Has anyone gotten heartburn relief from losing weight?

Copelandmom

I'm interested in hearing if anyone's heartburn or GERD has gotten less since they have lost weight, or generally eaten smaller portions. My heartburn Dr. said if I lose around 20-40 lbs. my heartburn should reduce significantly. I would love to hear some encouraging stories. Thanks

RoadsterGirlie

My husband has suffered from chronic heartburn in all the 12 years that I've known him.

He started WW back in January. He's lost 13 lbs so far and has NO HEARTBURN WHATSOEVER.

I don't think it's so much the weight loss as it is the change in diet. He said he felt relief after the first week.

sidonieaten

Not sure about heartburn but reflux was gone after six pounds!

Louiseisme

Yep, pretty much gone.. I thought I was having a heart attack and it was really bad heart burn in Nov 2011. Went on OTC heartburn medication for about 6 months. Started eating healthier in Feb 2012. Now I hardly eat fried foods, and unless I eat a very heavy meal close to bedtime, no more heartburn.

tbetts23

Heartburn way reduced! But, it's weight and diet related. At the start I had to take my Zantac twice a day. 45 pounds later I only take it in the morning. Except when I was on vacation. Two days in I was back to twice a day. Too much food/alcohol.

kskroch

yes, was on Prilosec and and ate a bottle of tums a month before I lost.

rjmudlax13

I've suffered from acid reflux disease since I was a teenager. I've always been somewhere in the neighborhood of a healthy weight, so I'm not sure if weight has an effect. From my experience, it has more to do with the type of food you eat. For me the big triggers are fried food, refined white carbs and chocolate. The rule of thumb for me is that the more processed it is the more heartburn I get. This is not always true, but mostly.

kerrylee54

The first ten pounds did the trick for me - I've had no issue since.

mwbulechek

I used to eat 4-8 tums a day before my weight loss. I have not taken one since sometime in December! So, yes I would say weight loss has given me relief!

Flowers4Julia

I did, but it wasn't just from losing weight, it changed drastically when I cut out grains (wheat, corn, oats, barley, etc)! Those "healthy" whole grains take longer to digest and thus produce a lot of acid.....worth researching!

StaycJulia

Absolutely. After I lost baout 40 pounds I noticed I no longer had acid reflux and heartburn.

thecakelocker

Neither my husband or I have had heartburn once since we started losing weight about a year ago.

joshmcnelly3

It's been incredible. Eating better has made my heartburn disappear. Love it love it love it!

tsikkz

YES

llkilgore

Same here. Losing the weight put an end to many years of chronic heartburn, as well as a developing problem with sleep apnea.

upnorthmj77

I'm hoping a bit of weight loss will do the trick for me too. I've been on RX Omeprozole (Prilosec) for atleast 5 years. This posting has been very encouraging!

prattiger65

I don't know if it's the weight loss or the change in my diet, but I don't have it anymore.

Sandy3313

I have suffered from heartburm for a very long time, your DR is right if you lose the weight and change your eating habbits the heartburn n reflux will lesson...I do feel so much better without the heartburn but I still have to watch certain foods that I know does give me heartburn, but for the most part I really don't have it anymore I feel if I continue to lose the weight I will no longer have it! good luck!

singer201

I can't say for sure if it's from the weight loss (heartburn went away entirely with about 30-40 lbs. lost, weight about 175) or from eliminating wheat and other grains from my diet, or a combination of the two. I was taking omeprazole AND ranitidine at one point to keep it under control.

victoriannsays

I suffer from GERD and I haven't noticed any change In symptoms since taking on a healthier lifestyle. I take a medication for it every morning and I still get symptoms at least once a day.

Happy for all of you that have gotten better though!

Duck_Puddle

Yes, but like a couple posters above, I'm not sure if its because I lost weight or because I don't eat the crap that gave me troubles (or not very often). It may be a combo. I've had heartburn twice in the last year-once when I was having holiday goodies a little too much, and once more recently for no reason that I can discern. I used to have symptoms daily-kind of all day.

serenapitala

Yep!

jzammetti

I had chronic heartburn when I weighed 197 (5'2" tall). And I mean CHRONIC - even water gave me heartburn!

Now, at 125 pounds - no heartburn at all - not ever.

I think I used to eat so much in one sitting that I created the problem...now I eat smaller amounts and more often. I think that is probably what fixed it (not necessarily the weight loss).

