Acid Reflux and GERD Treatement

[Vince Carter]

Are any of you battling this? I'm chewing Tums left and right, Omeprazole and other PPI (proton pump inhibitors) are notorious for promoting the down regulation or competition for Nitric Oxide and as such have a bad rep for ED issues. Though these PPI's work for me, I did suffer with ED while on them. I've been off for a week and my ED symptom is improving remarkably.
I started using something with "algininic acid" which is helping but my reflux/GERD is at least moderate to severe and chronic.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FKXSTHS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00


Is there anything else I can try that isn't a PPI?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

This is an important read:

Proton pump inhibitors and risk of vitamin and mineral deficiency: evidence and clinical implications

 

[Vince Carter]

That was exactly some of the things I was reading, but was alarmed with the ED portion. i know I had read that before but had missed the portion of "why"...the competition for Nitric Oxide, or downregulating NO. I can't exactly remember how the PPI was affecting NO, but it's not good for erections that way. I was using large amounts of Arginine and Citrulline and only getting fair results combined with Tadalafil. Main reason I stopped taking the PPI.

 

[Jim Remick]

I think it's a good idea to get your diet in order,figuring out what you are eating that may be causing it and get off those type of pills everyday. I did and take a tums every once in a while when I get heartburn.

 

[torrential]

Vince,

Sounds crazy but reducing stomach acid over a long term is the LAST thing you want to do. Check out Chris Kresser's blog. Get past the pay product and go to the relevant posts. This thing is completely curable without drugs. (Say hello to Apple cider vinegar and sour kraut!)

 

[Jim Remick]

Vince,

Sounds crazy but reducing stomach acid is the LAST thing you want to do. Check out Chris Kresser's blog. Get past the pay product and go to the relevant posts. This thing is completely curable without drugs.

Read it and mostly bullshit. Kresser says to increase stomach acid with HCL Pepsin. That rarely works.

 

[torrential]

Seriously? There is more to it than that. ACV and fermenteds cured me and many others completely. Cleared up gut issues too.

 

[Jim Remick]

Seriously? There is more to it than that. ACV and fermenteds cured me and many others completely. Cleared up gut issues too.

Perhaps it does work for some people..I followed his protocol and it made it worse. Changing my diet worked for me. I still have to take an occasional Tums. Maybe 2 a week

 

[midlifealpha]

Perhaps it does work for some people..I followed his protocol and it made it worse. Changing my diet worked for me. I still have to take an occasional Tums. Maybe 2 a week

What is your way of eating?

 

[Jim Remick]

What is your way of eating?

I stopped eating wheat and eat cold potatoes and hummus which have resistant starches that help gut flora. Didn't mention it because it sounds hokey but worked for me. Lost 20 pounds too without even trying. I will eat pizza maybe once a week or less but that's it. My girlfriend calls me The Martian because of all the potatoes I eat.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion is associated with different proton pump inhibitor use: a pharmacovigilance study - PubMed

According to our findings, more attention should be paid to SIADH within the first several months after the administration of PPIs. For women older than 65 years, dexlansoprazole may reduce the incidence of PPI-associated SIADH. Nonetheless, larger epidemiological studies are suggested to verify...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Deleted member 43589]

I have gastric reflux, had if for decades and it seems to be more genetic than what you eat. My father also had it. I have done everything including changing eating habits, taken bottles of Tums, bottles of Pepto, Zantac and eventually started on Omeprazole . It is the only thing that stopped the reflux. Nothing worse than going to bed and waking up chocking on gastric acid and food. Had to even eventually start sleep with my upper body greatly elevated to keep from choking to death in my sleep. That in itself is very deadly. I started taking Omeprazole in 1995 (27 years) and the only time I have had any problem is when I switched to the over the counter products. 1/3 of those are either under dosed or even inert. Back on the prescription version again.

I think the following statement from the research are important to remember.

PPIs have been associated with an increased risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies impacting vitamin B12, vitamin C, calcium, iron and magnesium metabolism. While these risks are considered to be relatively low in the general population,....."

"Trials from early last decade have demonstrated a more likely association with PPIs and vitamin B12 deficiency."

So risks are relative low for the general population. Most likely people who are not very well nourished and have a horrible diet. Periodically check your vitamin status, the only risk that seem to be higher is that of Vitamin B-12. I use an injectable product to solve that. My vitamin and mineral count is very high and my bone density is also very high. Never had ED in my life.

