Acid Reflux Helper Blog Treatments and Diets for Acid Reflux Disease (GERD)

Home Remedy for Acid Reflux

2006-11-26T21:45:00.000-05:00

I started looking into some home remedies for acid reflux or natural remedies to try to cut down on the over the counter acid reflux medications I take. Some that I found are:

Ginger - some people grind up ginger and add it to their meal or take it in a pill form after a meal with water. They say it helps reduce the acid in your stomach, reducing the chance of acid reflux.

Enzymes - digestive papaya enzymes are known to speed up your digestive process, which supposedly eliminates the risk of acid reflux. Enzymes are available in chewable tablets and you're supposed to take them with water right after you eat a meal.

Fiber - increasing your fiber intake is another way that is supposed to alleviate acid reflux. The fiber supposedly absorbs the excess acid, allowing your body to discard toxins quicker, allieviating acid reflux.

Water - drinking more water (8 glasses a day) will allow the body to flush away toxins and expel acid easier.

Tea - green tea is known to aid the body in digesting food and soothing the stomach. Also herbal teas such as peppermint, chamomile, and Ginger are also known to soothe the stomach. Having a cup of one of these teas after a meal supposedly is a great way to ease acid reflux.

I myself have not tried any of these home remedies for acid reflux, but I'd be curious to know if anyone out there has and if they really work? Or if anyone knows of any other home remedies or natural remedies for acid reflux?

Another Bad Acid Filled Night

2006-10-02T17:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it again friends. I went to an Italian Festival yesterday and ate Sausages, Pizza, Canolies, etc. After the festival was over (I was working it) we all went out for a BIG STEAK and Margarittas!! Needless to say as you can imaging I did not get a good night sleep. My good friend Acid Reflux and GERD was back and kept waking me up, plus I swear that I have strange dreams when suffering with reflux. Anyone else think the same? So I did my best to prop the pillows, I could have used that Acid Reflux Wedge Pillow, and it helped a little. In the morning I drank lots of water, took a few tums and kept my stomach empty...Feeling better now!

Acid Reflux During Pregnancy

2006-09-30T19:20:00.000-05:00

My sister is pregnant and due in November and she is constantly complaining to me about having acid reflux and heartburn. It brings back memories for myself when I was pregnant with my now 2 1/2 year old. I had acid reflux throughout most of my pregnancy. I learned many ways to ease the pain and I'd like to share a few....

1. Don't drink liquids containing caffeine, such as coffee, tea, cola, etc. These relax the LES(lower esophageal sphincter) which allows acid to reflux back into the esophagus.

2. Do not eat large meals. Eat small meals throughout the day.

3. Don't eat quickly. Take your time and eat slowly.

4. Wait at least 3 hours after you eat before going to bed.

5. Drinking too much fluid can put pressure on the LES, forcing it to open when it shouldn't. So, sip fluids throughout the day instead of just at meals.

Please share any tips you may have!

Walmart and Acid Reflux Prescriptions 4$

2006-09-25T07:36:00.000-05:00

Well as many of us have heard. Wal mart.com plans on selling a variety of generic drugs for 4$. This will obviously help those mostly without health care prescription benefits, like me! I've been trying to see which generics Walmar.com will be offering and I stumbled upon an acid reflux prescription comparison chart. On the chart the only drug that offered a generic solution was Prilosec OTC which goes by the name of Omeprazole. I've use Prilosec OTC in the past for my acid reflux as I've discussed in other posts. Can't wait for Prevacid to come out in a generic! Has anyone used Protonix? Please post here if you have on how effective it is and how the side effects are for you! I'd also like to congratulate on Walmart on this strategy. Not only will it help its current clients out, but it will most likely cause people like me to move their prescriptions to Walmart and shop more while we wait for those acid reflux prescriptions to be filled! Great Job!

Acid Reflux: Dont Eat Large, Late At Night

2006-09-10T06:51:00.000-05:00

Well friends, once again I didnt follow my doctors advice about eating large meals! A friend of mine came home from Texas yesterday so of course we all had to get together at his mothers house last night. His mom is a former cooking instructor so needless to say it was worth the pain! We didn't sit down to eat until 9pm. I had some of everthing which of course in total made for a rather full stomach of beef, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli, peas, pop-overs, ice cream cake for dessert and of course all the pre-meal apps like nachos!! So as you can figure by now, my ride home was uncomfortable and I didnt sleep very well. I popped a few Tums to help and by morning I was doing better.

