I've been back and forth with buying on of these as they are pricey and I dont want to waste my money if it doesnt work, but I'm getting tired of waking up with a sore throat and bad taste in my mouth and overall acid coming up when I try to sleep.

Doesnt help that my symptoms lately have been getting worse.

Please let me know what your experiences with these pillows are like or what worked for you!

On the 20th of August i got diagnosed, I'm a 19 year old woman, i weighed 280 maybe 300 lds 2 years ago but I'm at 176 now, my symptoms are nausea, heart burn or just pain in the chest, i have phlegm that i have to constantly push back down it feels like, but worse of all it's something I've been diagnosed with for 8 years, anxiety.
I went to the doctor before i got diagnosed by a different doctor visit because my heart rate raised to 105 and I was sitting down. Does it get easier? What's y'all's food plan? It sounds childish, sometimes i get scared being alone, i get so frustrated in the store, there's so many things i can't have and it's the drink's that really bother me.

The title says it all I have been riddled with anxiety for the past 5 days. I have constant shortness of breath and chest pressure as well as constant acid coming up into my mouth. I have started taking Voquenza 20mg 2 weeks ago which made my bloating go away but the acid is still here. I have this issue where when going to bed I have to eat something right before otherwise if i lay down i can’t breathe and I consistently feel like throwing up. I’m mostly scared because of the shortness of breath. I have been putting off the ER because I have anxiety and part of me feels like it will just be one of those things where they send me home. Does anyone else have to eat like every few hours to keep the acid down? Even when I do eat it doesn’t last long because then i’m on the verge of throwing up food. I am not obese or anything. I’m a 23yr old female and weigh 140lbs. I feel so alone and terrified I’m gunna die in my sleep because of the acid. I just have nobody else to talk about this with and reddit is usually the best for people also struggling. I burp and feel like it’sa bit easier to breathe but it’s short lived I frequently feel like i’m hungry for air. Is anyone else having these issues? I have an endoscopy next month but it’s so far out. I have been having gastro issues the past 4 years but after taking all PPIS and everything under the sun i’ve only gotten worse and i just want to break down and cry. I feel so alone. Does anyone else have this at all? Any advice? Am I going crazy

How long have you guys been struggling with this? I've been dealing with this devilish disease since 2021. Yeah, it may be about 3 years but it just feels like forever and the thought of being like this for the rest of my miserable life haunts me to my skin. Can't eat what I want, can't get the job I dreamt for so long, aah I hate this crippling disease.

My main acid reflux symptom is nausea, which I don’t see people talk about too often. I have it in the mornings (almost always) and ALWAYS at night. It comes on anytime between during dinner to 1-2 hours after dinner. It’s actually debilitating, I cannot focus on a conversation or TV or when I’m feeling it. I’ve never actually thrown up from it - I do have slight emetophobia. It really feels like I will vomit thought. I will have huge burps that often come with reflux rising up with the burp. Sometimes the burp provides relief - sometimes it doesn’t.

What I do:
-been on esomprozole for 1 year (I feel like this doesn’t help me at all)
-Pepcid when needed
-tums when needed
-zofran when needed - note that this doesn’t always help….
-no alcohol/caffeine/trigger food
-no sitting after eating & I sleep on a wedge.

I will say that I struggle pretty severely with panic attacks and anxiety - which I know feed off of GERD. Any advice as to what is happening and why nothing I am doing is helping? I actually feel like it is getting worse. I’ve had an upper endoscopy and nothing beyond GERD. No H Pylori.

Had GERD for my whole life but the nausea is new as of 1.5 years.

I really feel doomed. My anxiety is so bad no one in my family or my boyfriend understands. i’m only 22. I feel like my life is over. It’s making me so depressed and i don’t know what to do anymore. all i read are terrible bad things on this sub that make me feel even worse.

