Stomach Acid Issues - How YOU Doin'?

Old people's problems -- OPP

Ive had it since it since my 20s.

OP, you should tell us more about your diet.

A diet change and the occasional table spoon of linseed oil has cured me of that chronic malady. However, my acid reflux symptoms were that my stomach felt like it's on fire, or filled with acid, and it's slowly pushing up my esophagus.

Fat, old people's problem. Drink lotsa water and tone down starchy food.

Skip the alcohol.

Do you ever eat apples? One apple a day can do it.

Try some lime juice in water. It can alkaline your stomach.

^^ What?!

I’ve taken pantoprazole daily for years. If I don’t take it, the acid backlash returns with a vengeance. It has nothing to do with diet. I was diagnosed with some kind of physical problem with the part of the GI tract that is supposed to close off the stomach and keep acid from coming up.

Lay off the booze and acidic food.

OP, when I went for my first colonoscopy, the doctor asked about acid reflux. I told him about my daily Tums. So, when I was out for the colonoscopy, he also did an endoscopy.

Turns out I have a small sliding hiatal hernia. Nothing uncommon. Nothing serious. He prescribed Omeperazole. I take a low dose of about 20 mg about twice a week. It costs me about $3 a month. And the fucking awful pain from the acid is GONE.

I never ever thought addressing the pain would be so absolutely easy. Check it out, OP. It turns out that a remedy might be easier than you think.

Switch to Nexium if you're worried about kidney problems. You're only at risk for gastric cancer with Nexium.

[quote]Lay off the booze and acidic food.

& then don't bother crawling back to old Broadway.

r11, I think that’s what I have. I need 40mg of pantoprazole to control the symptoms though.

I wonder if there have been any studies of hiatal hernia being caused by deep-throating large cocks to the balls. I used to do that a lot. A small price to pay though.

I use OTC famotidine (Pepcid) oral tablet daily. It's more effective than chewable Pepcid AC and I found it's more effective than the Aciphex that was prescribed to me. Plus, rabprezole seems to have more kidney effects than famotidine.

I have greatly reduced the acid in my diet and lost weight but the acid is still there. If I drink alcohol, unwatered down coffee, or eat tomatoes, I'll feel it. For extra acidic moments, I take a alginate-based chewable from Europe (Gaviscon Advance).

Omeprazole.

R15, after I blew my doctor, he told me that's almost certainly how I got my hiatal hernia. Sword swallowing.

I'll say it again - APPLES.

Don't listen to all these Americans with all their pills.

Some suggestions that have worked for me that you might try and see if they help eliminate any of your symptoms:

Intermittent Fasting - I do 16:8 and it has eliminated stomach acid problems and also snoring. Only works for me if I stop eating by 5, so my schedule is 8-4, or 9-5.

Apple Cider Vinegar - a tablespoon diluted in 8 oz of water and use a straw to drink. Make sure the brand you use has "mother" in it, Braggs brand does.

Betaine HCL with Pepsin - worth trying if you eat a lot of meat. Should only be taken with a meal containing 15g or more of animal protein.

R4 - not true. I have had it since I was 17 and a cross country champ.

R17 works for me too

I had a really bad acid relfux attack at the beginning of March and have been going through a pretty rough patch.

Prevacid isn't working right anymore, lost close to 50 pounds but still feel like shit.

Add in high blood pressure made worse by the reflux, sleep issues, a tooth infection and raging headaches and I feel like I won't last the summer.

Started getting severe acid reflux, Was also diagnosed with a hiatal hernia about 12/14 years ago. And given Lansoprazole. Don't like the idea of taking this drug everyday for life. Don't think taking something means you just carry on eating any old rubbish and the tablet will simply cure it either. Try and work out what really triggers it off. With me it's pastry. Alcohol (red wine) no problem. I only now take the tablets if I slip up and eat to much rich pastry. Haven't renewed my repeat prescription since way before lockdown and haven't used the drug regularly for 2 years now at least. I keep some for going on holiday when I can't always control my diet. Day to day. The apple thing is probably right. I find a green smoothie with a whole lemon (rind and all) put through a blender works. When I told my doctor he said he could understand (some sort of acid on acid thing) and to continue with it. Celery juice, a whole celery head juiced seems to work. Right now for two months I've been on black seed oil. ( not for reflux just curious about it) Fucking wonderful. Have completely forgotten I get severe heartburn. Can't remember the last attack. Some of the gastric drugs are pretty serious so be cautious. About constant use. Just a few tips that work for me. Best of luck.

