Heartburn!

Were you making sure to get in plenty of water when you were eating right and watching your calories? I don't know if it would make a difference, but I know I rarely get heart burn these days, and I always make sure to drink A LOT of water.

I talked with my doctor about a month ago and she suggested that I do a barium swallowing just to check things out. I'm a little scared to do this. Has anyone else done this? Should I do it if I'm mostly sure that my heartburn is caused by not eating right?

My wife did this Barium test. She describes it as "the most disgusting thing" she's ever had to do. The drink is this nasty thick stuff and it comes out stinky a day later. I would try to control it if you know how. I have had issues with heartburn when I over-indulge.

I did the barium swallow when I was 21, after having severe uncontrollable heartburn all my life. I actually started babysitting when I was 11 so I could buy my own antacids because my mother didn't believe that Tums weren't taking care of it for me. I didn't think it tasted that bad but the texture was a little nasty. I was told it would constipate me. It actually gave me explosive diarrhea so I didn't go to work after the test. The test itself was completely painless.

Thanks to that test, I was diagnosed with severe GERD and a hiatal hernia. I was put on 40 mg of Protonix per day. I stayed on that for 5 years. It was the only thing that controlled the heartburn.

When I was in my mid 20s, I had to have an esophageal scope to check for damage to my esophagus. I was told that in addition to scar tissue which can get bad enough to close the esophagus (happened to my uncle), severe chronic reflux can greatly increase the risk of esophageal cancer. Since I was also a smoker, it was really important to get it done. I was very lucky. Despite all the years of suffering, I had minimal scar tissue. The scope wasn't bad. I was put out for it so I never felt the scope going in or out. I did have a sore throat for a few days after though.

I have been off the Protonix for about 3 years now. I still get heartburn but it is nowhere as bad as it used to be. I now take 150 mg of OTC Zantac per day and various kinds of chewable or disolvable antacids throughout the day (and this is at the improved level lol).

In addition to the barium swallow and the esophageal scope, I have also had 3 abdominal ultrasounds to check for ulcers, gall stones, and other things that could have caused the reflux. The abdominal ultrasound is completely painless but the gel is cold and leaves you feeling sticky.

I also had a test for H. pylori, which involves the doctor sticking a finger where it doesn't belong but even that was relatively painless.


The symptoms I had that finally convinced a doctor that I needed testing were:

I got heartburn regardless of what I ate. Water, plain bread, rice, etc. It didn't matter how bland it was, it still gave me heartburn. I also got it in my sleep. I had to sleep with 4 thick pillows to keep the heartburn at bay during the night. I would wake up gasping for breath because the pain was so bad I couldn't breathe. I also got it from exercising. Oddly enough, I didn't get it from eating tomatoes - which are supposed to be really bad culprits for heartburn. High acid/spice foods didn't give it to me any more frequently than regular foods.

Have the test because your doctor thinks it's necessary. Consider yourself very lucky to have a doctor who takes you seriously. Too many doctors these days assume that heartburn is caused by diet alone, especially when the patient is overweight. If you're lucky it's just caused by diet and weight because those are easily fixable. If you do have GERD, it's better to catch it now when you're young and it's new than to let it go and cause major damage. My uncle was only 32 when he had to have surgery to reopen his esophagus. He actually had it done the same day I had my barium swallow done so the stress was increased for me that day. If you do have GERD, be prepared for further testing. The barium swallow will show whether or not you have GERD or a hiatal hernia (mine hasn't been fixed and has caused no problems for me) but it will NOT show what is causing it. In my case, there are not other factors causing it so I got lucky. I still had to deal with the other tests though.

In my opinion, after the ultrasounds, the barium swallow was the least unpleasant test I had done for the heartburn. I have actually had x-rays done that were more painful and distressing than the barium swallow was.


Good luck with your test! If it does show no GERD, listen to what your doctor says about diet changes. Keep your diet/attack journal religiously because it will show you what is causing it and what isn't. If you do everything she says to control it and it's still giving you grief, still be prepared for testing because things like uclers and gall stones can cause heartburn but wont show up on the swallow.

Everyone gets heartburn at some point in their lives but there's no reason to let it take over your life.

Gluten (most commonly in wheat bread) will actually make my GERD flare badly. Crazy, maybe, but I do know when I remain gluten free I have far fewer issues with heartburn / acid reflux. Processed foods and fast foods (usually with high sodium / MSG / artificial flavorants) can also cause some heartburn and indigestion. Alcohol, particularly rye whiskey, will do a number on me. It's sort of trial and error for each individual to determine triggers. Some things can easily be halted with TUMS or Zantac, but more severe symptoms may require some sleuthing to find any food or medication triggers.

The other huge trigger (someone mentioned here) are birth control pills. These babies actually started my GERD symptoms in my late teens / early 20s. My heartburn was so severe I couldn't control it with prescription drugs. It actually led to vomiting it was so bad at times. Now that I'm off of BC pills, I tend to only get GERD from a select number of foods that I mentioned above.