24/7 Acid Reflux: Good day, I developed... - Acid Reflux Support

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24/7 Acid Reflux

Snowflake10 profile image
26 Replies

Good day, I developed very bad acidity in July 2021 just after having Covid-19. I woke up one evening with a very bad acidic taste in my mouth and it has never gone away ever since. It feels like I have a cup of lemon juice in my mouth 24/7. I have been to numerous doctors and specialist and none seem to be able to find the cause. I have been on several different reflux / Gerd medications and nothing has helped. I have done an elimination diet, I have even fasted for 2 days but nothing has helped. I have been for scopes and 24 hour ph monitoring, and no one seems to be able to tell me what is causing it or how to cure it. My throat is constantly sore, some days it even affects my ears. I wake up in the mornings with a mouth full of acidity. My dentist has indicated that he can clearly see that my teeth are completely eroded from the acidity but the doctors keep telling me that they can't see anything. It has has affected my health and mental state very badly in the last 2 and a half years and I don't know where to or what to do at this stage. The first Gastroenterologists in 2021 said that I had a hiatal hernia, but that it was not bad enough to cause the symptoms that I was having. The second Gastroenterologists said it was due to stress, and the 3rd Gastroenterologists said it was long covid. I saw a remedial stress practitioner, she said it was my pancreas and that it was not making digestive enzymes. My GP had my pancreas testes and it seems there is no problem. I am not over weight, I do not smoke, and I avoid all the foods that could possibly trigger this. I am intolerant to diary and gluten and have noticed that when i consume anything with diary in the symptoms become much worse. Any advice would be welcomed as att this stage I am out of options. Thank you.

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Snowflake10
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26 Replies
Jumpey profile image
Jumpey

Surgeries such as fundlopication or Lynx procedures are available to stop reflux if you have a problem with your sphincter which you could have if acid is flowing freely from your stomach.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to Jumpey

Thank you so much for your reply. I will ask the specialist I am seeing later in January to check if this may be the case.

Jumpey profile image
Jumpey in reply to Snowflake10

Good idea.Good luck.x

ParkSchool5 profile image
ParkSchool5

Hi, sorry to hear about your horrible acid reflux. My reflux also got worse after having Covid in September 2022, although I have had GERD since 2019. I have a 2cm Hiatal hernia, Gastritis and Celiac disease. Do you try sleeping propped up so gravity can help the acid stay down? I take am on PPI's and take Gaviscon 5 minutes before bed. However, often the acid still breaks through and most days I wake with a red, sore throat and croaky voice. I agree it is very depressing when something goes on day after day despite trying everything in your power, it can wear you down, also worrying about the damage being done. I do believe anxiety has a large part in reflux. My symptoms are much worse during times of stress. Have you tried Carafate (Sucralfate)? I found this did help me somewhat, as it coats the stomach and protects any ulcers/lesions etc against acid. Hope you get some relief soon.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to ParkSchool5

Hi, thank you for your response. I am sorry that you are also suffering from this horrible reflux. So I was told in 2020 that I had reflux, but I did not even know that I had it, until of course once I got Covid it just became a 100 times worse and then the doctor told me I had Gerd. I have a reflux pillow and sleep propped up, but this still does not help. Neither the Pantoprazole Tablets or the Omeprazole Capsules helped at all, I had been on the prescribed meds for almost a year when I stopped as it made no difference at tall. I am currently taking Gaviscon but I am afraid this too is no use. I will definitely speak to the specialist about possibly trying the Carafate if that may be something that may help. Wish you the same, relief soon.

hjskev profile image
hjskev

This sounds horrible. I know when I have a bad acid reflux flare up I can get stressed about it. A vicious circle really. I get the acid in my mouth too and worry about my teeth. The dentist has prescribed a very high fluoride toothpaste for me. I was having a lot of trouble with my teeth crumbling and touch wood since I've used the toothpaste I haven't had a problem with crumbling. I just hope its helping with erosion. You can only get this toothpaste from the dentist.

I'm not much help with the reflux I'm afraid. I suppose you already take Gaviscon at night and sleep with your head raised? I've changed my diet because I think my reflux is linked with constipation. So I eat a high fibre diet, and I have tried to increase gut bacteria. At the moment I'm having a good patch. Fingers crossed. I hope you find answers but try and get your dentist to prescribe the toothpaste.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to hjskev

Hi, thank you for your response. Besides the erosion I am also having very bad problems with my teeth crumbling / sensitive due to the reflux. Can you please share the toothpaste name? Yes I do take Gaviscon at night and sleep with y head raised on a reflux pillow. I know that constipation can cause this too so I eat a high fiber diet to avoid this. I am pleased to hear you are having a good patch, fingers crossed! :)

hjskev profile image
hjskev in reply to Snowflake10

Hi The toothpaste is made by Colgate and its called Duraphat . simplymedsonline.co.uk/dent...

