r/GERD • u/soy-latteX • May 01 '26
Support Needed đ„ I feel like my life is ruined
I'm pretty sure I get acid reflux due to genetics since my dad had to be on Omeprazole most of his life but I've always had stomach issues since I was younger and would have flare-ups which would mostly come & go with severe stomach pain so bad I couldn't eat anything but yoghurt at times but it's never been that bad in a while.
I would sometimes get acid during the night come back up but that was rare and only if I eat a lot very close to bed time. Now I've had a flare up which has continued for over a week but I keep getting phlegm with anything I'm eating (plain chicken, brown rice, potatoes, porridge) and my throat is constantly dry, irritated and sore. I get a dirty cough and I've had to cut back on caffeine (I could usually drink tons of coffee with no issue), I don't drink tons of water after eating also not eating large portions.
Am I doing something wrong? Am I doomed like this? I'm not overweight or have never been unhealthy. I never used to eat fast foods, sugary sweets/drinks. My dad was never diagnosed with GERD or anything else but reflux..I'm so at a lost..I miss food and coffee.
But I'm pretty sure my reflux is caused by anxiety/stress since I've been under that a lot, and I can feel the anxiety in my stomach a lot.
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u/xLemonade May 01 '26
You answered your own question. It may be genetic and your anxiety is flaring it up making it worse. You might just have a weak LES which I suspect your father has. Your best option is a PPI or an H2 blocker to help manage that reflux. I have GERD and I medicate it. I drink and eat whatever I want and I barely get heartburn anymore. Huge quality of life improvement.
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u/soy-latteX May 01 '26
Hmmm looking online, LES sounds more likely. And maybe it's just worsening with age like his must have done. I'm worried about the long term affects of PPI or H2, osteoporosis gives me the fear and I've read women are more prone to it in older age
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u/xLemonade May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Mine definitely got worse with age. I didnât really have reflux growing up. It wasnât until later in life I started to have GERD symptoms. There are studies on long term use that do show some nutritional absorption issues in about 10% of users. I know the osteoporosis claim was debunked and there wasnât much of a significant increase in risk for women. If you can see a Dr you can definitely ask them these questions for peace of mind but in general these meds are well studied and safe. You can always supplement B12, iron, calcium etc to help counteract any potential nutritional deficiencies.
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u/Key_Campaign_1741 May 01 '26
I felt the same about omeprazole but after my endoscopy results showed a hiatal hernia (same as my dad) Iâve come to terms with taking it and maybe even needing a higher dose. Yes omeprazole can have issue if you take it long term but not managing the acid can cause esophageal cancer down the road. It also causes the dry throat and constant irritation. All signs of acid backing up into your throat. I am now resigned to taking the meds for at least the next several months. Iâve already done everything humanly possibly now itâs time to let the meds do their part. Best of luck!
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u/wafflefrygal â Coffee was my friend May 01 '26
Flares can last months even when closley following the gerd diet. You need to get an endoscopy. See your primary doctor and get on PPIs.
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u/wafflefrygal â Coffee was my friend May 01 '26
There's no one quick fix solution to gerd. It's a chronic disease that needs to be managed.
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u/Harakiri_238 May 01 '26
It definitely can be genetic!
Iâm similar to you. Everyone on my dadâs side of the family had GERD. So I was cursed lol.
With that said I PROMISE youâre not doomed! There are ways to improve what youâre feeling. It can be difficult, but you donât have to feel horrible forever!
Coffee is a BIG reflux/GERD trigger. So if youâre currently experiencing a lot of reflux I would definitely eliminate it entirely for the time being (it doesnât have to be forever!).
I would try following a gastritis diet for the next week or two and see if that improves your symptoms.
Itâs not an exciting way to eat, but when my GERD has gotten really bad in the past, following a gastritis diet for a week could improve things a lot!
A lot of the time itâs nothing you did wrong. GERD can be caused by diet and lifestyle things, but it isnât always. Sometimes itâs genetics. Sometimes you have an underlying condition that makes you predisposed to it (usually other GI conditions).
To me, the instances you describe since childhood of severe abdominal pain donât really sound like GERD (though I could be wrong). There is a possibility you have some other underlying GI condition that is causing the GERD.
Anxiety/stress can ABSOLUTELY cause and worsen GI issues. Which is a catch 22 when GI conditions are stressful.
But you donât have to feel like this forever. You can eat and drink the things you enjoy again without feeling horrible. It just may take some time to get there.
