Heartburn/acid Reflux - Minneapolis,MN

Try chewing papaya-pinapple enzymes with each meal. I buy mine at Trader Joes and they are not very expenzive and are very tasteful. These wonderful little tablets have changed my whole life with acid reflux. I wish I had been told about them long ago. I have also told others and they have had good sucess with their stomach problems. Good Luck...Jeri in Woodbridge, CA

Keep dry crackers or pretzels on hand they help to absorb the acid. Eat a couple, follow with a drink of water. If you can't do anything else drink a glass of cool to cold water to wash the acid back down. Do you smoke? Smoking relaxes the sphincter muscle between the stomach and esophagus thus worsening acid reflux. I get it sometimes and keep just generic antacids on hand and take some if I feel a flare up coming on.
Exercise is the best weapon against stress. When we stress out we build up adrenlin, back to the fight or flight reaction. We don't use the adrenlin so it builds up in our bodies causing fatigue and stress. Find an exercise you like, dancing , walking, punching a bag, biking anything that will increase your heartrate and breathing for 20-30 minutes 3 times a week. Maybe daily for the first couple of weeks. Then meditate at least 10 minutes a day, early morning works for me.

I have had heart burn for a number of years and did not know why. I found out that people in my family often have an esophagus that is smaller then normal. I found out that apple cider vinegar is great for controlling this. I recently found out that they make ACV tablets also. I take a couple in the morning before breakfast and have never had any more problems. Good luck, I know it hurts!! I forgot to mention that ginger chews also work great for this also.

I had acid reflux MANY years ago, I'm happy to say, I haven't had it in over 10 years! I first experienced it when I gained weight while pregnant. After I gave birth, I continued to have it off and on and then experienced severe reflux 24/7 with not much relief from Prilosec or any other med's. I lost weight, changed my diet to eat healthy, bland foods, tried everything and still had it severely. I was referred by my family physician to a Gastroenterologist. After several tests and it being determined the only way for me to get rid of it, and not do any damage to my esophigas, was to have a surgery called Fundoplication. They basically tightened the opening at the top of my stomach, so once food went down, it stayed down. I have had NO heartburn since. I don't know how severe your heartburn is, or your age or lifestyle, but, with me, I hate taking medication, and especially since it didn't really help. It wasn't a big choice for me to have surgery, I basically look at it as I 'repaired' something that was broken. I hope this helps you, its miserable to live with reflux.

purple pills aren't the answer. Your stomach NEEDS acid in order to absorb nutrients.

Many people find relief by trying to eat more alkaline foods and by taking an encapsulated, guaranteed probiotic. Let me know if you'd like more info and I can send it to you.

Hi S.
I gather they gave you a ton of tips on changing your eating habits- and when to eat.
Scary on the allergic reaction and I hope you now have an epi pen too!!
I'm not sure if you're willing to use some alternatives??
I have an aloe powder or drink that some swear by that don't want to take meds. I actually use it for my kids when they have an upset stomach.
If you want to know more- email me at ____@____.com and put momsource in the subject line.
I'll send you the info in jpgs so you can read about it.
Happy New year.

B. J

About me: 50 yo perfusionist, wellness coach also doing a nationwide online weight challenge for $, mom with 9 yo fraternal twin girls.

Looks like you got a lot of good answers; I just want to echo that diet is a huge factor that neither the GI nor the ENT I saw when I was first diagnosed mentioned very many foods to avoid. Chocolate, tomatoes, coffee, soda of any kind.... Like Kathi from Green Bay says, you do need acid in your stomach, so if you can make some dietary switches and/or manage stress (not reduce it, manage it!) that might be a good long term solution.

Hi,
Do not lay down after eating for at least 30 minutes. That is one of the biggest ones. You want to the food to stay down...not head back up the esophagus where it will cause discomfort and sometimes erosions. To keep the acid level in your stomach close to neutral, do not drink caffeine, chocolate, carbonated beverages, tomatoes, tomato sauce, citrus fruit or anything heavy. Try to eat smaller meals. No smoking or drinking alcohol.

Can you tolerate an h2 blocker, like zantac? I would ask the doctor about that in terms of allergies.

you can try controlling it through diet. My husband avoids all spice and citrus, which really set it off.

I have ar and an ulcer. I've been using an Isagenix product called Cleanse for Life and have not had to take Prilosec since. (it's not a colon cleanse) I buy it from my friend. Msg me privately if you would like more info. It's expensive initially, but it has lasted me quite some time as I don't take it daily anymore.

I don't have any experience with this to know whether it works or not, but I just asked my FB friends this week about acid reflux related to pregnancy and got a lot of answers. Here are some things to look at: papaya enzyme, coconut water, and hazelwood jewelry. Here's what a girlfriend of mine said about the hazelwood thing: "Hazelwood necklaces are supposed to be wonderful for heartburn/acid reflux because hazelwood helps pull extra acid from the body. Check out inspiredbyfinn on google." Hope this helps.

Have you tried Pepcid or Zantac? These medications work on a different receptor in the stomach. These are H2 Inhibitors as opposed to the Prilosec which is a proton pump inhibitor. These work best taken before meals. Obviously try all of the recommendations related to eating like monitoring your diet, staying upright after meals, etc. I would also have some Benadryl or an epipen on hand in case you do have a reaction to these meds as well. Just to be on the safe side. Good luck.