A few tips:

Don’t hold your head down looking at your phone. Always keep it at eye level.

Make sure you chew your food to oblivion.

Try everything else first before you take meds from a GI doc. They are all deadly.

Hold your head up high and shoulders back at all times. No slouching.

Never eat while lying down. Only eat while sitting straight up.

Don’t eat near bedtime.

Make sure you eat whole foods and stay away from fake foods.

Don’t smoke or drink alcohol.

Watch out for allergies that mimic acid reflux.

R8 Not R7 but our gastric acid is way more acidic than lime juice, or else we wouldn’t be able break down the food we eat.

Agree with much of what R20 said. I prescribe meds for these symptoms to a lot of patients but personally I think they’d be better off making lifestyle and dietary changes.

Intermittent fasting of at least 14-16 hours has worked wonders for me. I eat within an 8 hour window and usually I have my last meal by 6pm. It has improved my sleep and energy level too along with digestion. Eating plant based diet has helped though I stay away from too much hard to digest beans (black, kidney, pinto, unshelled garbanzo) and tough to digest vegetables. Usually I’ll have a big salad (lots of greens, carrots, beets, avocado, tomatoes) with protein options like edamame, grilled tofu or scallops for lunch. Some starch like potatoes or sourdough bread.

My biggest meal is either breakfast or lunch, while dinner is smaller affair to ease into fasting mode. Breakfast is a berries/ baby greens/ green apple smoothie made with soy milk and plant yogurt. Ezekiel English muffin with almond butter, 1-2 soft boiled eggs.

I’d also add that contrary to what many people believe, the problem with their digestion isn’t with too much acid but too little. Gastric acid secretion and stimulation decline with age.

Recommend people take enzymes, I take them myself because like others here, I’d had digestive issues since childhood due to familial predisposition. I take one from Garden of Life, it’s more pricey than other brands but comparatively it has more active ingredients not junk fillers.

The specialist who prescribed Omperazole for the reflux related to a hiatal hernia did so at 40mg daily. I hated the idea of taking that drug daily. I spoke to my GP about it. His feeling was that it was not necessary. He prescribed it at 20mg per capsule and told me to experiment with the frequency. I found that twice a week did the trick. And if at any particular moment I want more, I already know that without question I can take an additional capsule and be no where near the limit.

OP here - I'm not old, or fat (seriously) and I virtually never drink. I mean, I'd maybe get a little drunk like...three times a year? And usually end up barfing it out (using my fingers....my nausea is brutal). I was worried that might have done damage honestly...I hope it didn't.

I don't eat meat often, I'm more of a fish person.

R20 ...what does 16:8 mean ...and what do you mean by "mother" on the label?

Mother is the floaty stringy bits left in. She explains that "the mother" simply means strands of protein (which contain enzymes and beneficial bacteria) in organic apple cider vinegar which consists of cellulose and acetic acid, which, she says gives the vinegar a cloudy-like appearance.

OP, I've had seriously bad reflux since my mid-30s. I'm not fat or a regular drinker, and I get the same symptoms regardless of what I eat (or when). I've also had both colonoscopies and endoscopies show nothing irregular. Also tried the "apple fad diets," namely apples themselves and apple cider vinegar. Didn't take.

I take Nexium daily and expect to do so possibly forever. Not great, but better than literally vomiting after 2-3 days without it.

There’s some indication that melatonin can help with it. When Covid times descended, I started taking a single Alka-Seltzer melatonin gummy every night, and damn if it didn’t help. I sleep like a baby, too. It’s only 1.5mg of melatonin, which is hardly anything, but it’s all I need.

I have had acid reflux issues for years and was doing well on Ranitidine till they banned it. Nexium seems to trigger or exacerbate a magnesium deficiency so I had to stop that. I stopped drinking coffee completely, reduced my tea intake and went gluten free. All have helped. I still get the occasional issue if I don't eat something light yet filling before sleep, but I manage that with milk and Gaviscon. Original Ricola also helps. I hope something works for you, OP.

There's also zero proof that enzymes work, regardless of what Jamie Lee Curtis says in her Activia commercials.

I fast one day a week and that has pretty much resolved my (admittedly mild) problems.

OP, 16:8 Intermittent Fasting means fasting for 16 hours and eating within an 8 hour window.

