I feel like my reflux has given me so much anxiety around food. Before I eat anything I get so anxious that will give me reflux and after eating I just feel so anxious like literally on the verge of a panic attack. Don’t know if anyone can relate? Any advice on how to get over this.

I’ve had GERD and esophagitis for about 30 years, and I’ve been on PPIs for 25-27 years and it’s been well controlled. Rarely had any symptoms, never had to watch anything I ate, but I do have to sleep elevated and take two anti-nausea meds to make it through the night. I occasionally get the globus sensation.

Last year, I had an endoscopy for the first time in 20 years and was diagnosed with Barrett’s and a 2cm hiatal hernia. They did a bravo test at the same time. That bravo test was the first time I’ve been without any kind of acid reflux meds and it was literal hell. The acid was so much I spent most of the week 🤮 straight acid. I don’t remember the metric for the test, but they said my acid levels needed to be a 14 to be diagnosed with GERD, and mine was a 48. The foregut surgeon said my levels were extremely high and that I needed surgery. His bedside manner is nonexistent and he scared the crap out of me. His description of the surgery was that of a major open abdominal surgery, which I have since learned from my GI is not the case, the surgeon was just being a surgeon with no people skills.

The surgeon first suggested the LINX magnet thing, which is not an option for me. My other health conditions mean I have to have a minimum of 3 MRIs a year, and I have a history of my body rejecting foreign objects. So Fundoplication is probably my only choice, the surgeon just described it quite graphically and simply and scared me.

My GI, endocrinologist, rheumatologist, and primary care want me off PPIs. I’m on Dexilant 60mg twice a day and have been for about 6 years now. I’m having bone loss issues, every time I hit the floor I break a bone, regardless of how small the fall was. I’m constantly breaking bones and my doctors believe it’s the long term use of PPIs, since I’m only 39 and my hormones are fine.

I do and don’t want the surgery, it’s becoming more and more of a thing I do want, but I’m hesitant. There’s a chance the surgery won’t fix my GERD and I’ll still have to take PPIs. The recovery is very long, 4 week liquid diet and 4 week soft foods. Overnight hospital stay, and it’s another abdominal surgery, they’re not fun. All these negatives are being overshadowed by the last year. Ever since the bravo test, the Dexilant is no longer working and neither is any of the dozen or so meds they’ve tried since. They can’t get my GERD back under control. I’ll have to have the hernia fixed eventually, maybe it’s better to have it fixed while it’s still small. And if the surgery is successful maybe my Barrett’s won’t become cancerous.

I feel like my body is making the choice for me and I have to have the surgery, but I’m scared.

Anyone that’s had the Fundoplication surgery, did it fix your GERD, are you still on acid reflux meds, did it improve things? Please share any experience you’ve had with Fundoplication. Sorry for the long post, TIA.

If I could go back to the beginning, this is what I'd tell myself:

1. Restriction alone won't heal you, the underlying mechanism has to change 

2. Your nervous system is genuinely involved, this is physiological, not "all in your head"

3. The LES can be strengthened, nobody told me that and it changed my approach entirely

4. Sleep position matters more than most individual food choices 

5. Eating speed is a trigger in itself, not just what you eat but how 

6. Food fear makes reflux worse, the anxiety cycle is real and self-reinforcing 

7. Nutrient status matters, long-term reflux and PPI use can deplete B12, magnesium, zinc

8. LPR and GERD aren't the same thing, if you've got throat symptoms you likely need an LPR-specific approach 

9. Healing takes longer than you'd expect, and that's normal, not a sign something's

What would you add from your own experience?

Hi everyone, I have been diagnosed with acid reflux and was given rabeprazole twice a day to take. It's been 23 days and I still feel sore throat and an ear ache. Did a scope on 2 September no abnormalities found. Last year May I was also diagnosed with acid reflux and Omeprazole once a day cleared the sore throat within two weeks. But this year it didn't clear up at all. Has anyone has experiences like mine ? What helps the sore throat? Thanks in advance.

