronic digestive disorders. Tried everything.
I mean everything.
Sometimes Dr’s just put you in the medical mystery category and that’s it .
It’s horrible.

Please do not do surgery until you try this instead.

1. Get off all PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitor) meds like omprezole, pantaprozole, Zantac etc. BUT you must do so gradually because of the rebound effect. Namely, your body, desperately trying to make sufficient acid to metabolize your food, particularly break down proteins, keeps making acid pumps, which the PPIs keep silencing. If you go cold turkey it will be holy hell. I know I have been there. The reason you have to get off PPIs is that they wreck havoc with your capacity to absorb nutrients because they deacidify your stock. Again I have been there. DREADFUL anemia that had to be treated with iron infusions to get me back to just being able to walk a block!

2. The basic "cause" of GERD is NOT excess acid, but insufficient acids for adequate digestion, most particularly protein breakdown into amino acids. Try this "test". Take 2 TBS of apple cider vinegar in half a glass of water after eating. Do you feel better or worse? I bet you will feel better which means, too little acid. SO take digestive bitters (by Gaia (2 dropperfuls in water) before meal. Experiment with Betain HCL Pepsin (Pure puts out qualify product) try 2 before meals, up dose it not kickback) to up to 6 before meal. I generally stopped at 6...still take them before a big meal.

3. Heal your gut lining. Zinc carnosine helped me. And black raspberry powder in water or yogurt for my Barrett's syndrome after years of GERDS.

4. Eat earlier. Most older people's digestion stops naturally earlier. Thus try to eat before 6 pm. If you go to bed early (10 pm) try to make that 5 pm. Lay off all alcohol for now. It makes GERD must worse.

5. If you must take something to relieve pressure, heartburn, try bicarbonate of soda in water. Try to get an aluminum free product.

It worked for me. My father suffered from GERD and hiatal hernia. I thought..hey it's my generic destiny. In my mid-40s...I started vomiting after meals! Hey my mother did that! So again genetic destiny. I started my regime of PPIs under doctor's orders and it never "cured" me and caused all sorts of knock off effects (probably even my breast cancer as a contributory cause)...and most decidedly all sorts of nutritive deficiencies. At 85 I have never felt better. No more GERD even at night. Weeks ago I had a late but light enough (Poke Bowl) meal at 8 pm preceded by 2 Cosmopolitans. Oh may God! The Demon GERD was back. I haven't felt that bad in years. I had to resort to the carb of soda, which worked.

So good luck. It can be done. The underlying problem, generally speaking, is NOT excess acid but inadequate acid to do the job of digestion. I don't know if Western trained docs are just oblivious or what. But their armatarium of PPIs sure don't work. And surgery is way too invasive and irreversible. Let me know if it works.