GERD: What helps long term?

@littleonefmohio So sorry about your Gerd. But I raise my hand over here, cause I HAVE THE GERD FROM HELL.. Seriously Stabbing Dagger chest pains getting up in the morning. Now this is what works for me, so you need to see a GI Dr. to see if what I am prescribed works for you.

I have a prescription strength ordered by my Dr. for Omperazole DR 40 MG, 2 x a day, taken 30 minutes before I eat. This was the only thing that worked for me. And it took about 6 months before it actually started working, trying different anti acid medicines over 6 months too.. Some of them made me feel really nauseous and shaking that I tried before this worked.

Also, if you DO NOT CUT OUT Fried, Spicy, Fatty Foods it won't work. Cause I tried to still eat like there was nothing wrong, and it took longer to start working. Plus I have to sleep on a wedge pillow at night. If I lay flat, Jesus Mary and Joseph. I have tell ya, the Pain in the chest, is like I'm being attacked. It is actually paralyzing in the morning. Takes an hour to get out of bed.

Prior to taking the Omperazole, I ate Tums like a kid in a candy store.. at least 10 a day for several months
So far my brains are intact, at least I think so... LOL.. I been taking Omperazole now for 2 1/2 yrs and not eating tums like candy.
You really need to get an appointment with a GI Dr.

Well let me throw a curveball. Have GERD and been nauseous almost all of the last 5 years. Went on vacation, ate and drank like no tomorrow...................no nausea!!!!! Back home and boom...................nausea after a week. Yes, I can go back on vacation ha ha, but seriously, any ideas why have nausea again? Thanks!

I see a lot of comments about symptoms and prescription medications. Treating symptoms will never rid you of GERD, (unless you are one of those who can be on a PPI for years and years. ) You need to find the causes of the symptoms. I had 3 endoscopies and with the 3rd one, the GI who performed the endoscopy told to never take a PPI again. It made my cells hypertrophic. I had been prescribed a PPI by 3 doctors. Each time I went off, the symptoms returned. If symptoms return, the PPI isn’t healing your gut! Doing the same thing over and over again is pointless. To heal, cause or causes are important and critical to rid you of GERD permanently, dietary changes are critical to rid you permanently, stress management is critical to feel good permanently - you want to stop feeling crappy for good, find a doctor that will test for CAUSES - bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), parasites, a yeast infection, a fungal infection and possibly a few of these may be present. That was the case for me.
After two years of sticking to changes in my diet - eliminating sugars and substituting with stevia, reducing desserts, going gluten free (and no I do not have Celiac Disease), drinking a coffee low in acid, going alcohol free for a lengthy period of time, being careful with spicy foods, eating organic as much as possible to reduce chemicals exposed to, managing my stress, and exercising (if you don’t exercise, even just walking daily helps with digestion), I feel fantastic. The changes I’ve made, I’ve kept up with. I never want to experience my symptoms again and feel miserable.

I see a lot of comments about symptoms and prescription medications. Treating symptoms will never rid you of GERD, (unless you are one of those who can be on a PPI for years and years. ) You need to find the causes of the symptoms. I had 3 endoscopies and with the 3rd one, the GI who performed the endoscopy told to never take a PPI again. It made my cells hypertrophic. I had been prescribed a PPI by 3 doctors. Each time I went off, the symptoms returned. If symptoms return, the PPI isn’t healing your gut! Doing the same thing over and over again is pointless. To heal, cause or causes are important and critical to rid you of GERD permanently, dietary changes are critical to rid you permanently, stress management is critical to feel good permanently - you want to stop feeling crappy for good, find a doctor that will test for CAUSES - bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), parasites, a yeast infection, a fungal infection and possibly a few of these may be present. That was the case for me.
After two years of sticking to changes in my diet - eliminating sugars and substituting with stevia, reducing desserts, going gluten free (and no I do not have Celiac Disease), drinking a coffee low in acid, going alcohol free for a lengthy period of time, being careful with spicy foods, eating organic as much as possible to reduce chemicals exposed to, managing my stress, and exercising (if you don’t exercise, even just walking daily helps with digestion), I feel fantastic. The changes I’ve made, I’ve kept up with. I never want to experience my symptoms again and feel miserable.

It is so hard to find a good doctor that will actually find the cause instead of just throwing pills at you to try. I have been on 3 different meds in 4 months. Nothing seems to help. They just kept upping the dosage. I changed my diet that hasn’t helped. I’ve lost 30 lbs which I didn’t need I’m now under weight. I have had an esophogram, an EGD, and ct scans. I have the Bravo test scheduled for mid Jan. I took myself off all the meds 2 months ago. I couldn’t take the side effects and it wasn’t helping at all. I use Gaviscon advance at night. My issue is the Globus sensation and congestion. I have them 24/7 so I do not know when I’m actually refluxing. I never get heartburn.

Could you have LPR, also known as respiratory reflux? If so, many people say the meds don't help them with that. Strict low-acid diet, whole foods does. There are two ENTs, Dr. Jonathan Aviv and Dr. Jamie Koufman, who have diets for GERD/LPR sufferers. When you say you changed your diet, did you change it to one of theirs? If not, here is the link to https://jamiekoufman.com, which offers info on LPR and how to deal with it. There is also a FB group dedicated to providing recipes based on Aviv's research: https://www.facebook.com/groups/199013402360712. If you have already tried the strict low-acid diet I am sorry I cannot offer any other advice based on my experience outside the usual elevate the head of the bed, chew sugarless gum, etc.

It is so hard to find a good doctor that will actually find the cause instead of just throwing pills at you to try. I have been on 3 different meds in 4 months. Nothing seems to help. They just kept upping the dosage. I changed my diet that hasn’t helped. I’ve lost 30 lbs which I didn’t need I’m now under weight. I have had an esophogram, an EGD, and ct scans. I have the Bravo test scheduled for mid Jan. I took myself off all the meds 2 months ago. I couldn’t take the side effects and it wasn’t helping at all. I use Gaviscon advance at night. My issue is the Globus sensation and congestion. I have them 24/7 so I do not know when I’m actually refluxing. I never get heartburn.

I had severe Gerd and was on high doses of PPI's for 20 years. There are side effects for all of them and the more they are studied the more they find! Zantac is one of them. I had a Linx devise put on my esophagus in 2014 and it failed last year causing ulcers. There are several surgeries for Gerd. After I had the devise taken out last summer, my doctor did food allergy testing. I was shocked since many of the foods I was allergic to I ate daily like eggs! This has helped me to get off the drugs. Now I take a Pepcid if I ingest something I shouldn't. The test is a simple blood test so instead of listening to doctors that just know how to prescribe drugs find one who will investigate your diet!!