Feel the burn

[Nohal]

DS has been diagnosed with acid reflux. He has been dealing with this for over 6 months. He has taken Nexium which didn't help much and is now taking Pantoprazole twice a day. In Nov he had an endoscopy done which showed and inflamed esohpagus, the doctor told him it was severe for someone his age (26). He was also taking Axid before bed. The insurance company now refused to pay for the Axid or any other drug from the same family. The Axid would cost $130 for a one month supply. The nurse at the doctors office told him to take 2 Zanax before bed. He watches his diet closely. He seemed to be doing better but is now doing worse as it is keeping him up at night. If you also suffer from acid reflux, what do you do to ease the burn?

 

[hulagirl87]

I've developed acid reflux from being pregnant. It's pretty bad. I use a combination of Tums and Pepcid. I also sleep sitting up. And I avoid fried foods all together. That makes it way worse. I hope that he feels better soon!

 

[Nohal]

He's tried the some of the over the counter stuff and it didn't help. He has also been sleeping sitting up for awhile and doesn't eat fried foods. We eat nothing but bland foods and frankly it is very boring. I read somewhere to eat apples before bed, tried that and it doesn't work. Also read chewing gum after eating helps and that doesn't work. I'm hoping to find something that he gets relief from, thats why I thought I would check with my DIS friends.

 

[Normangirls]

DH found vanilla ice cream gave him a lot of relief. So, just to be, you know, supportive, we'd have a bowl every night before bed. I'm a team player that way.

P.S. I love the name of this thread!

 

[castmemberb4]

I have reflux to the point of having 2nd degree burns on my vocal cords. I take Rx Previcid in the am and OTC Pepcid before bed. I still sometimes have problems but admit I don't watch my diet like I should. Additionally I take Zantac when I know I'm going to have something I shouldn't. I've had two different people (one of them the PA at my ENT office) tell me they drink a glass of whole milk before bed. I have not tried it as I'm not supposed to have whole milk. Hope this will work for your son, it's a miserable condition.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

I also suffer from horrible acid reflux, to the point where i will wake up in the night and have acid coming out of my nose and mouth...ewwwww

I have tried many prescriptions and found prevacid works well for me and in the US it is an over the counter drug...i had others that worked well, but kept switching to find something not as costly but effective....

I also found making myself sick would work as the acid would then leave my stomach...gross i know but when your suffering to the point of thinking your having a heart attack its worth it...i also chew alot of heartburn pills...

Sorry no other help, but i can sympathize....

 

[Disneycrazy!!]

My dad swears that buttermilk calms his down... But I don't know what is worse..drinking buttermilk or reflux..

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

I and my father both suffer from it as well. My dad gets Rx of Prevecid which he says helps, and he has it really bad. I usually do ok with zantacs before bed. Try to eat as early as possible before going to bed. Also, I heard the opposite of milk/ice cream. Milk has a high acid level if you can believe it. Try to do some combinations of Zantac 150 and tums and not eating for a few hours before bed. Hope he finds relief, AR is just horrible!!

 

[handinpocket]

I have reflux to the point of having 2nd degree burns on my vocal cords. I take Rx Previcid in the am and OTC Pepcid before bed. I still sometimes have problems but admit I don't watch my diet like I should. Additionally I take Zantac when I know I'm going to have something I shouldn't. I've had two different people (one of them the PA at my ENT office) tell me they drink a glass of whole milk before bed. I have not tried it as I'm not supposed to have whole milk. Hope this will work for your son, it's a miserable condition.

Oh, NOOOOOO. Don't do this. Milk actually will soothe the inflamed esophagus at first but will coagulate in the stomache and make it produce MORE acid.

 

[kellydizfan]

I have what is called LPR Reflux - there is another long name for it. I don't have the pamplet any longer. I take Nexium once a day in the Morning. I wait 1/2 hour before I put anything in my Stomach. Seems to work. I am not to drink caffeine, take any kind of mints, soda, no stress - yeah right. Are the big ones. There might be other things but right now I can't think of them that the dr. told me to stay away from. My DD 12 has it also but she takes Zantac when she is bothered by it. I think my DS9 has it also as he is always complaining of stomach - which DD12 did and had the Upper GI done. I am afraid we may have to go that route with DS9.

 

[S. C.]

DH has AR, his doc told him no caffeine.

 

[clarabelle]

Eat very light in the evening -biggest meal at lunch time
Avoid caffeine as pp mentioned
Loose weight if he is overweight
Avoid acidic foods -tomatoes, citrus fruit

 

[The Mystery Machine]

He's tried the some of the over the counter stuff and it didn't help. He has also been sleeping sitting up for awhile and doesn't eat fried foods. We eat nothing but bland foods and frankly it is very boring. I read somewhere to eat apples before bed, tried that and it doesn't work. Also read chewing gum after eating helps and that doesn't work. I'm hoping to find something that he gets relief from, thats why I thought I would check with my DIS friends.

Not sure where you heard that but eating/drinking before bed and chewing gum are no-no's! Esp. dairy. It might feel like it is relief but it is not helping toward healing the esophagus.

What is his diet? We have been eating bland for over 10yrs. Yes it is screamingly boring.

Here are the reg. triggers he needs to give up in the short term while he tries to heal.

