Eating earlier would help a lot. I also had decent Labs from a recent doctor's appointment, so it's been Katy, Bar The Cookies! That has not helped. This crap started after that. Coffee never aggravated it. Black tea never aggravated it. I elevated the head of my bed a while ago. Regarding eating earlier...when I go out for dinner with my neighbors, we eat around 4:30PM or so. It's funny that I don't get hungry later in the evening as I though I might. As well-intended as I think I am, by the time I get off of my butt and start dinner, 10PM is an early dining time for me. I've been this way for a long time, so it's weird that it's finally caught up with me. And all I had last night was a salad...and cookies. The only change I made around the start of this was to switch the form of magnesium I take (from citrate to glycinate.) I attributed my lower A1C results to the green tea I had been drinking for a while, so even though that can cause GERD, I had been drinking it for a while. The magnesium glycinate can give you heartburn, but I take it early in the morning, not at night. I swapped back to citrate yesterday, so maybe that will help. And I guess for now my evening green tea is off the menu. Other than overnight, this GERD is either non-existent or very low-level. I should throw the cookies in the trash...I've done it before. Quitting drinking was easier.
I've been researching my supplements to see if any of them might contribute to acid reflux, even though I've not added anything new except that magnesium change. I was also checking for any conflicts with omeprazole (should not take it with statins.) In my reading, I found out that melatonin has been studied as being a treatment option for acid reflux. This was first investigated in 2007. Some studies show higher degrees of effectiveness than others. Some studies used melatonin in conjunction with omeprazole.
I'm proud of you John because I know that changing my list of foods, a little exercise has changed my A1c's to normal levels. I dropped sugars/starches and anything other than very low carb. I also had acid reflux at night, but since changing up my diet, and not lying down for bed until at least 3 hours after I've eaten took that away completely. It all took a couple of weeks of the new diet to really kick in. that was 4 years ago in January. I also began weaning myself off on a benzodiazepine called Clonazepam. This has been a real battle, and in 16 months I am only down to 38% of my original 1mg. It's called a micro-taper, and I chose that because of the horror stories I read about folks than went too fast, or worse, did a cold-turkey. I don't know about other drugs as I don't have any experience with them. I haven't escaped withdrawal symptoms, but they are, so far, manageable. I've heard of many prescription drugs that actually do cause wd sxs (short for withdrawal symptoms) and often here about anti-depressants causing very bad, even horrible wd sxs. I think we need to pay attention to what we are putting in our bodies, and take responsibility, and not blindly trust what the doctor says. That's the hard way to go, but I'll never regret choosing it, and taking responsibility. I have about 4-5 more months to be done with the one pill I took for 35 years, and I was so blind to what it was doing to me.
What's the deal with eating SO LATE in the day, Change Your Ways and just DO IT, early evening if that's the best you can do.
I've given the BEST answer, Baking Soda daily in a little water is a Perfect acid remover, and even add some baking soda to some of your acid foods while cooking...... Tomatoes are highly acidic...>Get Smart...
One thing I forgot about that helped, me and still helps me if I slip up and go to bed too soon after I eat, is a 6 inch wedge pillow. I usually do exactly what Joy says about a few swigs of BS in water, then lay right back down, but this time on my weggie. There is info out there that says it isn't too much acid that causes this, it's not enough. Lots of good info if you google/search for "healing gut microbiomes" Something like that, but quick fixes I needed as well.
Many do agree that it is not too much acid, but too little that causes it. Lack of acid keeps food from being properly digested, which apparently causes the stomach to react strongly, pushing digestive juices beyond the cardiac sphincter at the top of the stomach. Taking PPIs reduces symptoms but actually may make the problem worse. That is perhaps why @John Brunner taking vinegar eases the problem--stomach pH is dropped allowing the pepsins to do their job. I compare it to the old remedy for ulcers that told people to drink milk to ease ulcer pain. Milk temporarily eased the ulcer pain, but actually made the problem worse due to acid rebound. People were also told to avoid spicy food with ulcers, but some now believe that capsaicin actually prevents ulcer formation by perhaps inhibiting H.pylori activity. Antacids also encourage H.pylori activity by raising the stomach pH.
If you have a relatively healthy gut biome ACV works great! I have recommended it to a couple of people with whom it did not agree. I assume they had some ulcer issues already which would need medication or to change their diet (which most are wont not to do)
I totally agree, it depends on their circumstances. Some are far beyond alternative remedies I don't know anything other than what I've experienced myself, but I still think nutrition-changes can help the most. When I was young, I didn't think twice about what I ate. I think I'm very fortunate to be as healthy as I am, and that's far from 100%
When we were young, we did not eat so much processed foods as today or sugar. Most of us ate at home and mom made us eat our veggies. Not so many odd chemicals. I think my family went out for pizza twice.
My teens and 20s were my worse eating habits, although our home-cooked meals were few and far between as well. Plenty of starches, and sugar, not much protein. Like I said, I'm fortunate to be as healthy as I am
I can only testify to my wife's experience. She was on PPIs for 20 years, then I found her doubled over in pain in the middle of the night with a heating pad on her abdomen. I convinced her to go to an Integrative MD who had a good reputation at the hospital. They told her to go on an exclusion diet and gave her some meds to correct her biome. After finding out what her food issues were, I asked her to wean herself off the PPI she was on, but she elected to go cold turkey and never looked back. After have reflux and abdominal issues for most of her life, a changed diet fixed everything within a week or two.
This is wonderful and I have been hanging out for the last 4 years on one forum and one just informational site that shared a lot of stories like your wives about changing your diet it was easy for me to choose that over ppi's antidepressants metformin for type 2 diabetes pain medication for migraine I turned it all down except for one thing which I am now weaning off of and it has been hell to wean off of and that was for a diagnosis of spasmodic torticollis or sometimes called cervical dystonia and they gave me a benzo I don't recommend anybody take a benzo not for more than a week I think they should only be used for an emergency situation never ever long-term and I've spoken to people that took them only 2 weeks and they are absolutely going through hell weaning off of them thanks for sharing your story Don,your wife's story it's always good to get affirmation for the way I've done things instead of popping a pill first I always look into alternatives first.