This could suck!
 

I might have to stop drinking coffee, and alcohol!

Ok, to sum it up. For awhile now I've had bad acid reflux which might mean I have something called GERD. I haven't seen a doctor in over 2 years, and I doubt I'll see him about this. (internet ftw!) I'm pretty sure this is caused due to my lifestyle, which I'll need to adjust it seems.

I work nights so when I come home I normally eat, and then go to sleep. This has proven to be a nightmare for me. Not only does it cause horrible acid reflex, I've also put on some weight due to it. Also, my setup right now is a relaxed futon, so when I eat I normally lye down and play on the Xbox or watch TV. Most of the time I'm working on the comp, so that helps (as in sitting up). So anyway, I used to wake up and have a coffee. It seems now that this will make it worse (which it does). I noticed after a few beers too, it happens so I'll have to pause that for awhile too. Damn.

I highlighted the things I'll need to do in red. Feel my pain?
Anyway I wanted to know if anyone here has went through this and if they have any ideas. This isn't a major, major thing as it only happens now and then. But when it does it sucks ass and seems to last for like 3-4 days! I need it to end.
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gerd/

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What happens you don't do what it says in the red writing?

EDIT: Oh just found out. Yeah, I think you need to do what it says. Good luck :)

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He will get very ill I assume or he will just not live as long as if he followed them


I feel with you Gizmo

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I'd still go to a doctor. NIH is a great place for information, but a lot of times a doctor can find alternatives for you that don't involve "never drink or lay down again".

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The key thing about lifestyle changes are that it's something that should be done gradually. If you _instantly_ change your lifestyle, you will lose motivation after a short period of time and things will slip. It's the little things that matters.
However, I'm sure you're already aware of this. As for losing weight (yeah, it's general knowledge), get a healthy diet and do some aerobic activity (cardio, or even boxing, for instance). You need to find something to that gets you in activity, as it'll probably enhance your overall shape and reduce your discomfort.

Besides that, I really don't know what to do -- I know I pretty much stated the obvious, but in such a situation that's about all I-- with no knowledge of GERD --can do. You really should see a doctor about it, as they can give you pretty accurate medical advice on how to approach this.

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Yeah, seeing a doctor is probably the best approach. Heres the kicker though for that situation.

About two years ago, I was down and out. Not much cash, no vechicle and a hard time getting around. I was also working often and most of the money was going to bills (which I finally paid off and life got much easier). Anyway I missed a few doctors appointments back then and when you miss one, they charge you a fee of 25$. My doctors bill went up to about 100$ Me being as stuborn as I am refused to pay 100$ for nothing (imo). My doctor makes good money, so what that he had 5 minutes to sit and do nothing because I didn't show?! I don't see me having to pay him because of it. He didn't loose money! Also right now I have better things to spend 100$ on, so I'm going to work on that list from that website and see how I feel in about a month to two months time from following it. It's really going to suck though. :(

To be honest, I'm having a hardtime trying to find a decent plan. I'd like to find a plan that I can stick too, but each time I search I fail to find anything.

Water - I'm going to start replacing soda, coffee and beer with a nice bottle or glass of water. I think this is a good, healthy, step.

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Thankfully, I'm healthy as are my siblings.

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Fruit juice and milk might also be beneficial.

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Some juice drinks. This all started this week when I drank like 3 full glasses of orange juice and then went to bed. :(

... and then last night I had some ravioli with pasta sauce for dinner. :(

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Tsk Tsk :vikki:

Ya know, I have that to; You don't even want to know how much coffee I drink from morning til nite...and I still drink, granted, not as much as I used to since the birth of my daughter. I've made no drastic changes to my lifestyle, however, during a doctor's visit, he prescribed some miracle pills, for the reflux...they work like charm! I haven't had a bad case of reflux in a long time, but I think I still have da drugs! If I still have any left, I'll grab the name for ya.

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Hmm, not good. I won't write an essay post or anything, that won't help you get better. :p I hope you get better quickly, visiting a doctor may help more, like everyone else has said. Good luck.