Onperch

Absolutely. I get acid reflux. Losing weight made it go away.

rahlpn

YES!!!! I have for a LONG time suffered from heartburn. My father suffered from it (and got esophageal cancer, he's a non smoker and non drinker so the GERD was the cause, he's cancer free right now, yay!) and my sister suffers from it. When I was pregnant I had to take Zantac and Pepcid every 12 hours (I would alternate med every 12 hours) and use Tums in between, about 10 a day. I don't attribute it to what I was eating, I would get heartburn on an empty stomach or from drinking water. Chocolate, milk and greasy food did not help though. I have drastically cut my milk consumption (I still consume dairy in the form of cheese and yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, etc.) and immediately started noticing a difference. I have lost 27lbs in the past 2.5 months so I attribute it to not having as much fat pushing up my actual stomach and forcing the acid to be pushed up into my esophagus. My diet is obviously better and my portions are now controlled. Overeating makes it worse and spacing out your meals will definitely help. No greasy foods. More fruits and veggies. Naturally if you do that you will lose some weight. I think I have had heartburn maybe 2 times since the beginning of January and that was on an empty stomach and I think that was because was hungry and the stomach acid had nothing to breakdown so it came up instead. Good luck to you!

_Ben

Acid reflux is caused by a lot of things, diet is an absolute major one. Here is some information that might be helpful (Im in pharmacy school, this is literally something we are talking about right now)

Gerd is caused by problems associated with the esophogeal sphincter. This is what separates your stomach from your esophagus (the tube that connects your mouth where food goes in to get to your stomach). Your stomach is filled with a very powerful acid called Hydrochloric acid (HCl), which can be very harmful and painful when it coats the linning of your GI tract. You body produces and maintains a Mucosa membrane, made of Bicarbonate and other elements to protect your cells. In other words, in your stomach, (in normal conditions) you cells lining your stomach never actually touch your stomach acid, because the mucosa acts as a buffer. Your esophagus on the other hand, does not have a mucosa lining, therefore, if the acid goes past the sphincter, up from the stomach to the esophagus, this will cause the burning and pain.

A major cause of this can be due to increased pressure underneath the sphincter. Typically there is more pressure above this sphincter, which is what causes food to get pushed down into the stomach. BUT if there is increased pressure below, this can cause the sphincter (which is typically closed) to open and possibly remain open, allowing that HCl to come up and spill onto the esophagus. So in essence, you want to decrease that pressure.

What causes increased pressure from underneath and how to prevent it?
-Large quantities of food and excess eating. I know every year on 4th of july, im gonna get heartburn, because I know I over eat. With all the bread, the hot dogs, burgers, chips, etc; its bound to happen. Because the stomach is filled with so much food, it causes increased pressure, opening that sphincter
-Specific foods will also increase that pressure too, especially those higher in acid. Theres millions of lists out there, Im not going to list them all here
-Problems with the sphincter itself can also occur. If the GERD is chronic, and not just within an hour of eating, you may have some more serious pathology, such as nerve damage or failure. This can be treated and be pretty serious.

GERD is something that is very important to get under control if it is frequent. The chronic damage to the esophagus can lead to cancer very easily, which esophageal cancer is something that is currently on the rise

GERD can be also taken care of with protein pump inhibitors and sodium bicarb buffers like Tums and Pepcid and Zantac. While these are great drugs, they need to be used with caution if being used over long periods of time. These drugs decrease the acidity of your stomach, which can affect the normal flora (the bacteria in your body) and can cause some bacteria to grow to unnatural numbers, leading to very serious problems

Diet is the most important and easiest way to change and affect GERD problems, and with your husband losing weight, not only is he probably eating better, but eating less.

Hope this info was helpful

tryttej

I agree with several posters that it's a combo of weight loss and diet. I had severe acid reflux that is totally gone now--as long as I eat carefully. I believe weight loss fixed much of the problem, but I start with the coughing that is the first sign of trouble with me if I eat refined carbs. I almost completely cut traditional, sliced bread and pasta from my diet for awhile, and had absolutely no symptoms. I've let bread and a few penne sneak back into the diet here and there, and I always find myself coughing a bit after those meals.

_Ben

One other thing I forgot to say, kinda to contradict/correct an earlier poster. Things like milk ARE good, as they provide a good buffer against HCl in the stomach

TAsunder

Weight loss and smaller portions helped me noticeably, but did not eliminate it. I still have to take medicine for it daily.

ashleydmassey

I can say absolutely yes to your question. I have GERD and an ulcer as a result of the GERD. I had significant heartburn/pain all the time before I started losing weight. Everything hurts, though, when you have all the extra weight adding pressure to all your body parts. I rarely have any heartburn anymore and if I do, it's because I know I've eaten too much of what I shouldn't be eating anyway. It's a great way to stay in check. If/When I get it now, it's nowhere near as painful as it was before and much more manageable with just a couple of Tums rather than waiting on anything stronger.

I would say, too, your doctor is accurate. Even 15 pounds down, I found I wasn't experiencing heartburn symptoms. I didn't realize it until I stopped to think about it once along the journey.

Much luck to you!
Ashley

angieroo2

Not for me =(