# Reflux pain and soccer/running



## twonK (Oct 30, 2006)

Hi gang,I love playing soccer. I mean, I _love_ playing soccer. I'd play every day if I could. However within 5 minutes of kick off after I've run around a bit, my stomach starts burning. I blame myself for this [I have a problem with blame], which results in more acid being released and more burning and so on. Many of my games are ruined by this.I've tried taking my ranitidine closer to kick off but that doesn't seem to help. Empty-stomach or not doesn't make any difference. It also happens when I go for a run. Needless to say, this is pretty demoralizing since these are the two things that I enjoy most and it ruins them, mostly.Does anyone experience the same problems? Anyone have any suggestions [other than quitting playing...] ?Cheers,Pete


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

How close?You might be better doing it 1-2 hours before the game based on when the peak blood concentration is.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6329583Apparently this is common. Not sure how much is the bouncing and how much is the breathing hard. Some sites recommended a small low fat meal about an hour before your run, so there is something to absorb some of the acid, but not something that would set off the GERD like a fatty meal would.Are you taking the OTC dose or the prescription dose? Not sure if they are different but you might see if you can take a higher dose than you are. Adding an antacid right before the run (Calcium if you tend to diarrhea, Magnesium based if you tend to constipation) just to help in the short term, they tend to not last as long as the acid blocking meds.


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## twonK (Oct 30, 2006)

Kathleen, thanks for the info. I am taking OTC 150mg x 2 per day. I've tried taking the second dose just before I play but that hasn't helped. The problem with food is that I cannot eat anything within 3 hours of kick off or I am too bloated to run. I'll try taking the second dose 2 hours beforehand to give myself the best shot. I might also pop an extra 50 or 100, I can't see that being problematic. Running [including playing soccer of course] is the only time that I get GERD pain these days. As such running must cause some kind of mechanical, biological or chemical change which triggers the production [or relocation?] of the acid.Cheers,Pete


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