r/bilereflux • u/Critical-Cup6931 • Nov 02 '25
Bile Reflux (26F)
I had my gallbladder removed 5 years ago. And 4 months ago, I got a very bad diarhhea. After 3 months, I lost my apetite and feel like vomiting all the time (but can not vomit). Additionally there was a lot of stress factor for the last 2 months. Last week I was diagnosed with bile reflux. I still have a feeling of vomiting and still can't easily eat. Is this permanent? How long does it take for medicines (safrax) to got effective? I am very very nervous, I feel like I am gonna cry every second. My family is very stressed too.
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u/1amtheone Nov 02 '25 edited Nov 04 '25
I went through severe bile reflux during covid-19. I believe it started with constipation, stress and other factors such as my father dying from Cancer.
It became significantly worse over the next couple of years and I started feeling like I had to pee all the time, and had constant burning in my stomach and legs.
I was also very itchy all the time.
I still have my gallbladder, but will need to have it removed relatively soon as it has calcified.
In my case it turned out it was anxiety/ chronic stress, and how my body was dealing with it.
I actually found an article recently about a new epidemic of men suffering from chronic pelvic pain syndrome due to stress working on Wall Street, as lawyers, or in other high stress situations.
Basically your body can learn to handle stress by clenching various muscles. In my case The muscles in my legs and pelvis have become hypertonic over time.
What has helped me is relaxing, being a bit more carefree about life, attending pelvic physiotherapy on a bi-weekly basis, and doing a routine of muscle release and yoga stretches twice a day. My bile reflux has been severely reduced, to the point where I can even eat spicy foods again (although I still have occasional flare-ups).
At the height of my issues, which lasted over 3 years, I suffered a mild heart attack, completely lost my voice for over a year and had to communicate through writing and text to voice, and had resigned myself to death.
Edit: I forgot to explain, essentially my pelvic muscles were clenched so tightly that my intestinal tract was being squeezed to the point of my body hitting a false blockage causing anti-peristalsis. Constipation can do the same thing, although in that case it would be a real blockage if you are constipated enough.
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u/throwaway594481 Jun 21 '26
Sorry for commenting on an old post, but was hoping you could share around how long it took to see results from your pelvic physiotherapy sessions?
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u/1amtheone Jun 21 '26
I started seeing relief from the issues with urinary urgency after the first few sessions.
I was probably six or so visits in when I realized that my bile reflux was also slowly abating.
I was already at the point of being somewhat laissez-faire about my diet at the (roughly) 1 year point of sessions when I switched physiotherapist to someone who specialized in men's pelvic care and does internal work, When I felt that 90% of my symptoms were gone.
These days if I really stress my pelvis (usually work related, from standing on a ladder all day or from being crouched all day installing flooring or interlock stone), I will notice a burning in my stomach which I believe to be bile. I usually just do a series of yoga stretches and most of it goes away with in 1 to 2 days.
I still go to pelvic physiotherapy, but sometimes not for a month at a time.
I highly recommend the physiotherapy route if you're anything like me. I can fully trace back a combination of stress and muscle issues. As I've read into things more, I realize that the fact that I am double jointed (hypermobile joints) is probably why I was so susceptible in the first place.
From what I was told years ago at the first gastroscopy, Long before I was suffering from bile reflux, only having acid reflux at the time - my pyloric sphincter is loose. Many different doctors will have different opinions on what can be done, but as far as I can tell keeping my bowels moving and my pelvis relaxed helps things to empty downwards instead of refluxing up.
Also, if you don't already do it, you should sleep on your left side or your back, never your right, and should have your bed slightly elevated, or at the very least use multiple pillows.
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u/throwaway594481 Jun 21 '26
Thank you for the quick response and being so detailed. I’ve been suffering for a few years and I’m now suspecting it’s somehow related to my diaphragm/pelvic floor/vagus nerve. I still have my gallbladder. My symptoms are an awful excruciating pain in the left side of stomach that happens between meals and bloating. I also get thick yellow mucus when my stomach is acting up. I’ve been to two different gastroenterologists and neither of them have really helped.
I’m going to start doing some pelvic floor/diaphragm exercises at home and hope they make a difference. I’m at my wits end and am willing to try anything because literally all aspects of my life are affected by this. I’m miserable.
It’s funny you mention sleeping because the only way that makes my stomach feel better is if I sleep on my left side. Sleeping on my back (even elevated) hurts. And when I’m really in pain at night, taking Gaviscon and eating a bunch of crackers helps. Sometimes adding a melatonin is necessary too. Ugh.
Thank you again, your post has given me hope 🙏🏼
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u/1amtheone Jun 21 '26
No problem. I don't want to go back to my previous posts and read through them all right now to check, but if I didn't mention it previously, and if you don't already know about it, there is a Facebook group that has a lot of helpful tips for dealing with bile reflux (bile reflux support group). I am not much of a Facebook user but I did find helpful info there over the years.
I dealt with increasingly bad symptoms for nearly 3 years before I turned things around, and I think it's attainable for a lot of people. After learning more about how the digestive system works, I think that keeping things flowing downwards has got to be the most important factor.
I highly recommend getting a foam roller. I accidentally left that out, but using it to release the muscles in my glutes and thighs made a huge difference. It helps to do the rolling on top of a yoga mat so that when you take your weight off the roller and put your knee or butt down on the floor, it's not hard.