Coffee, soda, alcohol, OJ, ice cream, all spices and herbs, including pepper. Salt is the only thing you can use to flavor food. Avoid lemon/lime.

No gravies esp. brown. Brown gravy is evil. No tomatoes in ANY form, including pizza. I mean NO TOMATOES period. Avoid onions, or anything harsh to begin with. Avoid all high fat foods or high sodium. No fast food.

Nothing cooked on a charcoal grill or anything "burned" like charbroiled.

Finally, constipation and stress will make it worse.

I have luck with Prevacid. It is really a matter of finding the right meds that work for you while you heal. And healing takes forever. Once you find your "zone" with foods/meds and heal then you can have the forbidden foods and then begin to find your trigger foods.

Some of us have different trigger foods that light you up. Recently I have had to give up my wine. For whatever reason it is lighting me up right away. I am so soooo sad over it.

 

[Tink9295]

I have reflux to the point of having 2nd degree burns on my vocal cords. I take Rx Previcid in the am and OTC Pepcid before bed. I still sometimes have problems but admit I don't watch my diet like I should. Additionally I take Zantac when I know I'm going to have something I shouldn't. I've had two different people (one of them the PA at my ENT office) tell me they drink a glass of whole milk before bed. I have not tried it as I'm not supposed to have whole milk. Hope this will work for your son, it's a miserable condition.

My DS annd DH take Prevacid also. A life saver for them. They also take Pepcid or Zantac if they are not eating wisely. They try not to eat after 6 or 7pm. They take their prevacid 1st thing in the morning, at least a half hour before they eat. This seems to work for them. It was a lot of trial and error, and doctor's visits and found that timing is everything. Especially for my 17 year old DS.

Good Luck.

 

[tinkntraining]

My DH has the same problem, along with a terrible hiatal hernia and something called "Shotsky's ring".

He tried everything OTC and prescribed (prilosec, nexium, prevacid). Nothing helped until the doc tried Protonics (I don't know if that's the brand name or generic name). Then his insurance company decided that Protonics was no longer on their approved drug list. Since it was the only thing that helped DH, his doc wrote a letter to the insurance company, describing all he had tried, and that only protonics is successful. It took a little while, but now it is an approved drug and covered under our prescription plan.

Other than the drugs, DH was told to stay away from caffeine, cigarettes, spicy foods, tomatoes, and to avoid alcohol. Between the modified food plan and the protonics, DH's acid reflux is now manageable.

I'd see if the doc would be willing to write a "need-based" appeal to the insurance company on behalf of your son (if the Axid was working).

Good luck. From watching my DH, I know the pain can be awful!

 

[KAMLEM]

The nurse at the doctors office told him to take 2 Zanax before bed. He watches his diet closely. He seemed to be doing better but is now doing worse as it is keeping him up at night. If you also suffer from acid reflux, what do you do to ease the burn?

Did she tell him to take Zantac or Zanax? They are very different drugs!

 

[Tinkmom75]

I take aciphex. I had to take it twice a day for 4 months. My flare up started really bad over lots of stress! My triggers are dark chocolate and almonds. Almonds, weird huh. I know a lot don't agree and my gastro doc didn't agree, but my Chiro adjusted my stomach. That is weird, but that hiatial (sp) hernia pushes up through the stomach and into esophagus. Basically he pushed it back. Also, I took a couple tbs of apple cidar vinegar every day for a couple weeks. Dillute it with water. This is a natural remedy that is supposed to help regulate your system. Good luck. Mine was so painful that my stess got worse at the anticipation of having it. I was really uptight about it. Right now I am experiencing relief after having done all of the above. When I had an endoscope the doc also stretched my esophagus. I didn't know this could be done.

 

[Nohal]

He takes zantac not zanax, although maybe the zanax would knock him out so he could sleep.

 

[Nohal]

Thank you all for your replies. I'm sorry that so many of you suffer from the same thing. He has been eating ice cream before bed, but after reading some of the replies I think he will discontinue that. He watches what he eats, and is very thin which is something else I worry about. I had heard something about apple cider vinegar and bought a bottle. He took a sip straight out of the bottle and I guess you know what happened. Talk about feeling the burn. What is the ratio of the apple cider vinegar and water, how long did you do it, and did it really help?

 

[disneymarie]

He's tried the some of the over the counter stuff and it didn't help. He has also been sleeping sitting up for awhile and doesn't eat fried foods. We eat nothing but bland foods and frankly it is very boring. I read somewhere to eat apples before bed, tried that and it doesn't work. Also read chewing gum after eating helps and that doesn't work. I'm hoping to find something that he gets relief from, thats why I thought I would check with my DIS friends.

Is there a medication routine he is on for a chronic condition. I was taking topamax to prevent migrains, it killed me with heart burn. The solution was to take a different medication.

You said he take two xanax at bed time? That is pretty aggresive. I use a small dose of valium for muscle spasms, monitored. But with a flare in anxiety attacks, can only take a short term Ativan minimal dose to manage. The doctor would not perscribe a xanax.

Did they try a Klonopin, I feel so sad that at his age he has this issue. I went through it with my dd until we found the medication that was flaring its ugly head on her system. She was ready for surgery and I suggested deleting a med, and immediate it decreased.

Steroids too can cause it. I had an epidural injection recently and my face broke out and gave me severe reflux.
Hugs mom