Useful Hints And Tips

There are many ways to treat acid reflux syndrome, and one of the things you might hear about the most are proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s). These are the most commonly advertised types of medications, and they come in both OTC (over-the-counter) and prescription strength. These are really great for those who have a lot of problems with their reflux recurring day in and day out. However, they might not be needed for everyone all of the time. You should talk to your doctor about how often you have pain, and what they think would be the best for you.

Proton pump inhibitors do more than just help soothe pain. They do something to reduce the pain and keep the levels of acid down in the stomach. These medications will actually stop many of the acid pumps in the stomach from producing acid.

The idea is if you have less acid production in your stomach, you won’t have the problem of the acid backing up into the esophagus. When this happens, the damage from acid reflux has time to heal. PPI’s can also be used for people who have ulcers in their stomachs.

Those who have had damage to the esophagus might have to take a prescription proton pump inhibitor to give the tissues time to heal. These are prescribed by a doctor, and they will need to be taken anywhere from two weeks to two months.

Because the amounts of acid are reduced, you will feel relief from your bouts of heartburn, and all tissues have breathing room to heal as they should. After the prescription has run out, you can probably take the OTC version of proton pump inhibitor. They aren’t as strong, but if the tissues have healed, you don’t need the prescription strength any longer.

There are some side effects with proton pump inhibitors that you do have to watch out for. If something is giving you problems, you may have to try a different medication. The goods news about this is that there are many different PPI type medications that you can try until you find something that does not bother you.

Some of the most common side effects are diarrhea, gas, and upset stomach. Occassionally people report experiencing dry mouth and headache. These are pretty rare though, and most won’t have problems with them.

Make sure you talk about all of your symptoms with your doctor so they can recommend the best medication for your acid reflux syndrome. If you are taking any other type of medication, either OTC or prescriptions, ask about drug interactions to be sure you will be safe.

You should be sure to let them know if you are pregnant, nursing, or have kidney problems. They may want to give you something else any of those are true for you. Also ask if there is anything else you can do to help your acid reflux syndrome. They might give you a food list, or recommend stress reduction to help with healing and to offer more relief.

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Acid reflux is a reality for many, and there are many reasons why it might happen. Though stress can be a problem, often the foods and drinks that people choose are the biggest triggers. Things like alcohol, soda, spicy foods, fatty foods, and come citrus can bring on a world of pain for some. Some who have GERD like to put together an acid reflux recipe book to keep track of the foods that don’t bother them. Having such a book will make it easier for anyone with this condition to eat the right foods more often.

Before you begin compiling recipes, you should think about how you are going to store them. You print can them out or write them down, but you may not be able to keep track of them that way. That means you probably aren’t going to use them because you can‘t find them. A simple three ring binder is always a great idea, or you can use a box with index cards. These will keep all of your acid reflux recipes in one place.

When it comes to recipes, you might want to consider laminating the pages. This is extra work and an extra expense, but regular paper gets ruined very easily when in the kitchen. Laminating will help keep your recipes safe from grease, and they can be wiped off easily if something were to spill.

Finding recipes might be a matter of trial and error, but the there are tons to be found online. A simple search can dig up hundreds. You have to decide what you think sounds good. You can print them out and put them in your binder, or you can write them out on your index cards.

You should start with things that you know you would like, and then slowly add new things you would like to try. GERD sufferers should make sure their recipes are well balanced with proteins and carbs, and should be low fat most of the time. Keep that in mind as your browse online. Don’t forget that you can also find great recipes by asking your doctor for recommendations.

You can also find recipes by tweaking some of your favorite recipes that give you problems. You can also write them from scratch if you pay attention to what you can eat, and what is known to give you problems.

Things you should avoid would be citrus fruits, milk products (if you suffer from lactose intolerance), spicy foods, many sweets, fatty meats (buy lean cuts), and many forms of white potato. Though taking the hot spices out of foods might sound like it makes for a bland diet, there are plenty of great herbs and seasonings that won’t aggravate acid reflux.

It might take you a while to come up with your own collection, but if you add a few new ones a week, your acid reflux recipe book will grow rather quickly. Though some of the foods that should be avoided bother many, they may not bother you. That is what will make your recipe book unique. If you don’t have problems with spicy foods, then by all means include them.

There are no hard and fast rules for all people who have GERD. Even more important than what you eat is how you eat. Remember to eat smaller and more frequent meals, and keep servings small so your meals are not sitting in your stomach. That might be one of the biggest things to avoid.

Grab your free copy of Kathryn Whittaker’s brand new Acid Reflux & GERD Newsletter - Overflowing with easy to implement methods to help you find out about acid reflux syndrome and for information on heartburn acid reflux please visit Stop Acid Reflux Now.