There are two strengths. I have the strongest. Just another thing about toothpaste. I get burning mouth syndrome probably caused by silent reflux. When my mouth is burning I find some toothpastes irritate and make it worse. Fortunately Duraphat feels gentle in my mouth. Just in case you have the same symptoms. If I have a bad flare up I use Oranurse oranurse.co.uk/unflavoured-... this helps.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to hjskev

Thank you for the info. I had the same thing happening to me when I used Colgate for sensitive teeth, my mouth was on fire for weeks. I read up about the burning mouth syndrome... as I suffered really bad. I changed my toothpaste to the Oral B sensitive and it made a huge difference. I will most def try the Duraphat. Thank you so much. :)

hjskev profile image
hjskev in reply to Snowflake10

Just had another thought. Chewing gum gives me some relief.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to hjskev

Thanks for the advice, I’ve tried that though. Unfortunately due to the erosion on my teeth I don’t have much enamel left, so when I chew gum my teeth become so sensitive I can’t chew anything afterwards for hours. :(

SMHRT profile image
SMHRT

Have you tried H2 blockers? I didn't get on very well with Omeprazole, Lansoprozole or Pantoprozole. I started taking Famotidine about 10 days ago last thing at night and it seems to stop a lot of acid being produced when I sleep.My doctor told me that it works differently to PPI's so perhaps worth considering.

Hope you find some relief soon.

peacefulandcalm profile image
peacefulandcalm in reply to SMHRT

is this pepcid ac? which others please? I don' know if we can take these every day long term? thank you....

SMHRT profile image
SMHRT in reply to peacefulandcalm

Yes I think Pepcid is another name for it. Have looked on-line and noticed that you shouldn't take it for more than 14 days unless advised to by a doctor. My doctor has prescribed this for me as my heartburn/reflux hasn't improved with Ppi's. Take care.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to SMHRT

Thank you for your reply, I am definitely going to speak to the specialist about it when i see him next week. The PPI's had no affect on me, even a double dosage at some stage made no difference at all. Thank you for the advice.

westcountry profile image
westcountry

I also had awful acid problems and gastritis after getting Covid. Although I have a hiatus hernia I didn't have dreadful acid issues until I got Covid. I found out since that this is a common problem with quite a few people and I also had heart inflammation (myocarditis) from Covid. Things I tried are: using an acid reflux pillow...quite expensive but worth it as it has stopped the constant sore throat, restricting food/drink to eliminate acidic foods, using slippery elm which really helped eliminate gastritis. I now find after 2 years that I can eat a wider variety of foods again to a certain extent. Eliminating cow's milk products helped...I use almond milk. Hope this helps and good luck with all this.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to westcountry

Thank you for your reply. It seems t me that a lot of people have acid issues after Covid. I have had 2 specialist telling me I have long Covid and there is nothing much they can do. I am definitely going to get some slippery elm as I have not tried this. I have eliminated all diary from my diet as I have noticed it definitely makes things worse. I will look at investing in a proper reflux pillow. Than you for the advice! Good luck to you too.

westcountry profile image
westcountry

I got the slippery elm from Cytoplan and the reflux pillow and covers are from Putnams .....it is quite long so that it's more graduated which helps your neck. I hope this helps as this is such a very miserable condition.

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to westcountry

Great, thank you I am going to look into this today and see if I can get the pillow delivered here in the Netherlands. Thank you for your advice!

Elionaral profile image
Elionaral

Hi, I passed the surgery also ( fundoplication) it didn’t help!

Snowflake10 profile image
Snowflake10 in reply to Elionaral

Hi, oh no that is not good. No doctor has suggested I have the surgery, as they don't seem to know what is actually causing the extreme reflux. I am so sorry it did not work for you. So what do you do now?

Elionaral profile image
Elionaral in reply to Snowflake10

nothing - I take PPI and another pill. They don’t help ….

Elionaral profile image
Elionaral in reply to Elionaral

The doctors know what is causing the reflux- but in most causes PPI , surgery, don’t help

Washington1 profile image
Washington1

Hi. I've been having reflux issues since 2020. I was ill with a virus and chest infection over Christmas 2019 and it lasted until the February. I now wonder if I had an early case of covid. The stomach flare ups have been intense, with me struggling to eat and losing a lot of weight. I'm recovering from a few months of it, where I felt like I had an elephant sitting on my stomach. I wake up every night with acid reflux. Endoscopy shows gastritis, but not enough damage to lower sphincter to cause the gerd.

I have come across and spoken to a nutritionist about low stomach acid, which then causes the gastric juices to go into overtime and give the same results as high acid. Interestingly, lansaporazole made my symptoms worse, so I think low acid is likely. Anyone else experience this and if so what has helped?

Washington1 profile image
Washington1

Also, has anyone tried a mouthguard? Especially the ones designed to strengthen the lower oesophageal sphincter?

Pinkcatfairy profile image
Pinkcatfairy

I also got reflux issues after just having Covid , although I have had issues before ,it has been a long time that the reflux (silent) has been this bad .

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