Author Topic: Damn acid reflux. (Read 5897 times)

280plus · « **Reply #25 on:** July 15, 2006, 01:41:57 PM »

You are soooooo lucky! I miss my salt shaker so BAD!! Even though my blood pressure is "perfect" they want me to avoid all salt. I'm not sure why. Preventative maybe.

K Frame · « **Reply #26 on:** July 15, 2006, 02:10:48 PM »

My father does have high blood pressure. Mom's is pretty low, but high blood pressure does run in her family.

I'm fully expecting one of these days to tip over to the dark side of the systolic and really have to start watching what I eat.

That's going to be torture when I can't tie into a big bag of Pennsylvania hard pretzles...

I went a number of years without salting my food -- I simply bulked up on the herbs and other spices.

There's also a school of thought that says even people on salt-restricted diets can use moderate amounts of salt on their foods... IF they really start pounding the water. Some water will be retained in the system by the extra sodium, but the extra water is going to help flush it out of the body, too.

A friend of mine adopted this approach a couple of years ago after reading about it. He increased his salt intake a bit, but dramatically increased his fluid intake -- up to 2 gallons or more a day during the summer. It seems to work for him, as his BP is holding nice and steady without drugs, and he's enjoying salt on his food.

You may want to discuss that approach with your doctor.

I don't think it would work for me, though, as I can't handle that much water!

280plus · « **Reply #27 on:** July 15, 2006, 02:12:11 PM »

LOL, seems like we're talking bladder overload here. Cheesy

Antibubba · « **Reply #28 on:** July 15, 2006, 03:21:26 PM »

I was on Aciphex for two years-once a day. I could eat anything, even raw garlic-no problem.

Now, new insurance, new doctor, and they don't cover Aciphex, so I'm on Omeprazole (Prilosec). So far it seems to be working. So far.

If you've never had reflux, well, remember the scene in Alien where John Hurt finally wakes up and they're all eating dinner? That's how it feels, except the pain drags out longer. Wink

The Rabbi · « **Reply #29 on:** July 15, 2006, 05:23:57 PM »

Well I dont feel so bad now.
Every now and then I find myself waking up--OK, bolting out of bed at like 2AM having aspirated some acid reflux. Anyone get this and feel like they are going to die? I monitored this some and tied it to heavy meals just before bed and alcohol consumption. I try not to eat before going to sleep.
I have found that taking a spoonful of mustard before bed really helps a lot. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but it works.
I hate drugs and will do anything I can to avoid taking them.

Gewehr98 · « **Reply #30 on:** July 15, 2006, 07:48:34 PM »

Rabbi, I know exactly what you mean.

Quote

Well I dont feel so bad now.
Every now and then I find myself waking up--OK, bolting out of bed at like 2AM having aspirated some acid reflux. Anyone get this and feel like they are going to die?

I've aspirated stomach contents, including solid bits on some nights, and thought to myself "This is a hell of a way for a combat veteran to die, asphyxiating on tonight's dinner while asleep in bed. What will my wife tell people at the funeral?". Luckily, I managed to cough up the chunks and the burning goes away after a bit. But you actually think you are going to die, no doubt about it.

I made a conscious decision to keep it a secret for a couple years, because if my flight surgeon had found out, he would've labeled it GERD or something similar, and permanently grounded me from flying. The Air Force considers GERD serious enough to discharge members who have it, and that would've been the end of my military career. I've known two active-duty members in my organization who were medically discharged/retired quite quickly once they were diagnosed with it. I would've been medically retired, if not forced to fly a desk, at my 17-18 year career point. So I kept my mouth shut and ate Tums by the handful until Prilosec OTC became available, and mentioned nothing during my annual flight physicals until my retirement in May of this year. Even then, when Prilosec OTC was temporarily pulled from the shelves (insurance coverage concerns), I had a panic attack because my panacaea was gone, and I dreaded going back to Tums.

Now that I'm a military retiree I have TriCare for Life, and when I get an opportunity, I will have the condition checked into soon. Prilosec OTC only works for me for the days I'm actually on the medication, there is little to no grace period in reflux once I stop taking it. I do, however, take one pill every other day, spacing things out and hoping not to cause some sort of collateral damage from being dependant too much on Prilosec, since it's supposed to be a temporary, 14-day on, problem fixed sort of drug. Maybe prescription Prilosec works differently, or a better solution is prescription Nexium. Either way, I'm only treating symptoms vs. fixing the root cause, and I know that's a Bad Thing. Sad

Ron · « **Reply #31 on:** July 16, 2006, 06:20:40 AM »

The new generation of drugs have changed my life.

I started taking Prevacid once a day when it first came out and now take Nexium.

If you have heartburn and GERD every day you may also have a hiatus hernia. That is where I am at in life. My options are take a pill every day or have a surgical procedure that "might" work, if it doesn't work I will have to take a pill every day.

grampster · « **Reply #32 on:** July 16, 2006, 06:37:43 AM »

I'll mirror what GoRon said about modern drugs. I've had hiatal hernia (which causes acid reflux) since I was about 13. (nearly 50 years ago) I don't have to explain the pain one has to endure with a bout of acid reflux, but for me it was like a 200 lb white hot weight in the upper abdomen radiating into my back between my shoulder blades. Excrutiating. Twice I went to the E-Room and received injections of the good stuff for the pain.

