Anyone else have stomach acid reflux issues?

MysticalT

I'm really struggling food wise with this.

I've had indigestion issues since I was a kid but recently it got far worse. The feeling of a lump in my throat making me gag, burning throat, feeling bloated. The doctors prescribed Lansoprazole for a month which did take a while to work but did make a big difference as the symptoms almost disappeared completely. After the medication it's slowly started to return so the doctors have just put me back on them ( they are still checking for the cause )

I've been looking at common trigger foods and everything I read says caffeine, milk and eggs. As I try to avoid bread, breakfast is usually either oats so simple ( milk) or an omelette.

I start off the day not bloated and it builds up during the day. If I avoid my coffee ( about 7 cups a day) eggs and milk what do I eat? I've bought some fruit teas so I can swop some of the coffees but everything I can think of food wise involves one of the most common triggers.

How does anyone else deal with it?

Thanks.

Machka9

MysticalT wrote: »

If I avoid my coffee ( about 7 cups a day) eggs and milk what do I eat?

Chicken
Rice
Veggies
Fruit

Vanillabeanss2

Also stay away from spicy food. I would say subtract everything and start adding slowly. You will find the food group that is causing it.

deeno123

I’ve noticed if I eat too much at one time it will cause those symptoms you described. Try to reduce your food intake and chew your food really good creating saliva. Also try a simpler medication such as Tums. I usually take two (smoothie flavors) and suck on them till gone. Oh, and definitely avoid spicy foods. Hope this helps

shaumom

FIrst, hugs - so sorry you are going through this.

Second, before you go off bread, I would really suggest seeing if you can get the blood test panel for celiac disease (the test is invalid if you are not eating enough gluten - wheat/rye/barley - as it looks for accumulated levels of biomarkers showing you are reacting to gluten. So no gluten, no biomarkers. And the accumulation takes 4-8 weeks or so).

The fact that doctors didn't tell you to stay on wheat already suggests that either they haven't thought of testing for this, or that they or simply ignorant about celiac disease testing, neither of which is necessarily a good thing. :-/

I mention celiac disease as a possibility because it's increasing in the population, and a few years back - when you would have been a kid - the medical community had it wrong how the symptoms worked and what the presentation could be. So a lot of people who had it weren't tested. On top of that, the test, when used on kids, isn't as accurate as for adults.

And further, if you've had the issues for a long time, many doctors don't test you for it now because they think that if you had it, 'someone would have found it by now.' Which is why the average time to be diagnosed with this disease is 10 years after symptoms show up (took docs over 20 years for me).

And on top of that, celiac disease causes damage to the intestines, but can also cause stomach issues due to inflammation, which starts making you have OTHEr problems. Reacting to dairy is a common one, for example. Bloating and acid reflux are common, too.


Another potential thing you might wanna see if they are looking at is fructose malabsorption and a low FODMAP diet - symptoms with this often involve bloating specifically. The monash university has the most up to date information on this I've seen. Information on this is pretty wide spread in Australia, but dissemination among American doctors has been much slower, although it's slowly gaining traction.

Also, lactose intolerance and food allergies (if your docs are like most I've seen, they will not suggest allergy testing unless you are having hives and anaphylaxis, or you have an endoscopy and eosinophils show up.).


And all that said, for food...I can't have eggs or milk either, so here's what I got.
1. Check out asian food. Most asian food from Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam does not contain milk, and much of it doesn't contain eggs, either. And is hugely tasty. There is also rice porridge, congee, and so on, for breakfast. Also a sweet that is thai black rice - really dark purple - that you cook, then mix with mashed banana and pureed date and bake as a type of rice pudding. Again, if you are waiting on celiac testing, you'll have to make sure to have wheat or some kind still, but seriously, Asian food is a life saver. Look up Bento recipes - they work for lunch and are often quicker to make.

2. Check out socca - a French chickpea based flat bread.

3. Ethiopian food is great, and the injera bread - a sourdough-ish tasting tortilla-like flatbread which you use to scoop up food in, is egg and dairy free, typically. You can get the bread online, or from various African or middle easter groceries.

4. Many Indian dishes are egg and dairy free, and you eat with rice. Like Aloo gobi, a potato and cauliflower dish.

5. Even though there are a lot of dairy and egg dishes in Greek food, there are also a lot of dairy and egg free ones, like hummus, falafel, pita bread, many of the meat dishes.

