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Heartburn

Messages
78
Do you get heartburn often?
What can you do to prevent it?
I can't stand it anymore and I have it any time I eat even if I'm now eating only healthy foods and no junk or sugar.
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Hi River, so sorry to hear you are suffering from this. My heartburn only decreased once i got on a very strict diet of no sugar, or fruit or juice or sugar substitutes. As you are allready on a good diet i dont know what the answer is for you. I have heard that most people say too much stomach acid is the problem, but it could also be the opposite, not enough stomach acid. I think you can test for this, but im not sure how, sorry to not be of more use.
 

Sean

Senior Member
Messages
7,378
I have had acid reflux all my life. Until I got sick it was not a real problem, just a little annoying once or twice a week, like it is for a lot of people with otherwise average health. But after I got sick it got a lot worse, until it became very bad and I was using over the counter anti-acids several times a day, every day for many years. It was so bad that I even had it in the morning, on an empty stomach.

Eventually I was given a work over by the gastro people who couldn't find anything specific, like Helicobacter infection, etc. But they put me on omeprazole, a strong proton pump inhibitor, and it killed the problem stone cold dead. I can eat & drink anything I want now and it doesn't cause any reflux at all.

If I stop taking it for a couple of days the problem comes right back, as bad as it was before. There are some possible long term side effects of taking the medication for years, but I don't care, life without it is a lot more difficult and unpleasant. There are also some pretty nasty possible consequences of leaving acid reflux untreated too.

Can't tell how wonderful it was to get rid of, or at least properly control, that awful and frequently crippling problem. Wouldn't wish it on anybody.

I think there is a link to ME/CFS.
 

LaurelW

Senior Member
Messages
643
Location
Utah
I'm so glad you brought this up--I never had this problem until a few weeks ago, then I got a horrible case of it. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with having just tapered off both Cymbalta and cortisol pills.(I took a couple months to do that). A doctor prescribed omeprazole, which helps--sort of. Sometimes I also have to take Tums too, but the calcium carbonate gives me cramps. I'm also worried about the long term effects (mostly bone thinning since I already have osteopenia. Anybody got ideas that might help?
 

Carrigon

Senior Member
Messages
808
Location
PA, USA
Red Cabbage helped me tremendously. But I've gone off it because you can only eat so much red cabbage. If you eat it raw every time you feel heartburn coming on, it works better than all the antacids out there. But it is only temporary. When you go off it, you get it right back. It's just it is a better, natural treatment than taking all that junk medicine and calcium. And it does last for hours if you eat enough of it. But like I said, how much of it can you stand to keep eating?
 

antherder

Senior Member
Messages
456
Do you get heartburn often?
What can you do to prevent it?
I can't stand it anymore and I have it any time I eat even if I'm now eating only healthy foods and no junk or sugar.

Hi River. I've had a chronic severe reflux/heartburn problem for eight years. I eat healthy too. Nothing makes a difference. It never stops, so I can empathise. One thing I'm investigating at the moment is that a possible salicylate intolerance may be contributing to my reflux/gut trouble. Healthy foods are full of them... Do you know if you have a problem with them? I'm waiting eagerly for the postman to deliver some capsules that are supposed to help break down salicylates/phenols. I will let you know if they provide any relief. Here's hoping...

Also, I've had the worst heartburn of my life over the last couple of weeks (no wonder people think they are having a heart attack-sheesh), and I suspect it's got something to do with the Vit D course I took. Can't link it to anything else. The Vit D seems to have increased my production of bile.
 
Messages
4
Location
UK
I tend to get it when I have a lot of sugary stuff or sometimes wholemeal bread so I try to stay clear of them, but it's not always possible. One thing that really gives me heartburn is fizzy drinks and they often give me a pain in my left arm soon after I have had them. I used to think it was my heart but I soon realised the symptoms were caused by the fizzy drink as they came on in a matter of minutes.
 

Athene

ihateticks.me
Messages
1,143
Location
Italy
I've had periods of heartburn with quite bad gastritis showing up on gastroscopy. However I have managed most of the years I've had this illness without these problems.
My mother has had such bad acid problems with her ME that she ended up with 42 stomach ulcers at one point, despite takng double the maximum dosage ever recorded of proton pump inhibitors. The doctor said letting her take this was completely experimental but, given the ulcer situation, he saw no alternative.
Lately I was talking to my mother and mentioned that I felt so weak I could hardly stand up without trembling and she said this happens to her when a wave of truly terrible acid is coming on. I said that for me it happens when I am not taking enough magnesium, and that I was not having acid problems lately. That ver night I was awake with dreadful heartburn, which recurred several times over the week.
We put the two together when we realised that most antacid preparations are based on magnesium. I am convinced there is a connection with magnesium deficiency and excess stomach acid. After 2 weeks on high dose magnesium (1000mg a day as ordered by the doctor) I have not had any more heartburn attacks over the last week.

I am just putting this suggestion out there in case you want to try it. My mother is trying it out, if it can help her I would regard that as weighty evidence for consideration. It took me 2 weeks to get the full effect.