I tried lots of things; mindless pacing or running in place or around the furnace in the basement or weather permiting outside at 3 AM with my brain trying to convice my body that it was eating up the acid; alcohol; antiacids; chiropractors (interesting thing about the bone cruncher. He gave me betain hydrochloride to ADD acid to my stomach as his theory was increase the acid, digest the food faster. Worked for awhile); meditation; prayer, all of it. (Actually, pot worked really well. You had to learn how to swallow the smoke. But red eyes, a goofy smile, incessent talking and a desire to eat the same stuff that brought on the attack made it less than desirable except if the attack came at night; Then one could just grin a bit and fall asleep watching an old movie or listening to music with headphones.)

Then came Zantac, blessed Zantac...answer to a prayer in my mind. Now whenever I have a suspicion I'm gonna have a bout, I'll pop one or 2 150mg and zap, it's gone.

I very rarely smoke anymore, which is good. I don't drink as often or as much either, which also helps. Well, I lied about the drinking....heh heh. Actually I don't, but I do like my tipples from time to time.

K Frame · « **Reply #33 on:** July 16, 2006, 06:40:52 AM »

"hiatus hernia"

I think it would be a lot better for most people if the hernia were on hiatus! Cheesy

johnsonrlp · « **Reply #34 on:** July 16, 2006, 07:30:16 AM »

Yea prilosec!
And yeah, I throw up when I run. It sucks.

SpookyPistolero · « **Reply #35 on:** July 16, 2006, 03:44:46 PM »

Thanks for making me not feel like a freak, Johnsonrlp! I have hated that most of all. I guess I'll have to start making the prilosec regularly and see if that helps. Or get off my butt and see a doc...

brimic · « **Reply #36 on:** July 16, 2006, 05:10:54 PM »

My Father in law has severe GERD, has had surgery to fix his stomach sphincter and still has problems. Of all of the medications and diet regimens that he's tried, the only thing that works for him is drinking aloe vera juice.

280plus · « **Reply #37 on:** July 17, 2006, 01:01:10 AM »

Yea, they offered me the surgery and gave it a 50 / 50 chance of working. I told them they'd have to give me a lot better odds than THAT before I'll let them slice and dice.

I'm a little surprised at how many around here have either apnea, GERD or both.

grampster · « **Reply #38 on:** July 17, 2006, 04:29:25 AM »

I had a doc tell me several years ago to avoid the surgery if at all possible. Although there have been positive strides made as to how hard the surgery is on you. I think they can even do it arthroscopicaly now. Trouble is, you can rupture the hiatus again and you're back where you were before.

Iain · « **Reply #39 on:** July 17, 2006, 04:42:53 AM »

Quote from: 280plus

I'm a little surprised at how many around here have either apnea, GERD or both.

So am I.

I've had the odd incident with gord/gerd, and 'twere painful. Doc gave me the drugs, but soon after it mysteriously stopped and has not yet returned.

You're a bunch of busted up crocks, even compared to me.

280plus · « **Reply #40 on:** July 17, 2006, 05:16:10 AM »

I just had a chance to have a longer talk with my kid about the papaya enzymes. He says it DOES work really well, something about helping the stomach break down the food faster AND it's only like $13 for 600 tablets and the normal dosage is 3 or 4 tabs. He said get the chewables and they're might tasty to boot. I may have to try them myself. Cheesy

Gewehr98 · « **Reply #41 on:** July 18, 2006, 12:49:16 PM »

I found the papaya enzyme tablets this last Friday at WalMart, of all places. The label says, "Spring Valley Papaya Enzyme", they're chewables, bright orange, and cheap.

Funny thing is, I take one a day around dinnertime, and I haven't had heartburn, acid reflux, GERD, or even a hint of problems for the last 5 days. I've snarfed down bratwurst 'n kraut, gyros, and pizza with nary a problem. Either it's a darned effectiver placebo, or something in the papaya/papain really does help the system. Definitely cheaper than Prilosec OTC, but we'll see how long-term it works.

Mabs2 · « **Reply #42 on:** July 18, 2006, 03:35:52 PM »

Have a swig of dill pickle juice...I reccomend Vlasic.
Works wonders for most stomach ailments.
It instantly cures my heartburn...which I'm sure is sometimes acid reflux...I get it pretty bad, but I've never been diagnosed...
Anyway, worth a shot.

BrokenPaw · « **Reply #43 on:** July 19, 2006, 04:46:56 AM »

I don't get heartburn, but BrokenMa does, so I thought I'd pass along something that has helped her.

If you get it at night, sleep on your left side. The thinking behind this is that the esophagus joins the stomach on the rightish side, so if you sleep on your left, the sphincter in question will be higher up and therefore less likely to have pressure on it.

I don't know whether that's true or not, but I've noticed that on nights when she sleeps on her left side, her heartburn is less frequent and, when it happens, less severe.

-BP

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Author Topic: Damn acid reflux. (Read 5897 times)

Ron