Living with GERD (somewhat OT)

Daniel Hoffmeister wrote in message ...

I would second this suggestion. Wheat allergies in particular are far
more widespread than people realize. The symptoms aren't necessarily what
people associate with 'typical' allergies.

I can literally turn my acid reflux and other symptoms on and off by
eating/not eating wheat. No other carbiferous food has this effect.

Now, I react somewhat to even a small amount of wheat and find I have to
read labels very carefully on low-carb pseudo-bakery products.

Thanks Daniel; that's interesting. I have eaten a few wheat products
over the past several weeks, but thinking on it now I cannot really
correlate the bad episodes of reflux with those. I generally avoid
wheat products these days - the wheat-eating events are few and the
reflux events many. I've never tried low-carb "pseudo-bakery"
products (I love that term you used), so I don't have to worry about
them. It's one more thing to be vigilant about though.

--
carla
http://geekofalltrades.typepad.com

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 22:38:11 -0400, "carla" wrote:

I'm not thrilled about dealing with a chronic illness - even a minor one
like this. I've never been one to get sick much; it took quite a bit of
discomfort with the heartburn to get me to the doctor at all. It had begun
to interfere with my work. However, I am for the moment fairly relieved
that my doctor thinks this is garden-variety GERD, rather than an ulcer.

I'd like to take her recommendations to heart - I am not thrilled about
taking drugs indefinitely, so I'd like to try to treat it with diet and
lifestyle changes to the extent practicable. I'd like to tap into the store
of experience here in asdlc - do you suffer from reflux, that didn't clear
up when you switched to low carb? What are you doing to manage it?

I take Prilosec, aka Omeprazole. Prilosec is available over the counter.
Omeprazol is still a prescription (It's the generic). The folks who make
Prilosec also have a prescription medication called Nexium. Prevacid is
another prescription option.

If using insurance is cheapest, I'd ask your doc for one of the above (not
counting Prilosec OTC). If you don't have insurance, or you have a huge
co-pay, Prilosec OTC is a good option.

For on-the-spot relief, try Titralac, from 3M.

Carol

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 22:38:11 -0400, "carla" wrote:

I'm not thrilled about dealing with a chronic illness - even a minor one
like this. I've never been one to get sick much; it took quite a bit of
discomfort with the heartburn to get me to the doctor at all. It had begun
to interfere with my work. However, I am for the moment fairly relieved
that my doctor thinks this is garden-variety GERD, rather than an ulcer.

I'd like to take her recommendations to heart - I am not thrilled about
taking drugs indefinitely, so I'd like to try to treat it with diet and
lifestyle changes to the extent practicable. I'd like to tap into the store
of experience here in asdlc - do you suffer from reflux, that didn't clear
up when you switched to low carb? What are you doing to manage it?

I take Prilosec, aka Omeprazole. Prilosec is available over the counter.
Omeprazol is still a prescription (It's the generic). The folks who make
Prilosec also have a prescription medication called Nexium. Prevacid is
another prescription option.

If using insurance is cheapest, I'd ask your doc for one of the above (not
counting Prilosec OTC). If you don't have insurance, or you have a huge
co-pay, Prilosec OTC is a good option.

For on-the-spot relief, try Titralac, from 3M.

Carol

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 15:14:53 -0400, "metoo" wrote:

Hi Carla,
I've had GERD for years and lc didn't make it go away entirely. If I don't
take my meds, Aciphex, right now because Prevacid stopped working after
about 3 years. Prilosec didn't last longer than a few months.
If I don't take meds the first sign, for me is hiccups.
I had full blown GERD even when I was on a medicine which made eating
tasteless and which took away my appetite.
There was very little food to trigger reactions so it had to be caused by
something else. Stomach acid by itself, not a reaction of the stomach to a
particular food.
Take your meds and get it under control.