Often someone trying IF starts out 12:12, fasting 12 hrs and eating for 12 hours and gradually works up to the optimal 16:8 by adding an hour of fasting each week (or at whatever interval comfortable) and decreasing an hour of eating time.

my digestive system has gone completely insane in the past year. I have GERD, I had esophageal ulcers from that (because I thought I had heart issues at first, didn't know what it actually was). I had a stomach ulcer, diverculosis and ibs. I was treated with metronidazole. I am on omeprazole daily and a probiotic and zoloft. I take gaviscon before bed and drink ginger water throughout the day. I got one of these pillows too

I smoke and the only time I ever experience acid reflux is when I drink.

Does anyone have issues with coffee? I think it might be a trigger for me but I go back and forth on whether it's the acidity, the caffeine, or both.

For me the one and ONLY thing that works is Alka Seltzer. That is a miracle drug.

People who recommend natural remedies are only a half step up from faith healers. Give me something from a pharmacy.

Eating a few raw peanuts(with skin) when you have acid in stomach. It doesn't taste amazing but better than medicine. And it works like wonders!

R38, Cheaper brands of coffee are too acidic for me. Recommend you eat food at the same time which really helps.

R40, Most pharmaceuticals are based on natural remedies especially for something that treats GERD. Mint, ginger, and Tumeric have been used for thousands of years. Angostura Bitters which contains fresh herbs has been added to sparkling water for almost 100 years.

R39, Alka Seltzer is essentially flavored baking soda.

Amateurs

R39 - not really because I did try to make my own with baking soda and it just doesn't work that well.

Alka Seltzer is a great remedy if you get a small piece of food stuck in your esophagus. A lot of people with GERD are familiar with that feeling. It's distressing and can last for a few days if you really have problems with these issues. But, Alka S contains aspirin and is not good for acidic stomachs or ulcerous conditions at all.

I'm not against natural remedies, but that's not really what most people here are talking about. And endoscope is a must if you have persistent reflux or even occasional difficulty swallowing. You will most likely be prescribed a PPI if you have GERD or Barrett's. But it is right to play with how often you take them, once you have things under control. In addition to kidney problems, these drugs more significantly can affect bones. Hips and and wrists to be precise. There is NO connection to to stomach cancer - do not believe that bullshit.

Heartburn that people get after Thanksgiving or because they fell asleep drunk is not really what we're discussing here. If you have a stomach valve that doesn't close properly or a hiatal hernia, you will need medication or surgery. Simple as that. But to cut down on coffee and alcohol *might* help you feel less uncomfortable. GERD often goes together with IBD and that's a whole other set of discomforts aside from acid reflux.

It's gross to talk about bloating and reflux - but the solution is not always about weight and lifestyle. Like Sleep Apnea there are too many people invested in selling you A, the condition, and B, the fake remedies. Sometimes you need to lose some weight and eat better but just as likely you'll need a prescribed drug or surgery to live with it too.

Problems that go away with dietary changes, and there are many... are not what I'm talking about.

Btw, OP. Endoscopes are pretty high risk procedures right now. They are being done. But don't have it done in a clinic. Hospital only.

Activated charcoal taken before meals helps.

[quote]Turns out I have a small sliding hiatal hernia. Nothing uncommon. Nothing serious. He prescribed Omeperazole. I take a low dose of about 20 mg about twice a week. It costs me about $3 a month.

Same thing with me. Changes to diet really help too.

[quote]So, when I was out for the colonoscopy, he also did an endoscopy.

My doctor was so impressed with how I swallowed that endoscope without gagging that, as I was leaving, he passed me his business card with his personal cell phone number scrawled on the back 😜

Does kombucha help?

[quote] Does anyone have issues with coffee? I think it might be a trigger for me but I go back and forth on whether it's the acidity, the caffeine, or both.

I get acid reflux when I am both: drinking coffee & drinking alcohol (daily, both). When I quit alcohol, the reflux subsided. But I suspect if I quit coffee (which I can't), my reflux would go away completely.

Bragg apple vinegar has the "mother."

I realized this afternoon that most of my stomach acid/reflux issues are emotional.

I was feeling really bad for a while now and this morning had a chiropractic adjustment and I was feeling great all day.

My neighbor came home and started blasting his music.

My stomach filled with acid, I felt dizzy, got a headache and my legs started tingling.

I've spent weeks thinking there was something medically wrong with me and now I realize that even though I've been able to get by with reflux for 13 year using medication and diet, lately I just can't control my emotions and thoughts and it's making my acid attacks much worse.

I've even started having nausea which is something I've never experienced with relfux attacks before.

