The All-Natural Regimen That Has Helped My Reflux Problem

[NYer]

If you're going to go to another doctor, go to a Naturopath.

[hayleyBW]

If you're going to go to another doctor, go to a Naturopath.

Thanks NYer. I might as I already have someone in my neighborhood who I called a few weeks ago. But right now I need a break from doctors. I really hope I can just get some relief from my symptoms and from seeing all doctors for a while. And I need sleep desperately because 90 minutes was my total sleep last night and I am feeling the effects right now.

[hayleyBW]

OK I am posting an update.

My dh and I dropped the equipment off Friday afternoon at 1PM and the doctor took the equipment from me and also the log I recorded and said he would call me next week with the results. However surprisingly he called me Friday night and had already compiled the data. So the good news is the tests were pretty much normal. More on that in a moment. The bad news is we still don't know why I am having the burning and chest squeezing. Sigh. I am so tired of this medical merry go round so I am going to take a break from doctors visits (except for my physical and gyn already scheduled for May 19th that is LOL) and give it all a rest. Unless my symptoms get worse or something else happens. I just need to take my mind off all these uncomfortable symptoms I have basically been dealing with in one way or another since January this year.

Results- now he was speaking fast so I really didn't understand all of it but I understand it was late Friday and he was very nice to even compile the data today when I wasn't expecting it till sometime next week so I am not upset he didn't go through it all as slowly as I might have preferred. I am calling his secretary Monday and will have her send me a copy of my results which I can share here as well.

What I know:
To make a long story short (too late LOL) my results are basically normal. I have acid reflux about 3% of the time and those reflux events don't mesh with when I pushed the button to heartburn or chest pain symptoms. He said that's called functional heartburn.

The only reading that *might* have been abnormal was on the Manometry I think it was the LES number and the reading was 17 and normal is up to 16 or something like that. I'm not sure what that means but he said he really thinks it is a normal variant since I don't get food stuck in my throat usually and that's what that number would signify (just during the 24 hour impedance today LOL).


Hope you are doing well and thanks again for all your help guys. I appreciate it all. Have a happy Mother's Day to all of you moms and all of your moms as well!!!

[NYer]

You. Have. GERD.

Oh...and your doctor just made a tidy little sum of money from you. Could y'all stop with the craziness now?

[hayleyBW]

Thanks for your input NYer. I am continuing with the holistic regimen and healing the natural way. Will keep you all posted.
I hope everyone is feeling well and enjoys the weekend.

[NikkiB]

Hey all! I hope all of u are having a wonderful mother's day! I've been looking after my mother since she was on those dame antibiotics. I got her some probiotics and some D-Mannose. Shes been doing much better since she came off those antibiotics! Had a couple of bad days but now she's doing much better

As for me, I'm still doing well... feeling good. Just on some days I still get the warm feeling in my stomach and chest. I dont know if this is a stupid question but it does still feel like my esophagus/chest is tender, or still irritated at times. Is the Manuka honey healing for that too? BTW I love it in my tea!!! Yum!

[NYer]

Active Manuka honey works medicinally by:
1. Being an anti-bacterial
2. Protecting against damage caused by bacteria.
3. Stimulating production of special cells that can repair tissue damaged by infection.
4. Having anti-inflammatory action that can reduce pain and inflammation.

Plus, it just feels really good when your throat is sore. And it tastes great.
But anyway, if the reason for your GERD is bacteria-based (h-Pylori), the honey's anti bacterial properties help to kick it out.

The warm feeling in your stomach and chest is from GERD. It takes a while for your system to heal up completely and in the meantime, yes, it's still irritated and tender.

Keep in mind that liquids digest much faster than solids, hence, they leave your stomach faster. You want the honey to hang around for a while and do its work -- slowly sliding down and around your insides. So, although it's wonderful in tea, it will digest slower and stick to your skin a little better if it's swallowed alone or on a small piece of solid food that requires digestion. (Bread or something).

[Hazeleyes]

Hello ladies,

I hope you all had a good weekend. I was gifted with a GERD free Mother’s Day for the most part and oh so THANKFUL . I’m still having my good and bad days, but that’s to be expected. I think the Zantac is helping. I’m not happy that I have to take it but preferable to PPI’s. My biggest struggle right now is anxiety. I just can’t seem to shake it. I have a huge fear of the unknown (Yes, I’m a control freak and have a bit of OCD) and not knowing when GERD is going to show its ugly head throws me off my game. My hubby gave me a day at the spa yesterday and the massage therapist said he had never met someone with so much tension and knots. He suggested I come back on a weekly basis

FYI, I’ve discovered I can eat Sushi if I stick to the simple rolls. Of course you have to hit the high end places that use real crab meat not the fake stuff. No sauces. This makes me happy. I love Sushi.