6. And many American dishes - homemade roasted french fries, steak, roasted chicken. Make mashed potatoes with vegetable broth rather than milk, and add a little oil instead of butter. Make fried chicken with literally just corn starch and a little salt or seasonings. Sorbet. Homemade granola and trail mixes - Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips do not contain dairy or eggs and can be nice additions to those. Salads - use avocado to make your own salad dressings if you want something creamy. If you are making smoothies, just use juice rather than dairy for the liquid. Just frozen fruit and some juice, and maybe a few herbs, if wanted.


hope that helps, and good luck with the testing to find out what's going on so you can hopefully feel better!

Fuzzipeg

Because this is/has been a long standing situation which has recently got worse may I suggest you go back and keep going back to your doctor until you get a referral to someone/clinic who knows how to do more than dish out something which will help in a temporary way.

I was really wanting you to be in the US because it seems you can change your doctor over there. If EN means what I fear it does England its not as easy to see different doctors. (I'm UK) I believe you need a referral to rule out gastro issues. It could be a simple thing, such as you have a too high or low stomach acid, I really don't want it to be anything more. I doubt that looking into allergies/intolerances on your own will be overly beneficial because your issue has a long history.

I've tried FODMAPS, bread avoidance, I'd found Salilicyalte Intolerance which took out most fruits and veg which helped a little. Then discovered in my continued search Histamine intolerance which works across foods including meat and cheese! After that foods which were good on one list were out on the other. I did achieve some relief but on a very limited nutritionally deficient food list. My issues even crossed over the FODMAP isolating process.

Eventually I consulted a BANT registered Nutritionist,(UK) I paid for a raft of tests and set about following her instructions I felt easier from the start but have needed to add in digestive microbes and enzymes because my digestive system is not up to much on its own. My doctors had been as much help as a chocolate teapot.

One thing which I was told about by a long standing MFP member for indigestion was to have a bowl of porridge, oats and water cooked, nothing else, this works on a, need/use basis, by putting a blanket of porridge over the partially digested foods which should prevent the indigestion continuing. It worked for me.

Having a slow digestive transit, less than once a day ensures undigested food is more inclined to stay in the stomach causing indigestion and reflux.

All the very best. I hope you will be back in your doctors office tomorrow morning, and not waiting the two or three weeks it can take in some places to see a doctor. Some areas have an out of hours service, you could try that. If all else fails go to A&E because you sound in a bad way to me. Its not ideal but you should get proper help.

dustinjbrock

I have GERDS and have been on Nexium for 14 years. Doctor is getting worried as Nexium is not for long term use but nothing else has worked. I take a pill a day and can eat anything in the world but if I miss 1 pill, I'm throwing up stomach acid mid day.

2 diets solved this problem. Keto and Gluten free.

Of course Keto because it is Gluten free.

On GF, I was able to eat anything I wanted and not take my pills. The seriously went to a pub and had the best GF bacon cheeseburger with yam fries (I believe) and many Gluten free beers and I had no bloating at all and zero heartburn.

The things that I thought were the problem weren't. I never ate tomato sauce because I thought it was too acidic, well with gluten free pasta I can eat all the tomato sauce I want and there are no issues.

I have now switched to a keto diet and same thing, I've now gone 6 months without medication and the plus side is my guts tolerance is way up, I can eat bad for 3 day and no heartburn so long as i go back to my normal diet. Heck I could eat Mcdoubles for 2 days and would be fine!

I could not believe how much of my belly was just bloating. I've never gone to get tested for anything and I really hate to jump on the bandwagon but something about GF works for me.

iamthemotherofdogs

I'm at work, but commenting to peruse later. Yes. I have reflux, GERD, IBS, the whole 9. Hugs.

azironasun

I also suffer from acid-reflux. It normally happens late at night while I'm sleeping. It's usually prevalent when I have high amounts of carbohydrates that day, and especially bad if I mix in alcohol; think pizza & beer.

Since I started my new eating program, it's essentially disappeared. I've cut out most sugar and refined flour products. The carbs I eat now are slow digesting carbs like fruit, vegetables and legumes.

This change has worked for me. YMMV

DewGracen

Everything I eat comes back up multiple times no matter what I do. It gradually has more and more stomach acid added and less of the food in it. It's actually the worst with fruits and vegetables & their skins in particular. They even come back up the next morning from the previous night! If I haven't had anything, I just spit up stomach acid, spit, and snot.