Have a hiatal hernia and discomforting stomach gas. My pcp physician recommended an otc version of Prilosec in the morning and an OTC pepsid ac before dinner at night. Have been doing the combo for about five weeks and it seems to be working.

Don’t drink peppermint tea ever.

Try traditional Chinese medicine or acupuncture.

R50 - exactly...the work from home for me has been a big change in that I used to walk back and forth to work and walk around after with colleagues but all stopped. I was ok for a while but after a while, same routine and indoors except for 1 hour of jogging and I started getting acid reflux and throwing up. My roommate rushed me to the ER and they did EVERY test and it was just bad acid reflux. I have mixed a proton pump inhibitor with some homemade yoghurt and blueberry juice and the combo has worked wonders.

I gave up coffee too.

I used to have acid reflux. I would wake up at night choking with a burning sensation in my throat. I did a bit of internet research and pinpointed two items in my daily diet that were implicated : potato chips, caffeine. So far so good. Alcohol (wine mainly) doesn't seem to be a problem for me and I think it helps me to sleep. For some reason pastry is bad for me. If I have a slice of pie I have to eat it at lunch and avoid it at dinner.

crazy but if I have home done microwave popcorn (I have the silicone bowl) with a pat of butter and sprinkled parmesan cheese at night a few hours before bed, I have less acid reflux at bedtime and less IBS issues the next day.

I would assume it's the fiber but I get a ton of fiber from black beans/white beans etc almost daily.

Is anyone using Domeridone (or Motilum)? I know it was taken off the market ins some countries but Is till get it in Canada. I take 30mg per day and lately I've been having a lot of dizziness. I've been on it for 13 years with no issues but after an acid reflux attack four months ago my tolerance for it seems to be getting worse.

I have this, but when I take acid reducers, I can’t lose weight for shit.

[quote] I did a bit of internet research and pinpointed two items in my daily diet that were implicated : potato chips, caffeine. So far so good. Alcohol (wine mainly) doesn't seem to be a problem for me and I think it helps me to sleep. For some reason pastry is bad for me. If I have a slice of pie I have to eat it at lunch and avoid it at dinner.

Chips and pop, alcohol and dessert. Are you on food stamps? Would it better if you were required to buy vegetables?

OP, you can follow all these restrictions on your diet and alter your way of life until everything you eat and everything you do is about your fucking stomach …

… or you can take omeprazole or one of the other proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and enjoy your life heartburn-free. Worried about long-term effects? Just deal with it. I don’t how old you are, but trust me, at some point in your life you’ll be on a lot more than 1 daily medication, probably with more side effects than a PPI.

You could do as someone upthread suggested and take an H2 receptor antagonist like famotidine. This is an older class of drugs, and, having been around longer, they’re less likely to turn out to cause bad things to happen to you in 20 years.

Life is short. Why not live as you like and drug away the symptoms?

R59 how does omeprazole compare to Prevacid (Lansoprazole)? Prevacid just isn't working for me anymore.

R60, I think with these drugs, it's just a matter of trying one after another until you find one that works. I haven't tried Prevacid, but I did try Nexium (esomeprazole) once when the drugstore was out of omeprazole. It didn't work well for me. OTOH, I've been taking omeprazole for years, and it still works well *knock wood*.

Omeprazole has been a miracle drug for me. I had a bottle of Tums on my desk at work. Another bottle in my medicine chest at home. And then there was a 3rd bottle for briefcase or back pack, so that I would have access when moving about in my life. They always work. But not for long.

The doc prescribed omeprazole and now a single bottle of Tums stowed at home lasts for six months or more. And I'm only taking 20 mg of omeprazole a few times a week. FAR under what was prescribed.

I only wish Cialis did its job as well as Omeprazole does.

Eating lots of foods o nthe alkaline diet helps. At least balance out the acidic foods.

I wish I didn’t love coffee and spicy foods so much...but Omeprazole and some OTC stuff has helped immeasurably. Hardly any heartburn or waking up coughing in the middle of the night from reflux.

yeah, for me it's everything in general but especially garlic and peanut sauce and ice cream.

OP here. So glad to hear all your stories gang.

Just had my visit to endoscopy, which they say went well. No visibly damage to my insides from acid. They did a biopsy to be safe.

....thing is, I've been using Pantoprazole for almost a year now and I'm noticing dizziness throughout the day and disturbed sleep. I wake up from fever-like dreams lately. I thought maybe it was Covid19 related but then I read up on side effects and now I'm thinking this is maybe because of the panto.

Anyone else experience this??