Hope your all doing well.

Hazel

[NikkiB]

Goodnight everyone!

Thank you NYer for the information! I'll eat the honey straight!!! YUM I have NO problem doing that!
Hey Hazel, I'm glad you had a good Mothers Day! One day at a time... That's how I've been taking this issue... ONE day at a time!

[Tropheus]

Thank you

Hi

I just wanted to say a big thank you to NYer for this thread!
It's taken me a while, but I've just finished reading all 25 pages!!!

The information contained here I have found to be very useful. However, due to very strict quarantine laws in Western Australia (much stricter here than in other Australian states!) there are a number of products that I simply cannot obtain particularly the manuka honey (even though it's just from our NZ neighbours). It has something to do with the bee population here being disease free and therefore ensuring it remains this way... Still it's very frustrating! I'm guessing my pockets are better off from the prices I've seen though!!!! Also the black raspberry is not possible from what I understand of customs laws. But I'm still trying to ascertain whether I can get some of the other products here such as Absorbaid and dgl licorice. I haven't been able to find it locally and so I have to check all the ingredients to a database first, otherwise it may be confiscated by customs, or worse...

I have been diagnosed with GERD (GORD in Australia as we spell it as oesophagus), plus I have IBS which I believe is the reason my reflux is as bad as it is... I've been done a similar path to a lot of you with burning in the chest, bloating, terrible wind (burping, not the other kind! In fact, the other kind is far less than I believe it should be!, constant constipation, neck/shoulder pain (particularly on the left side), difficulties breathing, and some fun trips to ER with chest pains... oh and anxiety/panic attacks.

Funnily enough, the anxiety virtually went away completely once I was officially diagnosed correctly! Previously, I was basically told I had GAD hand was put on meds to treat anxiety/depression... An the reflux (burning only) was treated as a separate issue. I now know that had I been diagnosed properly my anxiety issues would have, at the minimum, been far less than what they were...

I do still get the shakes sometimes when I can't control my symptoms, but that's only when it's really really bad!

I know my post is getting a lot longer than intended, so I'm sorry about that... But I'll continue for those interested...

I've been on Nexium constantly for the past 12 months, but have been popping ppis and h2 blockers for many years, particularly H2 blockers (Zantac mainly). It just seems to have slowly gotten worse over the years. I also started taking a drug called Tazac about 2 months ago for motility. Zantac no longer does anything for me, and Nexium only slightly helps... I used to be on 40mg, but dropped it back to 20mg about 10 months ago and funnily enough, I am actually a bit better on the 20s than the 40s. I have tried coming off them altogether and also switching to Pariet, but in both cases it was disastrous! In fact when I switched to Pariet I had the worst reflux (burning) I've ever experienced!!! Drinking water would actually make me much worse for the first 20 minutes or so! Even the oral agaves on would burn like crazy! After the first 20 minutes I would start to feel better than I did before the water or Gaviscon, but I would continue to feel the burn for days/weeks at a time. Occasionally, I would stop myself short and try and work out what's wrong with me, only to realize that I didn't have the burn... But that never lasted more than a couple of hours before returning, usually it would only last 15-30 mins

It's quite funny about the posts about bananas, because I also get reflux (burning symptoms ...in the chest I should add! ) from bananas, and I can remember I first started getting the burning starting back in high school always after eating bananas... and I always believed that was the cause, but we always get told that bananas are good for reflux!!!

...aaaaanyway, if your still reading... I'm sorry for going on so long! About a month ago my wife was having a chat with the microbiologist at her work about my problems, and he suggested that I try digestive enzymes and a liver detox supplement. So, I thought I'll give it a shot, and I've found that since I started taking them my symptoms are not as bad as before. My saliva is back to normal, I started getting less chest pain, bloating, burning etc.

