Hello does anyone else suffer with acid reflux?
6 months since my heart attack and in the last 3 weeks it has got worse and worse. I am on all the meds. Blood thinner, beta blockers, statins, aspirin and Ramipril and Lansoprazole.
Doctor changed me to Ranitidine but no change.
Have burning in my stomach, chest and mouth. It’s got so bad that I am having a camera down my throat on Monday( Can’t wait)
Any help happily accepted
Hello i had the same symptons it is very difficult to live with. I was diagnosed with a hiatus hernia on my oestophagus (quite a common thing to have ive soon realised) and with this diagnosis i am able to control it through diet alone, yes it works and with a bit of willpower you can too. You are not necessarily going to have this so please don't worry/panic. not necessarily going to have this so don't worry/panic. This is my experience. But when you experience this kind of pain you are willing to try anything.
On the plus side, I have a suggestion for you on what i did. I started out on a plain diet for a week, no chocolate 😭😨😨 (that was the hardest one) no coffee or black tea ( lots of water and peppermint tea) ,no spicy foods or alcohol. Its not too bad and it was only a week, and boy did i notice a difference straight away. I did it the same time as the deechox last March so raised money at the sometime, it also gave my system a break for a month from chocolate . Now after a week introduce one food a day at a time, this way you can see if a food affects you straight away or over a course of a day, once you are happy a particular food doesnt upset you introduce another one. Wow what a difference, i found out chocolate is my enemy 😭😭 nooooooo!!. Certain types especially milk chocolate will feel like someones set a bonfire in my stomach, as long as i stay away from it i have no problems. Also i was told to get gastro resist tabs as these will disolve in the gut not the stomach, aspirin especially. Ranitidine worked wonders for me originally, but had enough of taking tablets.
I wish you luck and fingers crossed for you're procedure. Take care
Thanks for that. I am trying a really dull diet and a few things I have seen on internet.
I have cut out dairy and like you chocolate.
One thing that seems to help is chewing gum.
I will stick at it and hope I get some relief
Regards
Neil
Thats interesting as yoghurt helps soothe my stomach. See we are all different 😄. Another one that sets my stomach on fire is artificial sweetner especially in fizzy drinks.
Good luck and hope relief comes soon.
Just a thought - have you tried taking Lansoprazole (which is supposed to counter the acidic effects of Aspirin et al) 30/60 minutes before you take your meds. Aspirin and prob blood thinners should be taken after food - so after breakfast if you're on one a day. Good luck with your upcoming procedure. Doesn't sound very pleasant!
Thanks Steve,
I will try that
Regards
Neil
Are you on Clopidogrel/Ticagrelor? If so, with Aspirin, that's an anti-platelet treatment that can aggravate your stomach and should be taken immediately after/with food - just in case you're not doing so. Good luck!
Hello,
I also have a hiatus hernia, it took a while to identify the things that would bring the discomfort on.
For me I found a few dairy products would be triggers so I ended switching to lactose free cheese as an example and cur down on the amount of spicy foods I ate, not stopped just cut down the frequency.
Also as already mentioned I found the greek/natural yogurt diet help to calm it down and keep it at bay.
I tend to have a bit of the yogurt before bed as night could be a bad time for me and reflux and that really helped to keep it at bay at night so I could get some sleep.
Simon
Greek/natural yogurt DID help......not diet😖
About 25 years ago, I had a really sore throat which wouldn't go away. After quite a few visits to my doctor, he eventually got so fed up with me, he threatened me with a camera down my throat, to which I said yes please, there's obviously a problem. I must admit to being a little nervous, but it was ok once I'd relaxed and went very well. They found 2 ulcers which were the the cause of the reflux. My doctor's advice was to put books under the bed legs (headboard end) so I slept downhill, and a course of zantacs, they were pretty useless, then losec, which worked, then were changed for omeprazole, 15mg.
The thing that helped me most, right from he start was, cut down on dairy, and with certain food it was trial and error till I got it right. Tomato soup was the worst by far. It took a while at first, and I suffered at times, but I got there.
A lot of people I have talked to about this subject pretty much have one common denominator as you and I have said, dairy products was/is a common trigger, but as you say in regards to food and drink triggers it is trial and error but you do get to the root cause most of the time.
Simon
I had the same and this worked for me:
Firstly I switched to gastro resistant tablets.
I take the lansoprazole as soon as I wake up on an empty stomach.
I have breakfast 20 mins later and take my Ramipril and Clopidigrel after.
I take my aspirin and statin at bed time so I’m asleep if side effects kick in.
Worth a try.