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z0mg hiGiz!!!! :cya:

I see like 8 problems with the way you're living. ((No offense, hopefully this'll help.)) For starters, you should never eat past 7 unless you want to put on more weight. Your biggest meal should be breakfast so you have time to work it off and you should excercize once at least once a day and drink lots of water. Also, juice has a ton of calories/natural sugar in it, so becareful when/how much you drink. Technically speaking you should eat every 3 hours, i'm not talking a giant buffet, but like an apple or something, this way your blood sugar stays healthy and you don't get giant cravings and over eat. Lots of water's always a good step too. You really can't drink too much of it. I heard that if you're thirsty it means you're like at 30% of what you need to have...I hope this helps. I'm very sure that this is legitimate information, my mom's friend's a nutritionist and my mom's always been into organic/healthier foods. A result of my being lactose intolerant/allergic milk and other things.

EDIT - ShutupGhost. :p

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Some of the points Kory makes aren't much different from how I live: I get up around 12:00-14:00 (I have been trying to get that to 9:00 for over a year now :p ) and go to bed around 3:00. Ussually I only eat one or two sandwhiches in the morning with a cup of coffee. I then have dinner around 18:00 and eat a normal amount of food (one or two plates, if we eat rice dishes I normally get a second plate). Around 23:00-0:00 I start becomming hungry again and might grab some snacks or sandwhiches. If I'm at work (I'm a waiter and thus have my shifts in the evening and early night) I usually will eat some sandwhiches after Im done, which can be anywhere between 23:00 and 3:00 or later.

As far as coffee goes I have anything between 2 and 6 cups a day. On avarage probably 3. Alcohol I usually only take after work (two beers) which is about twice a week and when I feel like it. Nothing note worthy. IN de weekend if I have to work we usually take a drink al together downtown (if we can still get inside somewhere).

Don't have any health problems so far, I'm not fat, I don't gain a single kilogram (well I guess my wieghts varies a bit from time to time but I rarely check how much I weight).

But uhm this isn't very useful fo Kory I guess. So uhm, well see an expert (that means a doctor) and talk with them about your health and habbits. They should be able to give you proffesional advice apart from "Make sure you have a good sleeping pattern, don't eat and drink too many unhealthy things and make sure you have a good breakfast, lunch and dinner at reasonable times". Goodluck, I'll shut up now with my useless comments...

:lookaround:

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That's generally applied to people with a normal hours. What it means is that you shouldn't eat 3 hours before going to sleep, as when you sleep your body requires less energy and will convert the remaining energy into fat.
Not necessarily, as your metabolism's the highest in the morning, so it could help by working off fat. Exercising once per day is questionable, as it depends on the amount and what type of exercise. Aerobic exercise should ideally be done for 30-45 minutes a day (well, could take one day off, it wouldn't make a difference), but weight lifting and such activities should be avoided and when muscles are strained they should be given 24-72 hours of rest (I've heard the recommended minimum is 48, but muscle restitution varies -- though if you don't know if you're genetically adept, I'd wait 48 hours -- go for a 4-day split and it'll work out fine). And, yes, lots and lots of water.

Was thinking of commenting that, but you beat me to it.

You should wait every 3rd hour, yes. The digestive system takes about 2.5 hours to fully digest food, or something like that, and 3 hours waiting is ideal.

Oh, and I'll just say that I'm not necessarily saying that I'm right -- this is just from experience/bodybuilding forums.

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This is interesting to me because my mom had the same problem a while ago.
Your case may be diffent, but for her she just had to adjust her diet and the doctor gave her a presciption for it as well. she felt better in a few weeks and although there are still some foods she has to avoid, she can eat normally again. It seems you don't want to go to a doctor, but it would at least do you some good to have a second opinion on your condition that would help you decide the proper course of action.
Also, I have asked this time and time again, what is so attractive about alcohol anyway?

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I have to be careful in what i eat as fresh fruit, lettuce, turkey, chicken can and does give me acid reflux. I have found that reducing the amount of stress can sometimes help to relieve some of it but not all. I now take Zantac before eating any of the above as it helps to prevent the problem in the first place. In the last year i have dropped some weight as well. The doctor sent me home with prescription zantac years ago. Now i just buy it as needed over the counter. Hope your able to get a handle on it Giz. And going to see a doctor should be done.