Just rememeber Eating large meals anytime would cause the stomach to grow and put pressure on your lower esophageal sphincter causing you guessed it, acid reflux. Laying down after eating a large meal late at night is a double whammy since the stomach contents are more likely to flow into the esophagus and stay for a while.

Lesson learned...no more late night feasts!!

Acid Reflux Scare

2006-09-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

Just read an interesting article about how acid reflux can really feel like a serious heart problem. Marcus Giles, 26 year old second baseman of the Braves had a big scare this past Saturday. He started to feel a tightness in his chest and abdominal area after drinking a soda on Saturday morning. He was evaluated by Braves trainer Jeff Porter who sent him to a Philadelphia hospital for additional evaluation. The hospital told him he may need to undergo heart surgery where a valve in his heart would need to be stapled shut. He was then sent to a cardiologist to be evaluated further. He went through a series of stress tests on Sunday, which determined that the chest discomfort was simply a result of acid reflux.

Prevacid for Acid Reflux - Good site

2006-08-09T20:18:00.000-05:00

I just spent some time on the Prevacid site. They actually had a nice section on acid in children which I would not have thought was a major problem. I thought this was something that only older people suffered from. Apparently acid reflux can effect anyone at any age. The give a list of symptoms to watch out for, but I'll admit they seem like symptoms that could apply to a variety of issues.

Anyway, does anyone have an comments on Prevacid and its effectiveness helping acid reflux. Has anyone suffered any serious side effects from this medication?

Favorite cures for Reflux?

2006-06-27T17:41:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have any "home remedies" that help stop acid? I can understand that some people may not want to use drugs regularly to help with the problem. So if you've got any natural cures we'd love to hear about it on the blog! Personally I just use Tums antacids sort of like a preventative measure to a full on acid attack. Seems to work ok, I also try to eat less and watch what I actually eat!!

Acid Reflux and Cancer?

2006-06-24T07:58:00.000-05:00

Did anyone see 20/20 on ABC last night (6/23/06). The topic was on busting health myths and rumors that we've all come to believe of the years. I only caught the end of the segment but I swear John Stossel was saying that there is a direct relation between Acid Reflux (GERD) and ESOPHAGEAL CANCER. Now I know that acid in the esophagus is no good and can lead to EE which stands for EROSIVE ESOPHAGITIS, but is that Cancer? It was pretty interesting they showed a healthy esophagus and one with EE and you could clearly see the damage the acid caused over time.

One thing they pointed out that could be a problem is the use of all these medicines that mask the pain of acid reflux. John's guest was a some doctor who said that people should not mask the pain of acid for too long without having it checked out by a doctor. The medicines take the pain away but the acid is still there doing damage. So please have a checkup if the acid is continuing for a longer period of times, I think he said more than 2 weeks.

2006-06-21T17:50:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Ron (RefluxRon for the purposes of this Blog). I've created this blog and a website called www.acidrefluxhelper.com to discuss and share ideas on acid reflux. Last year I had my first run in with acid and acid reflux. The pain started on the right side of my upper stomach and got worse over time. I was also experiences a burning sensation in my esophagus area. At first I thought it was my gall bladder or my appendix was going to burst or something! Since I had NO HEALTH INSURANCE at the time I did not want to go see a doctor. The pain kept getting worse at night and especially when I was laying down.

Finally, I signed up for some health care (made sure the policy was in effect) and schedule an appointment to see my doctor for the bad news. I was sure it was something very serious, I tend to worry more than needed...or so my wife says... After some poking and prodding around my stomach my doctor told me that since I wasn't jumping up in screaming agony and pain, its likely I have an acid problem.

We talked some more about what had been going on in my life, how my stress level was and if I was exercising and what I was eating. Come to find out, I was a walking acid bomb waiting to explode!!!

So long story short, he gave me some PREVACID to try out for a 10 days. This seemed to work, but I was one of the unlucky 1 in 100,000 (how do they figure these numbers out anyways) that got those unpleasant side effects that I'd rather not discuss in this blog (lets keep it clean folks). So then I switch to PRILOSEC OTC which worked without the side effects and it was cheaper for me since my health plan had no prescription coverage!

So about a year has gone by and I've been watching what I eat and when I eat it..havent done much on the exercise front but things are going ok.

What I'd like to know is, does anyone have any good recipes for people with Acid Reflux or know of any good products that are cheaper and affordable than traditional drugs like Prevacid or that Purple Pill one?