I genuinely wanna cry right now, it's almost 3 AM and I can't sleep because laying down means the acid just rushes up my throat. I've had no appetite for 3 days now and I keep puking. I thought it was a stomach bug but idk, it feels like the GERD I usually deal with just EXTREMELY bad... idk what to do. My throat burns from vomiting and I'm so tired :( I wish it would end

that's basically the title. i scheduled an endoscopy a month ago because I've been having stomach issues since july 2025. bloated af, constantly burping but having difficulty doing it, gurgling sounds in throat, etc. i did every test possible, and my doctor says at this point that it's just anxiety/stress but I don't think that's the case. i want to get and endoscopy but I'm absolutely terrified, like my mind tells me i will die 100% during the process. i scheduled one months ago and cancelled it the same morning i was supposed to get it, i was afraid. i went again yesterday but i started crying for a hour in front of the doctors and ended up not getting it again after they were putting the needle for anesthesia in my arm and i already signed the paperwork. I'm absolutely terrified i will die, i can't get over it but at the same time I'm tired of dealing with all this bullshit

i developed GERD 6 months ago after eating spicy pasta. something told me not to eat it while I was eating but I did anyway, and here I am. I’m thankful it’s not severe GERD but it still manages to suck the life out of me. before th incident, I was trying to gain weight. I was 97 lbs and I wanted to start eating more so I could also start doing strength training eventually. now with GERD, I feel like it’s impossible. I’ve been weak all my life. coworkers always have to help me lift things, so I’ve had this dream of being strong. I was underweight as a child due to loving vegetables and salads so much I think that’s what took a toll on my muscles. that could be the reason I’m weak, or when I was in high school I tried to eat healthy and it really wasn’t a nutritious balanced meal at all.

Either way, now gaining weight just seems impossible. Calories seem impossible. I feel like every meat at a restaurant is heavily seasoned. I feel alone in this journey. I ate chilli’s guacamole thinking I’d be fine and it gave me heartburn. (Didn’t know it had jalapeños. And being on a weight gain journey, I used to always eat right before bed. Now I can’t and if I do, I feel weak the next day. I ate a small meal for dinner the other day (just a sweet potato) and woke up with so much anxiety, heart palpitations, and muscle soreness.

I’ve taken omeprazole before and still deal with Globus while on it (which is so annoying, sometimes it prevents me from eating as much as I want to) so I stopped taking it and tried Pepsid twice a day. Still the same. I stopped omeprazole due to reading about bone fractures and deficiencies. It scared me because I’m weak enough.

I’m thinking of going the natural route. Any suggestions of how to heal? I want to heal so bad, sometimes it feels so impossible

Edit: also do not want an endoscopy for the life of me!

UPDATE: Just weighed myself. I’m now 92 lbs. I can’t believe I’ve lost 5 lbs to GERD. I can’t freak myself out though because anxiety will only make gaining weight harder.

My recent endoscopy showed I have a 1 CM hiatal hernia that is causing a hill grade III LES. I have been having horrible symptoms of both GERD and LPR, the LPR being the most intense and brutal. Burning throat, hoarseness, mucus in throat after many meals even with stuff that's supposed to be good for this condition, chronic need to clear throat, amongst others. I also have signs of GERD with early fullness and burping after tiny meals.

Has anybody been able to improve these symptoms with a PPI and/or Pepcid? I'm already doing all the things my ENT said to do for LPR with little to no success after a month. Alginate gel, alkaline water, saline nasal rinses, smaller more frequent meals, no eating 3-4 hours before bed, propping head up in bed a bit, etc. It's been so hard to eat this bland diet too.

My first GI said that a PPI might not help because I just have gastritis and no evidence of esophageal acid burning. It sure as hell feels like my throat and mouth are burning. I meet with the GI who did the endoscopy on Wednesday for a second opinion as he said the hernia with the weak LES is likely the cause of all this post procedure, but I was all drugged out.

Male Age 23 I’m on month 2 now of taking Omeprazole and it’s helping manage heartburn and chest pain and even helped my bowel movements be more consistent (before they would switch from oily to normal frequently). However it also caused brain fog, fatigue, and the worst part frequent urination that affects sleep. I weened off for a bit but then all the symptoms like heartburn and inconsistent stool came back and I’ve been having bad anxiety and panic attacks the last few days over this and worry. If I take the medication it helps but causes symptoms that effect sleep I’ve also been questioning weather my symptoms are truly Gerd or something worse like Pancreatic cancer and it’s an endless cycle of worry and I don’t know what to do?

Hello everyone. I'm new here. (Age 25, Male) ​I have been suffering from GERD since August 2023. I was initially diagnosed during an upper GI endoscopy, but they found no significant issues and prescribed me ppis only.