Hi. Interesting. Not sure if this helps but...I started with stomach and breathing issues 3 years ago then massive tiredness ( eventually all lumped together as Chronic Fatigue). The tests included a Gastroscopy and a Manometry. The Manometry found that the muscles in my digestive system weren't talking to each other when food was coming (basic description!). Like others, meds didn't really help but taking things out of my diet did, mainly things like potatoes and spirits. Anyway, all these issues were treated separately as no link could be found. Had to finish work and then 2 years later , 6 six months ago) cardiac arrest and HA! Normal BP HR and cholesterol.
Cardio nurses said my diet wasn't balanced so put potatoes back and hey presto, the reflux was back when I woke up every morning, so experimenting with chick peas and the like now. Good luck. You can get it to the point where it becomes not an issue.
Please research celery juice and drinking it first thing in the morning good luck
Oh and by the way - just relax, breath normally and think of nice things during the procedure. (sounds easy, eh!) At the end my consultant asked if I had been a sword swallower in a previous life.
Hi I have suffered with acid reflux for a while now. Saw a Gp who gave omeprazole, what a difference I found after the first tablet. Plus he told me not to go too crazy eating the foods that were causing it. I found at night I'm fine laying on my back or left side. But as soon as I turned to my right side, up would come the acid. So that might be worth a thought!
Regards Dee.
I was diagnosed 2 years ago, put on tablets and was told to cut back on dairy, Stop caffeine and try not to eat after 8pm at night... Also to place a couple of big books under the bed to raise it a few inches at headboard end - don’t use extra pillows instead as this doesn’t give the correct position to benefit you.
It works. I now use decaf and have cut back on dairy and rarely eat late. The books are still propping up the bed but I’m no longer on medication so they can stay there. I hope you get sorted soon and good luck for your procedure.
I have been on Pantaprazole now for 2 years. Cardiologist stopped aspirin and put me back on Clopidogrel, no more acid. Had a short spell in hospital last year where they gave me aspirin and immediately acid returned. Stopped aspirin and away it went again. For me obviously is the aspirin. Hope you get sorted soon.
I had acid reflux two months after my HA, aspirin was the cause.
Aspirin was cause for me..just stopped as cardiologist is too conservative..still lots of gastric issues left wondering which other medicines cause gastric issues
There is a direct link between GERD and the heart in for instance Atrial Fibrillation, especially in thin people, therefore my cardiologist made me promise I would not ignore it.
As is seen above, we are all different for the triggers. Raising the bed, avoid sleep on the right, take smaller more frequent meals, avoid lying down straight after a meal, seem to be common helps.
Gastric reflux can be caused by too much acid in which case one of the acid reducers for a limited time of say eight weeks might work. Limited time, because they become addictive. But, reflux commonly happens because of too little acid, especially in older people. The sphincter at the lower end of the oesophagus requires high acid as a trigger to shut it.
There is also the general problem of a sore gut/oesophagus, which is hence ultra sensitive to the slightest reflux or to foods normally acceptable. As has been mentioned, there are other causes such as ulcers.
You need to find a health worker who will help you sort out what exactly is your problem, instead of blindly prescribing. My doctor prescribed omeprazole for a few days, and boy did it hurt!! She wanted to refer me, and I said, "only to a doctor who believes in the minimum of medicine and intervention"
So in October, I decided to try and work it out for myself. I did the obvious, including stopping chocolate, strong coffee, and any meal involving tomato paste or onions. Almost by chance I found that brown bread irritated, it was too rough. I invested in Gaviscon - tablets and paste, and bought the wrong kind, the kind with mint! Of course, mint is a well known irritant, which is included because it also is good against wind. So I bought the kind with only alginate/bicarbonate in them.
Some dislike dairy. I loved it. I found that fromage frais, or sticky pasty cheese, worked well. This suited my self-diagnosis, that my gut was sore and needed ointment. I also found that salty cracker biscuits significantly helped.
I hope some of this helps.
I suffer from GERD as well, my cardiologist changed aspirin to Clopidogrel and its working, yes according to all the replies, alcohol and chocolates are the worst thing but I still have it occasionally and face consequences, however chewing gum also helps me and also strangely sparkling water and best position to sleep is on your left side and Not right, I always avoid citrus food ie tomato puree etc and spicy foods
Hubby was given Omeprazole (a proton pump inhibiter) which got rid of the problem. Not sure how long he should have been on them but was given a one month supply after his quadruple bypass in November.
Best wishes to you xxx
Hi, Have you tried Gaviscon Peppermint Double Action. I get it on prescription, it is quite expensive to buy over the counter but it certainly helps me. I am from Scotland.
Side effects from bisoproporol
Reduced Heart Function
Breathless & weak from Dilated Left Ventricle and Atrial Fibrillation. Can I change this?
Not prepared for the anxiety that follows heart surgery
Hiatus hernia struggling 
