Anyone else suffer from Acid Reflux?

[Beauty]

Mine is so bad today! The pressure is something awful! UGGHHHH and if I burp one more time I'm going to scream! My Dr. did give me some Prevacid and I just took my first one. Does anyone else take it? Do you take it daily or just when the reflux is acting up??

Any tips would be soooooo greatly appreciated...I hate this!

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I take mine daily of course it bothers me daily

It brings relief but my Ins. has deceided I do not need it anymore LOL I sure am glad they know all that stuff about my body. I mean how would my Dr and I ever figure it out without them ???


Wishing everyone a "Tagged" night

 

[Chattyaholic]

DH is stubborn and wouldn't go to the doctor for the longest time concerning his heartburn. It got to where he had to be on a very bland diet, almost everything gave him severe heartburn. He finally relented and made an app. with the doctor. Doctor put him on 30 mg of Prevacid, he took one capsule each morning BEFORE his morning coffee and breakfast. They worked REALLY WELL for him, but he only had a 6-week supply. After the 6-weeks were up, he started having heartburn problems again. He went back to over-the-counter-stuff but finally called and asked for another prescription. They only gave him 15 mg this time, but they did the trick. He still takes one capsule each morning, and has had no problems with heartburn and has gone back to being able to eat whatever he wants (including pizza). Hope they work as well for you too!

 

[Piglet]

My 6 yo DD has acid reflux and I am sure meds are a bit different for kids than adults, but she takes Prilosec everyday and at one time took it 4 times a day - she had a lot of irritation in her esophagus from having it so long and Docs not able to get it in control. Once it was controlled and on the right amount of meds, it started to heal and we are now in the process of cutting the Prilosec back. She now takes it just once per day and is doing well with that.

Beauty - have you had an endoscope put down to make sure there isn't some damage done that is causing more problems????

Melinda

 

[ead79]

I have acid reflux. It's sometimes pretty mild, and other times it really acts up. My doctor told me to try over the counter Zantac (he said I could double the dose when I needed to), and it works well for me. There are some foods I just avoid though.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Greasy foods and caffeine will cause it to really flare up.Finally got DH to go to the Dr and he told him that caffeine and greasy foods were the worst for causing it,so my DH drinks only caffeinne free drinks and has cut back on the greasy foods and has since been able to stop taking the medicine.

 

[always quiet]

My DH has been on treatment for another illness for quite some time now. After his first course of treatment, his red counts continued to drop. They did the endoscope and discovered he had bleeding ulcers in his esphogues! Turns out this other medication speeds up your system and causes your stomach to make so much acid, it ate the holes! He has been taking protonix for 3 years now. They said there is no guarantee this will ever stop so it looks like he'll remain on it. Of course, once treatment stops, we have the option to stop the protonix and wait and see if the ulcers come back!

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

Yes I was on prevacid until the surgery and now I am taking
Zantac 150 mg , stronger than the prevacid. Hopefully soon I will be able to stop it.

Have they done the endoscope yet?

If you do have acid reflux, they will tell you to stay away from caffeine and spicy foods, alcohol and acidic foods. Sometimes watching your diet helps. Good luck!

 

[Dopey & Grumpy]

I have acid reflux too. I'm going in for an endoscope on 9/9. My Dr. put me on Nexium (the little purple pill) and it just about got rid of the symptoms entirely. I take one each morning. Unfortunately, I don't watch what I eat as closely as I should and, even with the Nexium, I still get acid reflux, especially at night. Chocolate seems to do it to me. Luckily, my sweet tooth isn't fussy what I give it - as long as it's sweet. I was told diet helps and was given a little book to read. I'm sure I'm eating things I shouldn't be!!!

 

[shoes99]

I have been taking Prilosec long term, and last year switched to Nexium. I take it daily. I also chew Wrigley's Surpass gum after meals if I have sauces, or gravy, or anything I think will make me uncomfortable. I have an inflammed esophagus and do get an annual endoscopy.
Wrigley discontinued making Surpass gum this year, and I had to run around to the local food stores and buy up their store shelf supply. Got enough to last me a year.

 

[katerkat]

My mom has GERD and takes some nasty smelling pills. She's a walking drugstore - takes about 20 pills a day. It runs in our family - my two sisters and an aunt and several cousins have GERD, another aunt, some more cousins and myself have IBS. What a wonderful gene to share.