So, I did some of my own research, and cam across this forum. As you know, I did try to obtain the suggested supplements, but have had difficulties in obtaining them. So, I went and saw a nutritionist who also happens to have GORD, and she got me to try a powder called Digesteze (made by an Australian company called BCN). It has a lot of the supplements mentioned, but not all. It contains l-Glutamine, slippery elm, turmeric, and a number of other things. I take this along with my digestive enzymes and liver detox supplements. I only started the Digesteze last Friday, and it made a big difference for about 5 days, but unfortunately for me, last night was not a good night, and I have had the burning all morning. I did take the Digesteze after breakfast, but it only helped for a little while. I hardly slept last night, which could explain the flare-up, which was due to neck and back pain for most of the night (which I think was from an old whiplash injury).

Anyway, my point is that I'm trying to control my symptoms with diet and supplements with the hope that I can kick the Nexium soon...

Thanks again NYer and other contributors to this forum! I think a lot more research needs to be done in this area to hopefully one day obtain a cure, or at the minimum put doctors on the path of recommending supplements and dietary changes before just dispensing the traditional "just take one of these..." mentality! It obviously won't be popular with the drug companies, but medicine is about well being, and shouldn't be about drug companies making squillions. Perhaps one day...

Btw, I've had an endoscopy, colonoscopy, manometry/Ph test... And guess what NYer... I have reflux! Lol
I do have IBS and I did find out that I don't have very good motility in my oesophagus... So, for me it was worth getting done. Oh, and yes, the manometry/Ph test was awful! It wasn't the worst experience in my life... Kidney stones are the big winner here! But it was certainly up there in my bucket list of things not to try if you can avoid it

[Tropheus]

Manuka honey

I forgot to mention my findings about manuka honey...

Firstly, it must be consumed cold. If the honey is heat treated (and I guess that this applies to putting it in hot tea), it loses it's efficacy.
I read this on a website from a manuka honey supplier. I can try and find it again if you want?

Also, I've read mixed reviews about the effectiveness of manuka honey (and mastic gum) on treating h. Pylori. Apparently, they are both effective in test tubes, but not in human trials. I don't know how true this all is, I came across this a little while ago, and I think it was just a discussion in a forum from memory.

So, I just thought I'd share this for those interested. Just take it with a pinch of salt though ...my advice, not the honey

[NYer]

Hi Tropheus,
Hey Mate!
(That was me speaking Australian! LOL!)
Welcome to the club.
And thank you for your comments and telling us what you've been through.

That's very interesting about eating the honey cold versus hot. I'm going to investigate that. I'm so surprised that you can't get it in Australia. I would think, since it's almost local, it would be easy to get (and cheaper)! But I guess that's politics.

Insofar as the digestive enzymes go, although I use AbsorbAid, I'm sure there are plenty of others that work as well...I'm just not familiar with them so I can't give a reference.
And yes - bananas - just yesterday, I read someplace that they're good for GERD/GORD. HA! I think people assume that because of the soft welcoming texture of a banana that they'd be a good choice. But NOT so!!
And It's so frustrating to know that "western" doctors all over the world do the same dumb tests for no good reason and then don't know the right way to treat us. Siggghhh.


And by the way, just so no one gets the idea that once we're feeling better, we just get off easy and life is forever fine again:
The day before yesterday, I tried a bottle of Alkaline water in the early evening (I've never had that before). Seemed fine. Then I got slammed with heartburn. I haven't had that in quite some time. So I mixed some AbsorbAid powder into a small glass of room temperature water (regular water, thank you) and drank it. Then, I chewed 2 DGL tablets. All that helped a little, but I still had heartburn. Not terrible but not mild either. But then, while watching TV, I fell asleep on the couch...with just a pillow...no wedge (uh-oh, that's not good when you already have reflux). So I woke up at 5AM on the couch and not long after that, mild heartburn started up again.

I chewed two Gaviscons and went back to sleep in my BED with the WEDGE.
I woke up 2 hours later and was better but I could tell the heartburn was wanting to start up again. It did, although not too bad. It was like that for most of the day yesterday. I slept on the wedge last night. Woke up this morning very phlegmy. I was clearing my throat constantly for a few hours today. By the way, this is typical after having reflux the day before. Your body produces too much mucous to coat the irritated area in your throat and then you're clearing your throat (and irritating it more). As I'm typing this, I can tell you that I have mild heartburn now.

