Tired

[Dealstreet123]

hi I am a heathy 79 year old. I have acid 24 hours A day.. hiatus hernia which has not bothered me before my throat is so sore. The doctors are no help. I cannot sleep my life is a misery. I take

20 mg Omeprazole it does nothing they put me on 30 mg Lansoprazole made no difference.. antibiotics no difference. I cannot sleep I am awake most of the night. My life is a misery I try to eat healthy. I have had test they show nothing untoward. The only comfort is chewing gum why with everything they give me chewing helps. I really appreciate this forum knowing people are in the same boat, I am at wits end what to do thanks for listening Bernie

[Jaby86]

Hi Bernie, so sorry to hear you are struggling. Just some tips that might help you that have helped me;Elevating the head of the bed (and not just putting another pillow under) you could use books under the head of the bed or a wedge pillow.

Sleeping on your left will help keep the stomach contents in your stomach

Gaviscon advance after each meal and before bed and keep some rennies next to the bed in case you need them in the night.

Try not to drink during meals or just before/after as this dilutes the stomach acid

Try and identify your triggers, I would recommend contacting a dietician to help with this. A lot of them do a free consultation which I found is all I needed.

Try to reduce stress and anxiety (I know this is difficult when you feel so poorly) but breathing exercises, mediation and walks out in the fresh air will help

Research throat coat tea for your sore throat as well as slippery elm and Marshmallow root supplements which help repair and soothe the digestive tract and stomach lining.

I hope some of these help, I did a post on recovering from Gerd on here which you will be able to find if you search it which has some more tips in. I hope you start to improve soon. Lots of well wishes

[hjskev]

Hi Bernie. Sorry you're feeling so rubbish. I know from experience that reflux can make me feel depressed and its terrible when you can't get any relief from it. I have to agree that chewing gum is the only thing that gives me any relief when I'm going through a bad patch. I notice that while I'm actually eating I feel ok, but I can't eat constantly 😀 so chewing gum is a solution.

As for Omeprazole etc I found they stopped being effective after a while and I think I read somewhere that they are not good for bones so I've stopped taking them. I agree with a lot of the things that Jaby86 suggested especially Gaviscon last thing at night. I get this from my doc. The way it works is it forms a film over the top of your stomach that prevents acids coming up so its important that once you've taken it for the night that you don't have anything else that will break the seal.

You say you have taken antibiotics. I blame antibiotics for my reflux problem. I used to have a cast iron stomach until I had something that needed antibiotics. I think they killed all the good bacteria in my digestive system, so now I try to improve my bacteria with diet.

Good luck with finding something that works for you. Try to stay calm stress doesn't help. Please come back on here and share you're experiences good and bad.

[Elionaral]

Hi Bernie, I was struggling like you ( I am 75 and always healthy. After 4 months I decided to pass a Nissen surgery. It was in 24.3 . The recovery took 3.5 months.

Now I am without reflux and hernia. I still suffer from sore troat.

I tried all the PPI gaviscon itc…. before

[Pte82]

In spite of Omeprazole and Tums, my acid reflux was unchecked. I learned the sphincter valves are connected to the vagus nerve and then the brain. My understanding is that both the brain and vagus nerve need activated thiamine (vitamin B1) for proper control of the digestive system. Magnesium is needed to activate thiamine. Problem is the blood brain barrier makes it difficult for both thiamine and magnesium to pass to the brain. I used magnesium threonate and a form of thiamine called TTFD both fortunately easily pass through the blood brain barrier. Within a few days reflux stopped and has not returned for almost a year. You can search on SIBO thiamine for other information. Always consult your health care professional before using any supplement.

[Rovelli]

Hi, sorry to hear you're suffering so badly. I ditched the famotidine and the omezaprole, and have concentrated on what i eat. No more curries or ready meals full of garlic, onion etc. Just plain dinners, lots of fruit but not citrus. No eating 3 hours before bed.

[Living-in-the-moment]

Hi, sorry to hear about your problem. I too have had trouble with throat and reflux, like many on this site. Earlier this year I posted about it, asking for suggestions, I had tried almost everything, as you say Dr's really no help. Someone, sorry I can't remember who, posted suggesting Iqoro iqoro.com/ , it costs £145, although it can be prescribed 'apparently', guess you'd have to have a very sympathetic enlightened GP. It works by training your muscles. I have been using it for 4 months, diligently, my symptoms are more or less gone, it's amazing! I don't 'push it' with my diet, still sensible, no curries or huge meals, but I can say that it has been a life changer. I would say don't bother to buy this unless you are going to follow the regime strictly (3 times a day , maximum 1 minute per session) Hope this helps. And if the person who suggested this to me us reading this, thankyou so much.

[Gavis]

Hi,

Sympathies it’s a terrible condition😞

I agree with above, we’ll the ones I’ve tried anyway, I’ve recently started in the slippery elm & marshmallow root and all seems good so far, although you never quite know if you’re just having a better patch! I am not symptom free by any means, I wish, but I’m coping right now, you do wonder if it will ever let up 😞

So I’m on Esomeprazole 20mg before dinner 1-2 hours before is what works for me, I can have 20 in the mornings too if needed but I’ve cut that out with no effects really. Famotidine 40mg at night. Gaviscon extra after meals if needed but definitely last thing at night and if having a bad night I’ll take it during the night too. I’ve started the slippery elm 2x caps twice daily and same with marshmallow root. Magnesium Glycinate 400mg 2 daily, I started taking this for leg muscle cramps but it works for GERD also apparently. Also Magcal Plus x1 daily.

I never eat after 6pm or lay down after eating, I’m trying intermittent fasting to 16/8 and that’s working ok too. Limiting carbs, onions, tomatoes, garlic & anything spicy. Reducing amount I eat, small, regular meals and keep weight in check along with bowels. I recently did 6 months of Kefir to address microbes in stomach, 150mls every morning first thing. Be careful with that one though as it can make some people more bloated. Sleep on left, raise bed head. If you get the acid right up in the throat it gets really sore, I saw my GP last week and he suggested something called Larri- an oral spray that I hadn’t heard of, apparently helps with dryness & irritation of the throat, constant throat clearing, lump in the throat and the dry cough, I have tried it a couple of times but not enough to evaluate it yet. I walk a lot as I get a lot of bloating so sitting around doesn’t help, walking is good though.

If you suffer with epigastric spasms too, horrendous, feels like you’re having a heart attack, my GP recommended a GTN spray, thankfully haven’t had to try that one in the past couple of weeks 🤞 My gastro recommended drinking warm water but that does nothing for me.

Hope some of these things help, it’s about working out what works for you best of luck.

[KaiaX in reply to Gavis]

STOP, stop the anti acids!!!! you got heartburn because your too low on acids!!!! a normal stomach is PH 1-3 as acid as it can get!!! You are low on acid, that is why you got a heart burn, you need MORE acid. Go watch Dr Berg on youtube, he will heal you.. search for his GERD and acid reflux videos. He will heal you in matter of days.