severe GERD..plz help

hi guys..

ive had severe worsening acute acid reflux for the past 3 days... can u plz tell me why the sudden onset...and what other conditions could it signal?  tonite it was the worst...the acid actually caused esophagus pain.

i had very good digestion even thru treatment... i'm now 6 months post tx.

[niceguy2007]

jim i believe u took PPIs?

i cant get a doctor on the weekend.  the GERD has been sudden, and strange.  it is very intense, in fact i never had it so severe.  i hadnt had it in 3 years since i quite smoking.

ive now got an OTC medication called Gaviscon.  it contains sodium alginate, potassium bicarbonate, and methyl and propyl parahydrooxybenzoates.  can i take it? is it safe?

[drofi]

Gaviscon is safe, even if you have cirrhosis. Some people are allergic against parahydroxybenzoat (substance that is used to guard against spoilage or decomposition), that's all.
If you are in therapy, you should have in mind that antacida could reduce the absorption of ribavirin a little bit, but not much. You should take both at different times of the day nevertheless.

[jmjm530]

Lots of possible reasons from stress to something you ate to exercise to ideopathic (just one of those things). PPI's are generally not helpful for sudden onsent GERD because they take several days to work. One exception is Zegerid which uses the adctive ingredient in Nexium and gets absorbed in the stomach very fast.

OTC you could try a H-2 pump like Zantac 100 or Pepcid AC. The OTC combination I like is one Pepsid complete combined with one regular strength Pepsid AC. The Pepsid complete is actually a Pepcid AC combined with an antacid.

Gaviscon works well for some people as well by in theory blocking the acid from rising up into the esophagus by forming a sort of coated barrier in the stomach. For Gaviscon to work best, you should not eat or drink fluids for some period of time after. Lastly, there's always basic antacids like Tums that can be used safely on an occasional basis and even combined with a PPI or an H-2 pump.

If things start getting worse on a chronic basis, then PPI's like Nexium are often prescribed on a daily basis. Meanwhile try to watch what you eat, don't lie down right after eating or go to sleep within a couple of hours of eating, etc, etc.

Hope you feel better soon.

-- Jim

[jmjm530]

As far as nightime GERD, again try not eating 2-3 hours before going to bed as well as raising the head of the bed -- use books or bricks -- 8-12" from the floor. That an a Pepsid Complete combined with a regular stength Pepsid AC might just do the trick. And of course try not to worry, because stress often makes GERD worse. BTW it has nothing at all to do with the virus coming back if that's what's on your mind. If anything it might have to do with you stressing that the virus might be coming back.

-- Jim

[debnevada]

if this is germane, i might add that i had bigger problems with GERD when I wasn't eating much.....this last week was a very good week with two-three rough weeks prior to that.  In those three weeks i lost in the neighborhood of 12 pounds (really eating virtually nothing from nausea) and had some GERD issues but when i got the feed bag on last week it disappeared.  i don't know if it is related to THIS issue but eating more, when i could, helped.

[meki]

Gaviscon was a lifesaver!!

[jmjm530]

Maybe that's because you're on treatment and the ribavirin flares your GERD more when on less food. That's just a guess because there can be multiple causes for GERD, the amount of food being just one.

-- Jim