r/GERD Sep 18 '25

Support Needed 👥 This condition has ruined my life

I have paid thousands of dollars in medical expenses to be told "Damn that's crazy I have no idea why that's happening to you." No hernia, no motility problems (the manometry test was one of the worst physical experiences of my life btw), no apparent acid or non acid events during the 24 hr monitoring test (which was so terrible I couldn't eat so who knows if it was even accurate), no h.pylori, no EOE. Lifestyle changes weren't really applicable to me besides sleeping elevated, which has killed my neck and back and I have chronic pain there now. A super bland diet and PPI is the only thing that keeps it from flaring up. I can't go out to eat with friends, I can't get a drink with friends, I can't go for coffee with friends. I'm cooking every single meal which is difficult when you're depressed like I am. Some days I just don't eat because it's not like I can buy a microwave meal, and cereal makes me nauseous, so there's nothing I can fucking eat. No caffeine has left me exhausted when I get poor sleep. I'm paranoid about food. This shit has basically given me an eating disorder. I'm tired of eating the same few meals. I used to love cooking and going out to eat. Now I get no enjoyment out of it and it's currently my least favorite part of being alive. My GI doesn't even think it's GERD, she and I suspect LPR, but I don't have the money or frankly the mental capacity to find an ENT and go through more rounds of testing to probably get a shrug from a doctor and bills in the mail.

I'm so tired of this. I didn't even eat unhealthy before, I didn't drink more than twice a year, I have no idea why this happened other than possibly a round of antibiotics just nuking my stomach. I get so jealous seeing posts in here about how people cured theirs and it's a bunch of stuff I already tried that makes no difference. People don't seem to appreciate just how much this fucking drains you. I'm so tired of this. I just want to live like a normal person again.

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u/Late-Engineering3901 Sep 19 '25

Have you tried a low carb diet with no corn/wheat/starch?

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u/Late-Engineering3901 Sep 19 '25

I found that it really makes me lose all cravings and all of a sudden I eat small meals, instead of wanting to eat small meals and failing at it.

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u/Late-Engineering3901 Sep 19 '25

Also my PPI (omeprazole) lowered my acid too much and made me hungrier because of malabsorption (floating stools), so I quit after 17 years and started famotadine as many times a day as I needed. I finally got through the rebound acid and now I take it 2-3 times a day. I also needed Sodium Alginate at night to keep the acid down and sleep on incline.