The All-Natural Regimen That Has Helped My Reflux Problem

[Stardust]

To NYer

Hi NYer,

I read through this and it's interesting. I'm going to try it. I have such weird symptoms when I take PPI's. They give me substernal burning that I didn't have before I took them! It happens usually on the 3rd or 4th day into the PPI. I take one and my chest starts burning like I have heartburn. But I didn't have heartburn before I took one. And then it makes my swallowing painful. They are strange and powerful drugs.

Anyhow, you said you couldn't tolerate PPI's. What were your side-effects exactly?

I have a few questions/concerns about your natural regimen. It looks great but about the black rasberry powder. Could it possibly cause reflux just because it's black rasberry? Or are rasberries a GERD safe fruit? I'm concerned about this.

Also your Canadian Gaviscon link didn't work. How do you get it? Does it work as well as American Gaviscon?

I'm curious to hear your story with GERD and how you came to this solution. Do you have LPR type symtoms and does this regimen help with those? Also, what is your main diet like? Anything you don't eat (wheat, gluten, dairy) and what do you eat?

Also, wondering what you did or do for your anxiety. I know all to well about waking up shaking wondering what my GERD symtoms are going to be for the day.


Thanks for all the info! I'm VERY interested.

Star

[NYer]

Anyhow, you said you couldn't tolerate PPI's. What were your side-effects exactly?

Too many to list, but included severe dry eyes and mouth, anxiety attacks, and chest pain.

about the black rasberry powder. Could it possibly cause reflux just because it's black rasberry? Or are rasberries a GERD safe fruit?

Doesn't bother me one bit. I eat fresh raspberries all the time, too. But the powder is even less "acidic" than the fresh fruit. I mix it with either water or Rice Milk. Just don't get it on your clothes - it stains.

Also your Canadian Gaviscon link didn't work. How do you get it? Does it work as well as American Gaviscon?

I order it from CanadaDrugs.com. Yes, it works as well.

Do you have LPR type symtoms and does this regimen help with those? Also, what is your main diet like? Anything you don't eat (wheat, gluten, dairy) and what do you eat?

Yes, I have GERD and LPR. I'm not fine but I'm 90% better than I was before.
I'm also on what is probably a much more restricted diet than I need to be but I don't eat gluten, dairy, soy, chocolate, mint, tomatoes, onions, garlic, black pepper, red pepper, green pepper, radishes, red meat, citrus, pineapple, ice water, very cold food (i.e., ice cream), fried foods, very oily foods. I eat a relatively low-carb diet (NOT the super low-carb diet recommended by a book you've probably seen sold on here - that did absolutely nothing for me). I eat a lot of chicken, fish, vegetables, and salad. Lots of fresh ground flax seed. I take supplements of B, zinc, C, MSM, Quercetin, L-Glutamine, and a few others. The ONLY thing I drink is room-temperature bottled water and also Rice Milk with my cereal and with the black raspberry powder. I eat a lot of fruit (except citrus and pineapple).

Also, wondering what you did or do for your anxiety. I know all to well about waking up shaking wondering what my GERD symtoms are going to be for the day.

I don't have to do ANYTHING for anxiety. As soon as I started taking digestive enzymes, I slept through two full nights and no longer had a problem with anxiety. My anxiety was caused by reflux and bloating at night keeping me from sleeping soundly (I didn't know that at the time). Once I started the digestive enzymes and digested and absorbed my food the way I was supposed to, my body relaxed and slept and my brain reacted by going back to normal. No more anxiety.

[Stardust]

Too many to list, but included severe dry eyes and mouth, anxiety attacks, and chest pain.

I'm sorry to bother you about this but I'm trying to get an idea if you have the same problem with then as I do. After I take a PPI for a few days I get the sensation of the PPI making my chest burn. I know it's the PPI because I won't have the chest burn before I take it then suddenly I do even before I eat anything. Then I will also have chest pain but only when I swallowing something on the PPI. I get a burning feeling while I'm swallowing on the medication. I can't understand why this is happening. I noticed that you said you had low stomach acid and I'm wondering if this is why for me too.

[NYer]

No, I didn't have specifically that issue, although I did take a Nexium once and within minutes I got a horrible burning in my esophagus that lasted for hours.
I don't think your side effects have much to do with low stomach acid, necessarily. It's just that PPI's are pretty powerful and nasty drugs that a LOT of people cannot tolerate.
Check out this website: [url]www.askapatient.com[/url] and type in the name of the particular drug you're taking (namely, in this case, one of the PPI's). You'll see an astoundingly long list of horrible side effects that people have had from them.

