I don't see how this is legal, but people on Tik Tok peddling miracle "medicine" are becoming more common every day. No FDA approval, no research. Just their marketing hype and false promises. This one, lady is showing some sort of probiotic and claiming it can help people suffering from severe acid reflux and gastrointestinal reflux disease or GERD, replacing medicine that has been tested for decades.
For some folks, like myself, it was admitting to myself that I needed to change my diet and eating habits, and I haven't had issues with acid reflux for years.
On the other hand, lots of folks have issues with this stuff no matter their eating habits and it is horrific to live with. As OP pointed out, things like GERD affect a lot of people.
That these people would take advantage of people in that situation is so infuriating.
My ex was not noticeably sad about it, but I felt awful for him because of his GERD. He had to stop eating for the day at around 17:00, he couldn’t have caffeine, alcohol, carbonation, anything acidic, capsaicin, or much fat. His mother was from southern Italy and he hadn’t eaten a tomato in more than a decade, and the only fruit he ate was bananas. He was not big on medication, though, so he considered all that to be a good trade off for not taking meds. I can’t imagine making the same choice if a medicine could allow me to have oranges and tomatoes and coffee, but different strokes I guess
I was hoping that my heartburn would go away after I quit drinking a couple of years ago, but instead, it got worse. Honestly, that it's probably because I started to form an actual diet and my stomach didn't know what the fuck to do.
Sigh. I am hoping this current mega-cycle of proton-pump inhibitors helps. It's been a fairly high dose for about quadruple the normal length of time, so it might actually stick this time.
Here's hoping they stick this time. I'm so sorry to hear, long ago one of my now ex-girlfriends was dealing with it. She would have to go to the hospital and get GI cocktails and I would stay awake with her and try to help her not panic because the GI cocktail numbed everything in your throat and she wouldn't be able to feel herself breathing. As someone who has lots of panic about breathing issues, I totally understood why it would be panic inducing to not be able to feel yourself breathe, and this seemed like the only thing anyone was able to do for her when it got really bad. Just a shitty choice, take the GI cocktail and get relief but also panic, or don't take it and feel like you're choking on your own vomit. So , fuck it just sucks so much. I really hope for the best for you.
Thanks. Thankfully, mine isn't that bad yet but it's been getting worse over the years. Hopefully, the meds help push the curve of stomach decline past my time on this planet. It's morbid to think about that way, but I am kind of a realist about that kind of thing.
(I can handle not being a drunk anymore, but I am not giving up my morning coffee. It's worth any additional suffering.)
The irritation caused by heartburn increases heartburn. So during your proton-pump inhibitor cycle, you still get heartburn, treat it with baking soda dissolved in warm for instant relief
For anyone else reading, baking soda can save you hundreds of dollars on regular antacids. One you get past the taste and train your body it brings relief, it'll be tasting like champagne soon enough.
LPT: Baking soda and water can burn your mouth and lips after a time as well, so keep it fairly dilute. More is sometimes needed, but not always better.
Second LPT: Get a second small box of baking soda for heartburn use and keep it sealed in a Ziploc or something. It will absorb all kinds of stuff out of the air and end up tasting really bad. (Name-brand baking sodas tend to taste a little less fishy as well, but not by much.)
Sorry, I know more about baking soda now than I care to admit. It's really a super interesting chemical, even in its simplicity.
It's also heavily used in treating and keeping proper pH balance the water in swimming pools, hot tubs and various other types of aquatic entertainment. I used to have to lug 50 lb bags of it to the chemical shed.
I had to take prescription antibiotics+dieuretics for two months after an evening got too exciting. Taking them without food had some pretty nasty effects on my stomach, but I had to take the pills more often than I usually eat.
Also, those stomach problems didn't really stop afterwards either. Luckily, my symptoms were relatively mild compared to everyone else in this thread.
For the mild stuff, yogurt also works really well. It can't be the shitty yoplait, it has to be actual yogurt. I buy the little cup versions and have one most every breakfast, and the symptoms usually don't follow me even when I skip them now either.
I've found that I can drink one coffee, consequence free, so long as I have a yogurt to go with it.