Acid Reflux

[AngieCBC]

I've been suffering with AR since December. I've gone fully vegan 2 days ago.

Will veganism take care of acid reflux? I know a lot of acid came from cheese, which I no longer eat (except rice cheese! yum).

Will the rice cheese itself give me reflux or is it just dairy cheese?

It's jsut odd cause I have reflux right now (well, I feel my stomach burning, no actualy reflux in my throat though). Does it take a while to go away?

I have medication but I don't take it. I have apple cider vinegar, but don't know the dosage well. I used to take 1 teaspoon in water, but it seems not to be effective anymore. Should I up the dose?

Thank you!

[sandra]

Acid reflux is something I know about only too well! If your doctor has prescribed medication I would take it if I was you. I once stopped my medication of my own accord and ended up on the verge of a perforated ulcer! Which I think is life threatening!
As I've said before, I had stomach trouble for over 10yrs, but since becoming vegan all my stomach troubles have gone. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I really think it is because of my new diet. I didn't even become vegan because of diet but it was a pleasant side effect!
If you've only been vegan for 2 days I would give it a while longer to see if things improve but see your doctor about the reflux, you wouldn't want to bring on a stomach ulcer by ignoring these symtoms!

[veggiegirl3]

I doubt veganism will fix the problem. I have had several bouts of acid reflux before I became vegan, and it started again ago a couple weeks ago. I jusmped on the ball with medication this time, though, and it's helping a lot. Try staying away from acidic food like OJ and tomatoes. I've also heard that chocolate and caffeine can irritate it too.

Congrats on the veganism though!!

[codebug]

Vegan has helped my reflux, but only under certain conditions.

1. Vegan Raw Food's Diet - NO REFLUX AT ALL!!!!!! I get bored with this diet.

2. Some processed foods (Cascadian Farms Granola Bars) set off my GERD/GORD. I think these are Vegan.

3. I can eliminate GERD if I eat the right foods in the right amount before 6 pm.

I still keep Zantac around just in case. However, I am taking a lot less Zantac than ever before.

[nervine]

Eat alot of raw fruit and veg. Avoid processed food like fake meats as they don't contain enzymes so they are very hard to digest. Throw your medication away and try this: http://www.clfshop.com/product.asp?m...6871&nav=brand

Enzymes are all you need if you have ANY digestive problems.

Read all of this if you're not convinced: http://thedoctorwithin.com/index_fr...._longevity.php

[AngieCBC]

Nervine, that first link didn't work for me - I think I have to be a registered user to access it.

But basically, I need to eat lots of raw foods? I don't eat fake meats so I'm fine in that regard. I've been eating about 3-4 fruits every day. Should I up that?

Would this work as a supplement? http://www.vitacost.com/CountryLifeT...zymeSupplement

[nervine]

The link basicly shows this:



Digest-Ase tabs 60 tabs
Digest-Ase is a valuable digestive aid which contains lipase for fact digestion, protease for protein digestion and amylase for carbohydrate digestion, along with other important enzymes which are essential co-workers in the process of efficient digestion. All Veganicity from Health Plus products are registered with the Vegan Society as being suitable for vegans - and everyone!


As you live in the US look for DigestAMeal.

http://thedoctorwithin.com/index_fr....les/60_Day.php

[AngieCBC]

Oh God you are so right. I'm reading that article and I just had a huge revelation. As long as I eat cooked food, I'm gonna get reflux. Enzymes only live in raw food, heat kills them.

I get it. I fking get it. wow.

Thank you so much for that, nervine!

[nervine]

Your welcome! Glad I could be of some help.

[harpy]

I used to have this for a while (sometime after going vegan) but now I don't seem to. I think the only thing that changed is that I lost some weight. Eating a short while before going to bed isn't a good idea for me either.

[AngieCBC]

Oh yeah. 3 hours for me is clockwork. It was kind of cool to figure out exactly how much time my digestion takes, but man, it's so annoying now.... and with the risk of ulcers and stuff.... hellooooooo raw foods!

[maxxev]

try taking aloe vera juice. i recantly had a stomach ulcer and this worked wonders for me.
cutting out acidic food....eg citrus fruits,tomatoes etc helps too

[AngieCBC]

How do you know when you have a stomach ulcer? It must be hard to differentiate between reflux and ulcer. How did you find out?

