GERD issues

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.

I am a relatively healthy 69 year old male who has had bouts of gerd (acid reflex) in my life. I've had several endoscopy"s done, most recently January of 2022 diagnosis of Gastritis. I don't smoke and drink in moderation socially (not a lot). Recently I developed my worst symptoms ever, not sleeping very good ( I have elevated bed),very bad pressure in chest which creates tremendous anxiety making it had to breathe and catch my breath, floor pacing...terrible stress on body. Oddly enough it's been worse every other morning when I wake up. I take Protonix and Pepcid, Mylanta and I just got some new stuff called Nutrasec, a tablet like Tums only better that you take after eating that helps a little. I was cruising right along until 10 days ago the it hit me like a tank. I gave up coffee and changed my diet drastically and am trying to schedule another endoscopy. I'm hoping maybe my esophagus needs stretched or I'm a candidate for esophagus sphincter surgery. I feel beat and it sucks trying to sleep on my left side all night. Anybody out there having similar problems?

Hello,
I am sorry that you are having such terrible difficulties, and I wish you well. I just found out today about Silent Reflux. Never having had what people typically call acid reflux, I was skeptical when my doctor told me that my wheezing, coughing, hoarse voice, and multiple sleep issues might be related to acid reflux. I am to start taking Pepcid tonight. Co-incidentally, my husband experienced problems with shortness of breath, and saw his PCP today, who told him the same thing.
I have been reading about this problem, and I am stunned to find that so many of my symptoms and his, that have gone on for years, might be explained by this diagnosis.
I have been told forever that I have atypical asthma, and I have to some extent, but I am not finding that my inhalers give me any relief from the coughing and so forth.
Obviously, my knowledge of this is new, and I have nothing to share yet about remedies, but I think it is helpful to have a fellow sufferer with whom to commiserate and discuss ideas. I would like to hear anything else you have to say about this condition. Thank you for what you have shared. I hope you feel better soon.

When I have had GERD in the middle of the night (which as I laid out in a long post is now pretty much a thing of the past with dreadful detours thanks to PPIs)... I too found the acid invaded my lungs and caused asthma. I knew others with whom that was also the case. The trick is to heal the underlying GERDS. Believe me it can be done. It can NOT be done with PPIs which suppress acid production.

Eat much earlier. If you are overweight, get Jason Fung's Obesity Code and try intermittent fasting. It will heal a great many chronic diseases, including Insulin Resistance causing type 2 Diabetes ...get Fung's Diabetes Code for that.

Good luck on your healing journey. Most Western trained docs haven't a clue, still, despite all the double blind trials they run that end in failure for the received "wisdom."

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.

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

Thank you for writing about your experience. I’ve been screaming for years it’s not to much acid but to little! My 19 year old granddaughter has started vomiting after meals and what do the drs do but put her on PPI? Interestingly she spent a month in Greece and all her vomiting went away. She has caught onto the idea that it’s her diet and had a food sensitivity test done and admits that if she only eats what she should she has no vomiting. But she’s a college student and it’s hard to stay true to your correct way of eating….

? what is reflux gourmet ? The combo of pepcid and omeprazole ?

It's a gooey vanilla or caramel sauce that supposedly protects the esophagus.

Thank you for writing about your experience. I’ve been screaming for years it’s not to much acid but to little! My 19 year old granddaughter has started vomiting after meals and what do the drs do but put her on PPI? Interestingly she spent a month in Greece and all her vomiting went away. She has caught onto the idea that it’s her diet and had a food sensitivity test done and admits that if she only eats what she should she has no vomiting. But she’s a college student and it’s hard to stay true to your correct way of eating….