Does anyone deal with acid issues? Such as heart burn, indigestion, acid reflux etc? It seems like all the things I like to eat are culprits and I'm a little nervous about cutting a lot of things out.
Keep a food diary and note what foods actually give you GERD. That's what you need to cut Have you been diagnosed by a doctor? If so, he should have put you on medication.
GERD can lead to Barrett's Esophagus which is a precancerous condition so it is not to be taken lightly.
Yes, I used to. Fasting (5:2) has almost entirely fixed it for me, though. Not to say you should give it a try, and I'm sure this isn't everyone's experience on 5:2 (though I know many of us have experienced it), but it has me wondering if maybe there are other ways to eliminate the heartburn without completely eliminating the foods you enjoy.
Also, there are low acid coffees, and cold brewed coffee is very low in acid, if you're willing to try an alternative. I can't imagine giving up coffee.
It sounds like you already know what causes it, but if you eat those things earlier in the day does it still bother you? I know for a lot of people, it's eating trigger foods later in the evening that causes heart burn.
Good luck. I hope you're able to find something that works without having to give up all of those foods!
I cut gluten and coffee at the same time about a year and a half ago. I was taking two 12-hour antacids PLUS tums everyday for probably close to a year. Immediately I didn't have to take another antacid until about six months later! I'm still going strong.
I have GERD too. I take the Omeprazole 20mg caplets 1X day. It's a little more expensive now that it's on the shelf instead of through prescription. I've never drank coffee (the smell makes me nauseous), but before the meds any onions, garlic, tomato sauces, spicy foods and eating too much gave me acid reflux. I rarely get it now that I'm taking Omeprazole and hoping once I'm at my goal weight I either won't need it at all or at least just on rare occasions.
Thanks for the replies. I took a look on youtube and this seems to be an extremely common condition suffered by nearly half of the population. I am not one to go on medications and treat symptoms, I would much rather get to the root of the condition and reverse it so I will be looking into cutting these things out of my diet at least for a while.
I have been having trouble with coffee for a long time, 3yrs I'd say. I limit to 1 cup per day but lately been drinking up to 2 cups and I think it's the culprit. I've also taken some antibiotics lately that were probably a culprit as well, and had some very spicy food over the weekend. The pain is frightening because it feels like a heart problem! I'm so not down with that.
Little late to the party, but I've had acid reflux ever since I was pregnant with my son. Started then and just sort of never went away. Soda use to do it for me, as did coffee, alcohol, tomatoes and spicy food.
I don't fully medicate myself for it, and I've cut soda/coffee out of my diet. If I am aware I'll be eating something that triggers it (which isn't often anymore) then I'll take a Tagament HB tablet prior to eating. It's an over the counter medication and it seems to help. If I am out of medicine at home, then I'll actually drink a glass of milk (we have skim milk in our home, if you do whole I wouldn't recommend this as high fat dairy can cause it too). It has a very temporary soothing effect for me.
please get checked out. I'm in the middle of fixing an issue that started sort of like GERD - and it doesn't sound like it's getting better for you.
I've posted a few times about this adventure on the surgery board, but bottom line, the medication is making a HUGE difference. It's unlikely that you're heading down the EXACT same path I was [because of my WLS], but as pointed out above, Barrett's esophagus is a real possibility and nothing to fool around with.
I'm feeling better but I am taking medication and quitting coffee. Even one cup of coffee a day is very difficult to quit let me tell you. The headache is intense. Plus, I really love coffee so I'm super sad I have to give it up. I'm drinking some green tea right now and it's horrible.
Does anyone deal with acid issues? Such as heart burn, indigestion, acid reflux etc? It seems like all the things I like to eat are culprits and I'm a little nervous about cutting a lot of things out.
I was not always as actively gluten intolerant as I am now, I developed it in my early 30s. At the time the ONLY blatant symptom was chronic, constant heartburn that started as soon as I ate anything, it seemed (after more than 10 years stable at my proper weight that changed and it started creeping up, too but I didn't weigh myself regularly so I really didn't notice until my clothes stopped fitting). At the time this problem started I'd been a lacto/ovo vegetarian for more than 10 years. I ate healthfully (or so I thought) as a vegetarian, with a strong emphasis on whole grain cereals/breads/vegetables/soy foods.
It took me a LONG time, through the use of an elimination diet, careful diet logging and eating meals that (eventually) consisted of single, unprocessed foods to nail down gluten as being the culprit. Now I know that within 45 minutes of consuming gluten (and crustaceans, but not hardshell fish) I get heartburn, 24 hours after I have eaten it I will have a painful intestinal "flare" and then I will have other IBS like problems that could take up to three weeks to clear out.
From my perspective heartburn/reflux is your body's way of saying "Don't eat that" (barring other medical conditions/surgery/medication side effects). Taking medication to suppress the symptoms means you're still putting things into your body that it can't handle.
BTW, just throwing this out there, I have a friend whose mother's reflux was so bad the doctor's were making esophageal (pre)cancer noises. Took them over six months to figure out she was having a reaction to her cholesterol medication. Medications and vitamins can also be culprits, even if heartburn/reflux isn't a known side effect. Human bodies are NOT one size fits all, as much as conventional medicine would like to believe otherwise.
I too would go checked out. I had sudden severe gerd & finally found that I had An H-Pylori infection. Now the only time I get acid/burning is if I eat gluten. I eliminated it after finding that nothing else was working. Sadly, I haven't been able to add it back in without suffering but at least I can still have coffee & everything else including freakishly spicy things without issue & I've been off PPIs for years now. Acid is horrid! I hope you feel better soon
Last edited by pinkflower; 10-16-2014 at 08:21 PM.
Wannabeskinny best of luck, I have quit coffee a few times, once you get past the withdrawal you are golden, I had it for like 3 days, then poof, gone.
I would definitely try quitting one thing at a time, think of it like troubleshooting, if you change too many things at once you won't really know the root cause.
Maybe what you're putting in the coffee as well. As someone mentioned above fatty dairy.
Eating late gets me, especially tomato stuff, so I really try and avoid eating later.
I was able to quit my super-sludge coffee habit of 20 years by switching to two black tea bags with lemon/agave every morning. The caffeine seems to be a non-issue, just the acid from the coffee.
I have had it for years. I have a hiatal hernia that can be attributed to being overweight. I know what my trigger foods are and I also know that if I overeat or eat too late at night I will have issues.
I live in Canada where omeprazole (Losec) is still a script and I have run out. I need to physically get in to see my doctor to get a renewal and I haven't gone in yet so I am trying Zantac which seems to be doing the trick.
I am a fan of fatty and spicy food more than coffee so that is my issue.
ETA my tracker is inaccurate. I have regained most of that and am at 202 today. Rebooting with the veggie version of the GM diet.
Gerd, Acid Reflux
Not to say you should give it a try, and I'm sure this isn't everyone's experience on 5:2 (though I know many of us have experienced it), but it has me wondering if maybe there are other ways to eliminate the heartburn without completely eliminating the foods you enjoy. 