 

[dtuleya]

Just saw this thread and wanted to ask some questions about what DS is going through. He is currently taking Prilosec once a day and Hyoscyamine (anti-spasmotic) four times a day (before he eats a meal). He has been having stomach pain off and on since about March. He is 14 and can be intense at times when it comes to sports, so the doctor and I felt that it was stress/anxiety related. Now I'm doubting that. The doctor said that the two meds should have relieved his symptoms, but they aren't. He goes Monday for an Upper GI. What exactly can this show us? Then in two weeks he has an appointment with a Pediatric Gastroentrologist who used to be the department head at Hershey Medical Center for a consult.

My DS said that he can swallow fine, but when the food gets to a certain part in his digestive tract (before his stomch) he cries out in pain. He forces breakfast and lunch down, but by the time dinner comes around he just can't stand to eat anything else. This is after taking his meds and waiting 15 minutes to eat. School didn't start yet, he's looking forward to being a Freshman and he says he doesn't feel like he is under stress. Now I'm starting to worry since this last episode has been going on for about a month and a half. Kids shouldn't have to deal with this stuff. I wish it was me instead of him.

I should add that he doesn't have pain when he lays down, just when digesting food.

Any suggestions or experiences with this type of pain?

 

[Piglet]

dtuleya - He may have a problem with the opening from the esophagus into his stomach. I may be too small. My boss has this and has to have it stretched with an endoscope occasionally. He says that it just feels like food is stuck in there (which is what it happening).

He could also have problems with espophagitis (inflamation and irritation in the esophagus). My 6 yo DD had horrible pain for a long time until they finally diagnosed her with it. Once she started Prilosec and got the right doseage, she has been a different girl.

Good luck to you and PM me if you want to talk. We live pretty close to Hershey, PA, but we travel to Children's Hospital in Phila for my DD's GI Doc.

Melinda

 

[Snowysmom]

My 17 year old son has been taking prilosec for almost 2 years. He was having laryngospasms that woke him up and he couldn't breathe for over a minute. His larynx was swollen and inflamed. He spent 4 days at Children's Hospital. He takes 40 mg prilosec, has a bed wedge so his head is elevated when sleeping, doesn't eat 3 hours before bed, no caffeine or spicy foods. He had been eating alot of the altoids mints before he got sick and those are poison for anyone with acid reflux. So far he is doing well. He also has asthma which the doctors think may be related to the acid reflux. Prilosec will be available over the counter next month.

 

[Robinrs]

I've had GERD for years now. I was on Prilosec for about two years until I was told about the long term affect on the liver... ... it's amazing how my doctor managed to leave that out when he told me to take one everyday until I die!

I stopped taking it and now take ranitidine only when I need to. Hopefully I saved my liver in time!

I have had the endoscopy, in fact I've had every kind of "scopy" you could imagine. What bothers me is why we're pumped full of medicine but nobody tells us "maybe if we change our diet?" I was violently sick, upper GI and lower GI for two years, lost 75 pounds and laid up on my back, went to a natural doctor who told me to get off milk, sugar and separate my starches and proteins and BAM... it was GONE! I once had a pharmacist tell me that if I got well they'd all lose their jobs! Well, I hope they found someone ELSE to live off of because it ain't me anymore!

 

[browneyes]

My SO takes Prevacid daily.

He had severe acid reflux. He also had a swallowing problem where 9 times out of 10 when he ate or had anything to drink, it would get caught in his throat and he'd gag and get sick. He couldn't even swallow a tiny Advil tablet. He had to crush everything like that. He finally went to a Gastro a couple of months ago. He diagnosed him with GERD and a hiatal hernia. They went in and stretched his esophagus (the dr said he had never seen one that closed up before). He's doing real well now. They found out he had H. Pylori too. The antibiotics they gave him were huge. A couple of days after surgery, he didn't have any difficulty swallowing.

He rarely has heartburn now, but he takes his Prevacid daily. Prior to his surgery, he took Prevacid and still had awful heartburn.

I hope your pain goes away, Beth.

 

[jan/cape]

As Snowysmoms Prilosec will be going on sale over the counter next month. I heard this today. My S.O. takes Prilosec about every 2-3 days. He said it's the best! He could never eat pizza or spicy foods. Now if he knows he will be eating those things he takes a Prilosec before hand as preventative maintanence.

 

[Micca]

I was on Prevacid and it worked great for me. My HMO decided that I should take Nexium instead, and it too takes care of the problem. I only have to take it every 2-3 days. I think these meds are some modern day miracles. It's not bad paying for something that actually works