My Acid Reflux / Heartburn / GERD Problem - What to do?

[Winston]

Anyone else have GERD? It's so painful right after I take a few bites of food.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... tment.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... /gerd.aspx

[Winston]

Youre lucky the doctor didnt give you a prescription drug like nexium. That's usually the first thing they do. Why didnt you try baking soda? Its the easiest and most natural solution. And it works. Thats what i use. So do you still have acid reflux now that youre in New Zealand?

No acid reflux here. If I'd known about baking soda I would have tried it. Somebody told me to use apple cider vinegar, that just made it worse

What is the healthcare like in the Philippines? Is it hard to see a doctor? Expensive? I suppose they all speak good English?

In Taiwan it was about 10 USD to see the doctor. Here in NZ it is about 30.

Healthcare in the Philippines is ok. It depends on what you need done. They have all the typical treatments, drugs and antibiotics that western countries have usually. Hospitals and doctor clinics are everywhere here. It only costs 300 pesos or 400 pesos to see a doctor here for the consultation fee. Then more if medicine is prescribed. Yes the doctors usually speak decent English and are well educated. Not always the nurses though. Btw in Taiwan I paid 100 NT to see a doctor, which is about 3 dollars USD, probably because I have Taiwan health insurance.

[Guhji]

I've tried a bunch of different things, including prilosec, the most effective acid blocker. Unfortunately, it's addicting so you end up having to take it forever. I now drink aloe vera tea constantly, and it has solved the problem. Buy some fresh aloe vera plant and boil it in a pot.

Gaviscon creates a barrier between the mouth of the stomach and the esophagus. No side effects.

Quit drinking alcohol and coffee.

[Mojo]

Get a gastroscopy to make sure its not a hiatus hernia. This can cause those problems.

I did not read through the whole posts, so please excuse if its already mentioned before.

[Winston]

I've noticed a pattern here. In Taiwan I can eat anything, including carbs and drinking coffee, and my acid reflux symptoms go away and do not flare up much. But once I'm in Philippines again, my acid reflux and GERD symptoms flare up again, and I have to take antacids again or drink baking soda.

Why is that? Is it because Philippines food is lower quality and less clean? Does lower quality food cause acid reflux? If so, how? Or because I eat more carbs in the Philippines? However, I notice that I can eat carbs in Taiwan and my acid reflux doesn't flare up. So I wonder what it could be. Maybe pollution is a factor? Because the air quality in Philippines is horrible.

[Winston]

Check this out. Apparently taking probiotics (good bacteria) helps reduce acid reflux. There are many probiotic supplements available at health food stores and online at www.iherb.com too. Or you can eat foods high in probiotics, like yogurt and kefir. Check out these articles about it.

https://www.refluxmd.com/probiotics-for-acid-reflux/

https://chriskresser.com/get-rid-of-hea ... ple-steps/

https://www.optibacprobiotics.co.uk/pro ... cid-reflux

https://1md.org/article/probiotics-trea ... cid-reflux

https://www.livestrong.com/article/5312 ... -for-gerd/

[xiongmao]

I used to get it a lot, I think it's overeating + inactivity + stress. I only really got it when I had a desk job.

My boss 3 jobs ago had a lot of stress and had like a drinks cabinent of Gaviscon.

I don't get stressed so much these days. Teaching has largely cured me of it. Once you've regularly stood up in front of 60 people and run the show then nothing else worries you that much.

[Winston]

Check this out. I have a theory that acid reflux and GERD may be related or connected to sleep apnea, so I Googled my question and it turns out that many medical experts agree with me. Especially since they have a high correlation, with those having one usually having the other as well. They also say that CPAP machines which alleviate sleep apnea may also reduce acid reflux too. If so, then in theory treating one of them may help treat the other. See the links below.