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i would higly reccomend ditching the fouton for a real bed.

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What the hell is GERD?

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I am so raising the head of my bed when I get home.

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Sounds like a lot of good advice. The Army just tells you to drink water and eat Motrin. Good luck, Giz!

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If you can pull it, too, sleep on an incline. If you can manage it and it isn't overly uncomfortable, consider putting your mattress on a slight incline (about 10 degrees). If you can't do that, at least get a good solid pillow and sleep with your head above the level of your chest for a few nights. Drink a whole glassful of liquid (best choice is water- NOTHING acidic (fruit juice, alcohol) right before you hit the sack, it'll produce some mucus in your throat.

There are a lot of diet and life changes you should probably make, too, but I don't have any knowledge of precisely what they are. However, the amount of acid that enters your throat will be drastically reduced by sleeping 'right.'

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this sounds rather crap to be honest, hope you get it resolved, maybe there is a cure?

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Cure- Lots of Pepcid AC. It really helped me when I had some acid reflux problems. I've become particular to the mixed berry.

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I had GERD before on the way too school.I had a GERD attack or something where you can hardly speak cuz u can't breathe.I was scared shitless that I was having a stroke.

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strange,I was heavy at the time,but I was only 10 so...=\

And I only had breakfast.It probably had something to do with what I had for supper the night before.I might have had a big meal.

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oh that really sucks

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OH CRAP! some of that stuff seems ridiculos...

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get well soon.

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Well kory, give it a try and see whether it helps. If it does, then you're going to have to face it....better give up a few things than to live in agony, no?

In any case, hope you get well soon, and go see a doctor about it if it continues being so bad. Seriously.

I used to have serious heartburn when I was in South Africa. I quit drinking soft drinks as a part of a larger diet I was doing and the heartburn ceased....it may be one factor with you as well, just try around.

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Thanks for the advice, peeps. For the past two days now I have been without this issue, so as of right now, it's looking like it was related to what I ate those two days.

I had gotten up the next morning (after my acid reflux attack) and decided to test something (plus I was hungry from not eating much the night before) I decided to make some eggs, but I figured, to test this, I'm going to go all out. So I made 3 eggs, mushrooms and even rice (for breakfast!) Wow, what a great meal. I ended up going back to sleep about an hour after that. When I woke up, I feared the worse, but I felt fine. In fact, I felt pretty damn good. Eggs, mushrooms, rice and the veggies I had mixed in the rice, aren't on the list of acid-related foods. So my test proved that it was mostly related to the foods themselves.

Since then I've had spicy wings, pizza, and other crap, and no acid reflux. (knock on wood), so I'm pretty sure it was caused by eating the wrong foods at the wrong time.

I've ditched my list (as right now I'm brewing up some coffee -- mmmm ---), but am still going to get better my health. I'll also look into seeing a doctor.

GERD isn't an attack, it's a disease. Once you have it, you'll need medicaton and/or surgery to get rid of it. You probably had a bad case of acid reflux. AKA heatburn. I for one don't understand why it's called heartburn, but I guess for some it burns in the chest. For me, it's in my throat. It feels like hot acid. :(

I used to eat a lot of tums. But I read that taking too many (during a long period of time) is bad. Damn, they were working so good too. ;)

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Have as much sex as you can! That will keep those pounds away.

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Good to hear it. Fortunately it was probably only a temporary thing, then, so if it doesn't happen again, seeing a doctor probably isn't needed.

Even so, I would recommend trying to improve your physical condition (though I have no knowledge of what kind of physical condition you are in -- just baseless assumptions) because, well, it's good for you. Also, it gives the ladies some eyecandy.

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its good you stopped the acid reflux, i hate that. ive stopped eating and going to bed right after, now i eat 4 hrs before i go to bed make sure my digestive system gets all the gas out. before i would suffer from acid reflux, bloating and gas it freaking sucked and i couldnt eat the good foods i wanted to as after i got real constipated. i decided not only to stop eating before bed but too change my diet and exercise more often. up till now ive been feeling good and healthy. i still drink coffee and beer on the weeknds only.