IBS and GERD

I’ve gone on a low acid diet after being told I had silent acid reflux which gave me Barrett’s esophagus. No peppers, no tomato products, No Italian or Mexican food. No booze, soda, I drink lots of water. I also stop eating at 3pm so there is no food in my system when I go to bed. I’ve had no acid reflux doing this. I eat lots of baked chicken and have cut out seasoning of any kind. No chocolate too. No fried foods. Good luck ! This can be controlled by a strict diet.

Thanks. I have had GERD for quite a long time and am familiar with (and use) all of the usual recommendations you mentioned. Mostly it is controlled with those and meds but GI has suggested the possible eventual need for surgery. Anyway, I am very aware of the recommendation not to eat “peppers” but my understanding is that this means “chile peppers” e.g. jalepenos—that contain capsaicin—the “heat” ingredient. I read that bell peppers don’t contain capsaicin. So maybe there is something else in them!

Does anyone else have experience with bell peppers?

I once heard that veggies in the Nightshade family can cause problems in the gut. This includes tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers. So it's not just the capsaicin, although that is definitely a trigger! I try to avoid Nightshades, except in very small amounts, and it helps. So I would not eat a pizza with tomatoe sauce, but can handle chicken pizza with cream sauce and a couple slices of bell pepper.

It's been a while since I read about, or ate, bell peppers, but I thought there was something about the Ph or acid level that makes them iffy for GERD. White potatoes are also in the nightshade family.

Bell peppers have always bothered me. But the pepper I use to season with is Lawry's Seasoned Pepper... which is mostly bell pepper. Ground black pepper burns my esophagus. If a recipe calls for bell peppers I use seeded sweet banana peppers. They do not bother me. Of course not good for stuffed peppers. I can tolerate mild jalapeño peppers if seeded. I have swallowing difficulties so potatoes are difficult. I do occasionally eat some tomatoes in soups and the rare spaghetti. Some breads are difficult for me.

You have to keep in mind that everyone is different. Some people tolerate some foods that others cannot. You just have to learn what the triggers are for you. A food diary is very helpful.

I have mild gastroparesis which requires a low fiber diet, diverticulosis which requires a high fiber diet, achalasia which requires tender, soft, easy to swallow foods, esophageal spasms which also requires tender, soft easy to swallow diet, and Barrett's esophagus which requires a low acidic diet. I have had my gallbladder removed which requires I eat low fat and watch for other triggers to keep the diarrhea at bay (not all people that have had their gallbladder out have problems with diarrhea.. a probiotic (Align) helped me the most with the problem) I have to eat several small meals a day because I had to have a gastric bypass to fix a paraesophageal (hiatal) hernia and it also helps with the other digestive/esophagus problems. So very dueling diets 😂 A food diary really does help to figure it all out.. but sometimes I still wind up scratching my head trying to figure it out.

Zaroga

My GI has recommended an over the counter product called IBGard for my Irritable Bowel Syndrome. When he told me that it contained peppermint oil I expressed concern because I also have GERD and peppermint is a well known trigger for reflux. He assured me that this product is specially formulated to pass through the stomach without dissolving and into the gut. I read the reviews on Amazon and they were mostly positive—except for some people who said they had had terrible heartburn or reflux. No one mentioned that they had GERD but did not have problems taking IBGard. Has anyone here with GERD successfully used this product?

@jackiem95, I'd like to invite @pjss48, @gab002, @rachel_b, and @flip1949 to this discussion as they have all tried IBGard and discussed their results on Connect for some varying ailments in the past. @jackiem95, have you tried peppermint things in the past, is this a known trigger for you?

I have completely avoided peppermint since my GERD problems began about 10 years ago. So I can’t say whether it is a trigger for me or not. My symptoms are pretty well controlled now with current meds and diet restrictions. I would hate to change that with IBGard.

I haven't had any problems with the IBGard triggering reflux but have had a little with another peppermint/ginger/fennel combo.
I've also been ok with FDGard which has peppermint/caraway.

Hello 🙂 I don’t have GERD, but I have a missing section of both large and small intestine from surgery and have chronic SIBO from that. I manage it pretty well with a strict low FODMAP diet, but I do also use IBGard and similar products to help after meals. I find that it does help some, at least to take the edge off when I get flared up. A similar product that I like even better than IBGard is called Peppermint Plus - for some reason it seems to work a little better for me. The only thing I’d say about IBGard is to watch out for the knock off brands. I recently got something at Walgreen’s that was supposed to be the cheaper Walgreen’s brand version of IBGard, and I flared up after taking it and later realized that it had all sorts of weird stuff in it that IBGard doesn’t, like a proprietary digestive aid blend and other things. I do think peppermint helps me, but again I’m not sure how it affects those with GERD. I’d just recommend in general to go with products that have as few ingredients as possible - and to read the labels to find out everything that’s in it especially if you have ingredients you know trigger symptoms for you. Good luck 🙂