GERD advice please

[Gerd936]

Dr suspects GERD. Every week or so I get woken up with very painful heartburn. It's only ever in the early hours.

I take paracetamol or Rennie and it usually works.

Dr has given me medication, Omeprazole, to take twice a day and suggested Gaviscon advance. I have tablets and he said to take one half an hour before bed and not to eat or drink.

Yesterday I woke up with terrible heartburn. So today I took 2.

Anything worked for you?

Sleeping on left side, being strict on avoiding tomatoes, chocolate and coffee.

Gaviscon after meals and at bedtime.

How long have you been taking the omeprazole? If you're still within the first couple of weeks just keep doing what you're doing and remember to take the tablets.

Also eat your main meal earlier in the evening, or ideally at lunchtime. Avoid evening snacks and drinks apart from water.

About a month but I keep forgetting to take the evening pill.

It only ever happens now and again but the Dr thinks I could have silent reflux.

Possibly go back to doctors, if it is, they will give you more information on diet. Or check out nhs website.

Be careful with omeprazole it isn't great. I would also recommend losing weight if you are overweight. Eat your main meal at lunch. Stick to plain non spicy food, sleep on your left

Try sleeping with your chest, shoulders and head elevated. I stack pillows so they create a gentle slope.
Take a Gaviscon liquid just before bed.
Don't eat anything after evening meal at around 7.30.
Avoid rich, fatty foods and rich tomato based sauces in the evening.

There's a lot you can do depending on the severity of your reflux.
This is what I'd do first before resorting to full-on low acid diets which are pretty restrictive.

Sleep elevated on your left side. If you can get an under bed wedge then that's best, but you can raise the bed at the head (depending on bed) or sleep on a wedge (least comfortable).
Take gaviscon advance (the best one) after meals and pre-bed (10 mls).
Finish eating and drinking (except sips of water) at least 3-4 hours before bed.
Manage stress - meditation, walking, whatever floats your boat.
Modify your diet - this is very important. No alchohol, no citrrus, no tomato (esp cooked), no fizzy drinks, caffiene, vinegar or highly spiced or fried food. Avoid ultra processed foods and fried food too. If you want to go further you can look at the Acid Watcher Diet or Dropping Acid Diet. Molly Pelletier is also good to follow on Insta, but she doesn't promote a specific diet, it's more stress relief and nourishing foods.

You can be on PPI for a bit, but they're not good long term. When you are due to come off, you need to taper off or you'll get worse rebound acid. Doctors don't bother to tell you this.

I've been dealign with reflux for 3 years nearly (and I suspect I had silent reflux for a lot longer). It's got a lot better since I started with it (and I've had a lot of tests as well), but really it's only when I'm strict on the Acid Watcher Diet that my symptoms are better controlled. I'm not on PPI - haven't taken any for nearly 2 years now. They don't help me. I've also just cut out cheese to see if that helps (you can have a small amount on the diet but it does seem a trigger for me unfortunately).

Thanks all. Very helpful and Ill look into it all.

OP, are you overweight?

I have suffered with chronic GERD for over a decade. It's not until I got my weight down to a healthy level that the symptoms subsided, naturally my improved physique is the result of a better diet with less processed foods.

Greasy, spicy and garlic laced foods as well as alcohol used to trigger me, but now it's very rare I get a flare up when eating these foods, and I 100% put it down to being slightly overweight (90kg at 5'11 and male).

Down to 75kg now and feeling better than ever. I can count on one hand how many times a month I need to take medication now.

I do still sleep with my bed propped up somewhat and on my left hand side as another poster suggested.

I abused lansoprazole and omeprazole (cheaper of the two) for nigh on 15 years on prescription (60mg a day), so much so that I became anaemic and defficient in b12, the reduced pH of your stomach makes it harder for your body to absorb vitamins and other nutrients, though I expect your doctor neglected to tell you this just like mine did.

Please try and make lifestyle changes instead of relying on drugs if you are able to, stress is also a big trigger of GERD.

Chronic GERD can lead to stomach and oesophageal cancer, so please take treating the cause seriously.

Some other underlying causes can be hiatus hernia (can be diagnosed by endoscopy), H.pylori infection (ask your doctor to refer you for a test).

Ask your doctor for acidex as it provides instant relief, omeprazole takes 6+ hours to work.

Yes I'm overweight but I'm being investigated for GERD because of breathlessness.

I suffer from heartburn probably two or three times a month. My Dr thinks I might have it and I'm having X rays next week.

I don't drink alcohol, chilli, coffee, tomato sauce etc

I am using Gaviscon advance but I had heartburn the other day so it doesn't seem to be working. I only have heartburn in the early hours.

I am looking to lose weight.

You need an endoscopy to check for a hiatus hernia and for signs of oesophageal inflammation.

In addition to the great advice above watch out for fruit juice and fizzy drinks. I have a strict rule that I don’t eat or drink anything other than water at least 2 hours before I go to bed. I also find tiredness can be a trigger.

I can no longer take PPI due to colitis so I am following the Acid Watcher diet.

Have you been checked for Coeliac disease?

I have been dealing with this with varying degrees of severity . I have just had the gastroscopy and I have a haitus hernia and gastritis . I’ve been advised as above , lose weight , wedge pillow , small and often meals , no eating after tea time . I’ve come off omeprozole and just keep gaviscon at home if I feel bad . I was also been woken up at night with it .

Not me, but my friend has had gerd for years. She drinks gaviscon by the gallon.

She used to take omeprazole daily but has stopped because of the dementia risk.

This used to me too. I used to have to drink Gaviscon Advance every night. I have just lost stacks of weight and it cured me completely, haven’t had heartburn in over six months, it only took two stone loss to have a huge impact. Defo worth looking into more OP as GERD is miserable.

I went to GP in March with similar symptoms, she wouldn’t prescribe me anything and has referred me. On my NHS app it says 26 weeks to see someone and I expect similar amount of time to get an endoscopy done. I’ve stopped fizzy drinks, coffee, sponge cakes, biscuits, chocolate, spicy food and now have smaller meals and drink lots of water. I still drink tea and have one cup of decaf coffee each day, I have been so much better, only had acid reflux twice in last 6 weeks and that was around 4am, I think I slipped down from my 4 pillows, but these times weren’t as bad as before, the pain and horrible feeling in my mouth and stomach were also a lot better. I take one gaviscon advance tablet in the day and liquid before bed, I used to take rennies but GP suggested changing to gaviscon, I hope it continues working. I’ve also found it bad when I rush around, so now try not to rush about.

I also lost two stone and my symptoms disappeared. I can't recommend weight loss to cure this enough

I get it when I’m stressed. I take a tablespoon of quince syrup if I feel it coming on. There’s some research on this https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-quince-fruit#6-May-reduce-acid-reflux-symptoms

my boyfriend who is generally quite scathing of my herbal remedies also finds this one useful.

Thanks everyone. I also have suspected gallstones and other conditions which may explain the heartburn so I'm waiting for an ultrasound and x ray.

I'm looking into all these suggestions.

If Omeprazole and Gaviscon aren't effective, there is another tablet called Famotidine which has really helped me.