Turmeric is a wonderful anti-inflammatory and helpful for the liver, but it's also a hot herb and some people with GERD will be adversely affected by it if they don't take well to hot herbs. Everyone is different. As to the original poster, leaning toward vegetarian doesn't say anything about whether your diet is healthy for you or not. Some people do well that way, some don't. And you have to eat healthy foods and eat them at the right time; a lot of animal foods are healthier than a lot of vegetarian foods. It's what suits you best, including seemingly silly things like not eating before lying down and chewing your food thoroughly and discovering if there are foods you just can't digest. Guess what I'm saying is, GERD isn't a disease, it's an imbalance, and doesn't have to last a lifetime -- it isn't diabetes. Good luck.
I think it may be GERD, and I think you need turmeric in your life: http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/6-ways-the-golden-spice-of-life-can-heal-your-body
I have no idea what caused this, but if you have IBS and GERD you're certainly not healthy. You're not digesting your food properly, for one thing, and probably not eating the right things. This can be treated, and I think it's best treated naturally, as meds can make the problem chronic. Have you seen anyone such as a holistic nutritionist to see if you can make dietary and lifestyle changes to get past this?