I suffer from acid reflux I have had two endoscopes and a CT scan and no reason can be found for the bad acid reflux I have tried

[Ann1954]

All medication used for acid reflux but nothing helps it is so bad that it feels like I have a bad throat infection all the time due the the acid burning my throat my doctor is not interested saying that they can not find any serious causes I do not know what to do any more nothing helps can any one help me

[willow13]

Go back and keep going back until your doctor gives you some form of medication that stops the acid forming in the first place. Lanprazole works on the stomach to stop it producing so much acid.

[sensus]

I am nearly 5 years post op and still get this same problem. I take 2 x 20mg omeprazole a day. I also need to vomit a lot of food eaten earlier (especially before going to bed). I would appreciate any thoughts on this too.

[jay2908]

Reflux is a difficult and troubling issue. If we look at the potential causes we may be able to decide on a treatment. From my own experience:-

1.sitting upright or even standing while eating helps ensure the food moves along.

2.angle your bed so that you are sleeping on a gentle incline, thus reducing the chance of food coming back up.

3. Have a nice warm drink a few minutes before bed to help any food move along before you lay down.

4. Drink some water before bed, so that if you do get reflux, it'll be water coming up rather than food.

5. Take an anti-acid pill like omprezole, to stop the acid production. Again, I found taking this just before bed worked best for me.

6. Look at medication that could relax you at night, I take 25mg amitriptalene 2 hrs before bed.

I hope some of this helps.

Jay

[JohnS1]

Hi Ann,

The advice you've been given seems very sound. I particularly agree with Jays practical suggestions of looking into the problem physically as well as medically. It may be an idea to list when reflux occurs and what you were doing and how you were positioned at the time and see if altering your position can improve things. Is it a daytime problem or just at night? At night you have to sleep somewhat inclined which makes you more susceptible but during the day you can keep more upright which should help.

Reflux initially was a problem for me and would still be if didn't do the following.

Angle my upper body in bed with 4 or more inches of packing under the mattress at my side under my back and head plus a very firm pillow. This keeps your bottom and legs horizontal making you less likely to slide down the slope. If this doesn't work you may have to sleep quite upright.

I don't sleep on my LH Side, Instant reflux if I do. Find out your best side.

If I lean forward and bend my head during the day, Instant reflux occurs so I don't do it.

Experiment with what you eat and see if certain things lessens it. If it's mainly at night vary what and when you last eat at night.

Doing practical things can improve matters and let you feel more in control and may help you to cope but don't do anything extreme.

The above tips af course are in addition to your Doctors advice and medications which are the most important. If you are worried about trying new things ask their advice.

Good luck John

[Hidden]

The usual reasons for reflux are a) something wrong with the lower oesophageal sphincter (or removed by surgery), thereby allowing stomach contents to rise up into the oesophagus; b) size / body shape, which then adds physical pressure from below the diaphragm, pushing things upwards; c) excess of certain sorts of food - which then ferments and creates extra upward pressure - see low FODMAP diets; d) hiatus hernia - as for a); e) sometimes it is bile reflux, coming from the gall bladder - they can do tests for this, but bile tastes really awful and is alkali so antacid medications will not combat it; f) temporary stomach upsets; g) sometimes the lower oesophageal sphincter can be relaxed by nicotine; perhaps g) stress / tension might exacerbate things; and h) perhaps some stomach conditions like ulcers. These are in no particular order of likelihood, and there would be others that medical experts would know about.

If you have this amount of bad reflux and the above have been discounted for one reason or another, you would still want to find the underlying cause and the answer is probably to see a gastroenterologist, and keep a food diary meanwhile to see if some foods cause more problems than others.

A doctor might well prescribe a relatively high dose of omeprazole (say 80mg daily) for 4 - 6 weeks to see if this switches off the stomach acid and solves the problem. But good practice would then suggest leaving it off (there will then be a 'bounce' for a while) to see whether the underlying cause has been resolved.

If antacids like Rennies or Tums do not resolve it, and neither does a high dose of omeprazole, then the chances are increasing that it might be bile. Gaviscon is an alginate and would provide its protection for a few hours regardless

of whether it is acid or bile.

So all the above advice is valid - but underlying causes are important.

[hold]

Hi, I have been sufering from acid for the last 4 months. Tried Lansoprazol and Ranitdine which doesnt seem to work. It was worse in my throat, felt like a lump and constant throat clearing but that seems to have got better. I now have a burning sensation and mild adominal pain in my stomach. I have an appt tomorrow with my Gp. Its so tiring I just wish it would go away. I cant understand why both medications will not not work? Could it be something more sinister?