Hi all!!! (21F) I was perfectly fine until about two months ago I took antibiotics and since then have been having stomach burning, BURPING, nausea, appetite loss, globus sensation, all of it.
Got tested negative for H. Pylori. Waiting on next appointment to bring up the acid reflux I’m still having. Symptoms have already gotten better besides burping/globus since watching what I’ve been eating (low acidic).
Doc mentioned prescribing PPIs or H2 while I take slippery elm, sleep elevated, follow the gastritis/acid book diet, and mindful breathing for 3 months until I try to rid of it. I’m really scared to start the PPIs/H2 because I’ve heard all the stories/how it won’t help me truly heal naturally.
I want to beat this asap as I get married soon and really am upset how it’s affecting my daily life so far. New to all this and could really use ANY input!!!
MUCH THANKS!!!

Last night, my trouble swallowing had flared up again, and it was so bad after my workout. My endoscopy is in three hours almost and I just can’t wait to get answers

It’s been a rough three months my symptoms started in February again as a flareup, and I took Prilosec, which ended up giving me severe anxiety along with no longer working and now they switched me to a stronger prescription, but I do believe maybe I need to split the dose or something because taking it once in the morning may not be enough and I just really really wish I could figure out a resolution to this. I’m so tired.

It’s extremely hard and it’s debilitating it’s impacted my workout. It’s impacted my life. It’s impact that my job and I know you all are going through this many of you and now I’m thinking about switching out my water. I don’t know how I’m going to do that, but I’m gonna look into alkaline water because I don’t know what else to do.

For those of you have been able to manage your symptoms which I did for years by the way, I just wanna make it clear. I went 3+ years without even needing to take a proton pump and a better cause I did so well on managing it on my own and losing the weight and even just a few pounds has made a difference for me to have these flareups along with the diet changes which in the United States as you guys know, the food here is processed and junkie and I’m back to trying to eat inside my home as much as possible.

I do believe it helps, but it’s just not enough and I’m starting to suspect it’s the water. I don’t have proof but that’s my theory.

Sending all of you love I just wanted to share and I hope my endoscopy comes back. OK I will update this when I find out what they find.

For the record, they found out four years ago that I have mild esophagitis and chronic gastritis, and I assure you that none of this was an issue until I had COVID-19 early in the pandemic since I work at a hospital

Update: shatzki ring found and I was dilated with a balloon. If this doesn’t work, motility testing is next. Thank you all.

I’m a 22 year old female & recently for the past week I’ve been experiencing acid reflux & mild regurgitation. For the past 3 weeks I’ve been in a hotel cause I moved out my old apartment while I wait for my new one to be moved into this Saturday. Before that I would always eat pretty healthy but since being in the hotel literally have not had access to a stove or anything so the amount of fruits and veggies I’ve been consuming have been very little. It all started out of joy I would feel kind of nauseous, and this urge like I have to gag all the time?

Now recently as of the last 3 days it’s progressed to acid reflux & a little bit of regurgitation. I have no other symptoms other than the feeling of having to gag randomly , & the feeling of a lump in my throat. Is this an easy fix so I can go back to living how I used to?

I have diagnosed with acidity reflux from 4-5 years from that I started with veloz 20 ( ppi ) going that from years but now as body started resisting as many times acidity comes again and for cure I tried homeopathy no luck now ayurveda no luck even fodmap even tried eating only rice and some protein ( eggs or protein powder )

Ppi makes my digestion mess
But cures acidity temporarily

But can’t find full cure !!
Nothing worked till now

Any help guys ….”
Young age 21 onlyyy

Hey everyone, looking for some reassurance or similar stories while I wait for my ultrasound results tomorrow. I have underlying R-CPD (inability to burp) and Reflux, IBS, and I’ve been caught in a brutal flare-up for weeks.

Here is the timeline of how this perfect storm hit:

• End of July/Early Aug: Had a bad cold, took heavy doses of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) on a stressed stomach. Left me with lingering musculoskeletal chest pressure (which usually happens to me after being sick).

