GERD new issue, need some help page

[Nossar]

Hi Primal Friends,

I have a question about GERD symptoms.

I discovered Mark's website on September and immediately felt it was THE thing for me. I bought the book and started eating primal 80%... I thought I would never be able to eat so much for breakfast since I never could eat in the morning. I found out eating properly is easy when you provide what your body wants. I felt really better.

Then I was diagnosed with Hashimotos and discovered going gluten free was THE thing which explained why I had been feeling better on Primal diet. I found out being gluten free and doing Primal diet were complementing each other perfectly.

Since I am gluten free, the pain in my chest from GERD has subsided so I no longer need acid reduction tabs and sleep better at night. I thought I would no longer need IPP but that wasn't so simple.

The problem I have is that I felt as if something was stuck in my throat. I went to a doctor who didn't even watch my throat and deduced I was anxious (he wanted to put me on anti-depressant tabs for 6 months and anxyolitics!!!! which I refused). I was still left with that thing in my throat, feeling as if I were going to stop breathing, forcing food down my throat, eating became a torture.
Then I started feeling as if my tongue had doubled and could no longer fit in my mouth but there was nothing apparent. Then it started itching and burning some time during the day.

Now here is my question: the doctor put me back on IPP but I know it soothes on one side and destroys on the other. My stomach needs repairing. Acid is required to have a proper digestion.

Has someone ever felt these new symptoms and managed to get rid of it? Does it require some time before my stomach is completely healed from gluten inflammation? What complements shall I take? Can I stop IPP or should I do the one month treatment completely until the symptoms subside then repair my stomach function???

Please, I hope someone can help with it, living with the feeling you're going to choke is painful and too much stress for my anxious brain. I would be totally happy without it, it is the only shadow on my life right now...

Hope you can help!

[Balance]

I used to have a similar feeling in my throat just like you described. I felt like I was going to choke. GERD would normally hit me hardest when I was in bed obviously because I was laying down. I tried a lot of things and my doctor told me to do yoga and to just relax. I used to have a "perfect" CW diet which turned out to be the culprit. I changed it up and stopped gluten and dairy all together. I ate completely clean (organic fruits and veggies and lots of saturated fat). I also cut out caffeine. All of those things did the trick and I am GERD free now. I never even get the slightest symtoms anymore. I don't ever feel the need to belch, I am never bloated, my IBS is gone and my allergies are gone. I haven't even been sick in over a year when I used to get sick routinely every month. I am very strict on the primal/paleo diet and the reason I won't fall off the wagon is because I know what the consequences will be if I do.

Oh and you asked about how long it took to heal the stomach. I think everyone is a little different. I used to eat oatmeal or whole wheat cereal every day along with a sandwich with whole wheat bread. I did this for at least 3 years. I also used to do a lot of chronic cardio. So I did a lot of damage. I followed a GAPS diet which is a lot like paleo with a big emphasis on bone broths, and removing gluten/dairy completely. I think my gut healed in a little over a month. But even during the first week I felt progressively better day by day. You must be totally compliant though and if you revert back to your old diet it will just make it that much harder to regain control of it. Good luck.

[Nossar]

thanks for your comment,

I've been completely gluten free for 2 months and a half now which is when this feeling of choking appeared. My tongue tends to get itchy whenever I eat dairy so maybe I'll try being dairy free too... and see what happens...

I do feel better though, no stomach aches, no full nose and I haven't been sick for a while which like you I used to do every month (ensuing problems at work due to sick leave, I can no longer work when sick), no headaches, less vertigos... I got a gastro-flu (I didn't even know that thing existed, it IS strong) but I work with 600 kids so viruses I share with them a'plenty. I've lost 40 pounds and everyone tells me I look way better now.

I find being gluten free is very easy when you were feeling like shit and suddenly feel better. People usually have pity when I tell them I can no longer eat this or that but I'm not the one to be pitied. My diet has also improved what our son eats and I love this deeply.

[Horsewoman]

I had GERD and a feeling of a lump in my throat, and asthma, until I gave up gluten. The GERD was horrendous, 24 hrs a day with acid coming right up my throat so I had to keep gulping it back down, and I felt like if I coughed I might vomit.

I an 3 years of gluten, 5 months off grains and legumes and a few weeks off dairy. I have had a couple of spells of GERD lately which were after I ate vegetable oil containing foods.

