Terrible time with reflux

[GreenCocktail]

I'm new to reflux. I think I had symptoms for some time like pain and tenderness and heaviness in my chest after eating. I did nothing about it. I am coughing a lot since having covid in the summer time. My GP thinks it's covid.

I have to stay off PPI/nexium for two weeks to give a stool sample. I was coping well and managing with gavison.

However today I am not well at all.

I had to suck on a gavison over night and have another in the morning and another after breakfast. I am not well. I have a fire feeling in my chest all day long.

Is there anything I can do to help this. It's so bad.

I am now also anxious in case this continues and I don't get sleep tonight.

I can tell you what helped me, I still have it but it's not as bad as it was.

A pillow that means I'm propped at night
Normal pillows won't work, you'll still slump
Don't eat after about 5 or 6pm and don't lie down for ages after eating
Wine makes mine worse, as does bacon, ice cream, chocolate & coffee
I still drink coffee but have cut back on everything else
Have small meals, chew well
If you need to lose weight, lose weight (I am working on this)
Walk around after eating if you can.

Why the stool sample, what are they looking for or haven't they told you?

Reflux is generally caused by either H pylori (I have a home test for this but haven't got around to doing it) or SIBO (ditto) or a hiatus hernia, which can be fixed with surgery. I did loads of reading when I was first diagnosed but not recently. And I certainly haven't fixed it.

I read one person who said she gave up wine and it disappeared. I keep hoping mine will disappear which it hasn't but it is loads better since I started doing all of the above. I stopped the Nexium as it's so horrible and didn't seem to be helping me much.

Good luck, it's horrible I know.

Hi
have you tried the gaviscon liquid the extra strength one? I used it when I had terrible reflux in pregnancy and it’s the only thing that worked, it’s thicker than the normal liquid. I found big meals made it really bad so ate smaller portions more frequently.

A spoonful of bicarbonate of soda in water really helps me. It neutralises the acid

I have awful reflux. I've got a small hernia for which I'm on the four year waiting list to get fixed. Meanwhile I'm taking Nexium or similar for it.

I cough with my reflux too and have a sore throat often. It's the acid.

Me too with the reflux (hiatus hernia). Wedge pillow (£45 Amazon) helps at night along with eating early and everything @TheStroppyFeminist said. I'm on a big dose of omeprozole (80mg) and that still doesn't completely control it.

I was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia 10 years ago but manage with Lansoprazole 15mg in the morning, Gaviscon after meals and sometimes a Rennie during the night. Yours must be quite bad if you're waiting for op? Annoyingly I know several people who have been diagnosed with hh in passing and have no symptoms at all!

I have been struggling with reflux for over two years and have had all the usual tests.
My advice is
get tested - stool is good in case it’s h pylori, but endoscopy is gold standard.
change your diet - the most important

aspect. Look at Acid Watcher Diet by Dr Aviv and stick to it properly.

don’t eat 3-4 hours before bed/lying down

sleep on your left and raise head of your bed if you can

use gaviscon advance (ppi do nothing for me so I don’t bother)

drink alkaline water (Actiph or Smart water)

take proper Manuka honey - a teaspoon a day.

I did have h pylori and mild duodenitis a year or so ago but taking the treatment for h pylori didn’t make much difference

I went from having pain in ribs, chest, loose stools, nausea, burping, heartburn, no appetite and lethargy to feeling much better within a few weeks. I’m not symptom free but have ramped up my protocols recently after being away and feeling the best I’ve felt in two years.

I also got my symptoms post-Covid and in peri meno so a double whammy. Looking back I probably had it unnoticed for a while.

To add - try to minimise stress. It’s very easy to say and hard to do but it really helps

@Freysimo some days it's actually quite debilitating. I feel too poorly to do much really with it. Other days not so bad, depending on what I've eaten, sleep, if I've tried to exercise, if I'm stressed etc....

Gaviscon Advance is the stuff you want. It's a gloopy alginate that creates a kind of 'lid' over the acid. Works wonders.

Do you take medication that might be causing or contributing? Ibuprofen and other NSAIDs for example?

If yes, you should also have something such as Lansoprasole or Omeprasole. Speak to your GP about that.

Mostly, absolutely sympathy. It's horrible.

Eating some green vegetables can help with it. My friend swears by cucumber to calm down his reflux.

When I had to come off PPI's for stool sample testing, the GP prescribed me Ranitidine instead.

It stopped working after a month or so and I had to go back on PPI's, but for the couple of weeks I couldn't take PPI's it managed the symptoms well enough.

That’s banned now in the uk!

I still have some 😀