Quote from sickiemcgee:

Just a few questions for anyone who has acid reflux, what were/are your symptoms? how did you find out you had it? what treatment works for you? did you have any tooth decay/breakage before diagnosis? I think and my doc thinks I have acid reflux but I am really really hesitant to go for the scope (scared) is there any way I can start treatment and see how it goes before having to resort to invasive tests? Thanks for any and all help!

ah -- i see you may have read this in "you guys know everything!!" ... never mind -- you can read it again, or not!!

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i usually post on the thyroid board, but was just poking around and saw your post ...

i have had acid reflux "disease" in the past (burning in the esophagus) and have had stomach burn for at least a year, to the point where i ended up taking acid reducers, four time a day, finally ...

now here's the thing: in order to digest your food properly, you need more acid, not less, so taking an acid reducer only, in the end, exacerbates the problem ... when you eat, you set up an immediate reaction in which your stomach senses "food!!" and the response is "must - make - more - acid", so you have an increased flow of acid, which causes acid reflux ...

a solution to the problem is either licorice root or DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice) tablets ... most importantly, it promotes secretion of the protective mucosal layer and the growth of new mucosal cells ...it also helps inhibit acid secretion, and increases blood flow to gastric mucosa .. which is a technical way of saying that it improves the amount of fluid in the lining of the stomach, which in your and my cases has been damaged ..

i had an ulcer years ago (i was scoped) and was treated with tagamet, which cured my ulcer but left my stomach really sensitive .. i've been taking acid reducers on a permanent basis for about a year now, b/c i of the anti-convulsants that i have to take, until i went to a naturopath (ND) ... she introduced me to DGL tablets (or powder) and i've been able to stop my acid reducers almost completely, from the first day, and also stop my motilium for nausea (reglan would be the closest eqiv. in the states) ...

twenty years ago, when i had the ulcer, i just had stomach pain, on waking and beginning shortly after i ate (half an hour, mebbee?)...

i'v had tooth decay lately b/c of thyroid disease (changes the acidity of one's saliva?? dunno!!) .. but just about everything seems to become more acidic with thyroid dissease (do i recognize your name from that board??)

if you just have heartburn, you might try licorice (sure works for me) ... if your stomach hurts, you should get scoped on the off-chance that you have cancer, or your ulcer, if you have one, may be caused by a bacteria and you can take antibiotics for it ...

in any case, i heartily recommend licorice (which can increase adrenal function, thus increasing your cortisol level and increasing your blood pressure), or deglycyrrhizinated licorice (no increased adrenal function) ...

gastric reflux disease (GERD), which used to be known as gastric reflux, and in "the olden days" was referred to as simply "heartburn" (like, ten years ago, maybe??) has now been completely medicalized so that the manufacturers of acid reducers can market them ... makes me so mad :mad: when just a simple remedy will do ...

jb


~~ meep and i discussed this on the thyroid board on response to a post, perhaps last week ... http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=234720&highlight=dgl