[NYer]

Rooibos Tea (Red Tea) Very helpful

I don't want to double-post, so I'll put a link here to another thread I posted yesterday...

I have found over the past three weeks that Rooibos Tea (Red Tea) has been extremely helpful in substantially reducing my heartburn and wheezing. And it tastes good! Here's the info:

[url]http://forums.heartburn-help.com/showthread.php?t=8017[/url]

[Teddy]

Naturopath

Can you tell us who your naturopath is?

[NYer]

Hi Teddy,
Her office is in Connecticut. I don't want to put her name out here but if you send a note to the webmaster with your email address, I'll send it to you.

NYer

[Teddy]

naturopath

Nyer, how do I send a note to the webmaster?

[Hawk]

E-mail [email][email protected][/email]

Always mention that you like the color of his tie. Seems to help motivate him.

[Thistle]

Always mention that you like the color of his tie.

What??? The webmaster wears a tie?

[NYer]

10-months Update

Hi All,
Since I just referred someone to this thread, I thought I'd read back through it and see if anything has changed that I should update here.

It's been 10 months since I first posted this and I'm sill so much better than I was a year ago, it's a Godsend.

I still get very mild heartburn at some point almost every day but it's very controllable (usually with digestive enzymes or a tablespoon of liquid Calcium-Magnesium supplement).
I still wheeze but nowhere near as much as I did. I still sleep on a wedge to prevent reflux and wheezing - unfortunately, sleeping like that has caused havoc with my back. I already had back problems but apparently my back doesn't like the angle that I'm sleeping on. But it's a Catch-22...if I sleep flat, I wheeze, which is a direct result of refluxing. Well, I'm trying to work on getting my back better.

I increased the amount of Absorb-Aid digestive enzymes to FOUR with each meal and I do feel that it has made a difference. I take one when I start the meal and the other 3 when I finish. Also, I realized that they sell Absorb-Aid as a powder. On a regular basis, that's a bit more involved than simply taking the capsules. But when you have indigestion or heartburn, it's really easy to mix the powder with water and it helps a lot. Of course, you can just open the capsules into water and accomplish the same thing, but it's easy to scoop out a teaspoon (equiv of 4 caps) and mix in water. Helped me a lot when I had a stomach virus and was very nauseous. In fact, it helped more than Pepto Bismol.

I take 2 grams (approx 1 tsp) of L-Glutamine before meals on an empty stomach (total of 6 grams per day) - it's powder and I mix it with water. I also added 1 500 mg capsule of Mastic Gum between meals twice a day. Mastic gum is definitely recommended if you have h-Pylori, by the way, which I don't. But I think it helps, in general, with stomach issues and I did have gastritis when this all started.

I still do all the other stuff that I described above. Although I almost never need to take Gaviscon anymore. I keep it handy just in case, though.

I'm still extremely strict diet-wise. I don't eat anything that could possibly remotely be a trigger. I don't know if any of those things are actually triggers for me but I don't even want to risk that. So, no onions, pepper, garlic, coffee, black or green tea, tomato, citrus, pineapple, mango, chocolate, or mint. No dairy, soy, or gluten. I stick to a relatively low-carb diet and the only fat I eat is olive oil, nuts, fatty fish, and chicken or turkey without the skin. Lots of dark green vegetables and fruit. Oh, I found black grapes to be a trigger the other day, so no more of those. I also stay away from very cold foods. Oh, and no sweets.

The only thing I drink is water (filtered), rice milk, and rooibos tea or chamomile tea.

I really miss chocolate....and ice cream.
But I'm still thin, so I guess that's a plus.

All the best to everyone here. I love to know that my info has helped you - keeps me coming back with more.
Happy spring!
NYer

[Teddy]

black rasberry powder

Do you still take the black rasberry powder?
Teddy

[NYer]

Yes, I do. Although not quite as often lately. I used to do it twice a day every day. Now it's more like once a day. I like to mix it with Vanilla Rice Milk, which has a sort of natural sweetness to it, so with the Black Raspberry powder, it's sort of like having a shake.
It's certainly a healthy thing to have, even if it weren't for the esophageal benefits.

[NYer]

Low Motility supplements

I posted another thread about some natural supplements that are supposed to be good for motility issues. I haven't tried them but I figured that people reading this thread might be interested in that, too, so here's a link:
[url]http://forums.heartburn-help.com/showthread.php?t=8056[/url]

[Teddy]

black raspberry powder

I got the black raspberry powder today in the mail. I mixed it with some soy ice cream and it was great! I plan on adding to smoothies, with yogurt and granola, and mixing with juice. Can't hurt! I loved the little can it came in.