What should I do about this problem. Please Help!!

[Kay0201]

I have had endigestion (spelling ???) since I was a teenager but did not know what was going on and never told the doctor or my mother. When I was 18 I got pregnant and it got worse so I decided to tell my doctor (that is when I found out what it was) and he had given me some kind of medication for it, that I was able to take since I was pregnant. The medication never helped and it was so bad it made me feel like my throat was on fire every night when I went to bed (that is when it really bothered me) so I would drink milk which would seem to ease it for a min or so. I don't know why but it was like the milk would cool it off. But now it has gotten worse and I can go to bed and wake up all hours of the night with it and at times I wake up with acid coming up my throat and has my throat, mouth and nostrils on fire. I am taking protonx for this but I wander if I need to have my esophages checked out to see if their is any damage? Why does it seem to be worse when I lay down I can lay on my right side, back or stomach and it just kills me, but if I lay on my left side it does not really bother me? Also I burp all the time and i can't stand it especially when I lay down the burps get worse, it is like a none stop thing (like when you have the hicups and they want go away). I would love any advice or suggestions anyone has to give me. Thanks for reading.

[Kay0201]

Thank you so much for the advice, I will get to a doc as soon as I can.

[CalGal]

You need to see a doc and get some testing done to find out how bad the damage might be, and you also need to find out if you have H. pylori and if you have it you need to be tested. If you do have acid problems, you need to find a level of medication that helps to control the symptoms and it may or may not be the med you're on now. Not all medications are alike, so you may have to try a couple.

In addition, look up a GERD diet and follow it. A number of foods can make acid problems a heck of a lot worse - and some of the foods you may not be familiar with. Check the diet list at www.gicare.com for a representative example.

When you're on your right side, the entrance to the esophagus is right there, so it's easier for the acid to flow into the esophagus. You need to try to stay on your left side as much as you can, and you need to elevated the head of your bed overall, or sleep on a fair number of pillows to kind of prop you up.

Talk to your doc to find out other things you can do to help yourself with this problem.