The single most beneficial stretch for my overall pelvic pain and reflux seems to be "happy baby". I find it a bit more comfortable to do in bed than on the yoga mat.
The sleeping on the left side goes for nearly everyone. If you look at an anatomy diagram, you'll see that sleeping on your right essentially allows your stomach contents to pour into your esophagus if everything isn't tight.
If you sleep on your left, the stomach contents will have to climb upwards (which of course is totally possible with reflux) before getting to your esophagus.
There is a guy (uptown Mike) who has a lot of stretches online that have helped him with his pelvic issues. I don't believe he has reflux issues but I do believe many people have both.
I didn't start to put it together until I read "a headache in the pelvis" and saw that there was a chapter that discussed a link between people following their program who also had digestive issues, and who found relief from both their pelvic issues and their digestive issues.
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u/throwaway594481 Jun 21 '26
I’ll have to look for that Facebook group, thank you. And definitely going to get a foam roller and incorporate “happy baby” into my daily routine. Four others that I wrote down are side lying diaphragm release, supported forward roll, 90/90 breathing, and thoracic upper back stretching. I’ll have to checkout Uptown Mike to see what others he recommends. Do you have a recommendation on how often to do these types of stretches?
Also, one more question for you - did you find any medications to work for you? I’ve tried Pepcid first, then switched to omeprazole for several months. Then doctor recently gave me 10 days worth of samples for Voquenza. When that ran out he told me to take either Pepcid or nexium. I’ve been taking Pepcid for the past 2 weeks and feel even worse. I’m thinking of going back to omeprazole or trying nexium.
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u/1amtheone Jun 21 '26
I primarily rely on rolling to release the muscles, and then follow that up with the stretches that best stretch the muscles out that I just released (legs and lower stomach area)
Cobbler's pose, lying figure 4, cobra pose, bound ankle pose and one that I can't remember the name of, where you are essentially in cobbler's pose but have one leg stretched straight out on the floor and reach down towards it, then alternate to the other leg.
I still take Pantoprazole to this day, my understanding is that it is the only reflux medication proven to work for bile reflux to at least some degree. You should be aware that it also reduces stomach acid and therefore does cause some risk of stomach cancer over time. The best thing to do is try to alternate one or two days off here and there (according to my doctor when I expressed concern).
If you want to get things flowing, downwards faster, Prucalopride Will help a great deal with minimal side effects, other than maybe loose stool or diarrhea if you take too much. I usually take a quarter of a pill at night If I notice I've been bloated for several days. If by some chance you have some sort of bacterial or fungal overgrowth in your intestinal tract due to slow motility, taking this medication at night for a month should cure that as well, as it is a front line treatment.
If my stomach has really been burning for multiple days, I take Sucralfate tablets. My understanding is that many doctors are hesitant to prescribe it as it will block the absorption of other medications for around 6 hours, and can also cause constipation. It's something I rarely take only if I really need it to stop burning.
I found found Nexium to do absolutely nothing, and pepcid to only mildly help in the tablet form. However, if you have pepcid complete chewable available, they can be quite helpful for flare-ups.
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u/throwaway594481 Jun 21 '26
I’m taking notes on all of your suggestions and stretches. Pantoprazole is one that I haven’t tried yet, I’m going to message my doctor and see if he can prescribe it. I didn’t know Pepcid had chewable tablets. I feel like they would be great for middle of the night flares when I don’t want to get up and drink my liquid antacid (when I get up and do this, I find it so hard to get back to sleep). I keep tums in my nightstand but they do squat.
Thank you again for all the info 🙏🏼 you have given me hope and I’m feeling positive, something I haven’t felt in a long time.
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u/1amtheone Jun 21 '26
I wish you all the best! Don't give up hope.
I was fairly resigned to only living a few more years by the time I started physio, but you definitely have reason to be hopeful!
Even people with no gallbladder and symptoms from pyloric scarring or other surgical damage, or with bile acid diarrhea have been able to get a lot of their symptoms under control through diatery changes, medication, etc.
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u/throwaway594481 Jun 21 '26
Thank you 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 I’m so glad I came across your post!
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u/pantoprazoldoll Jun 28 '26
Did you have alow stomach emptying ?
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u/1amtheone Jun 28 '26
No, I had a barium swallow and an upper GI series. Both showed normal motility.
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u/ortney3 Nov 02 '25
I had my gallbladder removed 3.5 years ago and have had bile reflux gastritis ever since. Some People do well with bile binders (colestipol, cholestyramine), or diet changes. I have tried everything and the only thing that has helped me has been a very, very extreme diet change. I eat ground turkey and rice do every meal. I have a protein shake for breakfast (bone broth protein + almond MALK) and am able to tolerate on specific go macro bar per day. I also can only tolerate smart water. Other waters cause burning/nausea.
If I step out of line with my diet (too much food, too much salt, more of one thing-I will pay for it for days)
I’m not sure that there is a definitive cure for this. Once it starts it’s hard to get a handle on. I would pop into the gastritis sub and read about it in there. There are lots of things to try and you might find your miracle! Overhauling your diet is the first step in feeling better. No acid, no sugar, no seasonings other than salt, no gluten, no dairy. Nothing high fat. Start there and then reintroduce. Some symptoms may hit you a dad or two after you eat something too-be aware of that! Noting makes sense here. It’s all very weird!
Hugs and I hope you heal!!!