Can anyone give an opinion on the effectiveness of Prevacid (Lansoprazole) vs. Losec (Omeprazole) vs. Nexium (Esomeprazole)?

OP here and I used to Nexium briefly for about 2 months and then was told to go back to Panto. My doctor randomly prescribed me the Nexium, not in response to any symptoms or side effects.

I didn't feel anything on Nexium. No side effects. But I've heard it's not great for long term.

I developed acid reflux in the last couple of years. I started taking famotidine which helped enormously but I still had some acidity left. I then started taking every morning a half a teaspoon of baking soda in Perrier water which fizzes up like Alka-Seltzer and that has cured me completely. I now eat tomatoes and drink coffee with no problems.

Do you still do the seltzer/baking soda combo daily?

I have small ulcers in my stomach from acidity. Doc says irregular meals and stress. I didn't tell him I drink about6 cups of coffee a day.

Anyone know how to deal with stomach bloat? I take Prevacid and Domperidone and then after meals a Gas-X pill and sometimes Gaviscon and my stomach is bloated like a beach ball. Nothing will alleviate the swelling. Some days it's very uncomfortable and I really believe this bloat is causing me most of my current problems.

The past week nothing is keeping my reflux under control. I went for 13 years with no issues, taking one Prevacid every morning. I could count on one hand the number of times I had heartburn or reflux. This year has been fucking miserable.

Is there anything stronger than the PPIs and H2 blockers on the market today?

Coffee is the culprit for me. If I have a couple of cups in the am, then another couple of cups at work, I'm miserable. I have one cup per day now and am much better. Popcorn is a bitch too...all those husks cause your stomach to flood with acid. Margaritas are out of the question...also: no orange juice of soda.

[quote] My doctor was so impressed with how I swallowed that endoscope without gagging

Meanwhile my doctor and his assistant kept nastily barking at me to take deep breaths since I was dry puking the whole fucking time that tube was down my throat. The endoscopy was the single most unpleasant physical thing that's ever happened to me. The doctor did say my esophagus is smaller than normal which is why I had such a violent reaction. I don't generally have much gag reflex which is why I thought the whole thing would be a walk in the park. Well, now I know better and from now on only allow someone to stick a thick tube down my throat while under general anesthesia.

Anyone get anxiety when they have a relfux attack? My doctor doesn't seem to grasp the idea that I feel anxious when my relfux flares up and not the other way around. He's more interested in giving me a prescription for Paxil than getting me an endoscopy.

OP here.

I was given Fentanyl and another drug while the endoscopy was being performed, and I was in a perfect Twilight State, as they called it. I secretly recorded the whole procedure with an audio recorder, to listen to afterwards, and the doctor was chatting with me the whole time and I was making noises to acknowledge him. Of course I don't remember any of that now, but all this to say the medication did not make me queasy afterwards and I wasn't traumatized by the feeling of the camera going down my throat because I was partially sedated, so I'm glad I took that option.

The more I read about proton pump inhibitors and the long-term possibility of damage to your kidneys, the more I want to get off them. Also I'm fed up of the diarrhea, occasional dizziness and interrupted sleep.

I was reading that melatonin can help, and almonds and aloe juice are also options. Anyone have any luck with those?

r77, that's the main time my anxiety turns into panic disorder symptoms. the second I feel reflux I think heart attack, especially at night. My dr has me on zoloft (which I definitely need) and hydroxyzine hcl for those times it turns to panic. I have gotten MUCH better pulling out of the cycle of acid/panic/panic/acid

You can get airway & lung problems from reflux.

Interesting contrasting comments about popcorn at r55 and r75. I assumed popcorn was a pretty neutral food for most people, but I guess everyone is different.

Avocado always makes my reflux act up.

yeah, it's weird r81. hot wings or pizza and things with salsa don't bother me as much as root vegetables or garlic. cake bothers me, ice cream doesn't. I don't eat a ton of sweets so that's fine but the garlic is a big personal issue as I love garlicy sauces.

I developed GORD out of the blue and stomach bloating followed. That often led to a constipation/diarrhoea cycle. I went on PPIs and Gaviscon Advanced, which helped a bit. I tried cider vinegar, which made things a whole lot worse. The doctor suggested peppermint oil capsules with an enteric coating and that did the trick for me. Turned out that my IBS was caused by a constriction in the bowel opening that the peppermint oil eased. Since then, I have had no problems but I cut down on strong black coffee and anything in the FODMAP list that was likely to cause an acid build up. Not completely out but just scaled back.

