Does anyone have Gerd/Acid Reflux?

[JadenLayne]

The back pain is very scary!!!! Like I said I was terrified it was my heart although I didn't have any other symptoms and the normal EKG.........Back Pain is just plain scary. I have anxiety and panic disorder and I have to fight to not panic because of the back pain.

 

[SillyMe]

The back pain is very scary!!!! Like I said I was terrified it was my heart although I didn't have any other symptoms and the normal EKG.........Back Pain is just plain scary. I have anxiety and panic disorder and I have to fight to not panic because of the back pain.

LOL, I'm not laughing at you...I'm the same way. I have terrible anxiety. Whenever I have the pain, I start wondering if it's my heart or lungs or blood clots or wherever the hell my paranoid mind goes. Then I do start having chest pains, which makes my paranoia even worse, but by that time the chest pains are usually caused by my anxiety.

 

[JadenLayne]

or wherever the hell my paranoid mind goes.

You sound JUST like me! OMG I've had my toe hurt and somehow made it into a heart attack. I try and make EVERYTHING into a heart attack. Honestly I bet I have easily had 15 EKG's in the past 15 years. It's always normal and always my anxiety.

Heck like I said my Dr. even told me I had reflux. I just hate to have ANYTHING hurting because I know my mind is going to spiral out of control.

 

[SillyMe]

You sound JUST like me! OMG I've had my toe hurt and somehow made it into a heart attack. I try and make EVERYTHING into a heart attack. Honestly I bet I have easily had 15 EKG's in the past 15 years. It's always normal and always my anxiety.

Heck like I said my Dr. even told me I had reflux. I just hate to have ANYTHING hurting because I know my mind is going to spiral out of control.

Well, at least you're better than me and have the tests done. I usually ignore it, convincing myself in the end that's it's just my anxiety and know that's not good.

 

[Mysteria]

My back has been hurting between my shoulder blades lately and it's accompanied by burping and burping and burping. My Dr. told me before that I had acid reflux but I haven't ever taken anything for it.

Now I think I need to take something. Can anyone recommend a good over the counter med? Prilosec or maybe Zantac? Which is best?

Get it checked again by a doctor. If you have had acid reflux for some time it could be damaging your esophagus. I take aciphex once a day (with food) and 300mg of zantac before bed. Something a lot of people don't realize with meds like aciphex and nexium is that they are supposed to be taken with food to work the best.

Myst

 

[JadenLayne]

I'm going to try the over the counter stuff for a few weeks and if that doesn't work I'm going back to the Dr. and have it tested. Mine acts up off and on........it will hurt for a week then stop for a few months then act up again. Of course it acts up worse with spicy foods but I mean bad, like it is this time is not that often. I want to keep it that way though so if the OTC stuff doesn't work I'm definitely up to taking an RX to make it stop!

See I'm the exact opposite. I'll run to the DR. over anything that I don't know what is. Now say I fall and twist my back then I won't go to the Dr. because I know what that pain is from. It's things I don't know that freak me out. I'm crazy though.....LOL!

 

[camreesmom]

DH has AR so bad that he ended up in the ER after throwing up blood really, really bad one night. I've never seen that much blood in my life. They put a scope down his throat and showed us the pictures of the huge ulcers in his esophagus. He was on Protonix for a while and now he's back on Nexium. We also have the head of our bed elevated. You really do need to have it checked out and make sure you get it taken care of. AR/GERD can do some serious damage!

 

[JadenLayne]

OMG how scary!!!!
I've wondered about the way I sleep. I like to sleep just as flat as possible. My pillow is flat flat.

I'm going to get it checked regardless when I go for my yearly in April........gosh it just seems like I've lived in the Dr.'s office with the adoption lately.....LOL!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

See, I've been wondering the same thing. Is my reflux caused by my malfunctioning gallbladder? If I have my gb out, will the pain and reflux go away? Or is the reflux going to get worse. I'm supposed to go see the surgeon, but I've been putting it off.

No way to know.

However since getting out my gallbladder and then having this awful reflux issue, the doc's have since gone...oh yea, that happens.

 

[Patty3]

According to my gastro doctor, Nexium is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach and he says that you need to wait an hour before you eat anything. If you only wait 10 minutes than the nexium only works 10% as well as it should. My doctor also recommends an endoscopy for gerd. You never know what you are dealing with. For example and I do not mean to scare anyone, DH was having acid reflux. I kept bugging him about getting an endoscopy and he finally did so last Friday. It turned out that he has 5 ulcers in his stomach and three are bleeding. I asked if these were stress related and was told no. These were caused by DH taking a baby aspirin every day for years. If left untreated, doc said that it could turn into stomach cancer. As for me, I was having gerd issues a few years back. I had an endoscopy and doc found three erosins in my escophagus. I have been on nexium and had another endoscopy and they are now gone. But, I am still on Nexium.