I know that this will run its course and get better - it always does, so long as I do all the things I've mentioned in this thread. But when it starts up, it does take a few days to a week to completely disappear. So it puts into perspective how long you can expect it to take to feel better when you're really in the thick of it and having really bad reflux constantly. Your insides are really raw and irritated and then you try to fix it and then your body tries to fight back and there is a constant cycle until it finally feels better. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

So for those of you who wake up one day and say, "YAY! I'm having a good day! I'm better! and then you have the total frustration of waking up the next day and It's back!" Take a step back and think about it - it's probably not AS bad as it was. Or not bad for as long or not bad as often. It's little steps forward (even though you'll feel like it's 2 steps forward and one step back sometimes). But you'll get there. And you WILL feel better. But you really have to keep your guard up and keep doing everything. Because here I am, 6 years later, and I'm sitting here with heartburn. ...BUT!!!...I'd take this kind of heartburn every day versus what I had 6 years ago. And fortunately, thank God, I only get this once in a while.

Oh, and regarding alkaline water. I won't be drinking that again.

Cheers!
NYer

[Tropheus]

G'day mate

Hi NYer
If you really want to sound like an Aussie, it's "g'day mate" lol

That sux you had a bad day yesterday. I did too! Sux to be us, I guess...
But it's a lot better again for me today, so I'm happy about that...! Hopefully you will be too.

I've not heard of alkaline water before (execpt when mentioned in this thread). I'm surprised that that could have caused your reflux though. I'm assuming it just has some kind of buffer in it like calcium carbonate in it... If so, it should do exactly what popping a Gaviscon does.

I'm not suggesting that it's not the cause, but for me I have noticed that it can be a day or two after I've eaten something that I get symptoms. Last week is an example, I ordered an Vietnames dish (I love Asian food!!!) called pho ga (it's basically a simple chicken soup). I added a bit of chilli sauce (yes, I know!) to the soup just to add some flavour, not for the spice (I miss my spicy food!) and it ended up being a bit hot. It wasn't very spicy, but it did have a little bite to it.
Anyway, an hour or so later I felt a little reflux but a little Gavison did the trick to clear it up and I was fine for the rest of the day. It was the next day though that it bit me with a vengeance though! I know it was the chilli because everything else I consumed and did was the same as usual. So I learned another lesson...

My point is that for me, I have to really think about what I've consumed before I can identify what has triggered my reflux. Maybe it was something in your alkaline water that triggered your reflux, but I know from my experience that it can be very hard for me to pinpoint.

I have also been down the same road as you in terms of diet. For around 6-8 months i eleminated almost everything out of my diet. I went gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, no red meat ( I would only have fish and on occasion chicken), no coffee, alcohol, soft drinks, no fruit and certain veggies, no curries or spicy food, or chocolate. The list goes on....

I have slowly introduced some things back into my diet, but I am still very much on a restricted diet. I have reintroduced some sugar, dairy and I now eat chicken and some fruit, but the rest I have left out. I don't miss the foods etc too much, it's the choice I miss more than anything. It's obviously still a choice to make, but not when I consider the potential consequences...

Anyway, I hope you feel better ;-)

[Tropheus]

Acid/alkaline foods

Hi
I found this today...
http://www.alkaline-alkaline.com/ph_food_chart.html

I'm not really sure what to make of it. If anyone has any thoughts I'm very interested.
As per usual, there are some foods that you would think are acid or alkaline, yet here they indicate the opposite. Foods like asparagus, onions, broccoli, and garlic are usually considered to be very bad for reflux due to the amount of acids required to break them down, on this site they are listed as very alkaline... very confusing!
Apparently bananas are either alkaline or acid. The way I understand the descriptions is that fully ripe (speckled) bananas are alkaline, whereas (green tipped) bananas are acid. I'm making an assumption here because I'm not aware of varieties of bananas referred to as speckled or green tipped... I have generally had problems with bananas so I've always assumed them to be acidic, however bananas are often recommended as being good for reflux sufferers, so I have no idea anymore!!
Anyway, as I've mentioned I'd be very interested in what people think about this.
NYer have you researched this at all?

[NYer]

Hi Tropheus (and everyone else),

I AM FINE today, thank you. Back to normal. And, no, I have not investigated any of this stuff about alkaline foods and/or water...until today, that is.

I suspect that my problem yesterday and the day before was from drinking the alkaline water while I still had food in my stomach. So it deactivated what little stomach acid I normally produce and, therefore, the food didn't get digested properly and led to reflux.

