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How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

41–50 of 73 posts

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#41

I will def be trying this since it's the second time that I've seen it, my problem with acid reflux is that i drink a lot of coffee and without it I am sleepy. Stress impacts it a lot. Coffee does I still drink, like a lot. 8 cups. Since quitting cigs it's 80% better. And yeah I definitely 'feel' some muscle in my stomach is the issue.

For me, it wasn't the coffee it was the caffeine. Switched to decaf and my acid reflex disappeared nearly instantly. Try slowly swapping out 1 cup of regular for decaf, followed by another, followed by another, until you are off of regular coffee entirely. Over a surprisingly short-ish time, that "I feel sleepy without coffee" thing will go away and if you're in the same boat as me, your reflux will disappear too.

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#42
For those who drink caffeine and have reflux, try shift to decaf. I still drink the same amount of coffee as I did before, only now it is decaf rather than regular. Acid reflux disappeared to the point I didn't need a daily PPI anymore. I still have a caffeine every once in a while, but multiple daily caffeinated beverages was the cause of my reflux.

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#44

How I eliminated GERD: - Walking after every meal - Reducing my body weight - Avoiding food in the hours before bed YMMV

Weight loss did it for me. I was on 40mg Nexium and couldn't survive without the med every day. Then I was on a 3 month trip to Europe during which I dramatically lost weight and also ran out of the med. Quite incredibly, I realized I was fine without the med. The trip was 5 years ago and I've been keeping the weight off, it seem to be holding.

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me: lose weight and take a daily PPI. "But PPIs have terrible side effects!" Doing great so far. One esomeprazole a day, 30 mins before I eat breakfast and I'm almost normal. This is with bad GERD, a hiatal hernia and some changes to my esophageal tissue. Oh and schatzki rings. I was in immense pain for years and now I can eat normally and enjoy spicy foods again.

A PPI is preferable to Barret's esophagus secondary to chronic gastric reflux, and certainly sounds reasonable in your case. There are others who start using omeprazole OTC without understanding the difference between it and Pepcid. Omeprazole (and its enantiomer esomeprazol) can cause rebound heart burn with discontinuation, are not meant to be used "as needed" compared to antacids / H2 drugs due to their slower met…

> do we fully understand the long-term risks of PPIs

The potential link between PPIs and dementia worries me a lot. I switched to H2 blockers when my symptoms decreased but they're not as good and you need to periodically get your liver function checked.

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#46
Right, so this paper is from a Ph.D of Botany [1] that worked at a research firm that's, from what I can surface, best known for a hydroponic algae cultivation system [2].

How did this get published on PubMed.

I have GERD. The best known way of dealing with this piece-of-shit disease is to either restrict your diet to things that won't produce as much acid (so pretty much everything good) or take PPIs for the rest of your life that might or might cause bone problems due to decreased calcium absorption (my preference).

The good news is that PPIs are manageable with vitamin/calcium supplements and yearly physicals, and you don't have to take them every day if the GERD isn't that bad.

- [1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-karrfalt-b60a1b49/

- [2] https://intengine.com/directory/profile/13861-renewergy-corp...

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#47
post #42

For those who drink caffeine and have reflux, try shift to decaf. I still drink the same amount of coffee as I did before, only now it is decaf rather than regular. Acid reflux disappeared to the point I didn't need a daily PPI anymore. I still have a caffeine every once in a while, but multiple daily caffeinated beverages was the cause of my reflux.

I did this, though not because of GERD, interestingly. A coffee roaster here in Houston won a coffee competition on a decaf, and it tasted so good, I quit caffeine the day I tried it (last year).

I still get flare-ups that can be managed with H2 supplements (like Gaviscon), which are much safer than the PPIs I take every other day.

The biggest advantage of switching to decaf is that caffeine works as intended the few times I use it. I have trouble staying awake on long drives; having a cup of coffee or a light energy drink, like Celsius, fixes that now.

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#48

How I eliminated GERD: - Walking after every meal - Reducing my body weight - Avoiding food in the hours before bed YMMV

For me: lose weight and take a daily PPI. "But PPIs have terrible side effects!" Doing great so far. One esomeprazole a day, 30 mins before I eat breakfast and I'm almost normal. This is with bad GERD, a hiatal hernia and some changes to my esophageal tissue. Oh and schatzki rings. I was in immense pain for years and now I can eat normally and enjoy spicy foods again.

PPIs can take a (long) while for its side effects to present. Also, not everyone experiences the side effects, though some people definitely do!

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#49

My own N=2 study: Based on a random comment in an obscure forum, I cured my specific form of reflux for 10 years with a couple of simple stretches. I think they only address reflux due to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiatal_hernia The theme is to physically push the stomach back down into place. The first exercise was to lay in bed, one hand over the other just below the sternum, push in and slide down slowly. Rep…

On your tip toes and falling down with a thud is also a qi gong exercise.

Re: How to Cure Acid Reflux with Simple Exercise: An Anecdotal Study

#50

How I eliminated GERD: - Walking after every meal - Reducing my body weight - Avoiding food in the hours before bed YMMV

My anecdotal study, I had an awful case of reflux, my doctor told me to lose weight. Right after that I moved to a place that was more conducive to outdoor exercise and started walking for miles a day, at least 30 miles a week.

That did it, I didn't lose any weight but the reflux was gone completely.

I moved again and where I live now is not as good for outdoor activity, but it hasn't come back yet. I still walk at least a mile a day, maybe that's enough for me. If not, at least I know the prescription for me if it comes back.

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