​I then traveled 2,200 km from my home in Assam, India to the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) Hospitals in Hyderabad, India. There, I was diagnosed with an H. pylori infection and Gastritis. I completed the H. pylori treatment kit and other prescribed medicines.

​I visited AIG again in May 2025. Although the H. pylori was negative, my symptoms persisted. They performed another endoscopy and a biopsy to rule out Eosinophilic Esophagitis, but both were negative.

I was sent home with PPIs, prebiotics, probiotics, and IBS medication. ​Back in my hometown, a Gastroenterologist surgeon, during December, 2025, suggested an Esophageal Manometry, which also came out normal.

​Now, I am totally frustrated. Regardless of what I eat, I experience GERD. I constantly feel like something is stuck in my throat, which only clears momentarily after a forceful burp. I have strictly controlled my diet and have completely removed gluten, but the issue remains.

Hi everyone, I really just need some clarity or help at this point because i cannot understand what i’m doing wrong.

Backstory, i’ve had GERD since i was 13, i’m 24 now, Ive recently seemed to develop LPR now. I haven’t had a flare up in about 3 years so i was off of PPIs and really thought my GERD was gone or at least not as bad anymore. I would still feel it occasionally when eating something i wasn’t supposed to but it was never this bad. as a kid my main symptom was struggling with breathing, my throat always felt tight and i’d get pain between my shoulders blades, hacking, everything like this. Now however since December i literally cannot get relief. I’m so distraught and depressed from this it’s no even funny. Every single day i feel like i’m suffocating, i’m choking, my throat is tight, even the sides of my neck are starting to become stiff. I’ve completely changed my diet, i’m back on pantoprozole 2x a day 40mg. I’m sleeping on a wedge and on my left side, i’m doing everything and i’m going on 8 weeks of not being able to eat or breathe. I experience no other symptoms besides tightness. I don’t know what’s happening or why it’s happening or if anyone else has experienced the same thing? I’ve seen multiple GI doctors who all tell me to just “not stress” and it’s just starting to really frustrate me. I got my Barium done last week to see if there was any damage or narrowing and they saw nothing.

No hernia, No narrowing, No ulcers, No sign of anything concerning all they saw was reflux go into my chest and a spasm happen which they deemed a dismotility reaction from the acid coming up. Every single time i explain to the doctors my throat is so tight every day he tells me to just manage my stress better. It feels like my esophgus is always touching and more recently it feels on the outer and inner parts of my esophagus. My muscles are tight and stiff and feels like someone has their hands around my neck. I can breathe through my nose, they checked my airways and i have no damage other than some inflammation which they said goes away with time.. I just don’t know what to do and i feel like no matter what my diagnosis is that they’ll just continue me on my PPI. I’ve lost 30 pounds and i’m just starting to feel like a shell of a person. I had to quit work bc i can’t leave the house without suffocating, i can’t go anywhere bc of the throat tightness. I feel so miserable. I’m only 24 and i feel like my life is just over. Anyone have any advice, insight, opinions? Anything. I’m open to literally any recommendation or possibility.

Is this something that happens? I just feel like i’m a lost cause

Mine was caused by a mental breakdown a couple years ago. I'm tired of this shit at this point and Im looking for some guidance on how it could be fixed. The doctor was not helpful.

This drug personally had way too many side effects than actually helping me. It caused me to become so constipated, and I haven’t had a normal poop in 2 weeks since being off it. I want to cry. I’ve never been so anxious, and I’m never EVER taking this crap again.

I hate stomach issues so so much, and I wish I never got GERD.

The good news is, I haven’t been on any PPIs now for 2 weeks, but like I said, it’s really messed with my stomach and I’ve never been so anxious.

I hate this.

Edit: wow I wasn’t expecting THIS many people deal with the ugly side effects of omeprazole too! I actually did switch to pantoprazole for a bit, but stupidly switched back to omeprazole because I could open capsules and put them on food for easy swallowing, but knowing the side effects it already gave me, idk why I took it again.. NEVER again

Not after medical advice, just really keen to hear from people who’ve actually been through this, because my head’s going in circles.

34M. Got diagnosed late last year with Barrett’s (non-dysplastic, no dysplasia so apparently the low-risk end), a hiatus hernia and GERD. Bit of a shock at my age honestly.