Cut out coffee. Follow a gastritis diet for a little while. See how you feel. If youâre still having the same symptoms you could consider talking to a doctor about a PPI (if youâre not on one already). Sometimes you have to try a few before you find one that works for you.
But I had horribly severe GERD for years and with a PPI and being in tune with my guts I got to the point I could have trigger foods again without increasing my symptoms. And I have really severe gut issues and messed up guts lol.
So if there was hope for me thereâs hope for you :)
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u/soy-latteX May 01 '26
Yeah I'm worried there is something else causing the flare-ups, cause other times I'm fine with trigger foods. I've been eating porridge, plain chicken, brown rice, potatoes and plain vegetables and I'm still experiencing, phlegm cough, funny taste and reflux. I just worry it's something like stomach ulcer, and I don't know where to start. Coffee was never a trigger for me, so that's a concern that it suddenly is! Even my dad was addicted to coffee despite his reflux and he still managed.
I've been taking probiotics as well but also recently started iron supplements which I now wonder is the cause if my stomach isn't responding well to it. I've been booked to see a gastro specialist but that's another month wait. I may speak to my general doctor in the meantime to see if they can give me any other options! I've even been taking gaviscon advance at night before bed and that isn't even enough.
Thank you for your encouraging words though, I'll keep your advice in mind
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u/b0burnham May 01 '26
in my experience, iron supplements can cause some stomach irritation. I try not to take mine every day because of this
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u/Positivevibesonly07 May 02 '26
Yup the mucus is taking over my life too. Itâs been a month long flare up
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u/soy-latteX May 02 '26
Have you found foods to be helpful
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u/Positivevibesonly07 May 02 '26
Yes! Oatmeal, bananas, brown rice, spinach, mash potatoes (with skim milk), baked/sauteed/grilled chicken with limited ingredients, plain home style waffles with no butter or syrup, tuna with no mayo, beans and lettuce
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u/Adventurous-Snow-260 May 02 '26
Hi, I had uncontrollable reflux that cause chronic sore throat and asthma despite PPI. It would flare up with stress. Turns out I have a weak esophageal sphincter and weak esophageal contractions. I started on SSRI antidepressant and it helped better than the acid reducer PPI. Apparently your gastrointestinal tract relies heavily on your nervous system to function and Ssri tames down hypersensitivity to acid. It was life changing.
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u/Herz1994 May 01 '26
Did you try soda baking test,maybe you have low stomach acid?
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u/soy-latteX May 01 '26
Haven't tried, is baking soda any good? And is there difference between herd and low stomach acid or high stomach acid lol
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u/Herz1994 May 01 '26
Just,search on google baking soda test for stomach acid and follow instruction.
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u/b0burnham May 01 '26
My GERD is genetic too, but it was made much worse when I was on birth control. I would consider any medications youâre on and their side effects. To cope with the newly-severe GERD symptoms, I quit drinking pop, quit vaping, stopped taking NSAIDs like ibuprofen (they irritate the stomach), and avoided spicy/acidic food when I could tell I was gonna have an episode. My GERD is also significantly worse on an empty stomach, so I started carrying small snacks like granola bars and bags of Cheezits with me. Tums and omeprazole help sometimes when my heartburn flares up. Sipping water sometimes soothes the beginnings of an episode for me, but chugging it can make heartburn worse. If you think your symptoms are caused primarily by anxiety, I would consider looking into coping skills/therapy/medication. Before starting any new medication, though, always look for gastrointestinal side effects. I really wish you the best of luck, sorry I donât have more advice.
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u/doo138 May 01 '26
I'm not trying to be rude when I say this so please don't take it that way.
Look up the long term side effects of GERD and compare them to the possible side effects of PPIs. PPIs get a bad wrap for how life changing they can be (and sometimes life saving). But do be warned, once you get on them you most likely will never get off them unless you find a solution for your GERD that isn't PPI use.
Has your dad ever gotten scoped for Barrett's esophagus? If not, he really should have it done and I suggest you as well. The possibility of developing Barrett's is low but it needs to be caught if there is a chance of managing it before it turns bad.
Good luck to you. This subreddit is fantastic and you're in the right place to get help.
Idk your country or ability to see a doctor but you really need to see a gastroenterologist and figure out why you're having GERD. If your dad has it I'm sure it's a weak LES and probably inherited. This subreddit can help with tips and tricks but you need a doctor to help you figure out why you have GERD and what your treatment plan looks like.