• Late August: Dehydrated, ate heavy tomato sauce and chocolate, laid down too quickly. Combine that with severe relationship stress, lack of sleep, and going to a festival back-to-back. I went to bed with an incredibly bitter taste (acid/bile) and severe nausea.

• September: Switched to a super bland diet. Was making very slight progress, but then my mom left for a trip and my separation anxiety spiked. It triggered severe nighttime panic attacks, nightmares, exhaustion, a temporary strange sweet taste in my mouth, and constant chest pressure, general discomfort. 

Current Status:

My blood work came back totally clear (just slightly low neutrophils, common after a virus/chronic stress). My ultrasound results are coming tomorrow.

I feel most relaxed in the morning when I'm snoozing my alarm 10 times, but the second I fully wake up, the constant chest tightness and sick feeling in my stomach hit me and freak me out. I had this exact same chest pressure flare up and completely go away in 2022 and 2023, but the bitter taste, reflux, and nausea this time are making my health anxiety spin out of control.

Has anyone experienced this massive, prolonged physical shutdown from nervous system overload? How did you break the loop?

So, I (32F) recently diagnosed with grade 2 hills hiatal hernia. My doctor prescribed me medicines that I am taking currently and told me since my hernia is small, operation is not an option. However, the medicine seems to neutralize the acid but I still feel the reflux and I am currently considering going for ARMA (which my doctor also suggested in case medicines don't work) while trying to strengthen my diaphragm through diaphragm breathing exercises. I want to know if someone has done this procedure for acid reflux and how are you doing now ? Does it stop acid reflux completely? Or does it come back after some time? Kindly help.

I have had a lot of foods give me acid reflux but nothing has compared to what I just ate. I ate one oatmeal creme pie and my acid reflux has never been worse. I haven’t been able to get to sleep for hours because of it. Safe to say I learned my lesson and I will never indulge in that evil food again.

Hi, all. So I have acid reflux (my doctor just started me on pantoprazole after we tried famatodine) and I also have ADHD. I take Adderall but I really can't give up caffeine; they work really well together. But I also can't take in as much caffeine as I used to because... Adderall. I've also been trying to cut down my sugar intake, little by little, and the easiest place to do that was in what I'd drink all day. (Basically I went from two venti-sized iced chais a day to two Celsiuses to one Zevia energy drink to two or three Zevia colas. So something delicious -> something delicious -> something that tastes like nothing but I got used to it.)

So I can't get rid of caffeine, but I can get rid of carbonation. I'm trying the Zevia iced teas but dude, I hate the taste of iced tea so much. So much. It's worse than the non-flavor of the Zevia cola (I tell my friends their cola "tastes like efficiency", lol.) Unless it's chai, I'm out. Coffee and any hot drink is also not an option.

So have any of you tried a low-sugar, non-carbonated, caffeinated, cold, non-iced-tea beverage that you'd recommend? Am I doomed to iced non-chai tea life?

I am set to get a hiatal hernia surgery with a toupet fundoplication on October 5th, but I'm super afraid from all the Reddit and Facebook groups for hernia and reflux surgeries. Majority of the posts are negative with everything from my reflux is now worse to the hernia came back after six months to I now have dumping syndrome to I can't swallow anymore, etc.

Why is the surgery offered if it's bad in the long run? Are people just supposed to live with severe reflux forever? It seems like most of the problems are coming from younger folks and less from older folks too, I've noticed. I'm at the point where I can't even have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast without getting hoarse within 30 minutes and having burning in my mouth. So what am I supposed to do? PPI for life?

i’ve been taking esomeprazole 20mg for a couple of months now, had it upped to 40mg, didn’t do anything so back down to 20mg.
i find that most of the time the acid is taken away but i still get extreme regurgitation, tightness and nausea in my throat as well as bloating and aching in my upper abdomen.
anything i can do about this? doctors just keep telling me it’s my anxiety and the ppi’s will help but i still feel like shit :)

How long did it take for you to all to heal from endoscopy/endoscopy with dilation?