Unlike what I usually do - investigate stuff BEFORE I put it into my system (), I happened to be in a store the other day and wanted to get a bottle of water and I saw the alkaline stuff. And I remembered a comment on this thread from just the other day regarding alkaline water (Hayley was talking about it). So I figured what the hell and I bought it.

Subsequent to the heartburn I had yesterday and the day before, and subsequent to your question here, I did some investigating on this subject.

I'm going to paste something here that I read this morning on another web site (www.growyouthful.com). What he/she has to say about Alkaline water seems to confirm my thoughts on what happened with me. I don't agree with his idea of treating the situation with Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), though. The problem, from my point of view, with ACV is that you are not just sending this acidic liquid directly to your stomach, IT GETS THERE VIA YOUR ESOPHAGUS. Well, the whole reason that we have symptoms from GERD/GORD is that (stomach) acid is touching your esophagus, where it should not be! In the case of ACV, if you already have GERD and are letting ACID touch your esophageal skin, you will have the same bad symptoms that you get from HCL (stomach acid), (OK,perhaps not as intense (HCL is super strong stuff) but nevertheless, you'll get burning symptoms). So, my point is that I don't agree with using ACV as a "GERD treatment" but I found the rest of what he had to say very sensible.

Here it is:

Is alkaline water good for you?

Here is my experience after drinking alkaline water for 10 years. What I have to say here has cost this website many referrals. Alkaline water is a large and organised industry, and my being truthful about the long-term health problems caused by alkaline water has not earned me friends in the industry.

For ten years I drank alkaline water almost exclusively. The pH was between 8 and 9, usually closer to 8. The alkaline water tasted sweet and good, but I cannot attribute any health benefits to the alkaline water over this extensive period.

When I used to drink alkaline water, I tried not to drink it within an hour before or after a meal. This is important for high protein meals, which need an acid stomach in which to digest. Most people need more acid in their stomachs, and can improve their digestion by supplementing with hydrochloric acid. A glass of alkaline water does not help with the digestion of your protein food!.

In early 2010 I was diagnosed with severe acid reflux and GERD / GORD. I suffered blockage, heartburn, and infection of the lower oesophagus. Typical symptoms that others suffer include:

Diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome.
Allergies. Poorly digested proteins tend to switch on allergies.
Malabsorption, causing micronutrient deficiencies.
Poor digestion of foods with recognisable foods appearing in faeces.
A tendency to get gut infections since acid is required to sterilise the contents of the stomach. Bacterial and yeast overgrowth means that food is fermented instead of being digested, resulting in wind, gas and bloating. It may also be part of the mechanism by which CFS sufferers are susceptible to gut viruses like Epstein-Barr.
The pyloric sphincter will not open properly to allow the stomach contents into the duodenum. Food will tend to stay in the stomach for too long.

Whilst investigating why my stomach was digesting poorly, and my lower oesophageal sphincter (LES) was not closing efficiently, I discovered that both the LES and the pyloric sphincter are pH sensitive. In simple terms, the valves for entry and exit to your stomach are confused by ongoing alkalinity. One of the keys for efficient digestion is a strongly acid stomach. I stopped drinking alkaline water, and started treatment with apple cider vinegar. There was an immediate improvement in my digestion and the reflux disappeared within days.

I believe that long term use of alkaline water causes acid reflux and other health problems.

Research shows that alkaline-promoting / acid-reducing medicines and drugs are harmful:

Conventional medicine and the drug companies promote alkaline tablets and acid blockers to treat stomach reflux problems. The standard medical treatment for dyspeptic symptoms such as acid reflux is to try to reduce acidity in the stomach. The most common way of doing this is using a class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors. They include: aciphex (raberprazole), kapidex (dexlansoprazole), nexium (esomeprazole), prevacid (lansoprazole), prilosec (omeprazole) and protonix (pantoprazole).

In the short term, alkalinity provides fast and temporary relief of the symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn. However, the opposite is needed for a cure. For good health and long life your stomach needs to be constantly and strongly acidic. The research (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) proving this has been conveniently ignored for 50 years.

Several new studies (10,11,12) published in the journal Gastroenterology show that these drugs actually cause the problems they are prescribed to treat! After a two-month course of esomeprazole (Nexium), 44% of the healthy volunteers developed heartburn, acid reflux, or dyspepsia. Even worse, the researchers showed that the rebound acid secretion could lead to dependence on the drugs.