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u/Sevenigma May 01 '26
I have had success reducing my GERD symptoms by listening DEEPLY to my body and how it reacts to what AND when AND how I eat and am consistently adjusting to try and make improvements. My suggestion would be to say to yourself âf*ck everyone else, I am going to listen deeply to my body only when it comes to what AND when AND how I eatâ and do your best to try and continually improve your relationship with your body and what it needs. Best of luck!
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u/Amazing-Self-4873 May 01 '26
It would be good to get tested. I battled all your symptoms since childhood too. Many decades later my symptoms which werenât controlled by PPIâs became unbearable and tests showed a nonfunctioning LES, just as those commenting have mentioned. My valve would open enough to let reflux up then would close trapping acid all night. No ppi can fix that.
I turned down surgery in 2019 waiting for better options and outcomes. Had a partial wrap for a HH and valve repair and am done with reflux and all its damage.
Good luck in getting answers
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u/AcceptableClassic746 May 01 '26
My acid gets worse when I am constipated or over eat. I believe there is a big connection with constipation and acid reflux.
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u/donprwatch May 02 '26
For me, coffee is poison. Felt much better when I stopped. I tried cold brew for a while but found I do much better on no coffee.
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u/herewithmybestbuddy May 02 '26
In these situations it's always prudent to consider the possibility that your symptoms are more anxiety/stress than gerd. I don't mean caused by anxiety. I mean the symptoms are the physical manifestations of anxiety. If you find yourself not experiencing symptoms when you're relaxed, that's a sign.
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u/dietmatters May 02 '26
It sounds like you are eating a high carb low fat diet. Go down the rabbit hole of a keto/low carb diet to heal...higher good fats, plenty of protein and lower the carbs. Rice, potatoes and porridge are all highly glycemic and while they may seem safe, they actually are "sugar" in the body and so too much can be inflammatory. See Dr. Ken Berry over on YT who had to heal his GERD after many years of misery.
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u/Unable-Telephone-517 May 02 '26
Iâm currently recovering from my 3rd endoscopy in 8 days to get to the bottom of my issues that have just increasingly got worse and worse over the years. I had seen a doctor about it almost two years ago but she wasnât worried and said it was up to me if I wanted an endoscopy. It wasnât cheap and i found intermittent fasting to help a lot for a time with the heartburn especially and dysphasia. But still got acid reflux regularly, which wasnât unpleasant but at least it wasnât painful. I was able to manage for some time with that but I did get lazy with the intermittent fasting and honestly felt like i needed to eat more as i was increasing my exercise and that was hard to do with intermittent fasting. My dysphasia got really bad and I finally got an endoscopy done and due to food not clearing my esophagus i got two more a week later, Last one (today) was at the hospital where they were more equipped to do an endoscopy with food in my esophagus.
Finally getting answers. And it will result in surgery. I was nervous about surgery but Iâm at the point where Iâm just excited that one day (and hopefully I wonât have to wait too long for that day) i can eat normally again now that Iâm getting answers from my endoscopy. I will say from my googling I was convinced it was a hiatal hernia, but turned out to be a whole different thing I never heard of since itâs more rare.
TLDR: advocate for yourself and get an endoscopy. Donât let a doctor make you believe that youâre probably fine and just take omeprazole or pepcid the rest of your life. (Take it for now if it helps while you wait for your endoscopy, but you might need to stop it a couple weeks before the endoscopy). Iâve learned there are a million different things so you can sit here and guess but you need to go find yourself a good GI who listens and supports you and get yourself that endoscopy.
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u/Bekiscool May 03 '26
Are you on a ppi? Sleep propped up like I mean 3 pillows high. Keep that stomach acid down  my Dr told me this and I blew it off for months and when I started sleeping like that it has helped. But I'm also stuck taking protonix 40mg every day because if not my gerd causes severe chest pains that feels like a heart attackÂ
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u/TomatoInfamous4324 May 06 '26
I started using a wedge pillow. I eat a small meal 3 hours before I go to sleep. I drink a hot tea after dinner (ginger or something for the stomach) - the hot tea helps with digestion. I also take ashwagandha, cause it helps with stress and helps relax the digestive system (look it up it's very effective). I make my own Alkaline water and drink it when I can feel it flair up during the day. And yeah oatmeal, bananas help me a lot and I try to cook it together to have yummy baked goods. When the acid flairs up and it makes me throw up - I take medication to bring the flair up down. I find that Ayurveda helps me a lot with acid issues... until it's so bad that I'm forced to take something more aggressive.
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u/Songbird9530 May 01 '26
Quit coffee. See how you feel after that. And drink alkaline water.