Until science comes up with a real solution for this problem other than these health supplements that cost and arm and a leg and do little, I will stick with the Omeprazole. As I said, I can't count how many times in my life I have woken up in my sleep aspirated from the gastric acid/food going into my lungs.

I did find this....."In fact, there are no studies in medical journals that investigate the effects of apple cider vinegar on reflux and heartburn." No way I am going to chug down vinegar or eat sauerkraut ( I honestly can't stand it). This medical article went on, "It is not advisable to drink apple cider vinegar for moderate to severe acid reflux, heartburn, or GERD." Having heart burn and having severe GERD are not the same animal.

Here is a good study on the different methods to treat GERD

New and Future Drug Development for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease - PMC

Medical therapy remains the most popular treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Whilst interest in drug development for GERD has declined over the last few years primarily due to the conversion of most proton pump inhibitor (PPI)'s to ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Maradey-Romero, Carla, and Ronnie Fass. “New and future drug development for gastroesophageal reflux disease.” Journal of neurogastroenterology and motility vol. 20,1 (2014): 6-16. doi:10.5056/jnm.2014.20.1.6

 

[GreenMachineX]

Dealing with GERD now (I think). No actual heart burn ever, but I can feel the food and water reflux halfway up my chest. Upper endoscopy was clear of Barrett's and cancer. About to have an esophageal monometry to confirm reflux and that my esophagus works directly.

 

[FunkOdyssey]

Dealing with GERD now (I think). No actual heart burn ever, but I can feel the food and water reflux halfway up my chest. Upper endoscopy was clear of Barrett's and cancer. About to have an esophageal monometry to confirm reflux and that my esophagus works directly.

I wrote down some thoughts in another thread that you might find helpful. While I was speaking about LPR there is great overlap with GERD:

Estrogen Drop - Weird Symptoms

www.excelmale.com

A couple things I neglected to mention in that thread that may be helpful:

• Chewing gum. This produces a constant flow of alkaline saliva and periodic swallowing that can be very helpful to control symptoms. I use Falim gum which contains no sweeteners and can be chewed for a full day without deteriorating.
• Melatonin. Taking melatonin at 3 mg nightly has been shown in one study to be as effective as omeprazole after 60 days. Melatonin increased LES pressure over time which would actually reduce reflux while omeprazole did not. A summary: Melatonin eases GERD symptoms, studies show

I recommend a couple of books also:

• The Acid Watcher Diet. This book advocates a mainstream approach of a low-fat diet that removes low pH food and drinks. The activation of pepsin by acid you consume is an important concept to understand and following this approach alone works for many people. It has a blind spot though that is addressed by the next book.
• Heartburn - Fast Tract Digestion. The author believes gas production by intestinal flora is the primary driver of reflux and recommends the reduction of fermentable carbohydrates as the most effective intervention. The resulting diet will usually be lower carb and higher fat than mainstream anti-reflux diets which makes this approach unconventional. I tested this theory to the max by eating a pure carnivore diet for over a year. It was very effective against reflux despite containing 70% calories as fat (fat reduces LES pressure). I found the best results by combining both theories.

If someone were to implement all of my suggestions from the other thread as well as above I would be shocked if they had to resort to medication or surgery to control their reflux. The main obstacle is that there are several lifestyle modifications involved. As you heal, you may discover as I have that you can relax many of them though.

 

[GreenMachineX]

I wrote down some thoughts in another thread that you might find helpful. While I was speaking about LPR there is great overlap with GERD:

Estrogen Drop - Weird Symptoms

www.excelmale.com

A couple things I neglected to mention in that thread that may be helpful:

• Chewing gum. This produces a constant flow of alkaline saliva and periodic swallowing that can be very helpful to control symptoms. I use Falim gum which contains no sweeteners and can be chewed for a full day without deteriorating.
• Melatonin. Taking melatonin at 3 mg nightly has been shown in one study to be as effective as omeprazole after 60 days. Melatonin increased LES pressure over time which would actually reduce reflux while omeprazole did not. A summary: Melatonin eases GERD symptoms, studies show

I recommend a couple of books also:

• The Acid Watcher Diet. This book advocates a mainstream approach of a low-fat diet that removes low pH food and drinks. The activation of pepsin by acid you consume is an important concept to understand and following this approach alone works for many people. It has a blind spot though that is addressed by the next book.
• Heartburn - Fast Tract Digestion. The author believes gas production by intestinal flora is the primary driver of reflux and recommends the reduction of fermentable carbohydrates as the most effective intervention. The resulting diet will usually be lower carb and higher fat than mainstream anti-reflux diets which makes this approach unconventional. I tested this theory to the max by eating a pure carnivore diet for over a year. It was very effective against reflux despite containing 70% calories as fat (fat reduces LES pressure). I found the best results by combining both theories.

If someone were to implement all of my suggestions from the other thread as well as above I would be shocked if they had to resort to medication or surgery to control their reflux. The main obstacle is that there are several lifestyle modifications involved. As you heal, you may discover as I have that you can relax many of them though.

Yeah, I saw that thread. I'm already doing most of the things for reflux now. Mine is very determined by amount of folate I take. My reflux is just about gone if I take enough, but then I don't sleep. If I take none, I get acid reflux into my mouth. Anywhere in the middle and the reflux is somewhere in the middle, still happens, but no acid and doesn't really bother me.

 

[FunkOdyssey]

Yeah, I saw that thread. I'm already doing most of the things for reflux now. Mine is very determined by amount of folate I take. My reflux is just about gone if I take enough, but then I don't sleep. If I take none, I get acid reflux into my mouth. Anywhere in the middle and the reflux is somewhere in the middle, still happens, but no acid and doesn't really bother me.

Do you have any idea why folate has this effect on your reflux? I've never heard of it being helpful before or having any effect at all on reflux. In my own experience I think it may have made things worse.

 

[Belekas]

I had a nasty heartburn for years that got so bad I couldn't eat not drink water, even water would do me really bad. Tried all the meds, methods, diets, etc, etc, nothing worked. But some months ago got tested and found positive for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. I know it's probably not related to you but since treating I'm back to normal and can eat most of the foods and digest fine. and avoid terrible chest pains I used to get. And believe me pain was mental. Fuck that. So that nasty thing had me for years without even knowing it's there and active. Just thought I'd share my story trying to treat this issue.

Regards.

 

[Belekas]

i've also ran Omeprazol (and God knows how many more lol) in all the different combos over the years and it never ever worked. But now I know exactly why because I had H.pylori and most likely ulcers in stomach or esophagus or both and Omeprazole could never fix it. Once tests showed active H.pylori, i've been given 2 different antibiotics. Finished the course but still felt heartburn and indigestion. GP called to assess and i told her so she said now take Omeprazol since H.pylori supposedly been dealed with. And take not regular 20mg but double the dose 40mg on empty stomach for a couple weeks. I was in pain but said fuck it ill take that even though i tried in the past and failed, obviously as the bacteria was still active, and that doesn't work that way. I took 40mg and pretty much instantly it removed 90% or more of the symptoms. So pretty much the rest is history. Been dealing with this issue around decade long and should have tested for H.pylori right at the start. Live and learn.

Just my 2 cents.
Regards,
Bel

 

[GreenMachineX]

Do you have any idea why folate has this effect on your reflux? I've never heard of it being helpful before or having any effect at all on reflux. In my own experience I think it may have made things worse.

I think reflux is one of my folate deficiency symptoms, along with delayed wound healing and super slow nail growth, among some other things but those 2 are absolutely tied to taking folate or not.

For the record, I'm talking about folinic acid and methylfolate, not folic acid.

 

[PhilM7]

I take 40 MG of Pepcid at night. It's not a PPI, but that's double the dosage recommended on the bottle. My doctor prescribed that amount, and it works as long as I don't drink sodas, eat a greasy meal before bedtime or eat a large meal before bedtime. I have had reflux for 20 years, that mainly affects me when I lie down. My partner has it too, and he had the surgery that should have fixed the valve at the top of the stomach, but it didn't work (I think the surgery was called a fundioplasty, or something like that, where they wrap part of your stomach around the esophagus. He was not eligible for the surgery that uses an elastic band of magnets around the base of the esophagus, but that surgery sounded most promising. His swallow reflex muscles were not strong enough, in a medical test, to open the magnets, so he couldn't have that surgery.