 

[JadenLayne]

the doc's have since gone...oh yea, that happens.

Oh real nice way to prepare you huh

 

[Disney Doll]

My recommendation would be to go to a gastroenterologist before you start taking OTC meds. You need to be properly diagnosed. The symptoms you describe can be many things other than GERD. You said you ruled out cardiac, which is good, but it could be gall bladder or any multitude of other things.

Go to a doctor!

 

[jbmom]

My recommendation would be to go to a gastroenterologist before you start taking OTC meds. You need to be properly diagnosed. The symptoms you describe can be many things other than GERD. You said you ruled out cardiac, which is good, but it could be gall bladder or any multitude of other things.

Go to a doctor!

I agree, dh has to have a endoscopy every year. His gastro guy is wonderful. DH has a birth defect in his stomach and even water gives him terrible hear burn. His stomach lining was growing into his esphogus. Go see a gastro dr.

 

[JadenLayne]

Okay I'm going to ask a stupid question.......Are Gallbladder Problems also Gastro problems? I have never gone to see a specialist, just my regular doctor. I think a gastro Dr. could help me alot more but if it's something that isn't Gastro would he be able to tell me that too? Or if it's gastro combined with something else?

 

[waughzee]

I don't have any frontal pain, no right side under my breast, no right shoulder, no dizziness, nausea etc. Just the back pain that is def. associated with the gas, using the bathroom.

Is it possible that you have IBS?

 

[Feralpeg]

I've had stomach problems off and on for years. I've taken Prilosec several times. About four months ago, I started having a lot of problems. I have the gas pains and stomach pain. I've had a couple of episodes where it felt like a knife in the right side of my back. My doctor diagnosed acid reflux and put me on prescription Protonix. Even after taking the Protonix, I have to be very careful of what I eat.

I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy last week. I have three polyps in my stomach. I am going back to the gastro on April 11th to discuss the findings. Until then, I will continue to be extremely careful of what I eat. For about two weeks, I lived on Mylanta Gas.

I gave up drinking anything but water. I do find chicken to be one of the easiest things for me to tolerate, but that is plain broiled chicken. Blah!

 

[Missy Mouse]

Try good old Zantac first. Move on to Prilosec if you have to. However, you need to re-evaluate your diet choices. Sometimes a bland diet is the only effective way to stop the acid reflux. Definitely avoid tomato sauces, peppermint, and spicy foods. If you have put on some extra weight, I would strongly advise some exercise (do it for your health anyway), but relief of symptoms is strongly correlated with weight loss. In general, sleep with your chest elevated 30 degrees above your stomach, and don't eat after 7 pm if you have a normal sleep schedule. You don't want to sleep with a fully belly.

*Also, you may want to get checked out by your doctor just in case. In women, heart attack symptoms are OFTEN written off as acid reflux so they don't get checked out. Is it a heart attack? Probably not. But never say never, so call your doctor to be safe, and if it gets worse please don't hesitate to head to your ER.

 

[Missy Mouse]

Okay I'm going to ask a stupid question.......Are Gallbladder Problems also Gastro problems? I have never gone to see a specialist, just my regular doctor. I think a gastro Dr. could help me alot more but if it's something that isn't Gastro would he be able to tell me that too? Or if it's gastro combined with something else?

You may just want to see an internal medical specialist and then get referred to the GI doc. But yes, you can see a gastroenterologist or even a hepatologist (liver) for gallbladder issues. Gallbladder problems are very distinct though. They usually come with elevated white blood cell counts, and have unmistakeable contraction pains in the right upper quadrant of your body, between the shoulder blades, and right below the xiphoid process.

 

[4greatboys]

I have had my gallbladder out and have GERD and the symptoms were very different from each other for me.

With my the only symptom I had was passing a gallstone. Hurt like hell. It was a bad pain in my upper middle abdomen.

With GERD I went to the dr because I always felt like I had something in my throat. Not something big, just something small that wouldnt go down. My dr said that was one of the signs.

You are not supposed to have caffeine, things high in acid like tomatoes (which I LOVE), no carbonated beverages. Put something under the legs of your bed at the head to incline it about six inches. No eating 2-3 hours before you go to bed.

You do need to see a dr because it can be very serious and can led to esphogeal cancer if it is prolonged.

My dr has me on Nexium twice a day also.

 

[Blondie]

I've heard that diet soda (or any carbonated soda for that matter) is a BIG no-no with GERD and acid reflux.

Beth, I know you used to love your diet coke, time to phase it out sweetie!