Does anyone suffer from Acid Reflux or Gerd?

I have had Acid Reflux off and on. It happens suddenly and while I am asleep. I am suddenly woken up by this reflux and used to sense a burning sourness in the throat almost wanting to throw up. I get up and sit for sometime.Take a glass of water to soothe the burning, and go back to sleep. Antacid concoctions specially made for acid reflux are available but they would be useful only if there is repeated problem. I haven't had repeated problem. I have right now and have had in the past the problem called as hyper-acidity and gas formation. Gas is generated and gives a bloated tummy feel and the gas rises and "locks up" and in the chest area. You would either want to belch-out the "trapped" gas or gas out(pass wind,fart) for relief. In normal conditions the excess gas produced as a product of incomplete(?) digestion finds it way out as passing wind. That is a comfortable state. It is only when this happens to rise up that we have all the problems and needs medical attention. Right now I am on an Ayurvedic Medicine course. This has worked for me in the past and will do now too. There is also very good treatment for this problem in Homeopathy.

Hey I also have what we call acid reflux. My Doctor prescribe me something for GERD for 3 weeks treatment that didn't work. I haven't gone back to her. I might thinking of going to different doctor. Can a doctor diagnosed you with GERD and prescribe you a prescription with out even testing if you really have GERD or ACID REFLUX? My doctor is no good, she basically was talking to me for only 1 minute not even 2. Then I went home, got bill in the mail after 2 weeks for 90 bucks. That's suck.

I have severe GERD and acid reflux. No over the counter medicine relieves my symptoms and the pain can be unbearable. I take Nexium daily as a way to take care of the pain and keep the GERD and reflux from occuring. Nexium blocks the acid producers in your stomach so that they don't reach the esophugus and casue acid to come back up.

From what you are describing it sounds to me like esophageal spasms which may or may not be related to GERD. I had severe GERD. For years I was on double doses of prescription strength Prevecid, Prolosec, Nexeum you name it I tried them all. At double doses of the medication I didn't actually have any heartburn. But the damage was still being done. I would throw up anytime I tried to lay down, I would cough every couple of minutes because of a chronic "asthma" from the acid getting into my lungs, I developed ulcers on my vocal chords and lost my voice for over six months. They finally did surgery on my vocal chords so I could get my voice back and then I had to have a surgery on my stomach to wrap it around my esophagus to stop the GERD. It worked. My life changed dramatically. I could lie down and sleep the whole night without waking up throwing up, no more medications for heartburn and no more heartburn. I could breathe again, no more asthma, no more coughing. The one thing it didn't change was the esophageal spasms. They can be mild -just an uncomfortable pressure - or severe enough that I want to die! When severe it feels like a heart attack with the chest pain and either a funny feeling in the arms or pain in the arms and jaw just like a heart attack. When it happens the only way the docs can even tell the difference is by running the tests. What's happening is basically like a charlie horse that you get in your leg (you've probably had those) but it's your esophagus that's in spasm. They give me nitroglycerin for it (which is a heart med for angina) I take 3 of them 5 minutes apart and if that doesn't stop it I'm supposed to go to the hospital to find out if I am having a heart attack instead. I hate taking the nitro though because it gives me a headache so I avoid it if I can. I found out from another sufferer that peppermint if taken right away when it starts will usually stop the spasm. I told my gastrodoc about it and he said that he hadn't heard of that before but that it made sense to him because something or other in the peppermint should relax the LES. Anyway I carry peppermint candies with me everywhere because if it gets to the point that I'm taking the nitro I'm usually writhing on the floor wanting to die! 99% of the time the peppermint does work for me and believe me the side effects are so much more pleasant than nitro You might give the peppermint a try. But I'd still follow up with a Gastroenterologist if I were you. If you do have severe GERD (even without heartburn pain) that may be contributing to your COPD problems. Even on these heartburn medications the damage can be done whether you feel it or not.