I've been reading this thread with interest, because I have GERD, too. It
appears that many people associate heartburn with having GERD. Heartburn
is not necessarily GERD. There is also a physical malfunction in the
esophagus. Check this out. Then, "Take your meds and get it under
control."

http://www.aboutgerd.org/characteristics.html

Carol

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 15:14:53 -0400, "metoo" wrote:

Hi Carla,
I've had GERD for years and lc didn't make it go away entirely. If I don't
take my meds, Aciphex, right now because Prevacid stopped working after
about 3 years. Prilosec didn't last longer than a few months.
If I don't take meds the first sign, for me is hiccups.
I had full blown GERD even when I was on a medicine which made eating
tasteless and which took away my appetite.
There was very little food to trigger reactions so it had to be caused by
something else. Stomach acid by itself, not a reaction of the stomach to a
particular food.
Take your meds and get it under control.

I've been reading this thread with interest, because I have GERD, too. It
appears that many people associate heartburn with having GERD. Heartburn
is not necessarily GERD. There is also a physical malfunction in the
esophagus. Check this out. Then, "Take your meds and get it under
control."

http://www.aboutgerd.org/characteristics.html

Carol

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:

I take Prilosec, aka Omeprazole. Prilosec is available over the
counter. Omeprazol is still a prescription (It's the generic). The
folks who make Prilosec also have a prescription medication called
Nexium. Prevacid is another prescription option.

If using insurance is cheapest, I'd ask your doc for one of the above
(not counting Prilosec OTC). If you don't have insurance, or you
have a huge co-pay, Prilosec OTC is a good option.

For on-the-spot relief, try Titralac, from 3M.

Thanks for the post, Carol. Interestingly, my doctor did recommend Prilosec
OTC, which I am now taking, and it turned out that the HMO pharmacy had some
kind of deal where they could treat it like a prescription and give it to me
for a small copay, a fraction of the cost of the same drug purchased in a
store.

Anyhow, I have tried not to eat dinner so late, and I have been taking the
Prilosec, and I haven't had any heartburn since the day I saw the doctor, so
I can say "so far, so good."

--
carla
http://geekofalltrades.typepad.com/geek

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:

I take Prilosec, aka Omeprazole. Prilosec is available over the
counter. Omeprazol is still a prescription (It's the generic). The
folks who make Prilosec also have a prescription medication called
Nexium. Prevacid is another prescription option.

If using insurance is cheapest, I'd ask your doc for one of the above
(not counting Prilosec OTC). If you don't have insurance, or you
have a huge co-pay, Prilosec OTC is a good option.

For on-the-spot relief, try Titralac, from 3M.

Thanks for the post, Carol. Interestingly, my doctor did recommend Prilosec
OTC, which I am now taking, and it turned out that the HMO pharmacy had some
kind of deal where they could treat it like a prescription and give it to me
for a small copay, a fraction of the cost of the same drug purchased in a
store.

Anyhow, I have tried not to eat dinner so late, and I have been taking the
Prilosec, and I haven't had any heartburn since the day I saw the doctor, so
I can say "so far, so good."

--
carla
http://geekofalltrades.typepad.com/geek

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 09:59:03 -0400, "carla" wrote:

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:

I take Prilosec, aka Omeprazole. Prilosec is available over the
counter. Omeprazol is still a prescription (It's the generic). The
folks who make Prilosec also have a prescription medication called
Nexium. Prevacid is another prescription option.

If using insurance is cheapest, I'd ask your doc for one of the above
(not counting Prilosec OTC). If you don't have insurance, or you
have a huge co-pay, Prilosec OTC is a good option.

For on-the-spot relief, try Titralac, from 3M.

Thanks for the post, Carol. Interestingly, my doctor did recommend Prilosec
OTC, which I am now taking, and it turned out that the HMO pharmacy had some
kind of deal where they could treat it like a prescription and give it to me
for a small copay, a fraction of the cost of the same drug purchased in a
store.

Anyhow, I have tried not to eat dinner so late, and I have been taking the
Prilosec, and I haven't had any heartburn since the day I saw the doctor, so
I can say "so far, so good."

I'm happy for you, Carla. GERD is a horribly painful problem. I'm glad
they've discovered these medications.

Carol