I feel worse than before going Primal. Any suggestions?? page 2

[emmie]

I agree about doctors. I have a very good gastro, but for GERD or heartburn, all he wants to do is prescribe something like Nexium. Doctors are brainwashed in med school to solve all health issues with meds.

For me, most heartburn was gone when I eliminated grains. However, if I have excess fat, I will experience heartburn, and I tend to more moderate fat because of that.

Different things trigger heartburn for people, and it's best to assess yourself to see if you can identify the culprit.

[magnolia1973]

My GERD came back last Whole 30 I did. I think it was tomatoes plus a lot more fat.

Sometimes good foods can hurt some people.

[sbhikes]

My guess is you have gone low carb and are suffering from the initial loss of water/salt/potassium that is purged from the kidneys. I felt so horrible around week 5 I thought I needed to go to the hospital. I took salt (licked it off my hand), potassium tablets, magnesium tablets and felt a lot better in a few hours. This would be unrelated to heartburn issues though. I have heard that some people do not find relief for some digestive problems with paleo alone and for others it takes a long time. This lady writes about it often.
Treating GERD with the paleo diet | Melissa McEwen on food anthropology, economics, and culture
Proton Pump Inhibitors Suck | Melissa McEwen on food anthropology, economics, and culture

[EagleRiverDee]

Go see an ND, L.Ac! You can spend the next year hacking 20 different things or you can go to a doctor that actually knows about this stuff.

I agree with this. I went to a D.O. for years who just gave me pills for my symptoms- or ignored them entirely- denied me tests and directly resulted in me going undiagnosed for thyroid disease for 9 years plus a milk allergy, the former causing me to gain 90 lbs and the latter giving me acid reflux for which I took Prevacid for 9 years which has now been linked to bone loss and catastrophic spiral fractures. I finally herniated a disc in my back due to all the weight gain.

That caused me to switch to an N.D., LAc - first for acupuncture for my debilitating back pain. Then she diagnosed me with Hashimotos thyroiditis after blood work, and after her recommendation that I follow an anti-inflammatory diet temporarily to determine if I had food allergies we discovered that I had a dairy allergy. I am now 95% of normal on my back, my Hashi's is under control and I've lost nearly 50 lbs, and my acid reflux has been resolved for almost 2 years and I don't take any medication any more for it. Not even the occasional Tums.

I'm a huge proponent of Naturopathic Medicine. It literally changed my life, and continues to. My N.D. is my primary care physician. Without drugs, I get sick less and am far healthier than I ever was under allopathic care. Allopathic doctors have a tendency to focus on symptoms- and to treat symptoms with drugs. Naturopathic doctors focus on the root cause and treat the root cause with dietary changes, exercise, herbs, etc. It puts the individual back in control of their health, instead of Big Pharma.

[Ayla2010]

Naturopathic doctors focus on the root cause and treat the root cause with dietary changes, exercise, herbs, etc. It puts the individual back in control of their health, instead of Big Pharma.

Yes this is exactly why I am studying to be a Naturopath/Animal homeopath

[Ayla2010]

And stimulates the bodies own ability to heal itself.

[RandyStimpson]

I have had GERD in the past and I have found that two things trigger GERD for me. The first is the combination of coffee with chocolate. The second is eating greasy food. Greasy food didn't bother me when I was younger but it does now. It has always bothered my wife which might explain why she has never had a weight problem.

The one thing that helps GERD for me is probiotic supplement (I only take it if I have GERD). If you are a coffee drinker layoff it for a week and take probiotics. That will reset your gut flora.

If you have the option to send email to your doctor like I do, I would send email to let him know you don't want to take the prescription and ask for dietary advice. Most doctors assume patients just want a pill solution so that's what they give them.

I just remembered on more thing that gives me GERD, eating cereal near bed time.

[KatieCHI]

I think Chris Kresser is doing a series titled something like: 'when paleo doesn't fix everything' -- and it talks about some gut issues, could be a good to check out.