If your tongue itches when you eat dairy I think going off dairy may be important for you. That sounds like it could be an allergy rather than an intolerance which could lead to swelling and even anaphylaxis. I don't want to add to your anxiety but that rang alarm bells for me.

I am working on healing gluten damage using a protocol I devised from info on the Gluten Doctors blog (this was before I found paleo). My most recent addition is kefir, I am dairy free so I am trying water kefir. I don't know if that helps the stomach though, or just the intestines. The most important thing is to be 100% gluten free, even a trace every now and then can maintain damage and inflammatory issues.

"I find being gluten free is very easy when you were feeling like shit and suddenly feel better. People usually have pity when I tell them I can no longer eat this or that but I'm not the one to be pitied." I love this and absolutely agree. I have been ill to some extent for my whole adult life and particualrly so for the years 2004-2008. I get so much "Oh poor you" but I was just thrilled when I found out what was going on after years of misery! I just hope that through paleo I can one day get back to feeling I am truly in good health again.

[Nossar]

The fact is that the results of going gluten free are so obvious that other people around me are thinking about doing it too, my other-in-law had been thinking about it. She suffers from arthritis and doctors told her repeatedly this would help but she kept saying she couldn't impose this on her husband (a false reason of course).

[Styrofoam Jones]

I'm interested in a solution to this as well. I've been having similar issues with GERD (at least I'm pretty sure it's GERD), and I know how awful it is. I've been primal for about four months now, and while plenty has improved, my digestion is still a painful mess. Worse than when I started. It's very frustrating, and I'm not too sure what to do at this point. I'm completely free of grains, gluten, and dairy (except butter), I've had tests done in the ER and they couldn't find anything wrong, and I just plain don't trust PPIs and the like.

I get the same horrible chest pains / tightness and feeling of choking upon laying down, plus burning and cramps all over my abdomen. I've been an anxious mess for the last couple of months and I know that this discomfort is one of, if not the major contributor. Meal times are especially bad, occasionally just cooking will be enough to trigger a full blown panic attack. I know that eating while anxious only serves to worsen indigestion, but I have to eat some time. I've already decreased my workout load because I just can't get enough food in me to support the kind of activity level I was at before.

I feel like my life just has this constant sludge over it. Or, as you put it, a shadow. Pretty draining, really. I wish you the best of luck.

[Nossar]

I don't think you can have an anaphylactic reaction with milk when you've been eating it all your life on a daily basis... signs would be more intense but I'll check into ti

[Grizz]

GERD=(Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease).

Grizz

[Nossar]

Thanks,

We're on the same boat or at least a similar one I see. Doctors would like to put me on antidepressant but I'm not depressive and my anxiety comes from feeling like I'm going to choke half the time I eat. I love to eat but it spoils the charm, really it does. I don't see what antidepressants would change if it comes from GERD apart from turn me into a vegetable, which being a teacher I can not really do. I remember being on antidepressant before and I didn't feel bad feelings, but neither did I feel good ones. I was jsut oblivious to things around me. I will never again accept that damage and losing a few months of my life to drugs.

I do have panick attacks too. Maybe the symptoms are close. Magnesium and Calcium could do the trick. I'm done with magnesium, I should check calcium... but god knows what my body can use with the IPP

[Horsewoman]

I'm interested in a solution to this as well. I've been having similar issues with GERD (at least I'm pretty sure it's GERD), and I know how awful it is. I've been primal for about four months now, and while plenty has improved, my digestion is still a painful mess. Worse than when I started. It's very frustrating, and I'm not too sure what to do at this point. I'm completely free of grains, gluten, and dairy (except butter), I've had tests done in the ER and they couldn't find anything wrong, and I just plain don't trust PPIs and the like.

I get the same horrible chest pains / tightness and feeling of choking upon laying down, plus burning and cramps all over my abdomen. I've been an anxious mess for the last couple of months and I know that this discomfort is one of, if not the major contributor. Meal times are especially bad, occasionally just cooking will be enough to trigger a full blown panic attack. I know that eating while anxious only serves to worsen indigestion, but I have to eat some time. I've already decreased my workout load because I just can't get enough food in me to support the kind of activity level I was at before.

I feel like my life just has this constant sludge over it. Or, as you put it, a shadow. Pretty draining, really. I wish you the best of luck.

Have you tried taking digestive enzymes?