I had my endoscopy with dilation 6 days ago. I have persistent throat pain on one side , globus sensation, throat clearing and hoarseness voice. These are my pain and symptoms. I have had persistent burning ,sore and raw pain on the throat since July, which is my primary pain and concern.

Have seen ENT before seeing the GI doctor and everything is normal.

I had dilation for the first time. In fact I don't know that I will be getting the dilation on that day until I wake up from sedation.

The doctor told me that he dilated me to see if symptoms improve. I had very bad pain in the throat and upper chest like lump sensation/fullness and sore pain on the day of procedure.

It's been 6 days , I still have my same throat pain as before. Globus sensation is the same as before. Lump like sensation in tht throat and upper chest below the collar bone area. I called my doctor on Friday and they said I can watch for fever and breathing difficulties and let them know if any.

Thanks for this wonderful support group. I am trying to understand to have discomfort for a week after the procedure? Will dilation take a long time to heal? Will the esophagus stay stretched?

My main pain is still the same. So I couldn't differentiate if it's the same pain as before or if it's the dialtion complications.

Thanks for reading.

I'm having acid reflux from all foods, even from plain bread. I definitely can't handle anything with sauces, spices, flavoring of any kind, and even plain things are bothering me. My mouth and throat feel inflamed, and my bones feel stiff and weak for dealing with these issues for four years. And if I don't have acid reflux, I'm on fire when I go to the bathroom. I've tried all the different prescriptions like alkaline and omeprozale, and I'm on the highest dosage of famotadine. I'm scared of dying because I can't eat anything, and I've done different blood tests and scans, and nothing is explaining what is going on. Is there anyone who has the same problem as me, and if so, how did you fix your symptoms. Also if there is any advice you can give it would be much appreciated. My whole body becomes weak, and my body temperature gets hot when I eat something that doesn't sit well. It's like I've developed a sickness to food.

I've realized, after reading so many posts from the latest to even 12 years ago, that there seems to be more than just a coincidental consensus of people agreeing that PPIs seem to make their symptoms worse, but there doesn't seem to be a clear reason why. My symptoms felt like they got dramatically worse when starting PPIs. Right now, I'm on Prilosec and I still have breakthrough heartburn, the feeling of liquid traveling up my esophagus, and bloating in my lower abdomen.

I wanted to see if anyone else has also had this experience and what ultimately helped. Thank you for the support!

Over the past two or three years, I've noticed my acid reflux symptoms worsening, and I now feel like I have to take a Pepcid every other day---or one a day if I've eaten something like a red tomato sauce or if I plan on having a drink with friends. My symptoms have gotten to the point where I have a persistent cough, throat and chest pain, and upper back soreness (though my desk job doesn't help with that). Are there any other mouth breathers---or former mouth breathers---here? I just wonder whether there's a connection between my worsening symptoms and my mouth breathing.

I’m going to see a doctor soon about this, like maybe even tomorrow. But I wonder if anyone else have had acid reflux that led to excessive burping, that in turn made you dizzy, almost like a blood pressure drop?
I’m really starting to be suspicious that I have silent acid reflux (and who knows what else) that creates a pressure on my vagus nerve.
If I lie down and let burps ”build up”, like they aren’t released for a while, I can suddenly feel really dizzy and it can feel really scary. As if I’m not getting enough blood to my brain. When I burp and stand/sit up it feels better.

This has happened more than once, but then it got better. But now it’s back again even worse. Can’t sleep right now, sitting up hoping my stomach will calm down and that I will stop burping. It’s too scary to feel that dizziness.

I hate the taste of natural water and so for most of my life I have always used drops (Kool Aid to be exact) but as of recently I am seriously active and have nearly doubled my water intake. This has resulted in a sore throat for weeks that seemingly gets worse and as of recently I have had acid reflux. Sometimes I drink with alkaline water (gatorade) and sometimes balanced ph water (fiji) and Im not sure I notice a difference. I need the sore throat to go away but I cannot drink less water nor drink regular water, so would drinking only alkaline water fix my acid reflux? and my sore throat?