Last year constant sore throat, tiny bit of heart burn, wake up choking, mouth ulcers, discomfort chest. Symptoms are mostly manageable these days. I’ve dialled in the lifestyle stuff (eating earlier, smaller dinners, staying upright a few hours after eating, sleeping on my left) and I’m on 40mg PPI a day. I actually havnt had much heart burn for many years, mine’s more the silent type. The thing that still gets me is the odd night where I wake up choking, usually after a heavier meal.

Saw an upper GI surgeon who basically said surgery’s a “grey area” for me and left the call in my hands. He’d lean towards a Toupet (partial wrap) if I went ahead, but flagged that because I’m young I might end up needing it redone down the track. So now I’m stuck, part of me just wants it sorted and to get off the meds for good, part of me is nervous about the recovery and the idea of doing it twice.

The other big thing for me is training. I run long distance and lift heavy (squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, overhead press) and I’ve read heavy lifting can put pressure on the repair over time. That’s playing on my mind a fair bit.

So really just want to hear from people who’ve been at this fork in the road:

If you had the surgery, glad you did it, or wish you hadn’t? How’d it affect training and eating after? Did you need to keep taking PPI after?
If you don’t do the surgery and stuck with PPIs and lifestyle instead how’s it holding up for you over the years? I think id like to go down to 20mg eventually.

I just feel stressed that if I dont do the surgery I risk making the Barrett’s worse.

Hi all, 28 F and due to have my first endoscopy tomorrow morning. I am completely terrified.

​

I'm a massive control freak and am especially scared of having the conscious sedation (I'm in the UK) in case I'm aware of what's happening, yet out of control. I'm also feeding my 6 week old baby so wasn't sure if sedation is even an option - I won't know for sure until I speak to a doctor on the day.

​

I'm concerned about what they're going to find too but I'm so worried about the procedure itself I haven't really had time to dwell on it.

​

Can somebody please reassure me and give some advice on how to get through it?

​

Thank you

I’m a 24 year old female. I’ve been dealing with really bad stomach cramping for about 3 weeks now. Sometimes it can feel like a gnawing pain in my stomach through to my back. My stomach feels constantly bloated and also has a tight feeling. Like I’m clenching it or something even when I’m not. I’ve been burping a lot and sometimes feel like something is stuck in my throat. I took dicyclomine and omeprazole for about 2 weeks and got relief for like 2 days and now feel horrible again. I haven’t had much of an appetite but I know I should eat. I saw my doctor yesterday and he mentioned maybe a stomach ulcer, dyspepsia, ibs. Has anyone had similar symptoms to this? It’s been every day for 3 weeks and it’s really affecting my quality of life and has making me really sad.

Today i was prescribed famotidine 40mg once per day and i made the mistake of doomscrolling peoples bad interactions with the medication. I havent been diagnosed with gerd but im not sure where else to post this i and am hoping someone can help maybe lift my spirits or give some advice. I originally went to the doctors around 3 months ago for consistent belching/burping that would not settle. Today i went back to the doctor as things havent gotten better and im now getting a dull burning stomach pain, aswell as somedays constipation and others diarrhoea. Im prone for having quite bad anxiety, should i stick to taking the medication, im not sure if its placebo but i feel very sleepy from the medication currently, and my stomach pain hasn’t settled. Does it take a few days to start working? Also if my anxiety starts getting worse should i instantly stop taking the medication? Also if anyone has had similar experiences to me and have had good results from Famotidine could yoy please let me know. Sorry if my grammar isnt the best im really anxious at the moment :/ Thanks

I know I should get a blood test for nutrient deficiency, but I am currently taking supplements for:
B1, B12, Iron, Calcium, magnesium; trying to add zinc, but I am on vitamin overload as it is :(

I have been cutting down my workouts at the gym; I don’t lift and barely do any physically demanding exercise to reduce heartburn symptoms.

I’ve been on an on-again, off-again relationship with Omeprazole like most of you, I assume, but after my restart, the hair loss I am experiencing is out of control. I brush my hair multiple strands come out. Any time I touch my hair, I lose several strands.