[AngieCBC]

Also, what was your dosage of aloe? I have a bottle here... when I first had reflux I bought some but gave up on it. Might be useful to take it again!

[maxxev]

How do you know when you have a stomach ulcer? It must be hard to differentiate between reflux and ulcer. How did you find out?

it started with what i can only describe as how your stomach feels just befor it rumbles..only it didn't rumble and it hurt instead. i then developed a sharp burning pain which abated (briefly) when i ate only to come back stronger after about half an hour.
i had a particularly painfull spot on my right hand side, just under my ribs. when i lay on my left the pain was bearable but if i moved or tryed to get up the pain just dropped me right back on the floor in a ball.

an acid stomach produces similar syptomes but there would be no particular spot where the pain was significantly greater.

not sure about acid reflux. though i have experianced a sharp pain just under the bottom of the ribcage (where it joins..just above where the diaphram is?)..this spread to my back. i could cope when i stayed still but when i tried to move it increased with each step until i had to stop.
is this similar?

[AngieCBC]

I have a pain in my ribs, but i can feel an actual bump on a couple of them. I think they're broken.

I get a burning feeling right after eating, most of the time. also just stomach pain a lot... Reflux up to my mouth doesn't happen a lot, but I feel my esophagus burning a bit too at times.

I definately don't have the pain as bad as you describe it, that's for sure. I can always move just fine, also when laying down.

So, I guess it is 'just' acid.

[sandra]

I really think the only way to diagnose a stomach ulcer is by having a Barium test at hospital or another investigation which involves a tube with a small camera on the end, this goes down the oesophagus into the stomach. It can be dangerous to have a stomach ulcer and not have it treated, as I know only too well.

[Taste Test]

Me too, this has been a terrible problem for me, I dont drink or eat capsicum, onion, garlic or tomato, I never drink oj, tea, coffee or fizzies, and avoid soy which upsets my stomach, however medication as the last resort has become my only option. I will study the above links however. I caused the damage by years of naievely following the instructions of allopathic healers and eating the medicines that were served up to me. Now I deal with the consequences of a ruined digestive system. One thing I recently learned in my travels is the trouble with chocolate... apparently it causes a release of dopamine which relaxes the sphincter in your stomach causing acids to come up. See >> http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall0202pu1.htm for more info. The course of action for me for the time being is to take medication finding myself with little other option, give my stomach time to heal, then go off it when I am sufficiently well. Allopathic Dr believes this could take up to two years because of the devastation caused. I feel for you! This has been awful for me and given me dreadful nausea. Plus comes with ethical concerns. At this stage, if I want to eat at all, I need to do something drastic as the acid burned my mouth and caused my lips to bleed. :-( Hurrah.

[rantipole]

I have heard that reflexology has had some success in preventing acid reflux flare-ups. You could look into that as a complimentary therapy.

Cheers,
rant

[scarracher]

I'd like to note that prescription extended-release Prilosec and Nexium (as well as the generics) contain gelatin, though. An unfortunate fact for vegans with unpreventable acid reflux!

[Peabrain]

I think what often gets overlooked is that it's not always just what you eat, but whether your oesophageal sphincter is weak. I don't get any reflux during the day, and I avoid many foods which are likely to cause symptoms, don't drink alcohol, or have caffeine or smoke, and eat before 6pm as often as possible, and try not to drink after 7pm, but sadly, when I lay flat at night the acid just leaks out of my stomach into the delicate tissues of the oesophagus and throat because there's always stomach acid even when there's no actual food in there and there's nothing to prevent the effects of gravity on the liquid in there.

It's been that way on and off since I was a child, and my mother, father, two of my children, my brother, and my nan all have it too. We all had varying dietary intake. It's sometimes just bad genetics.

The only thing that really works for me lately is actually sleeping partially raised (so the head and chest are higher than the stomach). Other than that, at the moment I'm taking PPI's to reduce acid production because I have (proven on endoscopic camera) burns on the lining of my oesophagus which is a cancer risk if not healed and prevented. However, you can get vegetarian ones (no gelatine although I think they may have some lactose?) so I'm currently trying to get those. Eventually I may have to consider surgery if I can't get control of it though as I keep having choking attacks and a lot of chest pain, and tend to be more susceptible to throat and chest infections (from breathing in the acid at night).

Reflexology definitely helps, as does aloe vera juice, so only time will tell if I can get this under control again, but let's hope it will all settle down again.