Is acid reflux a permenant condition?

Question

I have been basicaly put on bread and water for the time being and my doc wont say for how long. Is it a permenant condition?

Answer 1

It usually is.Why doesn't your doctor give you Acid reducing meds to take so you can eat real food?

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Yes it's usually something you have to treat all your life. Either with medication, diet, lifestyle changes. If you smoke, stop. Don't eat or drink fluids for 4 to 6 hours before going to bed. Elevate the head of your bed by putting something under the the legs of the bed. Avoid foods that cause symptoms, like tomatoes, orange juice, milk products, or what ever you notice causes the acid reflux to flare up. There are a lot of medications that help control the symptoms too. I couldn't live without my Prilosec, but that doesn't work for everyone. Also, get your gallbladder checked out. If you have stones it can' make the acid reflux even worse.

Answer 4

Well be care full cause i seen a deal on some show, dateline or something like that, that said acid reflux is being mis-diagonsed for a heart condition .Lot of people have been having heart attacks and they could of been prevented if not for docs saying they have acid reflux

Answer 5

It is a permanent condition but will only flare up when a good diet is disrupted. Your doctor will run their test and find a good diet for you that will prevent the effects of acid reflux and as long as you follow it you should be fine.

Answer 6

The goals of treatment in GERD are to relieve symptoms, heal esophagitis, prevent recurrence of symptoms, and prevent complications. A variety of lifestyle modifications are recommended in the treatment of GERD. However, although all of these measures make sense physiologically, little data are available in the literature to support them. Lifestyle measures include avoidance of precipitating foods (fatty foods, alcohol, caffeine), avoidance of recumbency for three hours postprandially, elevation of the head of the bed, smoking cessation, and weight loss.6 The cornerstone of GERD therapy is the administration of agents that decrease gastric acid secretion, thereby decreasing esophageal acid exposure.7 Antacids, which neutralize only acid that is already secreted, may be used for immediate symptom relief, but are not recommended as chronic therapy. Administration of histamine H2-receptor antagonists in standard divided doses achieves complete symptom relief in approximately 60% of patients and heals esophagitis in about 50%.7 Doubling the dose does not further improve the response.8 PPIs are superior to histamine H2-receptor antagonists in both healing erosive esophagitis and symptom relief, with healing rates that approach 90% (Figure 4).7

For most patients, GERD is a chronic relapsing disease with almost universal recurrence of symptoms after treatment withdrawal; thus, it requires maintenance therapy. Long-term therapy with PPIs is again superior to histamine H2-receptor antagonists, with remission maintained in 80% compared with 50% of patients, respectively.9 With over a decade of experience in the United States, initial concerns regarding the long-term safety of PPIs remain unsubstantiated.10

Because of their superiority in both healing esophagitis and maintaining symptom relief, PPIs are the treatment of choice in patients with frequent reflux symptoms or complications from reflux disease. Dose escalation may be necessary in those rare individuals who do not respond to a standard dosing regimen. On the other hand, patients who are well controlled on PPI therapy may consider step-down therapy to a H2-receptor blocker.

(More info at site listed below)

Answer 7

1

Answer 8

check with your doctor. I suffered for years with it, then about 4 years ago, I changed the way I ate, and I seldom have any problems.

Answer 9

yea its a pain

Answer 10

it can be but it is how to cope with it is the trick.