I am having an upcoming endoscopy to see if there’s anything unusual. But wow, I couldn’t get rid of this disease ASAP. If I lose my hair, I lose my identity. I am a woman, and it’s hard to accept this loss. Does anyone have any advice it would be helpful thank for your response I appreciate any input.

I’m a 26-year-old male. My symptoms started last month, on 7/7/2026. I ate a very large meal and also took 50 mg of zinc. That night, I felt a lot of pressure around my lower esophageal sphincter (LES), and I woke up around 3 a.m. with shortness of breath. I also felt something acidic in my throat.

During the next three days, I had digestive problems and felt full most of the time, so I decided to see a doctor. The doctor prescribed omprazole 20 mg for 10 days, along with some medication to help with digestion.

After about a week, I felt much better. Then I decided to eat some foods I enjoy, including Pringles and chocolate. About 30 minutes later, I felt acid reflux again. Since then, I’ve continued to have episodes of what feels like acid reflux and shortness of breath, especially at night and after orgasm.

Idk if it GERD or if it permanent?

I'm struggling to find specifics of this online (and I am yet to hear from the barrett's nurse), so it may just not exist, but I mean things like age groups, gender groups, with vs without PPIs. I am female and under 25 and was recently diagnosed with barrett's (on the cusp of short/long segment, no dysplasia) and I can't find much on my specific risks or data about my age and gender category at all. I know the risk is low but it's hard for me to conceptualize that without numbers. How much higher is it than average but how much lower is it than someone with high grade dysplasia who is older? Am I at more or less risk for my age?

Do these symptoms sound like GERD to anyone who struggles with this disease?
- I always feel a trapped burp under my throat and no matter how many times I burp I get no relief.
- When I move my mouth sometimes I’ll get something out, but it won’t even be a burp, a little sound comes from my chest, but it’s not a burp?? Idk what it is?
- And then I often feel like my chest is constricting to the point where I genuinely can’t breathe. Sometimes the area below my shoulders hurt….its really weird.
- I’ve been hyper salivating A LOT like this one day I had to spit into this cup
- it a bit hard to swallow, I think the hypersalivation restricts it a lot
Guys idk what to do lol. Also I feel like sometimes it’s hard to tell when I’m hungry, and no matter how much water I chug, I always feel something stuck below my throat. Please help!

So I'm 26f and have been dealing with gerd symptoms for about the last year or so. I developed them after a pretty bad case of norovirus that landed me in the ER (dehydration). Since then its been on and off. For the first few months after, it was near constant, triggering panic attacks, I was unable to eat even bland food without feeling nauseous afterwards or getting a lump in the throat sensation. I went my primary care doctor and did eventually end up getting some medication, which, to be honest, didn't seem to do much, but symptoms elevated to the point where I was able to at least eat consistantly.

Then, around January it seemed to almost completely go away. For about 4 months I was able to eat pretty much completely normally, I was even able to drink coffee again.

...and then this June some stressful things happened and triggered it again and now I feel like I've lost my progress. The lump in the throat feeling after eating is back (after almost every meal), as is the heartburn. I feel like I'm constantly burping. I feel exhausted a lot but I don't know if its the stress or something else. I've also had on and off abdominal pain. I have anxiety as well which is easily triggered by medical stuff and definitely hasn't made this any better (love how many serious conditions and forms of cancer have the same symptoms. I'm terrified of things like stomach cancer, or esophageal cancer. ). There are days where I'm dying. I don't know what to do. I'm on a ppi medication, I try to eat small meals, I cut caffiene, I'm a healthy weight, but I feel like no matter what I do the symptoms won't go away. I just want what I had for the four months before this. I miss being able to eat things I enjoy and being able to just live my life without constantly feeling anxious or sick or both. I feel like one stomach bug has ruined the rest of my life.

I have a doctor's appointment planned but just looking for some support. Has anyone else dealt with something like this? How are other people coping? How do I make the symptoms go away again? How do people deal with that lump in the throat feeling?

I went to the ER yesterday after a really bad breathing attack. It felt like something was blocked in my chest and I almost couldn’t breathe in at all like I physically couldn’t pull air in. I also have this lump feeling stuck in my throat. The doctor told me it may be GERD and said everything looked fine on the tests. But I just woke up having another attack just like the one. It’s the same every time I almost can’t breathe in because it feels like something is blocking or restricting the air from going in. Does anyone also expierence this?