Acid indigestion?

[deb123]

Hi,

I 've been suffering from bad acid indigestion, and was wondering if anyone experiences the same?

I'm on Infliximab and have started to get persistent acid indigestion, which makes my throat sore and I have an irritating cough. I don't like to keep taking Gaviscon liquid as i've heard that you can do more damage in the long run.

Im trying to take a lot of wheat products out of my diet, but even fruit is causing it.

Any tips or advice gratefully received.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

What is your typical diet like? I find citrus, coffee, mint and chocolate aggravate my GERD.

 

[deb123]

Well I have a varied diet, and I cant seem to make sense of it. Some days im ok and others I am in such discomfort.

I have had rice cereal for breakfast today, then a ham salad with coleslaw, and ive just eaten a banana and hey ho her we go again. Milk is a quick fix, but I know I will have trouble sleeping later.
There doesn't seem to be any sure culprit, could it be the Infliximab?

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I wonder if the coleslaw could be contributing. I get acid from bananas but that is pretty atypical. Maybe that's happening to you as well. I don't see acid as a listed side effect for Remicade but its certainly something you can bring up with your GI.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I have severe GERD and I actually also get reflux symptoms from bananas. It's not as uncommon as you'd think, at least according to other anecdotal evidence from the forum. I've heard another person say that they gave up bananas for about 6 months, then slowly re-introduced bananas into their diet, and that was successful for them. I tried the same thing myself but unfortunately I still can't do bananas.

Deb123, how long have you been on Infliximab? Did the reflux start right around the time you started getting the infusions? Did anything else change - other medications, supplements, change in diet? Do you take probiotics by chance? I found that probiotics worsened my GERD too.

There are certain reflux meds that you shouldn't take long-term - things like Prilosec/Omeprazole - as meds like that can leach calcium from your bones over time. Other reflux meds like Zantac/Ranitidine are much safer to take long-term though, and won't leach calcium from you. Ranitidine is over-the-counter or you can get stronger doses on prescription, so you may want to ask your doctor about something like that.

 

[Kev]

When I came off of 5-ASA (Salofalk) my long standing acidic stomach issues went away, and stayed away. Along with some other side effects. Have you looked at what meds you are on?

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Wow cat I'm so glad to hear someone else has acid from bananas. My doctors look at me like I'm crazy when I say that.

I truly believe that reflux can be treated naturally by avoiding trigger foods. It's important to figure out what's triggering it. This is preferable to taking additional medication.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

NGNG, I have a hiatal hernia which contributes to my GERD (the hernia is on the valve between stomach & esophagus), so in my case sadly it's not just a matter of avoiding trigger foods. I find that exercise is the worst reflux trigger for me. I have to take a Zantac and a handful of Tums just to get through a workout nowadays. I go into the gym with an empty stomach and only drink water when I exercise, but even so, I'll be refluxing water by the end of my workout. My GI actually told me to stop exercising (!!) but he later changed his tune when he saw how beneficial exercise has been for me.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I'm sorry to hear that! I definitely think some will require medication no matter what for GERD but by and large I think it's fairly treatable through diet.

 

[Maree.]

Cat thanks for the comment above I found them really helpful, wasn't awar probiotics could be a trigger. Liam's Acid Reflux is currently the worst it's been since he's been on daily PPI & low acid diet. I'd been struggling to think what the trigger might be. I was wondering about his Ensure supplement which I've been ramping up because his weight is so low at the moment. But he's also recently started taking probiotics so will pull that out first and see if that helps.

 

[Thermo]

Yeah you need a PPI, anyone who takes steroids should also take a PPI at the same time. Nexium is my favorite but most insurances don't cover it.

 

[Jison0612]

I have Crohn's and I was just put on prilosec 40mg for silent reflux it got so bad I thought I was having a heart attack!! My chest was hurting I couldn't breathe it's awful!! My Crohn's doc seems to think its a flare up that caused all my symptoms and I can't argue with him cause after being on the prilosec and now entocort for a couple days I feel great still have a. Lil discomfort in the chest area and a lil shortness of breath but nothing like it was praise GOD!!!!

 

[Droopy Drawers]

Bananas kill me

I have a small hernia too & take Aciphex
If that doesn't completely quench the fire I take a Zantac 75 too

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Nexium seems to be doing the trick for me but I had horrendous pains and thought I was having a heart attack and couldn't breathe when the reflux was at its worst. I still have trouble occasionally but don't want to increase any meds.

Bananas also bring up the acid for me but less so in a shake.

 

[PVail]

Ok here is what happened to me with this . i went to the doc because i was having terrible acid reflux , cough and sore chest along with my usual symptoms. Got a few test done and turns out i have a Helicobactor infection in my stomach . Look this one up . So i had to take two antibiotics and a anti acid thing . This really put an end to the symptoms and now i just take Omeparazole if it starts to return.
So just saying apparently this helicobator is very common and you have to do the test to find out if you have it .

 

[Jison0612]

I have a mild case of Crohn's I was diagnosed at 17 I've been on and off of meds ever since. I was just recently diagnosed with silent reflux. My doc prescribed me prilosec 40mg daily it has helped out dramatically. My symptoms prior to the prilosec were unbelieveble chest pains, shortness of breath, burning upper abdomen, and clearing of throat with random bloody mucus. My question is did anyone else have these symptoms my doc said there pretty common I've been on the prilosec for 3 weeks and had a bet of a bad bought last night after a mcdonalds vanilla iced coffee and when I woke up this morning I had a metallic taste in my mouth the hypochondriac in me freaked but there's was no blood just taste is this normal for a bad case of the reflux maybe I haven't healed yet?

 

[Jison0612]

I'm on prilosec 40mg daily whats the best time of day to take this. Also I'm finding that its losing its effect or I'm just having a couple bad days? Either way would it be safe to take a 20mg OTC prilosec at nights when needed if I take my 40mg earlier in the day cause last night was rough!!!!!

 

[Jison0612]

So I called my gp the other day and talked to her about the link between acid reflux and allergies cause it seems mine are linked together every year (this year being the worse) she said they have not made an official link yet but undoubtably they go hand in hand that usually u have to treat both to get rid of all the symptoms. She also said that reflux seems to be a more seasonal thang for a lot of people? Anyways don't rule out ur seasonal allergies as a culprit for ur reflux and weird seasonal symptoms cause if u just treat the reflux and not the allergies it's not gonna fix the root of the problem.