Acid reflux / heartburn
Acid reflux / heartburn
Author
Discussion

dazwalsh

Original Poster:

6,112 posts

170 months

Sunday 23rd December 2018
quotequote all
I have got to the ripe old age of 34 without serious illness bar the odd 24 hour cold.

Now for the past month or 2 i get really bad acid reflux and heartburn on an evening, with some nights resulting in heavy coughing and vomiting. I can sleep alright its just 6pm until i go to sleep thats a problem. I havent altered my eating habbits or amounts yet but its strange for it to suddenly appear like it has.

Now i have gained about 2 stone in weight over the last year, but 16 stone and 16ft4 isnt that excessive. This is mainly after cutting down on my golf outings and an increasingly stty diet but is there anything else that could explain the recent symptoms?

EDIT: i dont smoke, and if i have a session on the beer twice a month im lucky.



Edited by dazwalsh on Sunday 23 December 23:06

ninepoint2

4,085 posts

189 months

Sunday 23rd December 2018
quotequote all
16'4 is very tall IMHO wink

silvagod

1,086 posts

189 months

Sunday 23rd December 2018
quotequote all
Why on earth are you asking an internet forum to diagnose your symptoms. Go see a professional!

I have had acid reflux / heartburn since, well, ever....I was one of the 1st patients in the UK to be prescribed 'Losec' (corporate name for Omeprazole) and told not to use it long term...well here we are 40 years later and I still take 1 tab per day!

There are so many reasons for your symptoms, go see someone that can tell you!

AJB88

15,753 posts

200 months

Sunday 23rd December 2018
quotequote all
Diet 100%

I used to be 18 stone at 5ft 8 and suffered badly with it.

I'm now 12.5 stone (have been down to 10.11) diet changed dramatically and not had it at all for a few years.

Sheets Tabuer

21,414 posts

244 months

Sunday 23rd December 2018
quotequote all
I've googled your symptoms and I'm sorry but you have aids, I'd go see a doc.

GliderRider

2,924 posts

110 months

Sunday 23rd December 2018
quotequote all
ninepoint2 said:
16'4 is very tall IMHO wink
Fairly average for a giraffe though...

Tips for dealing with reflux (just based on personal experience and advice I've received):

  • Get a prescription for Omprazole.
  • Keep a glass of water with some bicarbonate of soda handy, particularly at night. It neutralizes stomach acid virtually instantly. Tastes vile initially, but you get used to it.
  • Avoid spicy and gluten containing food after about 7pm.
  • Avoid alcohol late in the evening
  • If its really bad, make yourself sick. A good talk to God on the great white telephone always seems to help, provided you rinse your mouth & throat afterwards.
  • Get a throat endoscopy. You may have throat ulcers, which can become cancerous if untreated.
  • A good dump before bed gives the stomach somewhere for the food to go.
  • Try extra pillows to get your head and neck higher at night.
As I said, just my own experience, I'm no doctor.

Once you pass fifty, reflux seems pretty common.




ben5575

7,437 posts

250 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
Go see a doc.

Omeprazole or Lansoprazole is normally the answer. I struggled eating breakfast since I was around 13. Was diagnosed and medicated at around 23 and 20 years later at 43 I'm still on the above.

You'll have heard of miracle cures before, but if you're struggling to the point where you're doubled up unable to move and/or throwing up, the meds really do work.

PS: ignore your macho upbringing/PH posts about not taking pills/seeing doctors etc. The pills have been designed for a reason and there is no point struggling with a debilitating illness if you don't have too.

silvagod

1,086 posts

189 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
AJB88 said:
Diet 100%

I used to be 18 stone at 5ft 8 and suffered badly with it.

I'm now 12.5 stone (have been down to 10.11) diet changed dramatically and not had it at all for a few years.
You are the poster boy!

I have been all sorts of weights and finesses (is that a word?) but have ALWAYS had heartburn. Don't be too quick to base a diagnosis on your own experience

Sheets Tabuer

21,414 posts

244 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
I was taking the one a day pills but the reports scared the bejesus out of me, in one study people were dying within 5 years of taking them.

The NHS has this to say..

https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/heartburn-drugs...

elanfan

5,527 posts

256 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
Just sayin.... Omeprazole taken long term is apparently bad for the heart. Suggest you two speak to your own GPS about it. I was only on it for a year or so but I’ve been taken off it for aforementioned reason.

silvagod

1,086 posts

189 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
ben5575 said:
Go see a doc. g with a debilitating illness if you don't have too.
There are many of us, I have argued with surgeons, 'experts' and every GP I have been under relating to 'heartburn'. Most of them go by the copybook, but now and then there are a few that buck the trend.

There was a huge 'hit' with the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) discovery. Unfortunately that didn't help me, I don't have that bacteria!

silvagod

1,086 posts

189 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
elanfan said:
Just sayin.... Omeprazole taken long term is apparently bad for the heart. Suggest you two speak to your own GPS about it. I was only on it for a year or so but I’ve been taken off it for aforementioned reason.
I have had EVERY heart test done recently and have been on Omeprazole for 40 plus years as mentioned earlier.

It is NOT bad for the heart....please don't express 'opinions' with medication.

Sheets Tabuer

21,414 posts

244 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
Equally please don't express anecdotes based on your own personal experience.

ben5575

7,437 posts

250 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
Exactly. Read that link and make up your own mind as to its veracity.

Apply some common sense; would the NHS really prescribe pills that were likely to kill you within 5 years??? Please sir, can I have some more funding for my research because I've spuriously suggested that the pills that are regularly prescribed to millions of people are in fact one of the largest killers in the western world? Quote "Deaths can't be linked directly to the use of PPIs."

PurpleTurtle

8,859 posts

173 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
Do you like spicy food OP?

I do and during my 30s had terrible acid reflux, used to down a boatload of Gaviscon and had the highly displeasurable throat endoscopy to check out whether any serious issues, there weren’t.

In the end I cut back on the beer and curry, took a while but it worked a treat.

ben5575

7,437 posts

250 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
silvagod said:
ben5575 said:
Go see a doc. g with a debilitating illness if you don't have too.
There are many of us, I have argued with surgeons, 'experts' and every GP I have been under relating to 'heartburn'. Most of them go by the copybook, but now and then there are a few that buck the trend.

There was a huge 'hit' with the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) discovery. Unfortunately that didn't help me, I don't have that bacteria!
Agreed absolutely. This should be a check as part of the diagnosis smile.

elanfan

5,527 posts

256 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
https://www.thecardiologyadvisor.com/heart-failure...

So no there’s no link. Believe or do what you want it’s no skin off my nose. I’m off.

Hoofy

80,035 posts

311 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
I heard somewhere that dietary fat can be a cause (I think it was on that Trust Me I'm A Doctor programme).

I topically take Ranitidine which does the trick. I also drink a lot more water to keep washing my oesophagus clear, especially when in meetings.

Chuffedmonkey

997 posts

135 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
I get it quite often and although It don't make me sick it does bring a horrible taste to my mouth sometimes.

I am convinced its something I eat as it only happens a few times a week, normally after pastry, biscuits that sort of food. I actually do not think I have had it lately as I have avoided that type of food. Normally a drink of milk or a rennie or 2 helps. I just hope it does not come back through other food.


jockinthebox

151 posts

128 months

Monday 24th December 2018
quotequote all
Diet for me too
6ft 18.5st heartburn, reflux, vomiting
2 years later 13st still 6ft but no symptoms