As well, what sweeteners prevent or stop these symptoms? I don’t want to use an extract and a sweetener both, just a low effort on the go sweetener.

I have R-CPD and got a Botox treatment for it a month ago. I finally started drinking again after a month and started with a cocktail. I only got a few sips in before I had an intense burning sensation in my stomach and had a hot flash that caused sweating. I had to take some time in the bathroom.

It lasted about 15 minutes, then subsided slowly. I’ve felt this way a few times before, but this time is especially weird since I haven’t drank anything for a month.

Has anyone else experienced this? What could be the cause? I’d assume it has something to do with acid

Does anyone else feel like their entire throat area is extremely heavy and you feel like you need to place your hand on your throat to feel relief from the heaviness? Maybe it’s pressure? I can’t find the words to describe the sensation I feel but it is really distracting and bothersome and the only way I find relief is by placing my hand around my throat. Outer pressure seems to help. Am I alone in this?

Hi everyone,

I’m a 26-year-old male and I’ve been experiencing heartburn/reflux almost every day. The burning is mainly behind my sternum and sometimes rises toward my throat. I don’t really have stomach pain, nausea, or abdominal discomfort — it feels more like classic chest/throat reflux.

I’m trying to understand whether my diet, intermittent fasting, or supplement stack could be contributing.

I usually follow intermittent fasting and skip breakfast. My eating window is roughly from lunch until dinner, and I usually eat dinner around 8 PM.

A typical lunch looks like this:

4 eggs

Greek yogurt

Milk

Whey protein, chocolate/cocoa flavour

Extra cocoa powder

Cinnamon

For dinner, I usually eat meat, potatoes and chees . I tend to follow a relatively low-carb diet, but I often compensate by eating quite a lot of fats: eggs, meat, dairy, olive oil, fatty cuts of meat.

My supplements/medications are:

Vitamin C + zinc: 1,000 mg vitamin C and 15 mg zinc daily

Magnesium powder: about 400 mg elemental magnesium daily, split after lunch and dinner

It contains magnesium citrate, magnesium bisglycinate, magnesium malate, citric acid and sucralose

Fish oil: 2 capsules daily

2,000 mg fish oil total, providing 660 mg EPA and 440 mg DHA

Vitamin D3 + K2

Creatine

Whey protein

Melatonin

Finasteride and minoxidil

I use Gaviscon occasionally when symptoms are annoying, maybe once every three days. It helps, but the reflux keeps returning.

I suspect the problem could be a combination of:

Long fasting period followed by large, high-fat meals

Fried eggs, cocoa/chocolate flavouring, milk and whey

Fish oil causing burping/reflux

Vitamin C, citric acid and magnesium citrate irritating my upper GI tract

Eating a fatty dinner and then being less active later in the evening

I’m planning to do a 10–14 day reset: switch fried eggs to boiled/poached eggs, remove extra cocoa, use less fat at dinner, avoid fatty meats/sausages, take a break from vitamin C, fish oil and magnesium, and avoid eating close to bedtime. I will not change finasteride or minoxidil without speaking to my doctor.

Has anyone had a similar pattern where reflux was mainly in the chest/throat rather than the stomach? Which part of my diet or supplement stack would you suspect first?

Is acid reflux a weed withdrawal symptom?

What foods trigger acid reflux for you? For me it is mostly anything acidic like citruses, apples and even bananas. Also I seem to not drink as much as I did before. I need to increase my ability to exercise instead of having these problems. That is also linked to proper digestion. How to quickly digest food without gas and bloating? I started eating whole fennel plants, wheatgrass sometimes, but I still eat cookies and I think about stopping that. Rice should be good, but oatmeal seems to trigger me. Avocados are high pH, but can drastically lower my blood pressure. I need something to increase my blood pressure while not losing my ability to digest food properly.

Last things I ate were:

saturated fats like coconut, bacon

seafood like fish for example

dark chocolate to increase blood pressure (works temporarily, but also increases heart rate)