https://www.sleepapnea.org/acid-reflux-gerd-sleep/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879818/

https://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/ne ... ea-related

http://sleepeducation.org/news/2016/10/ ... cid-reflux

https://www.healthline.com/health/gerd/ ... sleep#wait

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 080008.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25173794/

https://aasm.org/study-finds-that-cpap- ... eep-apnea/

http://jcsm.aasm.org/ViewAbstract.aspx? ... 1564434960

https://badgut.org/information-centre/a ... ease-gerd/

https://www.cheapcpapsupplies.com/blog/ ... id-reflux/

[MacDaddy]

Check this out. Apparently taking probiotics (good bacteria) helps reduce acid reflux. There are many probiotic supplements available at health food stores and online at www.iherb.com too. Or you can eat foods high in probiotics, like yogurt and kefir. Check out these articles about it.

https://www.refluxmd.com/probiotics-for-acid-reflux/

https://chriskresser.com/get-rid-of-hea ... ple-steps/

https://www.optibacprobiotics.co.uk/pro ... cid-reflux

https://1md.org/article/probiotics-trea ... cid-reflux

https://www.livestrong.com/article/5312 ... -for-gerd/

Some day you might actully figure it out

https://culturewhiz.org/forum/topic/sum ... l-research

[Winston]

Some day you might actully figure it out

https://culturewhiz.org/forum/topic/sum ... l-research

Are you saying bacteria in the gut is responsible for all illness and disease in the world? Come on. Those who claim that everything is caused by one thing negate the complexity of the world and the human body.

Where is this gut exactly? In the intestines? If so couldn't i just take probiotics or yogurt to kill off the bad bacteria in my gut and fix all health problems immediately? If not, why not?

Also, can you show me any credible medical or health websites or experts who can validate your theory about gut bacteria or flora being the cause of every illness in the world?

[MacDaddy]

Yup

See: https://culturewhiz.org/forum/topic/can ... t-recovery

Probiotics or yogurt don't contain all the good bacteria you need. Moreover, the bad bacteria can still feed on other stuff you eat. For a reset, you'll need a natural antibiotic like oil of oregano for 14 days then a zero carb diet for 2 weeks then you'll need to increase your fiber intake to something 40g a day. Lots of bananas, broccoli, Chia Seeds, etc. Vinegar is also good, multiple entroviruses and encapsulated virus families are susceptible to degradation of the encapsulated membranes so the immune cells can do their job by acetic acid. Not to mention it prevents the little cat parasites from going through their egg larvae stage by again degrading the membrane while it tries to feed in the gut off of all the excess food in the intestines... hint, never eat more than 200cals within 2 hours of eating...Only way to prevent these reinfections is a lot of fibers in your diet, I mean A LOT OF FIBERS!!! Twice the daily recommendation minimum!

You may also want to get an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and STD tests. You may have a nasty biofilm like H. Pylori. I would recommend my patent pending GTE cleanse that temporarily disrupts and disables the communication pathways that allow biofilms to form. The problem is that it also temporarily disables a bunch of enzymes in the liver, so you can’t take it if you have fungi that takes out the liver or liver diseases already. But like I said, eradicating them isn’t the hard part, it’s preventing them from coming back that is super difficult because so many people have them and people don’t cultivate the gut bacteria biodiversity that feed off of fibers enough anymore!

Credible medical or health websites? Are you kidding? it's all over the place now!

https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorde ... whole-body

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying- ... our-health

https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a2851 ... -bacteria/

https://newatlas.com/obesity-microbiome ... ria/60766/

http://theconversation.com/belly-fat-gu ... ets-120035

[Winston]

@StanfordGuy
Are you saying leaky gut or bad bacteria in the gut is responsible for all illnesses in the world? Isn't that an oversimplification?

Why can't probiotics be the answer or solution?

Btw, it seems the health websites are not in agreement over whether one should take probiotics before a meal or after or during. See below.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/be ... probiotics

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/ ... probiotics

https://doctordavidfriedman.com/blog/pr ... ed-to-know

https://www.livestrong.com/article/5172 ... y-stomach/

[Winston]

This video corroborates what PAG said above about the connection between inflammation and gut flora.

[HouseMD]

I had GERD. Shook it by losing 30 pounds, changing my diet, and stopping drinking