OP, I had really bad acid reflux, and was on an extremely strict diet for about two months. I think the name of the medicine I was given was Prilosec, which at the time was prescription only, and then became over the counter. I also took Gaviscon after every meal, and also before going to bed. The situation cleared up, and I was able to go back to a "normal" diet. My reflux occasionally comes back, and I will start taking Gaviscon again, and clean up my diet. Gaviscon works way, way better than Tums, or any other chewable medicine, for me. Everyone is different, but for me, I was able to see my way beyond the worst of it.

This is embarrassing to ask...has anyone experienced really foul odor wafting out of your mouth? I don't mean regular run of the mill bad breath or oops, I ate too many onions. I mean death breath odor that can stop trains. They waft out of my mouth randomly and sporadically. This malady started happening at the same time as acid reflux became a regular thing in my life.

R72, look into SIBO. A friend complained of looking like a very pregnant woman (she is naturally very thin), especially in the evenings. She was always bloated and had constipation. She was diagnosed with SIBO.

[quote] Watch out for allergies that mimic acid reflux.

R25 yes! I came in to suggest that.

This week I have been down the rabbit-hole trying to figure out why I seem to be reacting asthmatically to stomach acid (with no other symptoms, and getting no relief from above suggestions) while coincidentally experiencing flare-ups of Aspergic sensitivities, when I stumbled across the histamine connection by absent-mindedly popping a cetirizine (to stop my skin itching and eyes watering) that cleared both my airways and my mental fog/irrational mood.

I didn't know this, but apparently floods of histamine (found in activated mast cells, in all tissue) can cause the gastric lining and mucous membranes of the respiratory system to essentially go Code-red, while at the same time blocking synaptic uptake between neurons in the brain (histamine weakens and violates the blood-brain barrier, allowing pro-inflammatory agents that spike neuroinflammation and oxidative stress to leak into the lobes and play havoc with the dendritic synaptic transmitters).

Gut-brain inflammation has only begun to be pinpointed as a potential cause of ASD conditions, but the research and anecdotal evidence so far looks strong. A pollen allergy or food intolerance is at root a mast cell dysfunction of some sort, which triggers a domino effect of other immune responses in the body.

This is a new idea to me so I'm not boned up on it totally, but the crux of the issue is helping the body to stabilise mast cells and to produce the enzymes that degrade or excrete histamine, by taking calcium-channel blocking medication and by following an anti-inflammatory diet and by supplementing - probiotics, flavanols like sytrinol, and bioflavonoids such as quercetin and luteolin have been suggested as efficacious - rather than simply taking OTC histamine antagonists alone (which only block receptors, and do not reduce histamine levels).

[quote] You can think of autism as being, in part, an allergy of the brain. So any kind of external allergenic, be it food, pollen, cats, dust etc, is likely to make observable symptoms of autism worse. You either remove the allergen, treat the allergy or just live with the allergy. There are drugs called mast cell stabilizers, which are like super antihistamines, suited to address allergies; Cromolyn Sodium is a well known example. Mast cell stabilizers block a calcium channel essential for mast cell degranulation, stabilizing the cell and thereby preventing the release of histamine and related mediators. Verapamil is a calcium channel blocker, used primarily to low blood pressure, but seems to work great in some people with autism. Histamine is produced naturally by food and the body can deal with normal levels via the enzymes DAO and HMT, so unless you are histamine intolerant (lacking in DAO and HMT) these blockers likely will have no negative histamine related effects.

Excited to try these suggestions and see what happens. Irksomely, I'm not sure I'll be able to safely take quercetin, given that I have heavy menstrual cycles enough that I supplement iron (quercetin inhibits iron uptake).

I've had GERD off and on for years. When I went for an endoscopy, they found little ulcers. The dr told me to take medication for a few weeks until they cleared and take it again if they flare up again. I was very happy with Zantac, but now have to take Pepcid. I won't go near the PPIs.

My worst triggers are bananas and bread.

Be aware that esophageal spasms can mimic a heart attack. They call that 'jackhammer esophagus." When you have those spasms, stay calm and take something like Buscopan.

Always take the meds under your tongue if possible.

I've had issues with reflux as well. I've found that I've really had to overhaul my poor diet, unfortunately. My triggers are milk, tomato sauce, greasy foods, onions, garlic....

I've used Pantaprazole for 20 years.

Too much hard cheese and coffee triggers my reflux. Found out that my hiatal hernia returned. Have to schedule the procedure.

Dexilant prescribed by my doctor, taken every morning, is the only thing that’s worked for me.