# New member here. Long time GERD with a recent syptom.



## jz1276 (Jul 19, 2015)

Hello all. Just joined this board to see if there is anyone out there who is suffering from a GERD related syptom that I have had recently as nobody I talk to seems to know what I am talking about. Here's my story...

In my early 20's (I'm 38 now), I started having severe heartburn to the point where I carried around a bottle of TUMS wherever I went. The heartburn would also wake me up while sleeping on a daily basis multiple times per night and so I kept a bottle of TUMS next to my bed. This went on for years until I eventually went to see a Gastro doc who gave me an endoscopy & diagnosed me with a hiatal hernia and GERD. That was around 10 years ago & since then I have been on 40mgs of Omeprazole daily which pretty much elimated the heartburn all together. I still keep a bottle of TUMS nearby just in case, by rarely ever need them.

Around 2 years ago, a new symptom occurred. I will try to explain the best I can. If I am laying down watching TV and need to burp, I must sit up in order to burp. If I am sleeping and need to burp, obviously I cant sit up because I am asleep & so eventually the air works it's way out but along with it is stomach acid. It IMMEDITAELY wakes me up and causes severe coughing and HORRIBLE burning in the back of my throat. An episode will last about 10 minutes and most times I am able to fall back alseep but this is THE worst feeling in the world. This does not happen often, but it does happen.

I went back to my Gastro doc who told me to purchase some over the counter Prilosec & take it before bed time. I never did it because I really dont even think it would have any effect as this is not heartburn, but actual acid coming up into my throat. Another thing to note is the severity of this all depends on my last meal. If my last meal of the day was say pizza, or chicken cutlets, then it will be bad. However, if I had something like waffles with syrup, or ice cream, then the acid doesnt really burn when it comes back up.

I know people say there is no cause for heartburn/GERD, but I'm pretty sure I know how I ended up with it. At a very early age (around 11 or 12), I developed a sort of 'nervous tick'. The best way I can describe it is I would kind of 'flex' my throat muscle. After years of doing this, I believe it caused the hiatal hernia. Anyway, has anyone else suffered from this?


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## msg (Jul 14, 2015)

For someone who's had extensive GERD in his sleep, my advice is this: eat your dinner early and do not eat anything within 4-6 hours before going to bed. Do your 'heavy lifting' at breakfast / lunch and eat light at dinner.


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## jaumeb (Sep 1, 2014)

And inclining your bed may also help.


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## sharie556 (Sep 10, 2015)

If you have Gerd as I have had it for years don't lay down for 3 hours after eating I have it severe I changed my diet to bland foods no pizza! I had to have my medicine changed I am on protonix in morning Zantax at night.I still get acid bot I take notice of what happens after I eat something then you avoid that food.I also drink aloe if it is severe.


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## ibsad (Nov 25, 2013)

I stick to dairy free FODMAPS diet because it and apple cider vinegar were the only things that helped my GERD.

Before I figured out the diet that worked, I used to sleep with my head WAY up and didn't eat 4 hours before bed, it helped somewhat but not much.


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## Noodles87 (Nov 18, 2014)

Actually, I found that my ibs symptoms caused my gerd/ acid reflux symptoms.

I would get lots of wind pressure that needed to be burped up, this caused the reflux (I suspect a hernia aswell but not diagnosed).

I found treating the ibs, therefore reducing the wind pressure, worked best at clearing up the gerd.

Some things I have read about possible treatments for gerd: 
-Looking into whether you actually have low acid levels as opposed to the high levels doctors currently believe. To treat this people use either lemon juice, apple cider vinegar or hcl tablets.
-Low carbohydrate diets (specific carbohydrate diet is one option).
-hiatal hernia self adjustment manuavere.

Other things I found helped when it was bad- gaviscon, it not only reduces the acid but it provides a barrier layer so if there is reflux there is less damage. Also before going to sleep I would massage my whole tummy and try to bring up as much wind as possible to reduce any pressure, this reduced reflux during the night.


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